Preparing for PePcon: Hit the Ground Running With Social Media
Editor’s Note
Author Renee Brisson-Khan is an enthusiastic veteran of previous PePcons and we asked her to share some tips for her fellow InDesign users on how to get most out of attending. Don’t miss her previous post, Preparing for PePcon: Coming Up With Your Conference Strategy.
After days of conference sessions and networking, even the most organized people with the best intentions may struggle to follow up with new connections. It’s just a natural consequence of returning to the real world and the inevitable backlog of work. To avoid this, and get the most out of PePcon, try a little pre-conference social media activity! It can help you get more out of the big event, cut down of follow-up time, and keep the benefits of attending going all year round. Let’s look at four powerful ways to connect.
LinkedIn: The Digital Business Card
For the love of Pete, please don’t treat LinkedIn like a resume! In reality, LinkedIn is the one of most powerful search engines for business. Think of who you want to meet and connect with, then tweak your profile to include keywords that resonate with those people and what they need. This will help you build credibility and make a great first impression.
Conference Tip: During the conference, consider using the LinkedIn app to easily connect to people you meet. It’s available for iOS, Windows, Android, and Blackberry and using it is far easier than collecting business cards and following up later manually.
Twitter: The News Feed
This channel can be your own personal news channel. Follow professionals to have information and tips sent your way. Set up notifications for #PePcon hashtags to keep on top of the news and seminars being announced—and to build recognition by sharing and contributing information of your own.
Facebook: The Connector
Different people use Facebook in different ways. Not everyone will feel comfortable adding you to what is often considered a personal network, but many folks have company pages and groups you may want to check out. For example, are you aware that there are specialty group pages dedicated to GREP or Digital Publishing? They are terrific resources to get connected to fellow InDesign geeks and keep in touch year round.
PePcon Connect: The Conference Discussion Board
As a repeat attendee, I can honestly say that PePcon Connect is one of my big motivators to keep coming every year. Put simply, with registration you get 6 months of access to this community discussion board where you can meet presenters and attendees, ask questions, and make connections before, during, and after the event. So, be sure to complete your profile and include a picture so people recognize you before you even get to the show. Add your social links so people can find you online.
Conference Tip: Look to the discussion boards for social outings and sightseeing plans. If you want to grow your network and meet great people, be visible and be present. You never know who you will meet!
Have other ideas? Share away!
These are just a few of the basic staples I use, I’m sure there are some other creative ideas out there. How do you connect with fellow professionals and make the most out of conferences and events? Let us know in the comments!
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During Chicago’s PePcon last summer I started to add Twitter users who attended PePcon to a Twitter list. Here is the Link: https://twitter.com/annetteRmurray/lists/pepcon
It is far from complete.
Great Article! thank you so much! i will definitely do that!
Thanks Renee! I added links to PePcon Connect, our community discussion board, to the last section of the article. People who aren’t registered to the show can still see what people are posting and talking about, but they can’t add their own profile or post or reply to posts.
Thank you Annette, I had looked for that past 2014 discussion and couldn’t find it. I’ll be sure to check out your twitter list, thanks for sharing!
So glad you liked the article Dario :-)
Anne-Marie I’m glad you added the links, thank you. It’ll be great for people to see the great information that is shared there… Just this week it made me look like a superstar with a client who needed to migrate from Quark to InDesign!
hahaha that’s ok!