Last week, I taught a hands-on Twitter workshop for NCHRA. The workshop was billed for beginners and had a group of Twitter newbies interested in learning more about the much-hyped site. One of them called me a “Twitter cheerleader” during the workshop and I think that description is accurate. Twitter is an incredibly valuable tool for networking, learning, sharing information and meeting new colleagues and friends. I have dozens (and dozens!) of stories about individuals I’ve connected with via Twitter. If you’re not yet using Twitter, whether for work, for fun or for both, I encourage you to give it a try. If for no other reason than to see first hand what it is all about.
Here are the resources I referenced during the workshop. There are countless other sources and articles for Twitter how-to’s. My advice is just to get started! The rest will come. As with any new site or technology, there is definitely a learning curve. But, it doesn’t take long to get comfortable with all the funky lingo and start to see the value.
And, this is a Benefits Buzz post from the spring with a lengthy—and lively!—discussion about whether or not Twitter is a viable tool for employee benefits communication.
Finally, a huge help during the workshop was for participants to see how I have my Twitter world organized in Hootsuite. I have groups of people I follow—Communications pros, HR pros, Health care and benefits experts, news sources, etc. Having the individuals and topics I’m most interested in makes using Twitter a lot more valuable and a lot less overwhelming.
Hope you get started! Please send me a Tweet when you do! Twitter.com/jenbenz
Jennifer Benz, SVP Communications Leader, has been on the leading edge of employee benefits for more than 20 years and is an influential voice in the employee benefits industry.
