Live-tweeting is a way of engaging your Twitter followers by sending updates about an event as it occurs. Live-tweeters use the Hashtag relevant to the event they are tweeting about (such as #Endocon2016) which can be located on the conference’s website or Twitter profile. Twitter followers who cannot be at the event in person can follow along using the Hashtag and this in turn expands the reach of the conference.  Furthermore, live-tweeting is a means of amplifying the conference experience, generating international engagement and global reach and stimulating collaborative potential.

 

 

It is my opinion that all healthcare conference organizers and attendees should consider how best they might use live-tweeting to enhance shared learning and extend conference proceedings beyond the event.  Success is determined by the level of engagement and reach of conference organizers with Twitter and active encouragement of tweeting before, during, and after the meeting.

What follows are my suggestions for capitalizing on live-tweeting at your next healthcare event.

 

 

 

The first step is to create a conference Hashtag (#) and let people know in advance what it will be. Ideally it should be something you can use after the event. Your Hashtag should be ready from the moment you begin promoting your event.

How to create an effective conference Hashtag

Make it short. Remember people only have 140 characters to tweet with and you want to leave some room for retweets.
Make it intuitive and relatable to your event but not so generic that it’s confused with something else.
Make it easy to remember and type for delegates. Many will be tweeting from a smart phone or tablet.
Make sure it isn’t already in use. You don’t want to duplicate an existing Hash tag which may result in two simultaneous but very different conversations colliding on Twitter.  Do a Twitter search to find out. Since twitter’s search history is  short, expand your reach using a tool
Make sure it doesn’t have a meaning that can be misconstrued.
Monitor your Hash tag on a regular basis to see if someone else is using it for something unrelated.

 

 

Once you’ve decided on a Hashtag, your next step is to promote it.

6 ways to promote a conference Hash tag  

Include the Hashtag in all of your social media bios and your email signature.
Tag your conference tweets, images and website with it.
Display your event Hashtag as a Twitter feed on your website.
Print the Hash tag on your conference material and include speakers’ Twitter handles on program and all delegates Twitter names on conference badges.
Encourage your sponsors, exhibitors and speakers to include the Hashtag in all their conference-related social media postings.
Write and schedule tweets announcing speakers, reminding people to register and counting down to the event and make sure you include the conference Hashtag. In the run-up to the event you may be too busy to tweet regularly, so scheduling saves you time and effort.

 

 

Establishing a clear policy for live-tweeting at your conference is a good idea. It will help you focus on best practice, and much like a crisis communication plan, you can use it to determine in advance how to respond to problem tweets.

Make your policy available in advance to speakers so they know what to expect. Ask speakers to add their Twitter profile to their slides and if a presenter does not want their talk tweeted, this is an opportunity for them to say so.  Be mindful of a speakers’ intellectual property rights make it clear in your policy that you are committed to acting ethically and with integrity when it comes to respecting intellectual property.

 

 

Consider adding a tweeting “code of conduct” to your conference website. This can be a simple list of suggested Dos and Don’ts and tips to help attendees tweet more professionally.  Include it in delegates’ registration packs with WI-FI login and password details (ideally if you encourage live-tweeting your conference venue should have Wi-Fi available for delegates). For Twitter newbie’s, provide information on how to start a Twitter account.

 

 

Doctors need to take a Picture and tweet using #Endocon2016 and it automatically prints the photo for them. That way people are forced to tweet cause hey – who doesn’t love photos?

 

 

 

We created Hashtag #Endocon2016
We did a pre-event buzz creation by spreading Tweet Bombs and using other Social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so the Buzz is created around the Hashtag.
We did a Live Social Media wall on three days of the Event 15th, 16th and 17th of April.
The response was amazing.

 

 This was the first time a Live Social Media Wall was there for a Medical Conference in India

Results

 

 

Ref: Screenshot from the Tracking Software we used to Track Twitter and Instagram Reach 

Ref: Screenshot from Facebook Insights to calculate Reach through Facebook.

Ref:-Screenshot of the Announcement

 

 

 

Ref: Screenshot of Top influencers

 

Ref:-Screenshot from Twitter and Facebook Account

 

Live Twitter walls is still catching up in India, there is a big rising need to Marry Online and Offline marketing efforts and creating a Ripple Effect which happens pre and post events.

Endocon 2016 led the way with this innovative technology and we were able to bring some awesome results.

Thank you World Gastroenterology Institute for letting us be a part of Endocon 2016.