Going to conferences in person and following them online do not provide the same experiences. I think we can all agree.

This subject came up again during yesterday’s #assnchat, which I unfortunately was unable to attend. However, I took a look at the transcript (available here) this morning. There was some interesting stuff.

There was a great discussion about how planners should incorporate social media into their conferences, events and meetings. However, it seemed there was a concern that there might be too much online engagement and not enough “real-life” engagement. If I was giving a presentation, I’d definitely want people to be tweeting quotes and sharing information during it. But I’d still find it a little off-putting if everyone’s heads were buried in their laptops or their fingers were constantly tapping on their phones.

It comes down to one simple concept we learned back in preschool: respect. There’s a fine line between constant tweeting and just posting key takeaways. Not every point needs to be tweeted for posterity.

There was talk during Tuesday’s #assnchat about creating a digital etiquette guide, which I think is a great idea. Fill-in moderator Kiki L’Italien (who did a great job!) expressed interest in writing it, and I’m interested to see the outcome. The Internet has created an enormous capability for sharing information, but also for spamming information. We all need to be aware of how our actions (tweeting, taking electronic notes, etc…) can come across to presenters. Let’s remember to use a little respect.

I’m completely in favor of attendees sharing content during conferences. But it’s also possible for event planners to organize tools such as live-streams of presentations so attendees don’t feel like they have to tweet everything.

One last note: The New York Times has started a new column on Internet etiquette. Here’s the first installment.