Interactive voting systems are incredibly versatile. Some companies use them to make their events more enjoyable – more like a game for involving participants than a mechanism for obtaining feedback. Put there are also companies that regard interactive voting as a means for triggering debates that would otherwise be more difficult to generate.
This is the case of real estate consultancy CD Richard Ellis Spain, which, for over a year now, has been using the PowerVote system at customer events organised by the company’s marketing department. "These are themed real estate seminars at which we sound out client opinions on relevant aspects of the sector," explains Gorka Anitua Valluerca, the consultancy’s marketing manager.
Mechanics
The mechanics CB Richard Ellis uses for these events are quite simple. At each meeting there is usually a panel discussion involving five speakers who present specific market situations. Later, a series of questions are posed on each of the topics discussed, which audience members answer with their interactive voting keypads. The results are then assessed by the panel.
Gorka Anitua feels that the usefulness of the system is two-fold. "On the one hand, it enables us to know the opinions of those attending the seminars; on the other, we are able to stimulate participation in the debate which follows each question." In comparison with the traditional show-of-hands method, CB Richard Ellis Spain’s marketing manager maintains that the use of interactive voting keypads not only reduces audience inhibition when participants are asked for their opinions, but, once they have voted, "it is also more likely that they will defend their views."
Generally speaking, acceptation of interactive voting systems by participants at the company’s events is high, "although there are always some who prefer not to vote, perhaps because they do not wish their opinions on the topics discussed to be known," says Anitua.
Preparatory work
Despite the ease with which PowerVote’s technology can be used, CB Richard Ellis Spain’s marketing manager feels that, prior to any event, some preparation is necessary for the questions that will be put to the audience, so that these are the most appropriate and effective in each case. "Obviously, interactive voting facilitates participation, but an exhaustive process of preparation should be carried out in selecting topics and wording questions," he recommends.
After nearly half a dozen experiments with PowerVote interactive keypads, Gorka Anitua sees their user-friendliness and the ease with which results can be remembered by participants as the system’s comparative advantages, thanks to a graphic interface which also allows voting data to be stored in MS Excel.
To date, all of CD Richard Ellis Spain-s events have featured the PowerVote system, and have suffered no setbacks of any kind. "We still haven’t tried it without technical support, but a priori it seems like a simple tool, no more complicated than PowerPoint or a spreadsheet," says Anitua.
In any case, he recognises that PowerVote’s interactive keypads could be much more effective "once all the possibilities they offer are known."
CB Richard Ellis Spain uses an average of 100 keypads per seminar. According to Anitua, the company’s first encounter with the PowerVote system was at HSM’s Innovation Forum. "We liked it and decided to try it at our own events."
About CB Richard Ellis Spain
CB Richard Ellis Spain is a real estate consultancy which in 2008 will celebrate 35 years of activity in Spain.
The company’s history Spain has coincided with a dynamic period for the housing sector, replete with successes and low points. Among the advisory services offered by the company’s Spanish branch are the management and administration of real estate assets, corporate systems, capital markets, shopping centres, agencies and private residences. It also has at its disposal an extensive team of researchers who prepare periodic reports on the market and its trends. Richard Ellis has 400 offices in 58 countries throughout the world.
