Real engagement, in real time

by Claire Leheny, Content Development, North America

Can you remember the last time you attended an engagement conference where you actively engaged with the speakers and your fellow delegates throughout the course of the event?

If you’re like me, then you’ve attended conferences where many worthy communication and HR professionals present their organization’s engagement initiatives. But you’ve had little opportunity to enter into an active dialogue with the speakers and your peers about the subject.

As communicators, we're passionate about communicating, so it’s a strange irony that so often our conferences only afford us time for dialogue during coffee breaks.

I’m happy to report that there’s a growing trend to stimulate true engagement amongst conference participants. I was lucky enough to spend a morning at a London-based conference on engagement last month. As soon as I stepped into the ballroom, I could feel the difference. The place was buzzing with conversation and the 100+ delegates were in grouped around tables of 10, all talking animatedly and submitting the main points of their conversations into small, tablet computers.

What I had stumbled upon was a “challenge session”– a 20-minute period between plenary session speakers where delegates were asked by the conference chair to discuss an open-ended question and share their results. The results were entered into the tablets and sent wirelessly to a computer that would project the submissions with the entire audience.

After 15 or so minutes, the chair asked for everyone’s attention and walked through each table’s key conclusions, highlighting the written submissions. Thankfully he didn’t just read the material, rather, he summarized the key points and asked table participants to elaborate further if need be via a hand-held microphone.

Personally, this process of sharing ideas held my attention (which is hard to hold at the best of times) a lot better than if a microphone were passed from table to table. Having the visual cues and seeing the other written comments helped me absorb and engage with the information. My attention span (or lack thereof) aside, the discussion period was one of the best I’ve ever witnessed.

I don’t give all the credit to the interactive technology – the chairperson kept the proceedings moving with his firm, authoritative presence. But the technology accelerated the process of getting delegates talking to each other and to the speakers. Knowing that your table’s submissions would be projected to the entire group meant there was a heightened level of accountability. There’s nothing like a little pressure to get the juices flowing, don't you think?

(Those of you signed up for the 7th Annual SCM Summit, held October 15 & 16 at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London, will be able to profit from this interactive technology. We’re planning, in partnership with Live Interactive, to create our most interactive conference ever. We look forward to seeing you there! Check out the entire program of events.)