Conferences and social media

I recently had an opportunity to participate from afar at a conference. No, I didn't actually travel to the conference but I was trying to use social media to see what was going on for those attending the conference. I found a number of things that were both good and bad about how the social media was used by the conference accounts. I am going to comment on Facebook and Twitter usage because that is what I was using to look at the conference.

Twitter – It was used just to re-post the same items that were being posted on Facebook. Twitter wasn't used to help people figure out what sessions were being hi-lighted until after the session was underway or in some cases finished. Maybe twitter could have been used to hi-light some of the times for Keynotes and such just prior to the sessions so it was a reminder to those attending. For someone attending trying to follow the Twitter feed it was next to useless. If you are going to be on Twitter, BE on Twitter don't just use it as a re-post location.

Facebook – this is the one where I am going to have the most to say because this is where I was seeing some of the things.

Need improvement:

1.  A lot of the pictures were about the fun activities that were happening and not a lot of what the conference was about. The conference was an IT conference so I would have been making sure that the sessions and networking should have been a key part of what was being shown. I was extremely upset seeing all the partying and not much else, when our employee was losing 5 days of being billable to be at the conference. 
2.  Posts to page – this was used in the side panel so it was very difficult to see what others were saying about the event. Possibly as a result not a lot of activity in the posts to page other than the goodies that could be won through various activities.
3.  Use quotes from attendees to help show the value of the conference. What were some of the takeaways? What did you learn? Have someone who's focus is to try and gather comments from attendees about their experiences. 
4.  Show people in the various sessions more to show that sessions and networking were the key part of the event.
5.  Pictures – maybe show some of the layout for meals to show what was being offered to the attendees. Also try and get some of the booths with people around them instead of very empty booths. 
6.  Collecting success stories – don't tell me you are collecting them and not summarizing any of them. Very high level would have helped get attention. This doesn't make me want to follow-up on this topic. If you weren't going o quickly followup within Facebook, don't bother mentioning it in Facebook.

A good start....

1. Sessions – the first day of the conference was hi-lighted through pictures of the keynote and even pictures after some of the sessions but then it stopped and it then shifted to just the fun activities that were the extras. I was really happy about the posting on the first day as it gave me a feeling of what really was happening, at the keynote and during the day. This is very valuable to assist in marketing the event for upcoming years. Coordinate with scheduling to get pictures of high attendance sessions and pictures from front into audience at keynotes.
2.  Highlighting some of the networking was great because it shows it is not just all work but sessions and networking should be the focus instead of the parties and other activities. This could have been done more to show groups together talking.

If a conference is going to use social media to help show what the event was like they should be ensuring that the key importance of the event is be front and centre. The free t-shirt give aways and things like that are extra and not what the conference is focused on. The conference had a clear mandate stated in the keynotes of Learn, Network and have some fun in that clear order of priority. The event's social media during the event showed a reversed priority.

Social media is a great means of communicating about an event and the value of the event. Why would I spend x dollars to attend or how would I convince my company to spend the money to send me and allow me the time out of the office? So many companies are cutting back on employees attending conferences because of the financial cost as well as the manpower costs. Social media could be used to show the wins that companies can get by incurring the costs at least hint at a positive ROI.

If social media was used better to show what benefits a conference can have it may assist in companies being willing to spend the funds. If an event is showing only all the fun and games it doesn't help sell it for the next time.

Conference give aways -- SWAG

Have you noticed at conference how much stuff (SWAG) is given away and grabbed up quickly by some people. I am really wondering what is done with some of this swag that people grab without thinking about if they need or want it.

We have been at some conferences and it is amazing to watch people when they enter a vendor area. Some people will look around and see where the best free items are and immediately head for those vendors. Once they get there, they do not look up at the people are the booth but look at the table and grab what they see as nice but never talking to the people at the booth or even looking at them. In some cases these items may never be used by the person that took them but given away to someone else and in cases to someone that has no clue who the vendor is or what the vendor does.

I really want to know how many pens, canvas bags or even t-shirts do I need with various vendors names or logos on them? I know that vendors want to make sure you remember their name but enough is enough. If I really want to learn about you have some info that I can take away and look at. A pen doesn’t tell me what you do or how you can benefit me.

The other thing that gets me is now many vendors at shows have the prize that they give away at the end of the day. OK, now you expect me to spend the entire day at a show and in some cases I may not have the opportunity as I also need to meet the needs of my clients. The prize normally requires that you drop off your business card to enter the draw. So now what you have done is given all the various vendors your total contact information just because you have a small chance to win a prize. For the vendors it is a great way to get a lot of possible client info without doing anything. Now you are going to be getting a lot of phone calls and/or emails from all the vendors where you dropped off your business card.

OK, I will admit that there is one piece of vendor giveaway that I like and those are the journal books that some give away. Yes, I use these books and normally have at least one of these books with me at all times. The other thing I like that is sometimes given away are the small books from the “Dummies series”.

So when you are at conference next time just watch what some people are grabbing and how full their bags are and think about where some of that stuff will end up.

Children and School

Over the last little while I have noticed something in my neighbourhood that has concerned me and it is the number of school age children that are out and about in the neighbourhood during the school day. I was out in the neighbourhood around 2pm and noticed quite a few children that should have been in the public school at that time. What I did noticed that in some cases they looked like they had been out grocery shopping with their mother and it was their job to carry the groceries home from the store.

I know that when I was going to school the only time we ever started home was when we were sick and we had to be really sick to even think about staying home. I remember the farthest I ever went when I was missing a day of school was to the doctor's office and back home, there was no shopping done along the way.

I am not sure why parents are allowing the children to take the time out of school to help with shopping or such because the shopping could be done after the school day. The other thing I have noticed at least in our area is that when we go to the mall at any time of the day there are quite a few children with parents there instead of in school. What is interesting is the school is actually next door to the mall so if the child is well enough to be walking around the mall shopping they should be in their classroom.

I think if the parents are letting the children miss school it is teaching them a lot of bad habits. These are going to be the adults that don't want to show up for work on time or even to work at all if they just don't feel like going in. I know that we all want to miss work or school at some points but getting into the habit of going unless you are sick does make you a better person. It shows that you respect the system that you are in and are not taking things for granted. Our school system here is pretty good and I think that the parents should be doing more to encourage the children to attend classes and to be on time.

Vendor emails

As an IT professional I have noticed something that I really need to write about. It has happened the last couple of weekends and it is frustrating. I have received vendor related emails on the weekend.

Why do vendors have to send out solicitation emails on a weekend. I thought a weekend was a time to relax and try to forget about work and not be bothered by vendors. The other thing about getting these emails are they are distracting. Yes, we have our mobile devices on during the weekend to receive emails from clients who are experiencing issues and need our assistance.

When these emails come in I end up marking them as read. No, I don't really even read the email because I just get frustrated that they have arrived on the weekend. In some cases I even delete them because of the mood I am in when I see them.

Now if you are a vendor and are trying to get my business you won't help yourself if I get emails from you on the weekend. I probably will never really focus on your email because of the timing of when it arrives. Ok, it will probably get onto my work account on Monday if I haven't deleted it but considering it is marked as read it means I won't really look at it again unless an issue comes up and I need to investigate something.

Remember if you really want to get an individuals attention on an IT issue send it during the week when they are in that state of mind. Sending emails to IT individual on a weekend means there is a good chance it will be totally ignored or even deleted. Please remember we all want some time off.

Community

I recently had an experience and it showed how quickly a community of people can be built even if only for one day.

My dad had to have cataract surgery and it meant an extremely early day for all of us. We were at the hospital by 6am which isn't normal for any of us. The first thing I noticed that as people arrived to register everyone started acknowledging everyone else. No one knew the next person in the registration waiting area but everyone was friendly. After we registered we said good bye to one couple and found out that they were also going to be in the same area of the hospital as we were going as the wife was also having cataract surgery.

Now this is where the community started to build was when everyone started to arrive in the Eye Centre. Of course sitting in this waiting room meant that everyone was doing to be going through the same procedure and the support person was going to have to be waiting around for their family member to be finished. Most people again acknowledged each other and in some cases some conversations were started.

Once I had my father checked in I was to leave the area but stay close so that I was there to pick him up when the procedure was finished. I of course had my mom and my husband waiting for me downstairs so I went and sat with them for the hour of waiting. Now this is where the community was great, as everyone was waiting they acknowledged the next person even through we didn't know each other. A smile, a wave or even a nod of the head meant we were there for the next person.

The couple that we spoke to at registration were the first one's that were finished and the lady actually came over to talk to be before she headed home. It felt very good seeing that our little community was a caring community. She wanted my mom to know it wasn't a bad surgery and she told me that she had a nice conversation with my dad while waiting for surgery. This couple had the same surgeon as my dad so we will probably see them a couple of times at the office for the check ups.

It wasn't long after this conversation that I got the phone call letting me know that it was time for me to go and pick up my dad. As I walked up I got the waves from others waiting as if to say good bye for now. There were also the smiles to say the waiting is over for you so my waiting must be over soon.

Yes the community may have only been established for a few hours but it really shows that people when facing the same issue can because friends. No we don't know each others names or anything else but we were there for a common reason and like most communities that is the reason for a community. That community is gone now but it did leave a nice foot print.

Remember when you are faced with a common issue a simple smile, wave or nod of a head can mean a lot to the next person.

Taking some time for yourself

Now taking some time for me has been a challenge as I am one of those people that always makes sure that I am keeping everyone else happy. What I was forgetting is that the only way to make others happy was to ensure that I am happy first.

I am not saying that you only think of yourself but what I am saying is you do need to make sure that you set aside some time to do the things you like doing or things for you. What I mean by this is the time to maybe have a manicure or have a haircut. No these aren't big expensive things but they are time for yourself and they can help in making you feel better about things.

Setting aside a bit of time for yourself can make a huge difference in how you deal with others around you. If you continually try and make everyone else happy and don't take time for yourself you will probably have problems just focusing on all the tasks that you have on your plate. The other thing that could happy is you would find yourself frustrated a lot easier than normal. Yes, so that half hour or an hour to yourself sometimes can really help you think clearer.

The other good point about taking that time for yourself is you will feel better in yourself as well. I know that just having a manicure can make such a difference in my mood. I don't get one very often but when I do I know I feel better about things after I have taken that time for me. Of course, you aren't going to be able to take that time right in the middle of some major work but sometimes at least knowing that you are going to do something for yourself makes that job a little easier.

So yes make sure you take some time for yourself because the people around you will also benefit from it. You will feel better about yourself and it will make the tasks ahead a little easier to deal with.

Strollers

Have you noticed that strollers seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I thought they would be staying a smaller size because of apartments, condos and homes being smaller now.

When I have noticed this is more on public transit when people are getting on and trying to turn to go down the mail aisle. The stroller is longer and wider than is really necessary because the wheels seem to stick out the sides so much now that they get in the way. The other thing I have noticed with the stroller size is that people love hanging things off the handles which also make the stroller wider. I understand that people need to use strollers on public transit but it would be nice to have some that don't take up the entire aisle. Strollers don't pay a fare but they are the thing that takes the place of three, four or even five people. The other thing people do is actually take the child out of the stroller and let the child sit in a seat which means that is another spot taken from a paying individual.

Now with strollers on transit the biggest frustration that I have is someone that gets on a bus with a fully loaded stroller and there is no child with them. The stroller is actually being used to move the groceries or sometimes laundry but these people still figure that should be given the same consideration as if they have a child in the stroller. I'm sorry but without a child in the stroller you are just taking up lots of space and aren't entitled to a seat just because you are holding a stroller. If I take a buggy on the bus I don't expect a seat so what is the difference.

Yes stroller are getting bigger and I think the people that are purchasing them need to consider where they are going to be using the stroller. A stroller of one size is great for a runner but that same stroller isn't good for someone commuting each day on public transit.

Please remember when you are using your stroller on transit, it is large and there are others also wanting to get on so try and take up as little room as possible.