@joycemckee is looking for success stories for a report on Trade Show Use of Twitter.

Here’s my submission… @ her if you can help.

By searching for the hashtags (unique ID words related to the event, usually starting with # sign) on the event the week before it starts, I am able to see who the real leaders are.

I follow many of the attendees and all of the speakers (Twitter links are on speaker bio pages and/or their blogs). Often I meet several of the speakers before the event starts, and make appointment to meet up with attendees that are active in the community. I also check to see if the is a “Tweet Up” (meeting of those who have connected on Twitter) and add that to my schedule.

I’ve found that the best opportunities at most shows happen in this network. Once these tweeps (Twitter users) decide to RT (”ReTweet: A Twitter post that gets repeated) I know that a large active group will be aware of whatever I’m promoting.

Two more tips to get traffic to your booth:

1) Give aways for Twitter users. I often tweet “I’ve got a copy of Twitter Revolution for the next person who finds me.”  It works for @The RealShaq with NBA tickets and it will work for you.

2) Get your staff tweeting. This is not a media to advertise on.. this is a way to network. Get everyone involved. Your customers expect INDIVIDUALS to be availalbe

I’m watching the stream on the celebrity battles to get millions of followers. That’s all good and fun for all of us.

But let’s keep it real and not get taken in on rumors like

Oprah is announcing today that she is buying Twitter

Twitter will have a fail whale for 3 days when Oprah starts Tweeting

Oprah’s show today is timed to disrupt #FollowFriday

Twitter has bots that will set realistic looking Tweets from Oprah to anyone that follows her

These rumors are not true. I hope you will join me in denying these rumors as often as possible on Twitter today.

Your blog trackbacks and comments here will help us spread the news that Oprah is not bad news for Twitter

Technorati Tags: oprah, twitter, twitter rumors

Public safety officials are starting to rely on Twitter to find out what is going on.

CNN admits that it’s faster than waiting for the news

Police and fire departments are using Twitter

“We think the police department has an obligation to get information out to the community through whatever means or mechanisms we have at our disposal,” said Lakeland Police Assistant Chief Bill LePere. “Traditional media releases, expecting the local print media to pick it up and run it in the newspaper tomorrow, is 24 hours too late.”

Read the rest of the story on CNN

twitter police, tweet 911, twitter fire, cnn twitter

I was just reading a delightful transript of @HildyGottlieb’s telling he 85 year old mother about Twitter.

Explaining Twitter to Grandma Rose

How many times a day does this happen to you?

I’m guessing that as an author of Twitter Revolution, I get this a bit more than most.. but my guess is that similar conversations are happening about a million times each day. That’s less than once per user per week.

Once someone gets to the “How come I haven’t heard of this before?” it’s a quick jump to Stage 2 of Twitter Acceptance. (click to read “The Three Stages of Twitter Acceptance”)

Will they all follow the early adopters and start tweeting everyday. Maybe some.. but even with average use dropping with the people adopting Twitter… we are going to be mainstream pretty soon.

on the TwitCast, I’ve heard predictions as high as 50 million this year. I’m more conservative.. guessing closer to 30 million. Either way, the tweeps on up till now are early adopters.

We’re just getting started. Comment below on your thoughts about how the mass acceptance of Twitter will change how we communicate, market our businesses, and live our lives.

How many people did you tell Twitter about his week?

I can’t get a hospital to let me use my cell phone, but surgeons are now using Twitter in the Operating Room

Here’s the story from CNN.

twitter doctor, twitter handbook, twitter stories

Tonight’s http://TwitCastRadio.com was my Twinterview with @MattBacak, who was recently subjected to a Twitter Storm of negative tweets over a press release he issued about his social media activities.

Matt has been promoting online, teaching others how to marketing their books and businesses on the Internet and building several multi-million dollar businesses.

While the press release statements were true, they gave the impression that Matt was in Stage 2.. looking for a way to profit or use technologies like Twitter.

I knew this wasn’t like Matt. So I invited him to tell us what happened.

Listen to the interview now. I think you’ll agree that it’s a story of a sincere guy, who learns from his mistake. (no wonder he’s been so successful).

Do you think Matt was genuine on the call? I admit to not being totally objective, but I think you’ll hear that he is the man of integrety I know and love

Post your comments below.

bacak, twitter book, social media, twitter radio

It’s been a busy day on Twitter. The Twitter Moms have been roaring about a Motrin ad, it was the top search term under #motrinmoms plus as high as #3 for #motrin.

My take on the bad ad was posted earlier today on the Twitter Moms site

As of this writing, the offending ad was taken down, and I’m getting an error for the Motrin site, you can read a synopsis of the damage here

Long term, I think the more revolutionary change is how we get our news. Earthquakes and wild fires are reported faster on Twitter and now the Orange Country Register is openly showing that it uses photos from TwitPics and news from Twitter to cover stories.

Companies and brands need to be monitoring social media 24/7 and media needs to think about how this could change the viability of their future business models.

Now that we all are the media, what happens to the old school?Technorati Tags: twitter news, fires on twitter, motrin, motrinmoms

Continuing with my thread of “Twitter in the news soon won’t be news” .. I have to report on the latest move.

Reporters using Twitter during an interview to get questions for a panel.

We know that using Twitter is becoming about as standard as using a telephone, and anyone watching live seminars and Ustream videos know how important Twitter is.. but here is @ricksanchezcnn on CNN.. you don’t get much more mainstream than that!

Twitter influencing the world stories are becoming more common.

I foresee the day soon where stories like this will be about as boring as a story of a reporter using a car or telephone, but right now.. HOW COOL!

Twitter in Congress

A tweet from @CoachDeb caught my attention:

@johnculberson u just became my FAVORITE Tweeter! TX 4 keeping America informed while the lights went out on Congress by #Pelosi

I hadn’t seen the event live, but following Congressman Culberson told me more

I will let you click through to see how Twitter is a tool for democracy. My objective is show how easy it was for me to get news.. even when I wasn’t paying much attention.

Should you trust Twitter.. The Exxon Mess

As soon as I finished catching up on Congress through Twitter, I noticed a message from @BenMack to read this post from @jowyang

How “Janet” Fooled the Twittersphere She’s the Voice of Exxon Mobil

The lessons learned section at the bottom of the story are a must read

Twitter is not just for telling your tweeps about your cat, hat and TV watching plans (I’m watching The Cat in the Hat.. how did you know?). All these tweets are bits and pieces of what is really going on in our lives and some of it is very important.

But remember, Twitter is much like hanging out in a downtown shopping district of a large city. You’ll find some bargains, can meet up with friends, and meet new ones (even better on Twitter). But watch out for the guy that is selling watches and handbags. They may not be the real.

Share your Twitter Makes the the News story below.. not just a story about Twitter.. but Twitter helping the news spread faster, or best of all getting the story out that we might not have heard otherwise.

What’s your favortie story of how Twitter changed the world?

I doesn’t have to be about you. You don’t need to be the person in the story, or breaking the news. We are all reporters now!

Just scroll down and post your comment so we can include you in the our book. We know that the tweets of all of us will give us a better book. We are writing Twitter style.

Be sure to include your @ name so we can follow you.