My presentation to #heweb16, on how we used Twitter to conduct successful chats. We explore the dos and don't and look at some epic Twitter chat fails.

1. Oct. 18, 2016
IsThis Hashtag Really
Necessary? Taking the
Plunge intoTwitter Chats
Dave Tyler, @dtyler321 #mcs12

2. About
Brockport
• Part of the SUNY system
• 65 miles east of Buffalo, 25 miles
west of Rochester
• ~8,200 students (undergrad/grad)
• 1979 Special Olympics
• Stan Van Gundy and William
Fichtner

3. TWITTER
CHATS!!!

4. TWITTER
CHATS!!!
✤ Safe and Effective
✤ Fun for the whole family
✤ FDA Approved.*

5. TWITTER
CHATS!!!
✤ Safe and Effective
✤ Fun for the whole family
✤ FDA Approved.*
*may not be FDA approved. But you don’t need to consult your doctor before using Twitter chats.

6. But I thought Twitter was dead?

7. “I went to look at your twitter and you
were wearing cool pants. I screen
grabbed those pants and sent it to my
style team #Wizwearscoolpants.”
–Kanye West, Philosopher-King

8. Don’t AllTwitter Chats
Go HorriblyWrong?

9. Don’t AllTwitter Chats
Go HorriblyWrong?
Well…let’s just test this theory
out.

34. GAHHHHHHH!
SCARY!

39. Actually, this can be a beautiful thing.

40. Our adventures intoTwitter chats

41. We have a
new(ish)
president

42. We have a
new(ish)
president
✤ @heidimacp started in July 2015
✤ We were looking for ways to
introduce her to Brockport
community

43. How we handled it
✤ Decided on #bportprezchat as our hashtag and an
“account takeover.”
✤ Announced Nov. 3 as our date. Set up for an hour-long
chat
✤ Promoted it on social, and through email to our alumni
✤ Also relied on a network of active young alumni on
social media to help get the word out.

44. How we prepared
✤ Research, research research
✤ Listening
✤ Developing a briefing sheet
✤ Asked our student interns and their friends what they
want to know about

45. Yes, we had plants.

46. What happened
✤ Started Slow: No questions for 4 minutes.
✤ Got 32 questions in the course of the hour, answered
them all
✤ Got to share a picture of The President’s Dog.

48. The results?
✤ 4 times our usual daily Twitter
traffic
✤ A lot of good will from alumni
and students
✤ Shared the whole chat on
Storify

49. We liked it so
much…
✤ We tried it again.
✤ Held a chat with the
construction team for a big
construction project on
campus.
✤ Leaned heavily on Cover It
Live (Free for nonprofits. I
think)

50. Prep was more challenging
✤ Didn’t get to promote it as much as perhaps we
should.
✤ Was actually tougher to schedule than our presidential
chat
✤ We had plants

51. Building
A BETTER
BROCKPORT
NORTH CAMPUS
REVITALIZATION
Didn’t go nearly
as well
✤ Used the hashtag #bportnorth
✤ Not as many outside questions
only 22 comments.
✤ Not as many on Twitter
✤ We also had 5 people who were
the “answerers” and that was a
little unwieldy.

52. But was it still a success?

53. What did we learn?

54. Be Prepared
✤ Listen to your audiences before you chat
✤ Ask people what they’d like to talk about.
✤ Be aware of what’s being said about you in other
places.
✤ Know what you’d like to say

55. MakeYour Chatter Comfortable
✤ Ask them where they want to hold the chat
✤ Figure out who will type
✤ Eliminate distraction
✤ Snacks/drinks

56. You never know
what you’ll find out

57. You never know
who will be grateful
for what you’re
saying

58. Answer all the questions.
✤ Even the silly ones.

59. What would we
do differently?
✤ Have longer chats
✤ Maybe later in the day
✤ More publicity in advance
✤ Use the hashtag consistently
✤ Have another one, sooner

60. Hey, Dave, wrap this up, will ya?
✤ Be not afraid
✤ Prepare
✤ Listen
✤ Have fun.

61. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Aggressive
Trolling?
@dtyler321
www.slideshare.net/dtyler321