Using social media to network at conferences

Last week, I attended the Hispana Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL. Many professional women were in the marketing and blogging business, but there were many doctors, TV personalities, and consultants. 

I was astounded at the power of social media during this conference. I’ve been to tweetups and other meetings using social media, but at this conference, everyone was on it.

As every speaker got up, the host told us what hashtag to use during the session. Sometimes it was #strayeru or #susangkomen or #whiteparty . It always carried the hashtag of the conference, which was #hls2013 . 

Following the #HLS2013 Hashtag

Here’s where the networking comes in. Even if I didn’t catch the name of the person next to me, or I didn’t know the handle of the speaker, I just had to search for the hashtag to find everyone at the conference.

I took business cards from everyone I met, but even with that, I didn’t talk to everyone there. When I came home, I searched through the hashtag and was able to find Twitter profiles for everyone there. 

Business cards are great, but likes and followers are forever

Having a hashtag for your event, even a small one, will not only increase traffic through your site and refer new followers, but will deepen and broaden the relationships your attendees have with each other, and with your business.

I look forward to developing my relationships through social media with the women that attended and seeing them again next year.