When I take notes at a conference, I try to think of it as if I’m having a conversation with the presenter. My comments on the presentation will often initially be in the form of a question, which I then try to answer.
The presenter says something that sparks a train of thought in my head. I usually try to capture an approximation of what they said and what it made me think, but sometimes I’ll only make a note of what they said. And I note any resources on their slides that look interesting.
I’ll typically follow that line of thought for as long as it’s sparking new ideas, even to the point of missing the rest of the presentation. I figure that, if the thought is interesting enough that it’s pulled my attention from the speaker, it’s probably worth following.
When I have a moment (between speakers, for example), I’ll expand on these notes, adding further reflections and thoughts that got sparked. Then, when I have more time (when I’m back at the hotel), I’ll go through the notes from the presentation and integrate these expanded reflections into my note-taking system.
I used to share shorter points via social media during the conference, but now I post those here on my blog. I don’t have as many short-form posts now, as they’re all part of longer pieces.
The point is that these conversations with presenters isn’t about the initial capturing of what was said. If the point was to share information, they could simply share their slides. For me, my note-taking is about using the presentation as a launchpad for thinking, which starts during the session, but can sometimes only wrap up after a few days.