Tips for live tweeting from a science conference

I used Twitter to report from 2 conferences and was relatively happy with the results. See the summaries for yourself -- the oldest post is at the bottom and the newest at the top (reverse chronological order, same as blogs):

- NEJM Horizons Conference
- ACAAI 2008 Annual Meeting

Consequently, I was happy to respond to the question below:

@dreamingspires: this weekend is an experiment in live tweeting. any tips/advice for doing this at conferences.... #NEJM this is not.

Tips for live tweeting from a science conference

1. Take your time, don't feel pressure to post. Think before your hit "update"
2. If you are in the middle of a lively conversation, posting on Twitter is counterproductive, wait.
3. Twitter works great to summarize your thoughts after the conference - in the evening or at the airport.
4. Tell other conference attendees you are tweeting, they will be more engaged and provide feedback about your posts and whether you are "doing it right." I live tweeted from NEJM, ACAAI and multiple lectures. Enjoyed it every time and my colleagues were fascinated and encouraging.
5. Don't forget to enjoy the conference and your live tweeting from it. Otherwise, it's worthless.
6. Ask your Twitter followers what they think of your updates & what they want to know from the conference.
7. "Live tweeting can be 'non-live' in the evening too = better quality" - Yes.
8. Summarize all of your live tweets from the conference in a blog post. It is helpful for later reference.

References:

Science Conference Coverage with Twitter
NEJM Horizons Conference to Push Boundaries of Traditional Medical Publishing, Day 1
Twitter Updates from the Severe Asthma Workshop at the 2008 Annual Meeting of American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI)
Twitter Dispatches from the New England Journal of Medicine's Horizons Conference. The Efficient MD.
I will be attending NEJM Horizons Conference to push the boundaries of traditional medical publishing, suggestions welcomed
Allergists Can Use Twitter Microblogging Service to Send Patient Reminders
Using Twitter to Microblog a CME Meeting
A Doctor's Opinion: Why I Started Microblogging on Twitter
27 Things To Do Before a Conference, chrisbrogan.com.

Image source: Twitter.com.

Related reading:
8 things I learnt about using twitter as a participation tool. Olivia Mitchell, 2009.
How to Attend a Conference as Yourself - and make the best out of it - Harvard Business Review  http://goo.gl/OsyxO