Make Seriously | Design and Life

Twell. Twasn’t That Twerrific.

Yesterday I had the good pleasure of attending not one but two Twitter seminars (technically one seminar and one webinar). The first one was hosted by PRNewswire, given by their resident tweeter and Media Research Supervisor Victoria Akers (@prnewswire). It was really great for a new user or anyone working on the PR side who hasn’t had a plan yet. For me it wasn’t all that new, but there were a few things of note that I think bear repeating.

- You often represent more than yourself, especially if you’re tweeting on behalf of a company. I think about this a lot, actually. As a private blogger, I’m still aware that my behavior will reflect on the company I work for. When I do things well, it helps show that I work for an employer who hires great people. If I were to get catty, it would show that my office is just a bunch of snoots. It’s especially concerning when I write design criticisms, because then I not only represent my company but it seems like I help put a face on “the every designer”. Evidence? Read back to my entry on the Forbes spec work article.

- Fill out the bio. People don’t know who you are if you don’t tell them. It’s advice I haven’t taken yet, but it’s important to remember

- Follow people in your industry. Even if you don’t want to enter the conversation, you’ll glean information straight from the source.

- Don’t be that guy. You know him. He likes to talk about himself and tell you how great he is. He wants you to know why you should like him. (I just secretly want that…)

- Don’t be a Debbie Downer. The best way to lose contacts and turn people away (if not against) is to put others down, act self-righteous and be negative. Even if you’re writing about something negative you can always be positive yourself.

- Don’t get into Twights. (Twitter fights) Save it for your favorite message board.

- Learn to respond to negative comments rather than react to them. Sometimes a reaction is worse than taking the time to write a positive article that puts light on a situation that’s been framed negatively.

The second seminar was hosted by Confluence at the Manhattan on 82nd St. I think, and I may be wrong, that it’s like AIGA is to the design world. That was an interesting session that was useful for starters and users alike. Perhaps my favorite thing about it was the diverse users who regularly used it on the panel as well as the interactivity. While too chaotic to serve a good function, they had a projected queue of the #indyconfluence hashtag up and everyone could contribute while they spoke. It was amusing and engaging. It did really distract from the presentation and take out any control the panel originally had, but I think it really helped demonstrate the ability to communicate with it as well as clarify what hashtags, retweets, @replies and so forth look like in real time. Hopefully I’ll post about that next and clarify what those are as well as make my recommendations for the future. I’m also hosting a training session at the office soon, so keep an eye out for postings regarding that (hopefully we’ll publish video from the session that will be useful in some of the practical issues involved and how to get up and started)