Calling For Responsible Trade Show Twittering

Last week at South by Southwest, we saw Twitter and Meebo used to really shape the show in real-time. As I wrote, I think this is a good thing, since it combines the elements of the “unconference” (which I find too disorganized) with a traditional trade conference months in the making. Last week at SXSW was, to me, the *perfect* marriage of all of this, and it was extremely well-balanced.

And that’s my fear. The concept was fairly new, certainly not planned to turn out this way, and it was perfect. Next time there’s a congregation of savvy social media-types at a trade show, though, I’m concerned that too many will come into it planning to do something like the Zuckerberg audience-keynote, and completely overdo it. Obviously some ethics will develop over time, and it will balance out.

But we already *have* the balance. So can we all please just keep it in check? I don’t really have any interest in seeing trade conferences ruined just “because we can.”

Wield the power responsibly, folks. We have everything to lose.

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