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Digital Age Distraction?

By Heath
6/27/2018

As the digital age continues to evolve, individuals have access to more and more information directly at their fingertips. Millions of people have become absorbed into their smart phones and other devices and feel the urge to check them hundreds of times throughout the day. Unfortunately, the buck doesn’t stop at events either. It is now second nature for guests to also use their devices as meetings are happening.

Due to advancements in technology, guests have begun writing posts about their experiences while meetings are in progress, conduct their own research on the topic being discussed, or live streamed a speaker’s presentation. While such practices are beneficial, other guests have become distracted by screens and use them for other tasks that do not relate to meetings.

To cut down on these distractions, planners might argue that all they have to do is bring in speakers who discuss interesting content. That sounds easy enough. But why not also use technology that requires guests to be glued to their screens in order for them to maintain engagement at your event?

What is it we are talking about? Second Screen Technology

When we are mentioning second screen technology, we are referring to the uses of mobile devices to provide an improved viewing experience of content that is presented on a separate device, such as a monitor. In other words, offering second screen technology at your event will allow guests to have direct viewing of the same materials a presenter is discussing up on a stage in front of them. With second screen technology, presenters are able to push their materials, such as slides or videos, to any device in the same room as them while they are presenting. Ultimately, this type of technology gives guests complete access to the speaker’s information right from their seats.

Check out a number of second screen event tools to enhance presentations at your event:

Glisser

Glisser is a low cost and easy-to-use second screen tool for planners to utilize for their events. With instant screen sharing, presenters are able to easily upload their slides, making their content immediately available for guests to view. This specific audience response system also keeps guests attentive during meetings by allowing for animations, interactive transitions, and embedded video to be a part of a speaker’s presentation. Glisser can be used further for more digital content by providing presenters with live polling, twitter feeds, and audience note-taking. All of these features are included for free. Access to other advanced features, such as full PowerPoint integration and custom branding, will run you around $700 for one event. For more information, check out Glisser online: https://www.glisser.com/.

Evenium ConnexMe

Similar to Glisser, ConnexMe includes an abundance of features for interactive meetings and presentations. Presenters and guests have access to digital note-taking on slides, audience response surveys, and live commenting. Additional elements available are private messaging to other guests at a meeting, push notifications, and event analytics. For a single event license, pricing starts at $999. Depending on the package and features, annual fees with unlimited events are between $4,800 and $9,600. Visit https://evenium.com/c/connexme for further insight.

Educational Measures

For planners who want to make the most out of presentations at their events, Educational Measures is a service that should not be passed up. This service includes all of the basics for meetings, such as polling, annotations, and slide saving. Educational Measures additionally allows users to have access to very detailed analytics, track questions posed by specific attendees, and see what slides were saved for note-taking. With more advanced features, Educational Measures comes at a higher price as fees begin at about $15,000 per event and are based on the number of presentations and users. Their website, https://www.educationalmeasures.com/, will be able to layout all of the particulars for their service.

Events and technology have now become intertwined, and there’s no looking back on boring presentations. Provide a lasting experience for guests by incorporating second screen technology into meetings.



Christian Retreats Network /

Based at Lake Williamson / PO Box 620 / Carlinville, IL 62626

info@christianretreatsnetwork.org