Social Media
Marketing by DGdesign

Social media is an exciting field to work in. It’s always changing, and I’m always learning and trying new things. For me, yesterday involved a new experience: I was an official live blogger for the BlogWell social media marketing conference in Dallas.

When the organizers of BlogWell asked me last month to be one of their live bloggers, this concept was somewhat new to me. I’ve watched journalists from sites like Mashable do live tweets or chat streams to cover important speeches, and I (@Dallas_Foodie) do similar live social media posting at restaurants and food events. These methods are more accurately termed “live social media event coverage” or “live tweeting”, whereas “live blogging” involves more typing, a laptop instead of an iPhone, and no photography.

After my day of live blogging, I can say it makes a conference of speeches feel more fast-paced and fun. It is also a great way to force yourself to take good notes that other people can understand. The organizers of BlogWell sent me a template to use, and I think this format could be adopted for anyone’s notes. Live blogging would be especially useful if your company sends you to a conference and expects you to report back on what you learned.

One caveat, but a good one: the blogging process was not truly “live” because I had to email my completed blog to an editor before it was published, but I don’t think they edited anything. Blogs were published approximately 15 minutes after each session. Here are the results of my day as a live blogger:

1. Texas Instruments: Amplify Your Sales Teams with Communities
2. Social Media Ethics Briefing: Staying Out of Trouble
3. Level 3: How We Took the “Blah” Out of Corporate Blogging

The benefits for an event organizer, speaker, or sponsor company is that live bloggers and live social media event coverage volunteers help spread the word about your event long beyond the event date. Their content helps inform people who couldn’t attend, spreads your name and hashtags through Facebook and Twitter sharing, and gives your blog/web site long-term SEO. This is great stuff. All events should have official live social media coverage.