Attending events is a tried-and-true way to build your network. It’s pretty simple: Attend events –> meet new people –> exchange contact information –> stay in touch after the event.

The other day, Chris Brogan shared some ideas to help event planners incorporate social media into conferences and other get-togethers. Well, we wanted to share some tips to help you leverage social media to develop better connections before, during and after events.

For those of you building your network, look at some events that target your industry or profession in 2010. Attending a lot of events can get expensive, so be realistic. For example, identify one major one conference and a handful of smaller, more affordable events. Start saving your money if you have to, but make plans to attend those events. Once you identify which events you’ll be attending, try some of these ideas to get the most bang for your buck.

• Identify the conference’s hashtag on Twitter and start connecting with other people who are planning to attend. Create a
• Twitter list on your own profile to track these conversations.
• Is there an “official” blog established to share information leading up to the big event? Read the posts and participate in discussions taking place in the conference. This will help you get a better feel for the tone and “personality” of the event.
• Will the event provide an advance list of attendees? If so, check and see who is planning to attend. Anyone that you want to meet in person? Reach out to them ahead of time to make plans for breakfast, coffee, drinks or dinner.
• Have the event planners created a public place to share notes? If not, ask if they’d mind if you created a wiki (PBWorks let’s you create free wikis) or a wave on Google. This will help event attendees collaborate to take better notes — and people will appreciate the effort you put into this little project.
• Have more than enough business cards on hand to distribute at the event. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, don’t forget to bring your Poken, a “digital business card” that let’s you exchange social contact information wirelessly.

Got any other social media tips that will help event attendees get more out of the experience? The comments are yours.