How to Follow a Conference Virtually

This Friday I planned to cover the Talent Net Live (#TNL) conference at Rackspace in San Antonio for you.  Unfortunately, business needs necessitated my being in St. Louis this week.  This does offer me the opportunity to share how to attend a conference virtually using several social media platforms.

The following are some of the ways I plan to stay connected on Friday with the great content being shared and discussed at TNL:

Twitter: The most important thing to do is search “TNL” either via Twitter or on another Twitter-based platform such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.  By creating this search, you will see all that is being shared including quotes from sessions, video links, book mentions and more.

Additionally, to make it easy for you, I created a Twitter list for the event.  Just go to my profile on Twitter (@TrishMcFarlane) and click on Lists.  You’ll see the list TNL-San Antonio- 2011 which is a complete list of speakers.  Follow that list in order to hear the perspective of the speakers at the event.

FaceBook: Be sure to “Like” the FaceBook fan page for Talent Net Live.  There you’ll find updated blog post links about the event and be able to see pictures taken on site.

Blogs: Your first resource is right here on the Monster Thinking Blog.  We’ll be here providing you with insights from many of the sessions.  We have Matt Charney on the ground and he’ll be working with a team of people to bring you the best ideas shared at the event.

Join in the discussion or the controversy!  In addition, there will be several other bloggers at the event.  Here is just a sample to get you started:

○     Jason Seiden

○     Jessica Miller Merrill

○     Alicia Arenas

○     Michael Long

○     Kelly Long

Google+: The newest of the platforms will also offer a unique new way to experience conferences in the future.  You’ll be able to set up a circle of friends or people you know who are attending.  If you don’t personally know anyone, you can follow the TNL founder, Craig Fisher, and many of the speakers.

Since Google+ is new, if you don’t have access and need an invitation, send your email address to TrishaM89@gmail.com and I’ll invite as many people as I can.

As you can see, trying to follow a conference you are not able to attend is achievable.  And, there is no need to use all these ways to follow.  Choose your top one or two then sit back and have fun learning remotely.  I’ll be there in spirit with you!

Monster supports TalentNet Live’s mission of turning thought leadership into action and continuing the conversation about the trends and ideas shaping the evolving world of work on MonsterThinking.com.

For more on TalentNet Live, check out: http://wordpress.talentnetlive.com/

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About the Author

Trish is a practicing HR professional with over 15 years of experience in Big 4 public accounting, PR, and healthcare. She is also an international speaker. With expertise in leadership, employee relations, performance management, training & development, change management, social media, and innovation, Trish is able to capture readers and audiences with real-life examples of how leadership plays out in organizations.