Thanks Rick. I did hear about the unfortunate "flaming" that occurred at a conference (last year I think), but I'm hoping that this is atypical since twittering at conferences seems to have become quite common.
I can understand the concern that this new type of communication could be a bit "creepy", but I don't that will happen. My goal, and I think the goal of most of those who would tweet at the event, is to share what we think is really interesting and useful with others. As Annette alluded to in another TIPS post, there's always going to be a "backchannel" - people talking and whispering to each other about the event. Twitter extends the number of receivers of those voices and I think all we can do is to become a part of that backchannel. The fact is that our smartphones enable this kind of communication and like it or not it will be used by attendees and hopefully in a mature way (but there's no way to control that of course). I think the only constructive thing we can do is to join that backchannel and make sure that correct information gets out. Also, think about the many ways that using twitter could enhance the experience of a conference: How many times have you attended a presentation at a conference and you were sitting there wondering if there was a better presentation going on in another room? You could check the twitter conversation and quickly find out. How about a tweet like this: "Want to discuss Zimbardo's talk last night? We're all meeting at Joe's at 7pm #epaconf" "Dr. Froman just put a great web site up on the screen. It's www.greatwebsite.com". Check it out" I personally won't be taking video unless I have that person's permission, but every smartphone is capable of taking pictures (and many can shoot video) and I don't know how you're going to stop attendees from taking pictures and sharing them. I think the only thing conference organizers can do is to put up posters around the conference which remind people of proper twitter etiquette. Michael > Knowing Michael Britt only from his posts on TIPS, I don't know if he is > aware of the fad of Twitter flaming that has gone on at recent conferences > where the purpose has been only to criticize and make fun of the speakers. > This seems to be the context Mike Palij is assuming here. From Michael > Britt's other work including his podcasts, I am certain that is not his > intention. He seems interested only in sharing the excitement of being at > the conference and learning new things with his Twitter followers (and > others using the assigned hashtag). Whereas recording something at a > conference might require prior permission, I don't see how sending tweets > from the conference could ever require permission. Isn't the whole point > of a conference presentation to make your research public? A conference > isn't a cabal. Even if everyone was required to put away their cellphones > during the presentation (which seems a little "high school" for a > professional conference), Michael could easily take notes and then send > tweets between sessions. > > Rick > > Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Michael The Psych Files podcast http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=1061 or send a blank email to leave-1061-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
