Comments on: Should Twitter be Banned at Conferences?

By: Jay Zuckerman

Jay Zuckerman — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:18:08 +0000

As Kristi seemed to focus in on, I think the issue people receiving information they didn’t pay for is an interesting one. It brings me back to the concept of freemium and how it is essentially inevitable in competitive markets that price approaches marginal cost which in the case of information is close to zero.

Still, tweeting at conferences to any significant degree strikes me as plain silly.

By: Kikolani

Kikolani — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:39:37 +0000

In the aspect of people receiving information they didn’t pay for, I’m sure that can happen with regular note taking as easily with Twitter, although the note taking cannot be shared as instantly. But if they can ban videoing and recording, they certainly could take the initiative to ban tweeting.

I think that tweeting may take away from the experience for the attendee though. You’re reading tweets and responding, but not paying full attention to the speaker that you (or your company) paid money to hear. That seems a bit silly.

~ Kristi

By: Andrea Hill

Andrea Hill — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:39:18 +0000

Kate: With the sheer volume of conferences held every year, it’s not really feasible for people to attend everything they need/want. I’d argue that part of the benefits to attending a conference are beyond the information presented, so I don’t see Twitter as somehow being the reason people decide to stay at home rather than attending something. On the flip side, it actually can help speakers who can ensure their messages are further disseminated.

By: Andrea Hill

Andrea Hill — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:37:45 +0000

Melissa: I’m honestly surprised someone hasn’t figure that out yet: basically setting spam filters for tweets. I suppose the idea is that since you opt in to whoever you follow, you don’t need it, but I do think the idea of muting specific tweets or topics would be great.

I’d start with blocking references to political leaders, tiger woods and reality tv.

By: Kate Brown

Kate Brown — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:14:48 +0000

This is a great post. Although I agree with some of the points offered, I would like to specifically address the paying attendees vs. non paying public issue.

As a young woman just a few years out of college, I find it impossible to get time off and pay for the conferences that I would like to attend. Most of the tech conferences on my wishlist are not related to my job, so I would have to shoulder the financial burden of travel, etc.

For example, I followed #leweb on twitter and learned some valuable insights that wil help me as I build my career in the tech industry. Someday I would like to start my own company, and it in invaluable to me to be able to follow conferences like FOWA and LeWeb on social media.

Twitter will never be disallowed at conferences anyway.

By: Melissa Bernais

Melissa Bernais — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:08:38 +0000

As someone who is on the unwanted receiving end of conference tweets from people I follow, until I can specify #words that I don’t want to appear in my stream, I say yes.