Survey Says

Audience response reaches the masses.

By Larry Anderson

Can we see a show of hands: Who’s looking for better ways to engage meeting attendees?

Audience participation has come a long way in today’s high-tech environment. Attendees can now participate in sessions in real-time from their seats, using a smartphone, keypad or some kind of “clicker” device to provide feedback to a presenter. Livelier interactive sessions are possible using real-time polls to get audience feedback — complete with instant PowerPoint slides illustrating trends and results. Audience members can also text ideas to a presenter for brainstorming or Q&A. It’s a more democratic approach because the least shy person — or the one with the loudest voice — no longer has the upper hand. Anonymity also enables discreet discussions and feedback about sensitive topics.

“Audience response is so critical in our industry and it has changed so much in the last few years,” says Jim Spellos, CMP, founder and president of Meeting U. “It has gone from a really expensive approach to one that at least theoretically should be connecting with your smartphone to be able to utilize it in session.”

Spellos, who speaks at conferences and events about the latest technology tools for meetings, says that Poll Everywhere seems to be leading the charge when it comes to Audience Response System (ARS), but Turning Technologies also offers a quality option in TurningPoint that takes advantage of attendee smartphones. “Really the trend is going from a much more elaborate system to what makes most sense today,” he says. “Which is being able to use the attendees device to send the answers.”

Poll Everywhere offers a free product online that enables up to 30 attendees in a session to participate using their smartphones, laptop or Twitter account. Attendees can vote and see the results in seconds in a PowerPoint slide — the presenter only needs to cut and paste the slide from the Web site into their presentation before the session. (Slides created with the free product include the Poll Everywhere logo.) Smartphone text messages or tweets are great ways to ask questions of expert panels or provide feedback to a presenter.

For larger gatherings, Jeff Vyduna, co-founder of Poll Everywhere, suggests buying a month of unlimited access to the system for $375. At any given time, up to 2,500 people can respond to a poll, and you can use it as many times as you want during the month.

Jim Spellos is a frequent speaker on technology and "Way Cool Tools" for meeting planners.

ARS is also a greener approach to feedback surveys. The technology can be used instead of paper surveys after conference sessions. True/false, multiple choice or strongly agree/strongly disagree opinion scales can be included. The systems can also capture demographic information. The technology lends itself to getting the information you would normally not get until a post-event survey. “What better way for us to find out how people like what we’re doing, how much people like or dislike the conference, than to really get a sense about what people feel at the time they are feeling it,” says Spellos. “Imagine being able to make a mid-course correction in terms of content or programming or timing because the audience really doesn’t like the way the session or the event is going. Now that is an extreme example but if you think about it, it has a lot of power for the meeting professional who understands those tools and can harness them properly.”

At the higher end, another ARS provider IML provides interactive meeting services using its own specialized keypad and software for applications such as corporate and association meetings and events, shareholder meetings and charity fundraisers (including silent auctions). The keypad is a polling device, can provide text messaging and has a built-in wireless microphone — when an attendee pushes the microphone button, it locks everyone else out. Costs are higher (as much as $20 per device per event, but a flexible pricing model depends on how many events and how many attendees). The company offers top-to-bottom service for clients, and does about 2,500 events a year globally. The largest-ever event had a live audience of 8,000. Accuracy has been audited because IML systems are used in shareholder meetings. The devices were used to pledge $26 million during a Robin Hood Foundation fundraising event in New York last May.

Engaging an audience ensures continuous attentiveness during longer presentations, says Ray Hansen, director of business development for IML. During a 60-minute presentation, for example, getting audience feedback after each 20-minute span of time can ensure that attendees’ brains remain in the “active” rather than “passive” mode so they retain more information. The feedback could be a quiz or opinion poll. It could be used to measure comprehension of the subject matter or to direct the remainder of a presentation. IML can display poll results using 3-D animation or show them over a graphic; there are plug-ins for PowerPoint and Flash Player.

“As a participant, when you are engaged, you are going to get more out of an event,” says Hansen. Meetings are more productive when everyone gets a say without having to compete for attention. Also, audience-directed sessions encourage a feeling of ownership among attendees.