Top 5 Reasons You Should Twitter Your Annual Meeting

Don’t know what Twitter is? Keep reading to find out what it is and how your association is missing out by not using it!

The world is buzzing about the benefits of social media and technology, and the hottest topic these days is a micro-blogging network called Twitter. Becoming familiar with Twitter and how it can improve communication and enhance relationships with members must become a top priority for all associations.

Twitter gives its users a new and interactive way to share stories, mobilize people to action and gather information. Users are united through common interests, group associations and the desire to be more connected in a world where busy lives and overwhelming to-do lists create distance and alienation.

Many associations are using Twitter to personally connect members with association staff to positively affect retention and member involvement. As association staff and members connect over Twitter, they develop specific bonds around their common interests and agenda, deepening the conversation about current issues within the association. User-friendly Twitter features also give associations the ability to promote publications and content which can announce upcoming events.

Let’s take a look at how Twitter can take your annual meeting to a whole new level by creating urgency for members to attend, strengthening retention and increasing your growth potential.

 

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. From Wikipedia.com

 

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Top 5 Reasons To Twitter Your Annual Meeting:

1.  Keep non-attendees informed on conference happenings.
2.  Keep attendees better informed about the day’s schedule.
3.  See the conference from a different perspective.
4.  Inspire non-attendees to attend next year.
5.  Stay connected to members.

          

2. Keep attendees better informed about the day’s schedule.
Twitter will give you the ability to be in constant conversation with attendees during the meeting, informing them about the day’s events. Attendees can quickly and easily respond to Twitter updates if they need to ask for more information. In addition to being connected with the association, attendees can also be connected to each other. They can share their experiences at the meeting, find out who is there and invite each other to meet up face-to-face while at the meeting.

3. See the conference from a different perspective.
What did your members think about the location of your annual meeting? Did they enjoy the speakers? Did the hospitality meet their expectations? What made the event worthwhile to them? The brief and interactive communication your members share via Twitter can give you a whole new perspective on the big event, which can be invaluable feedback for planning next year’s meeting.

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4. Inspire non-attendees to attend next year.
What’s a better way to inspire non-attendees to attend next year’s meeting than to make them jealous? Receiving Twitter messages from your staff and attendees that highlight the fun and enjoyment of reflecting over the past year’s accomplishments will be more than enough for non-attendees to wish they were there.

5. Stay connected to members.
Twitter can help take the edge off and encourage your members to communicate more with the association. You will get to know your members in a whole new way that will help the association develop communication to better market itself to members and potential members.

The power of social media tools like Twitter is that they can be used to make communication with large groups of people seem very personal. The typical annual meeting recap in the association newsletter seems distant and impersonal compared to the dynamic interactions of Twittering the event.
 
By connecting individuals and opening discussions, Twitter can also be a tool that aids associations in fulfilling their mission. Your association could use Twitter to serve as an energetic jump start to building momentum for a public campaign, or creating the foundation of a grassroots advocacy movement.