Tips for Using Social Media at RSNA 2011
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Editor’s Note: We asked Christina Thielst, FACHE, to share social media advice for RSNA attendees. Thielst is a healthcare administrator, consultant & author, and was recently named a Top Social Media Voice for the HIT Industry by Health Data Management.
The Radiological Society of North American Annual Meeting opens tomorrow and it is a great time to experience the conference using social media. Event and exhibit set-up has started in Chicago and conference organizers have established their Twitter hastag, #RSNA11, to help attendees stay up-to-date on news, happenings and daily contests. Vendors and attendees have begun adding their thoughts and offers and local businesses, such as restaurants, are tweeting specials for RNSA11 attendees.
Christina Thielst, FACHE
But, social media isn’t just about receiving information. It is also about joining in the conversation and networking. The acts of tweeting information and re-tweeting the tweets of others are just as important. Attendees should consider contributing to the #RSNA11 conversation by tweeting (up to 140 characters) their thoughts about exhibits and sessions or sharing the pearls of wisdom and new ideas that will come out of the week. Following the tweets of others who are participating in the meeting also gives you an opportunity to see other perspective or learn important information from sessions that you miss.
I like to use Twitter during conferences to help me keep track of those exceptional thoughts I always seem to have during educational sessions. In addition, I re-tweet the posts of others that offer value to my life and work. Once I return home, I just sign on to Twitter and go to my profile to review the bursts of new ideas and resources.
If Twitter isn’t your thing, consider becoming a fan of RSNA’s Facebook Page and keeping up with the news and events on this channel.
So, the time for you to set-up and prepare is now. To get started, set up your own Twitter account and then visit and follow @RSNA and #RSNA11. During the conference use the #RSNA11 hastag on each of your posts so they will be picked up by anyone following the #RSNA11 conversation.
You can follow the conversation in a variety of ways:
- On the hastag site at http://hashtags.org/RSNA11
- Search #RSNA11on Twitter
- set up a dashboard, such as, Hootsuite or TweetDeck, on your laptop or other mobile device to monitor multiple social media channels at the same time
- If you will be using a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, consider downloading the Twitter or Facebook app to make following and tweeting easier
The important thing to do now is to get your Facebook Page or Twitter account set up before you leave forChicago, so you are ready to engage in social media next week. Enjoy tweeting and the conversation with your peers.
–Christina Thielst is an independent consultant to innovative healthcare organizations who desire effective strategies and solutions to the challenges faced in the shifting healthcare environment. She has been blogging since 2005 at Christina’s Considerations and is the author of the book Social Media in Healthcare: Connect, Communicate, Collaborate (2010) and its companion publications
