Last year at SxSW, a lot of networking went on. I had the opportunity to meet some great people like Wayne Sutton, Louis Gray, Chris Brogan, Lynne D. Johnson, Brian Solis, and Drew Olanoff. It was pretty easy to find most of them, but I’d like to share a few tools I used to connect with the old, and make new connections simultaneously. These are the tools I’ve used to track down my favorite authority figures at SxSW and other conferences. I also recommend this guide for upcoming SxSW newbies.
Brightkite was the second most used service for me at SxSW and one of my sponsors. It’s was great and fun to use for keeping track of who’s at SxSW and where they were hanging out. It’s also how I found out how to get the following custom Twitter T-shirt:
Plenty of people are using Brightkite at conferences around the globe to connect with others. It’s easy, simple, and you can send tweets of your location to your Twitter account for those who aren’t on Brightkite. Making use of the photos helped me to sort out which parties were worth hopping to and even a few secret parties that were going on.
You might also want to see what Foursquare will be up to around that time or even Whrrl (who also has an insanely awesomesauce iPhone app)! Mobile location apps are a must for any conference or event you plan to attend.
I think this is self explanatory. Of course Twitter is a great communications tool. Who doesn’t know that. However, using Twitter search can help you find everything your looking for faster and easier. Keep track of the hashtags (#sxsw) being used for the conferences you attend that way you can not only find those you’re a fan of, but also new interesting people, panels, parties, and events.
I also recommend throwing in a few extra keywords that you’d like to track to get more topic related tweets instead of sorting through the hundreds of tweets that will undoubtedly flow by if you’re only using #sxsw. If twitter search is down, switch to TweetTabs or Twazzup or head to EverythingTwitter for more Twitter search tools.
How many times have you run out of business cards or forgotten them altogether? I didn’t even have business cards last year (and I still don’t). That’s OK because ConTxts saved the day. Contxts is an SMS business card that allows someone to simply text your name to 50500 and receive more information about you.
Brightkite
Brightkite was the second most used service for me at SxSW and one of my sponsors. It’s was great and fun to use for keeping track of who’s at SxSW and where they were hanging out. It’s also how I found out how to get the following custom Twitter T-shirt:
Plenty of people are using Brightkite at conferences around the globe to connect with others. It’s easy, simple, and you can send tweets of your location to your Twitter account for those who aren’t on Brightkite. Making use of the photos helped me to sort out which parties were worth hopping to and even a few secret parties that were going on.
You might also want to see what Foursquare will be up to around that time or even Whrrl (who also has an insanely awesomesauce iPhone app)! Mobile location apps are a must for any conference or event you plan to attend.
Twitter (Search)
I think this is self explanatory. Of course Twitter is a great communications tool. Who doesn’t know that. However, using Twitter search can help you find everything your looking for faster and easier. Keep track of the hashtags (#sxsw) being used for the conferences you attend that way you can not only find those you’re a fan of, but also new interesting people, panels, parties, and events.
I also recommend throwing in a few extra keywords that you’d like to track to get more topic related tweets instead of sorting through the hundreds of tweets that will undoubtedly flow by if you’re only using #sxsw. If twitter search is down, switch to TweetTabs or Twazzup or head to EverythingTwitter for more Twitter search tools.
ConTxts
How many times have you run out of business cards or forgotten them altogether? I didn’t even have business cards last year (and I still don’t). That’s OK because ConTxts saved the day. Contxts is an SMS business card that allows someone to simply text your name to 50500 and receive more information about you.
- Try texting “Corvida” to 50500
Share Your Conference Communication Tools!
- What tools are you using to communicate at conferences?
- What tools have you avoided altogether?
- What tools do you hope to use in the future?
