On Blogging Australia

I’m writing this post from Oz-IA on Saturday afternoon.

It’s getting late in the day and there are lots of sideways looks going on around me - people are seeing who else is about. I’m given to wonder why - are they reevaluating their current  personal relationships or just tracking business rivals and potential employees? My guess is that a bit of both is happening here. But I digress.

Here are my five tips for conference bloggers:

1. BYO wireless card or tee up access beforehand: there was a bit of quiet wailing and gnashing of teeth this morning until the wireless internet connection in the conference room became available - apart from all the Twitter-ing and moblogging wanting to start, some of the speakers needed the connection to make some last minute tweaks to their presentations.
2. Don’t forget your laptop ettiquette - try not to get in other people’s way or make too much noise - other people need to enjoy the experience too (audio volume and velcro bag opening are potentially very noisy). By their very nature, laptops are highly portable items - they can easily go missing - keep security in mind.
3. Think about a power source - don’t assume that mains power will be available from every part of the conference facility. Chances are it will be available somewhere, but most of us would be uncomfortable leaving their laptop out in the foyer of a hotel while they went into another room - this can be solved by an extension power cord in many places.
4. Good conferences have frequent breaks - use these to top up your laptop’s power, network, take bathroom breaks - basic time management stuff, but it helps.
5. Don’t forget what you are there to do - meet other people in real life. Most conferences that I’ve attended (probably an average of 2-3 a year for the last 10 years) have a wealth of information available - most of which is around in one form or another online. The real opportunity is in the people that you can meet and learn from, and follow up with online later. It’s about networking, people!

Have you moblogged from a conference? Did it get in the way?