Live-tweeting events brings the excitement and the news to people who can’t attend, builds community among those in the crowd and establishes you or your institution as a source of timely information. If you’re new to Twitter or haven’t used it during events before, you may be reluctant to give it a try. But with a few simple tools and good planning, this can be a fun, low-cost way to gain additional attention for homecoming, athletic events, academic conferences and more. Rachel Coker, social media chair of #CASE2DC and director of research advancement at Binghamton University, shares tips and tricks for live-tweeting from events on campus and beyond.

1. Rachel Coker (@rmcoker)
Director of Research Advancement
Binghamton University
How live-tweeting events can
build buzz and create community
Tweet, tweet

2. Today’s agenda
 What is live-tweeting?
 Why would I want to live-tweet an event?
 What tools do I need to do it?
 How can I make it easier and more effective?
 How do I measure the results?

3. What is “live-tweeting,” anyway?
Here’s how Twitter
once defined it:
(v.): to engage on
Twitter for a
continuous period
of time — anywhere
from 20 minutes to a
few hours — with a
sequence of focused tweets. The focus can be a big live event
that everybody’s paying attention to (e.g. a TV show or an
award show) or it can be an event you create yourself (e.g. a
Q&A session with your fans).

4. Why consider live-tweeting?
 Share the excitement with people
who couldn’t attend in person
 Foster community among
participants
 Give a look behind the scenes of
the event
 Attract media attention
 Build an audience for your
institution
 Drive attendance at future events

5. A few selfish reasons to live-tweet
 Networking
 Extend your influence (in real life
and by gaining followers)
 Heighten your attention
 Keep a record of great ideas

6. What kinds of events would work?
 Homecoming
 Athletic events
 Commencement
 Academic conferences
 Q&A with your president or a famous alumnus

7. What tools do I need?
 A smart phone, tablet or laptop
 A reliable Internet connection
 Backup power
 A smart phone or camera
@Nancy_Groves
suggests sitting
near an outlet!

8. How do I prepare?
 Seek buy-in from event
organizers
 Create and publicize a hashtag
for the event
 Make a list of the key players’
Twitter handles
 Script some tweets ahead
of time
 Decide how frequently
you’ll tweet
 Consider how you’ll respond to
complaints/requests
for help
 Read someone else’s live-tweets to
see how things unfolded for them

9. What should I say?
 Start with the basics
 Offer play-by-play
 Add color commentary
 Share photos and videos
 Ask questions
 Boost value with additional
resources
 Remember your audience
As @Sree says, if you’re good in real life,
you can be great on Twitter!

10. The usual rules apply
 Think before you tweet
 Spelling counts
 Double check that you’re
mentioning the right
accounts
 Be sure you’re tweeting
from the right account
 Most people will miss
most of your posts
 Don’t start a tweet with
another user’s handle
 Shoot for 100-120 characters
so other users can easily retweet

11. Listen, too!
 Remember that social
media is interactive
 Retweets (RT) and
modified tweets (MT)
will help you amplify
others’ good/pithy/funny
comments
 Reply as appropriate to
people with questions or
criticism

12. How can I live-tweet more easily?
 Use multiple screens (or a browser with several tabs)
 Set up a Twitter client such as HootSuite or TweetDeck
 Schedule tweets in advance with a Twitter client or a service
like Buffer

13. How do I measure the results?
 Set goals (for followers, RTs, clicks, etc.) before the event
 Take advantage of Twitter’s built-in analytics by visiting
analytics.twitter.com
 Use Bit.ly (or another link-shortening service that tracks clicks)
 Check Klout to see if your Twitter handle’s influence is rising
or falling
 See how your hashtag performed with a service such as
Tweetreach

14. OK. I’m in!
You may find these resources helpful as you get started:
How-tos:
How I Gained 68,000 Followers by Live-Tweeting
How to live tweet an event: 7 best practices
Mark Luckie’s Top 5 Twitter Tips & Tricks
Especially for conference-goers:
The Art of Live Tweeting
Ten Tips for Tweeting at Conferences
For the really ambitious:
Live-tweeting my own talk

15. Thank you!
Rachel Coker / @rmcoker
Director of Research Advancement
Binghamton University