Comments on: Be a Good Conference Speaker; Twitter is Judging

by: David Berkowitz

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:39:47 +0000

Dan, thanks for commenting. I’m a little behind on my reading after the event so it’s great that you shared this on my blog. And I’m also well aware that anything I say in public in Twitter may be quoted, which is one of those pros and cons with such forums, as it means we need to speak candidly while still still watching what we say. Meanwhile, it will also make any future speaking opps a little more daunting. It’s almost like being able to read people’s minds; sometimes ignorance is bliss, but it’s of course better to pay attention than brush it aside.

by: SMX Social Media 2008 Recap

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:43:23 +0000

[…] One of the new things we tried about this conference is twittering on the SMX twitter account. Full disclosure Danny handed the keys over to me on the account, but I’d really like some feedback there. I’m a big boy and if I sucked you can tell me, but at least tell me why it sucked, what you want to see more of or what in your opinion would make it better. I also was monitoring for SMX mentions using tweetscan. If you are speaker at a conference something you should be aware of if you suck or don’t connect with the audience chances are they will tweet about you. […]

by: Kevin Heisler

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:07:36 +0000

Great update, Dan. Thanks. David’s a briliant guy; Lisa’s one of the smartest and funniest bloggers in the industry.

by: Kevin Heisler

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:40:13 +0000

Dan, you’re right on the money:instant feedback is inevitable at conferences. Twitter is just the easiest way right now but the Always On conferences have been streaming “live blogging” for a couple years now - from people in the audience AND people not attending. The audience, moderator and panelists can see the comments scrolling on a screen.

I think Anita makes some excellent points, Dan. What’s missing from your post is the identity of the people on Twitter who are criticizing Rand.

I wasn’t there either and didn’t see these comments posted on Twitter.

Twitter is transparent. If the people sent you DM’s, then they didn’t want their comments published (for whatever reason.)

So why not let the person come forward and say it publicly?

Otherwise, it’s just gossip and snark.

by: LORI

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:26:49 +0000

I believe this type of thing will take care of itself, eventually. Most of us do not have time or energy for so much negtivity. They will lose followers and will have to “adapt or die”. We just have to endure them through this growing pain.

by: Anita Campbell

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:35:52 +0000

I agree, Dan, it’s inevitable that people will talk about conference sessions.

Where will it go? Eventually it will backfire, because you make enemies and you will lose business opportunities because of it. Plus, speakers will start demanding that their sessions be Twitter-free as a condition of speaking. I just attended a conference where that was the case on Day 2 — no twitttering allowed on request of the speakers (for several reasons).

And a few thoughts to those who are trying to build a following on Twitter: focus on reporting key insights and great sound bites conveyed by the speakers, rather than critiquing the speakers.

As a follower, tell me something I actually can use. Share some data or a helpful point so that I can get value out of your reporting.

And a word about business opportunities: If I were considering hiring someone as an employee or as a service provider, this would be a deal breaker for me. My thinking is, if you said that publicly about someone else, what will you say about me and my company behind my back? Or someone looking for a referral? If you can’t hold your tongue, I would have no confidence that you would exercise the kind of good judgment and discretion expected in business dealings.

by: danperry

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:19:31 +0000

@Anita: This reminded me of the Superbowl commercial experiment that Jeremiah Owyang set up. That was a great experiment, where a group of Twitterers were judging commercials in real time.

I don’t think it’s as great for users to judge speakers in real time, but wasn’t this inevitable? I used to attend industry conferences a lot (3-4/year). Now every session is blogged by multiple people, including comments on each speaker. Judging speakers via Twitter in real-time seems like the natural progression, whether right or wrong.

Two things: 1, has this turned into a moral issue (manners), and 2, what’s the next logical progression/where does it go from here?

by: Anita Campbell

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:05:36 +0000

Some things are better left as private thoughts, not shared with the entire world. Have people forgotten good manners in public?

I didn’t see these particular comments, but I saw a different exchange about another conference on Twitter about a month ago. One of the people who was being most brutal is someone I’d heard speak once. The twitterer who was giving a blow by blow criticizing the speaker harshly was himself only a D+ speaker when I’d heard him speak the year before. He kept rudely interrupting other panelists, tried to wrest control of the panel from the moderator, and bored everyone into a trance talking about points only he was interested in.

Yet he had the nerve to criticize some other speaker.

People in glass houses and all that ….