New presenter-driven polling and Q&A management capability eliminates the need for expensive custom hardware at corporate and commercial events.
GenieConnect, the smarter technology provider for the events industry, has today introduced a new iBeacon-enabled audience response solution for the commercial and corporate events industry.
The solution utilises the proximity awareness of iBeacons to ’push’ session content directly to attendees’ smartphones or tablets. All slides are delivered through the GenieConnect software and all audience response mechanisms – live polling, surveys and Q&A management – are controlled by the presenter and carried out on attendees’ mobile devices. This potentially eliminates the need to deploy audio/visual equipment in every session room and makes expensive custom audience response hardware redundant.
GenieConnect CEO Giles Welch said: "Conference and corporate event organisers are between a rock and a hard place – they are aware of the benefits of enhancing the attendee experience by introducing audience interaction tools; but constrained by the costs of doing so. This audience response solution is part of our sophisticated event technology software suite and makes use of the devices that attendees bring with them. It’s a textbook example of how GenieConnect integrates the latest technology developments into cost-effective solutions that give our clients the capabilities they are clamouring for."
Session content can be pushed to session attendees using iBeacons and – thanks to GenieConnect’s recently announced industry-first integration of Android into its iBeacon solutions – this capability can now be extended to any device equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Furthermore, once GenieConnect’s software is installed on the device, the screen can, if required, be locked for the duration of the session, minimising the distractions often associated with smartphone or tablet use at an event.
GenieConnect has developed a PowerPoint ’plug- in’ that allows all audience response mechanisms to be pre-set and seamlessly driven by the presenter. In the session, all slides are viewed on a smartphone or tablet, and attendees are prompted to take advantage of a variety of interaction tools. This can range from voting on a topic, with the results instantly displayed in graphical form on their screen; to submitting questions for consideration, or voting on previously submitted questions (these can be moderated to ensure that inappropriate content is not shared in a public domain).
Once the session is complete, the app can be used to complete a short survey. Inviting opinions immediately after a session closes invariably results in a higher completion rate and improves the organiser’s insight into its success.
Among the first users of the new audience response software will be attendees at Changeboard’s forthcoming Future Talent Conference, the premier thought-leadership event for heads of HR and senior HR professionals, to be held at the Royal Opera House. Commenting on the audience interaction software, Porteur Keene, co-founder and executive chairman of Changeboard, said: "This is an event for the opinion-formers in our industry, so it was vital for us to find a way of allowing those opinions to be shared on the day. The GenieConnect solution offers a level of sophistication appropriate to our audience whilst simultaneously being very simple to use. I’m very excited to see the kind of impact it will have on our event."
Comments:
Congratulations - this is fantastic innovative use of iBeacon technology. Look forward to hearing how your customers respond (Paul Tomes, 19 May 2014).
