How to Rock a Twitter Networking Event

Last night I went to the Boston Twestival at Om in Harvard Square. I did not bring my A-Game. I don't even know if I brought my B-Game. I could chalk it up to a situation that wasn't exactly conducive to networking...too many people in a dark lounge with a DJ.

However, it wasn't the venue's fault: it was mine. What was up? I'm a pretty chipper, feisty and ferocious personality both on Twitter and in life. I can rock a room...and not just while I'm on Tweetdeck. I'm fairly ridiculous.

Why was I unsuccessful in my opinion? Unwillingness to plan, go all out, and prepare effectively. Simple things...but I just decided to throw them all in the trash and wing it. Haha, needless to say it wasn't exactly a great move. I met some really cool peeps: @Amandagravel, @akarlin, @shwen, @robertcollins, @bostonmarketer @dough, @justinmwhitaker, @tibbon and @pistachio Also Kudos to @mdurwin and @cmajor.

So without further ado, here are some key things to remember for networking or how to bring your A-Game.

Key things to do at a Twitter networking event:

• Have a back-up plan: Big old fail on that one for me. I was banking on a couple people that I knew from Boston to be at this event. Basically, try and work the room in tandem and pool our resources for tag teaming.
• Have a legible name: I tried twice to write my name on my @ name tag. Pretty much a gigantic failure due to me egregious dude handwriting. Thankfully @AmandaGravel was there for the save.
• Make sure your Twitter Avatar Looks like you: I failed miserably on this front. After coming home this morning I looked at my avatar and I couldn't even recognize myself. This was a bad move. I immediately changed it so I am instantly recognizable at an event. Don't put up a 10 year old picture of yourself...transparency and ease of recognition are far more important.
• Stay till the end: Let's be honest, people are a lot more likely to take your business card and talk to you if they have been drinking. You can use this to your advantage if you can manage to stay around long enough to do this.
• 90% of the people won't know who you are: Guilty of having a swelled head about this one. Look, half the people in the room (or in my case 90%) will have no idea who you are, what you do, and who you are with. This is regardless of how cool you think you are on the internet. Unless you are Brogan, Guy, Armano, or Laura...not many people will know who you are. Use this to your advantage, do a couple of soft sells and invite them to come check your site out. Sometimes people will be more impressed, because they think they may have stumbled onto a jewel of information and insight. Sneak attack!
• Twitter is exactly the same as Networking: It doesn't matter where it is, whether it's in real life or online. If you don't have anything to add, however, nobody will listen.

So there you have it...some things to mull over. Definitely am going to rock the bejesus out of the next event...and take my own advice. Pretty excited actually, looking forward to doing a horizontal to give you my business card (I'm not kidding).

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tagged as Branding, business card, douchebag, legible name, networking, twitter, useful avatar