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But is using Twitter from the front table in a meeting a lot like being able to pass notes back and forth in high school knowing you'll never get caught doing it?

Pretty much. I spoke at a session at MMC last year, and when I went through my Facebook friends' status update afterwards, I saw a lot of twittering from people that were in the session. I had mixed feelings about it--it was nice that they cared enough to share their thoughts, but some of it was feedback that would have been nice to hear from them directly, rather than happening on it in Facebook. I feel fairly technologically savvy, but I'm still not quite ready to hop on twitter, especially in a meeting situation. I'd rather give the speakers my full attention and share my thoughts later.

Good for you, Miriam. Pay attention to the speakers.

Thanks for the update, Kevin. I would much rather read something you've had time to think about than be bombarded with people's snippets as they think of them.

Listen to the speakers and post your thoughts later. I can wait.

Kevin, I don't detect any value judgment in your comments about using twitter, but I find it interesting that it has attracted this reaction. Is it a sin to whisper to your neighbor during a presentation too?

I was one of those texting from the front table, along with many others in the room. Yes, live tweeting conferences is quite a lot like passing notes, actually.

But just because people are tweeting doesn't mean that you have to read their posts. You don't attentively eavesdrop others' conversations at restaurants, do you? Just because you CAN hear something doesn't mean you have to listen. The tweeting is for those at the conference who want to be tuned into the reactions of others and those who aren't at the meeting who would like to be. I don't mind at all if you eavesdrop, but please don't pass judgment on a conversation you aren't participating in.

Ben, I don't mean to pass judgment on any conversation--each person learns and engages in different ways!--but can I push back a little? I'm just imagining being a speaker at the front of the room and looking out to see large clumps of attendees looking down at their PDAs rather than looking up at me. I know I get energy from eye contact when I'm speaking, so I would find it energy-sapping to see attendees looking down rather than up. Certainly I'd interpret it as a sign of attendee disinterest rather than interest. Would you feel differently?

And if attendees ask questions on Twitter rather than aloud, does the speaker miss the chance to answer the question?

Again, no judgment--just wondering how you as a speaker would feel to see a bunch of attendees focusing on PDAs (or passing paper notes to each other, or whispering to each other). Would you feel that you'd lost their attention?

@Lisa, I've actually found myself in that position and I took it as a challenge to get peoples' attention back. I also took it as a wake up call to get better in my public speaking and to refine my content to make it more engaging.

Sometimes I ask questions on twitter during a conference because there is no opportunity to ask questions of the speaker. Sometimes I ask rhetorical questions and sometimes to point out what I perceive to be an inconsistency.

Interesting reactions! Sorry if I upset anyone by asking the question or giving David unformed thoughts. I was actually relating what a couple of other people mentioned at my table--I personally don't have an opinion on the netiquette of tweeting. For me I'm still luddite enough to read these things in the morning before I head back down to the convention center. Ben, I agree that it's a logical response when you can't query the speaker directly--one reason why I find most keynotes oddly ungratifying no matter how polished. I definitely don't feel like leaning in on somebody else's conversation as they do tend to conflict with the many voices already in my head. :O]