How To Leverage Twitter During #NOEW2016

How To Leverage Twitter During #NOEW2016

by | Mar 15, 2016 | Social Media

Let me first start by saying that if you are an entrepreneur, it is important for you to have a Twitter presence. It’s not necessarily just a way for people to tell you about what they had for breakfast. As startup founders, people often want to know about the people behind the companies they met or saw pitch during NOEW. They also want you to make it easy for them to find you, engage with you and spread the word about what you’re doing (at least, what’s relevant).

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week is an opportunity to capture insights and thoughts from thought leaders in this emerging tech startup city.

Benefits of using Twitter during #NOEW2016

  • Leverage an existing (and popular event)

NOEW is the premier entrepreneur event in New Orleans, and including the hashtag in your tweets will help you gain more exposure and reach a wider audience on twitter.

#NOEW2016 helps you gain new followers (and colleagues, who are also attending the event)

Usually when someone finds you on Twitter, they’re interested in something about you that connects to their industry, interest, social group, etc. Twitter can be a low-commitment way to exchange contact info with people you meet or want to meet, both virtually and in person.

When you attend an event like #NOEW2016, the shared interest is #NOEW2016.

Take that extra step to find out if there’s something in common that drew you both there. Who knows what could come from it?

  • Talk to your users via Twitter.

Are you a new photo sharing app, wedding planning app or in the health or #medtech space? Sharing posts on twitter during a major event allows you to find potential users who might be attending. Twitter itself blew up at SxSW by being the right thing at the right time in the right place.

  • Establish yourself as a thought leader.

Do you have a unique perspective within your industry? Start tweeting about it and see how many people connect. People are hungry for real info and experience (not just rehashed stuff and platitudes). Give them what they want!

  • Establish yourself as a follower of prominent thought leaders.

You can actually help other people with your own special expertise and taste as a curator. Would you rather follow 10 people who post something you want to read once a month, or who seem like they’re constantly bringing great things to your attention?

  • You get a lot when you give a lot. Connect with others at #NOEW2016, attend events and quote thought leaders. They’ll thank you for tweeting about them, and you’ll find new friends and colleagues.

Here’s are some great sample tweets for #NOEW2016:

Here’s a great way to promote what you’re doing at NOEW:

Here’s a  great way to support your fellow entrepreneurs during NOEW:

Want to promote your product during NOEW, do this:

The How: Now, here’s the play by play on how to do it.

For those who already have an account:

  • Update your personal and company twitter ( if you’re a company founder, it’s important to have both) profiles to clarify who you are, what you do, how you benefit your users and why anyone should care.  I think Matt Candler, founder of 4.0 Schools, does a great job of integrating his personal/founder profile and his company profile.

  •   Jot down 2-4 hashtags that you want to use during #NOEW2016 (And yes, this hashtag should be on your list). Tip: Make sure you’re using hashtags that are specific to your industry.
  • Share to your personal Twitter profile and your business profile. If you don’t already have a twitter account for your business, create one! I like to post to my founder account, and then RT to my business account and vice versa.
  • When attending events, quote the presenters and use their event hashtags and Twitter handles if you know them.  Tip: Before the event starts, look up the presenters on Twitter and follow them.

  • For presenters, throw up a slide with your company, twitter handle and the #NOEW2016 hashtag.  If you’re also using your own event hashtag, let your audience know which hashtags you’ll be using and how to find you on social media before you start speaking.
  • Spread the word about your product, event, company, offer, but do it in a way that targets attendees who might be your target customers.

  • Network with Twitter in mind: When you meet a new person, follow them on Twitter to see their latest posts and find out what they’re talking about. Remember, twitter is all about the conversation.
  • Whenever possible, use a photo. We all love an inside view into the what’s going on. Photos capture the magic of events, and the more you add photos, the more twitter users will retweet you. Think of images at social media bling. Everyone wants it!
  • Follow people on Twitter instead of taking their business cards. This is a trick I learned a few years ago while at SXSW. After I had run out of cards, I realized that I could just follow interesting people I met on Twitter. Instead of worrying that you’re out of cards, You can say something like this: I’m out of cards, but I’d love to connect on Twitter. What’s great about this is that you will remember them because you see their photo and their Twitter bio right there. You no longer have to wait to get home and wonder whoae cards you have in your hands.

NOEW is a major entrepreneur and tech event in New Orleans. It’s not unlike events like SXSW. The thing to remember is that you want to network with a purpose, and not just collect business cards that will end up in a pile.

If you haven’t joined Twitter yet, now is the time to do it. Why? It’s real time conversation about events happening now. Did you see a great presentation? Share it! Did you connect with an innovative entrepreneur? Tweet about it. The goal is to engage with your audience, and the best way to do that is by sharing useful information.

For those of you who don’t have an account:

  • Set one up, stat.
  • Follow the instructions above.
  • Add the #NOEW2016 hashtag to every tweet during the event.
  • When attending events, quote the presenters and use their hashtags if you know them.
  • For presenters, throw up a slide with your company, twitter handle and the #NOEW2016 hashtag. .
  • Spread the word about your product, company, offer, but do it in a way that targets attendees. Here’s a great sample tweet:

Don’t have a twitter account while attending #NOEW2016? Now is the time to sign up!

What interesting content will you be sharing on Twitter during #NOEW2015? Hit me up @uchechi_writes and follow my web development company @LinkingArts.

Yes We Code Chat 33: Your Tech Year In Review

Yes We Code Chat 33: Your Tech Year In Review

by | Dec 17, 2015 | Blog

It’s almost the end of the year, which means that the New Year is around the corner. Over the past year, I’ve hosted the #yeswecode chat and enjoyed learning from so many techies, both experts and newbies.

For the next #yeswecode chat, we’re going to talk about what the last year has been like in your world. What have been your successes? Failures? What lessons have you learned? What progress have you made?

Some questions to think about:

  1. What’s one thing you’ve achieved that you thought impossible a year ago?
  2. Did you achieve your tech goals? What were they?
  3. How were you able to achieve them?
  4. what were your setbacks? how did you overcome them
  5. What’s one thing you learned about yourself and/or your work in tech this year?
  6. What’s on your list for next year? Where do you see yourself by this time next year? What accomplishments do you hope to share with us?
  7. What should we as a community be thinking about for 2016? What should we be doing as a group?
#YesWeCode Chat 29: Tech Diversity & Opportunity

#YesWeCode Chat 29: Tech Diversity & Opportunity

by | Oct 9, 2015 | Blog

During this year’s Emmy Awards, Viola Davis gave a speech that was both moving and personally resonated with me. After winning the award for best actress in a television drama, she said:  the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. Oh, that last line struck a chord!

For me, her words struck a chord. I have always been openly passionate about why I believe diversity in technology is not only good for business (more global creativity leads to products that serve a global world), but also good for shaping the conversation around opportunity and access in the tech world.

During her speech, I was also struck by the talent of the women nominated beside her, especially Taraji P. Henson in her short clip from Empire, her hit show.  I decided to see f binge watching Empire, the new hit show featuring Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. And I’m hooked. The show centers around the story of Howard and Henson, an ex married couple who also run a record label empire together. What I found most astounding was how riveted I was by both of their performances. They’ve always been great actors, but the opportunity to be featured in roles where they can shine really allowed me to see their gifts.

Does Viola Davis have a point? As a tech entrepreneur who’s been bootstrapping my company, I am left wondering how much of the difficulty for underrepresented communities in technology has to do with access to opportunity. After teaching tech skills, how do we create opportunities for all of us to show those skills?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe we each have a personal responsibility to handle our business and that luck is about being ready when an opportunity comes, but what happens when we’ve prepared ourselves as much as we can and we just need an opportunity to break through?

A few questions to think about:

  1. What are some missing opportunities for underrepresented tech entrepreneurs?
  2. After you’ve done as much as you can to prepare for opportunities, what can you do to move forward?
  3. What can tech cities do to create more opportunities?
  4. How can we address this issue without being accused of wanting special treatment?
#YesWeCode Chat 27: Global UX & The Future of Tech Innovation

#YesWeCode Chat 27: Global UX & The Future of Tech Innovation

by | Sep 12, 2015 | Blog

This week, Apple announced the new iPhone release for later this month. Around the world, customers will line up in Mexico City, Lagos, Lisbon and Manila to purchase Apples latest artistic release.In a world that has more mobile phones than toilets, it’s clear that global ad diverse customers make our products more profitable and valuable.

Isn’t it time we represent our world not just as consumers, but also as creators?

As tech innovators, how do we create user experiences that factor in the needs, desires and worldviews of global population?

Do we have a responsibility to innovate with a focus on global user experiences?

I think we do! As a UX Designer, I’m always thinking about how my Nigerian, American, Swedish, Mexican and Jewish family engages with the products I create.

How do I factor them into my design process?

The conversation about diversity in technology often centers around bringing diverse ideas to the table for the sake of inclusion, but the need for inclusion goes beyond fairness and equality. It also allows for better user experience, better design and more innovative products.

Stepping outside our comfort zone is not only necessary for self growth, it’s also good (no great) for business. The future of technology will focus on creating products for the more than 7 billion people in the world (4.5 billion have mobile technology) who look like less like the 19 year old white male Stanford grad and more like a kaleidoscope of ethnicities, languages and cultural contexts.

We are the answer to the question, “who will be best positioned to come up with products and services that will win in the global market.”

I think it’s time we make sure global centered UX is at the core of our tech diversity conversations and design innovation.

Questions to think about:

  1. What does global UX mean to you?
  2. Do you practice it?
  3. How has it impacted your design experience and perspective?
  4. As consumers, how would global centered design impact your user experience of a product?
  5. As creators, do we have a responsibility to “think globally?”
  6. As outsiders, do people of color have an advantage in the global market of tech products?
  7. If so how can we promote that?
Yes We Code chat 20: Developing Your Tech Craft

Yes We Code chat 20: Developing Your Tech Craft

by | May 15, 2015 | Blog

#YesWeCode chat 20: Developing Your Tech Craft
Sunday May 17th, 2015
6pmPST/8pmCT

Historically, the idea of developing and honing ones craft has been left to artists. Painters, writers and sculptors spend their whole lives practicing, evolving and changing how they do things to make their technique better and to serve their artistic creativity.

As a poet and UX Designer, I believe technologists are no different. We’re the modern creatives, and instead of using brushes we’ve got wireframes, Google Fonts and CSS. But, are we improving our technique and changing how we do things to serve our work in tech? Or, are we just focused on getting a few skills down so we can find the next coding, design or blogging gig.

Acknowledging that our creativity in technology is our craft is important because it allows us to see what we do as a life long journey and not just our next destination.

During the next #yeswecode chat, we’ll talk about how to develop your craft into lifelong skills that you can use at any job.

If tech is a modern creative art, then developing your craft is essential! Join #yeswecode 5/17

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Questions to think about:

  1. How does your “work” influence industries outside technology?
  2. When you think about “developing your craft”, what does that mean to you?
  3. What practices do you have in place to make sure your craft evolves over time?
  4. What can we learn from how artists develop their craft? How can we apply it to tech?
  5. Given that the tools, the practices, even the materials of our craft change daily, how can we maintain a center?
  6. Artists have clear identities, styles. Do we? Should we? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?
  7. How does your personal identity inform your craft?

See you on Twitter!

New to the #yeswecode chat? Check out the guidelines to help you make the most out of it!