Personal Democracy Forum Help - Sponsored by Google
What are the top buttons/links on the conference website for?
These top navigation button/links are designed to make it easy for conference attendees, speakers and administrators to navigate quickly and easily to the pages of interest to their particular conference's audience.
Details
The Details link brings up all the pertinent general information about the conference itself, including the obvious where and when, but also more specific information such the conference tag and it is the first line of community from the conference organizer to their audience...
Sessions
The Sessions link lists the session and overall agenda of the conference. You can go there to see what time a session is, where it is, and what track is it a part of.
Speakers
The Speakers link lists the registered speakers at a conference. You can find their bios, photos and begin to network weeks/months before the event begins.
Reviews
The Reviews link lists the conference and its sessions, its description and provides a real-time rating function so attendees, speakers and conference administrators can track the progress of a conference as it happens. We really encourage users to visit this page as often as possible during their conferences to let others know what they think is great, not so great or even awful about the conference they're attending. This is priceless feedback for administrators as they plan for the next show and will help attendees make decisions on what upcoming shows they should attend. The Reviews page will help make everyone's conference experience better and more valuable.
Discussion
The Discussion link is for conference administrators to communicate with conference attendees and the general public. Conference attendees and others in the community can participate in the blog through comments.
Media
The Media link is just that: everything that interests you from across the web, from text-based articles and links to photos, to RSS feeds for breaking information and even full blown videos. The content comes from the web's leading sources of open information, including Technorati, Google and Yahoo!, Feedster, Flickr and YouTube. Simply click the "Your Media" tab at the top of the navigation bar and find information on Personal Democracy Forum 2007 by searching for the conference name or the official "PdF2007" tag in the desired content source. The Media tab lets you experience the conference through everyone else's eyes, and they experience it through content you create, find and share with them.
Events
The Events link is a listing of all the on-and off-site events (such as cocktail parties, meetups, dinners, lunch meetings and other extra-curricular activities) happening around a given conference. Users, speakers and administrators are encouraged to add any events they know of to make their event the best attended at the conference.
How can I use Social Networking for the conference?
Buddy Lists/or "My Connections"
Just as you keep a list of people with whom you correspond daily, the "My Connections" tab is your gateway to the personal contacts you've made within the PdF community— people with whom you've connected before and want to stay in touch going forward. This is your personal network; friends, colleagues and other contacts whose whereabouts and doings you want to follow as they prepare for the event.
Attendees can view the list of PdF participants, check out their profiles, invite them into their personal network and email them directly through PdF's personal messaging feature.
"Personal" Messaging
This is the PdF community's private email service. We respect everyone's right to privacy so messaging within the community is handled by us; simply use the "contact" link to jot a note to the person of your choice and we'll send the message to the email they've registered within our system. Responses are handled by us as well so your information is never revealed unless you choose to do that outside of the community.
Bulletin Boards
PdF gives all of its community members their own personal blog, or bulletin board with which they can share their thoughts, opinions on the issues and experiences. This is the community member's space; it's intensely individual, consisting of the member's content and comments from their readers. People can also read the musings of others within their network by clicking on the "Bulletin Board Posts within My Network" tab, which shows what others within their network are saying too. Each board—the individual blog and the personal network bulletin board are completely searchable by the major search engines. You will build traffic from within the community as well as anyone from around the globe with an interest in what you have to say!
How can I find people to join "My Network" and interact with online?
On the Details page is a link to this years attendees, be sure to login, see who is attending and let the networking begin.
Your Account
Once you login you can access your account by clicking 'My Account' in the upper right. From here you can edit your profile, password, contact info, bio, photo and much more. This is also where users can gain access to the social network.
Why you should upload your photo and edit your profile?
Confabb isn't looking to replace the conference experience. On the contrary, Confabb enhances and maximizes the experience you have at conferences. In order to do this we help you discover new interests (or new people with the same interests) and connect you with them as quickly and easily as possible. Sharing a bit about yourself helps Confabb help you; we provide the global audience of conferences and the people who love them, you give us a little information about who you are so Confabb can play matchmaker.
While it is absolutely not required to provide a photo for your bio page, it does help make faster connections; as the saying goes: "a picture is worth a thousand words." At the very least, any new friends you've met through Confabb will have a much easier time finding you at the next conference if they've got a recent photo to reference. Profile information also includes your location, email and IM aliases, personal tags, employer info, speaker data, website and any blogs you choose to list.
Your updated bio is as, if not more, important than a photo. Your bio tells everything about you—what you're into, what you do for work, play, hobbies, etc. People connect globally based on shared interests and you'll find people who are into the same things as you no matter what so long as you let the Confabb community know what interests you. Geographic information also helps us find conferences that might be relevant to you in your own back yard. The more information you share, the better we can connect you with the conferences, seminars and trade shows that matter to you.
Why PdF partnered with Confabb...
Confabb helps you get the most out of the conferences you attend. Confabb links you with other attendees including your existing contacts who might also be attending the same conferences. Confabb also helps you organize and maximize the time you spend at conferences. You can get information about other attendees, about speakers and other special programs as well as networking events taking place around the conference.
Conferences are opportunities to learn and network. Confabb helps you do both.
What this new type of conference portal does for your conference experience?
Conferences and events have always required a huge investment of energy, time and money—none of which is spent wisely if there is little or no return on the conference experience. We all agree these events are worth the investment because of the personal connections forged during these short meetings. But what the conference industry needed was a way to jumpstart connections prior to events, and an open connection to build new relationships long after the event concludes. We're here to maximize the investment you've spent on going to conferences by maximizing and extending the experience.
Confabb provides a reputation management system for conference attendees, speakers, organizers and administrators to plan for and attend conferences, as well as critique and review those they have attended and want to share with colleagues.
