Working in Social Media can be a great thing if you are using the right approach. I of course can’t determine what that “right way” is but I think I may have a bit of a clue. You have to be social! No surprise there and I’m sure you’ve heard that before. Take it offline, meet the people you interact with, blah blah.
I’m not talking about something that simple. Of course you have to take it offline, but there’s more to it than that. I’ve noticed in that even at some social media events that people are still not very social. I’ve been to more than my share of events over the past couple years and I’ve made a ton of new connections, but I”m not talking about myself. I’m more referring to people that don’t make it their business to meet others at social media events.
If there’s a speaker at some of the events shortly after the speaker completes their presentation and books are signed the room starts to empty out and only a few people are left and I have to say that most times it’s the same people. I’m not sure why, but I have a few suggestions to improve your experience at social media events.
- Talk to at least five new people at every event you attend. If you are not meeting new people you are defeating the purpose of going so reach out and make new connections
- Meeting other social media professionals is great, but invite at least one non-social media person that may benefit from the information being presented .
- Add value to the conversation at the event. If you have some tips for something that has worked for you share it with someone at the event.
- Don’t spend the entire time looking at your smartphone. I know you have to Tweet and Check-in but do it and put the phone away so you can have a face to face conversation.
These are just a few observations I’ve made and a few suggestions that I think could improve the overall experience for everyone attending social media events in the future. Of course I would love to know what you think so if you like this post click the like button and make sure to comment
