From this process, I decided to pull together a few general tips and considerations when it comes to “live Tweeting” from an organizational perspective during an event:

Build your followers
We all know that Twitter is not just for gaining as many followers as possible—right?! Building, nurturing and communicating with your online Twitter community is an ongoing process, but prior to an event you should consider taking inventory of who is following you—who will be reading your updates?

There are ways to reach existing Tweeples that may be interested in specific event updates, and in turn realize that they are interested in your organization. If you are participating in an event with a booth or as a sponsor, you may have access to a contact database of attendees. If it is an event you have attended before, reach out to your own contact list of past attendees. In no way shape or form should you spam people to insist they follow you. Simply add it to your marketing mix with a link to your account profile and say, “We will be sharing insights from XYZ Conference. Follow us on Twitter to receive updates about the event.”

Who will be Tweeting?
Determine in advance who will actually be posting Tweets during the event. Decide if the updates will come from the company account or from an individual employee’s account. Either way, the person should attend the trade show so he/she is able to contribute in real-time with accurate information.

Internet access
This sounds pretty basic but if you don’t have Internet access, it can derail your whole Twitter update plan. Find out in advance if the expo floor or conference area will have Wi-Fi access. Do you have to purchase it in advance? Will you tote around a laptop or make updates through your mobile phone?

What will you share?
As with any approach to a social media outlet, you want to ensure you are sharing valuable content with your followers. If I were following a company to receive updates about an event and all they did was post things like, “Having a great time at XYZ Conference.” What does that tell me?

Determine what information will be important to share with your particular audience. Inform them about the keynote speaker and share takeaways from different presentations. Tell them information about your new product offering or insights from visitors to the company booth. Post photos during the event using applications such as Twitpic (if you have a Twitter account you already have a Twitpic account). Monitor for responses and reply to questions by following the event hashtag. What is a “hashtag” you ask?

Hashtags
Most tech or social media conferences are Twitter-savvy and determine a hashtag in advance. A hashtag is a way to label or codify your Tweet to make it easily searchable and associate it with a common discussion. If you’re not sure if your event has a hashtag, reach out to the event organizers and ask for it specifically. Who knows, you might even inspire the event team to create one!

Often times the information you share on Twitter during a trade show will be most helpful for those who were unable to attend. However, select conferences will have live Twitter feeds of the event hashtag on display during the show so attendees can see what people or company representatives find interesting. For a great summary and example of using a hashtag for an event, read Mitch Wagner’s post on the InformationWeek Global CIO Blog that summarized his plans to use #iw500 for the InformationWeek 500 Conference. One thing to remember, hashtags are great for real-time discussions but they don’t have a never-ending online shelf life.

These are just a handful of ways to leverage your Twitter account during a trade show or event. I’d love to hear about your personal experiences or suggestions – feel free to share a comment!