Inspired by Ryan’s post I have been investing more time into Twitter (and am aiming to invest more still). Part of it has been really setting aside fears to try. That is, just because you can follow anyone’s conversation doesn’t mean you’re welcome to join in. Conversely, it doesn’t mean you’re not welcome to join in. As such, I’ve taken an approach of interjecting into a conversation with those I am more familiar with when it relates (if anyone has other suggestions, I am all ears. Just in the process of learning this thing through experience).
Twitter is a simple, open communication platform (not just a micro-blogging tool). That simplicity creates a communication platform that allows user to utilize it as a tool for communication however they see fit. It is sometimes difficult with open platforms to see the value of such a tool or to figure out how to develop a means to really benefit from its use. As such, I have come up with one such method.
I am on the leadership team as the technical overseer for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at UNCW. I work within the “Large Group” team that focuses specifically on our “Large Group” meetings that happen once a week (akin to a church’s Sunday sermon). As I’ve been involved with this, I’ve noticed that the beginning setup phase for the majority of our big events is frantic. People come in at various times based on scheduling, instruments are being setup, sound is being setup, and other technological things are being setup in preparation for the event. Different pieces of different things come from different people. While part of the issue is unifying it as a business process, the other part of the equation is communication.
That’s where Twitter comes in. If every person on our Large Group team had Twitter setup on their mobile phones (we all have texting) and followed, with text notifications, each other person on the Large Group team, things could go much more smoothly.
Examples of how Twitter can improve communication within a ’stage setup’ or event environment:
- When someone just gets out of class and is on their way, they tweet it. This allows everyone on the team to know that they’re on their way to the help setup the event.
- If a piece of equipment is not working or was forgotten, it can be tweeted. This tweet will notify those who are not yet on site and they can quickly respond with a tweet notifying everyone they will take care of it (or cannot).
- People are not always in the same room at the same time, so periodic status updates can be sent out. Eg: “Sound check is complete.” or “The band is ready”.
- Guest speaker arrival can be tweeted to ensure proper greetings and experience.
- “Welcome” personnel (those students who volunteer to be outside welcoming new students before “doors open”) can also follow these tweets so they can accurately wrap up conversations, moving the flow and the environment more toward the event as “Go time” approaches.
- If technical difficulty occurs and personnel need to leave the site for other tools, they can keep up with the status of the event (and be notified about other things) to avoid having to be brought back up to speed.
These are just a few ideas of the many more that are possible. If you have any ideas on how Twitter can be used to communicate in settings similar to this or in other settings, I’ll add them to my list here :)