Twitter and Tweeting During Medical Conferences

I have recently read several different blogs or articles about using Twitter in medical conference meetings.  In fact, I recently returned from the AAMC meeting in Denver, in which apparently I tweeted more than anyone else from within the meeting (some people actually keep statistics on how many times a single person tweets during the time of a meeting; apparently this is relatively simple information to find).

Given lots of interest in this topic recently, I thought I would share what I have learned about this topic with others who may be considering whether to tweet during a conference.  Here are a few links on different aspects of the interplay between Twitter and Medical Conferences.  Most provide the potential positives that can come from Tweeting a meeting, but I have also included views on the other side of the fence that discuss pitfalls.

Tweeting PRIOR to Going to a Conference

This discusses finally meeting people you have been Tweeting with but have never met.

Tweeting Behind your Back

This blog discusses some of the negatives of providing a Twitter feed at a meeting, especially if a presenter isn’t quite prepared to give the presentation

Tweeting Content from the Meeting

This discusses issues related to embargoes within meetings.

Being knowledgeable about Twitter as the PRESENTER at a Meeting

This post describes how to optimize your presentation and presents tips and points to avoid as a presenter at a medical meeting.

How to use a hashtag to tweet at a medical meeting

This straightforward post explains how to tweet by using the hashtag.

How to use Twitter at medical conferences

This article from 2009 provides an excellent explanation of using Twitter at conferences, including before, during and after the conference.  The authors actually did a study as well, and provide some nice results.

The Importance of Twitter presence in conferences

This is an excellent set of suggestions for those who organize conferences, with ideas for how to set up Twitter to make the conference successful.

How to Use Twitter at a Medical Conference

This blog provides theories of how Twitter can be used at conferences, including “as a conversation starter”, “as an influence generator”, “as a goodwill creator”, and other suggestions.  A wonderful explanation of what these different categories can mean as well.

Reasons You Should NOT Use Twitter Feeds

http://ht.ly/1emUeJ

This blog provides some of the potential pitfalls to using Twitter Feeds at meetings.

Tweeting the Meeting

This blog explains general content on what it means to Tweet during a medical meeting.

I hope that these links are helpful to get a sense of what it means to use Twitter at medical meetings.  There are many other opinions written on this topic, and I am sure many more will be written.  Have you tweeted during a meeting, and if so, what have you learned from doing so?