When Social Media Contacts Collide in Person! - Business Info Guide

By Stephanie Chandler on Aug 01, 2012 with Comments 0

Last month I attended the annual National Speakers Association conference in Indiana. Before the event, I sent some tweets with the event hashtag (#NSA12), and one fellow Tweeter wrote back asking if I was attending. We exchanged a couple of tweets and in a crazy twist of fate, ended up sitting next to each other on the connecting flight through Denver, and then shared a car service from the airport to the hotel. What are the odds? That contact was Patrick Allmond (@PatrickAllmond) and we became fast friends.

During a round-table event, one of the people at my table introduced himself and a bell went off in my head. I replied: ?David Newman. Why do I know your name? Are you famous?? He kind of chuckled and we went on to have a great conversation. It wasn?t until I logged on to Twitter later that I made the connection?I had been following David in my ?Favorites? column for over a year.

Shazaam! The magic of merging a social media contact with a live interaction set off fireworks. We scheduled a phone call, discovered we had some very similar business philosophies, and realized we could help each other generate more business. Less than an hour later, David emailed me an excellent, warm lead.

Attending the conference also provided me with an opportunity to meet some other people who I previously only knew because of their books or online collaborations. Jane Atkinson is the author of a book I recommend often: The Wealthy Speaker. She has previously been a guest speaker at my annual Nonfiction Writer?s Conference, and I was a guest for her quarterly teleseminar. When I found out she was also attending the NSA conference, I made sure to track her down so we could meet in person. It was great fun to bring our connection full circle.

This trip showed me the incredible power of starting a business relationship online, and then cementing it in person. It?s not always realistic to meet in person, and you can still have some pretty fabulous relationships based completely online, but when you get to add that human connection to the equation, the bond and opportunities can be even greater.

Next time I attend a conference, I?ll be even more proactive about finding out who is attending, especially among those with whom I?m connected via social media. It will be easy to plant the seed in advance, and it will make the conference experience that much more rewarding.

Do you have any wild conference experiences or tips for making the most of an event? Share them in the comments below?

Filed Under: Social Media

Tags: conference ? national speakers association ? Social Media

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