"More money is typically spent on coffee and Danish alone rather
than the content."
"Budgets are shifting toward new, affordable, audience interaction
technology that is transforming meetings into measurable interactive
events."
"By re-focusing their budgets more toward meeting content, meeting
planners are ensuring better results and more bang for the buck."
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Cheese Danish vs. Audience Interaction
What's More Important to Your Meeting?
Press Release, July 1997
Philadelphia, PA-July 16, 1997-As
increased competition forces meeting planners to make meetings more
productive, they're beginning to shift the traditional spending mix
toward a new focus on content.
Industry research shows that an average corporate meeting costs about
$235,000. Of that amount, the smallest fraction is spent delivering or
enhancing meeting content. In fact, surveys show that only 3% of meeting
spending go towards supporting content through audio visual or other
means. Three times that amount, however, goes toward food and beverage.
More money is typically spent on coffee and Danish alone rather than the
content.
Now, meeting planners are changing that. Budgets
are shifting toward new, affordable, audience interaction technology
that is transforming meetings into measurable interactive events. But,
industry surveys show that 63 percent of CEO's don't even know such
technology exists. As a result, there's still a major budget disparity,
tipping the scales away from meeting effectiveness.
"So, many corporations aren't spending their
money to ensure effective meetings, but to ensure the cherry Danish at
the breakfast bar is full," said Rick Baker, president and founder of
Meridia, a Philadelphia-based interactive information company.
Meridia's wireless audience response system is
one of the newest audience response technologies to make meetings more
productive.
The Northwestern School of Speech reports that
the attention span of an audience is approximately nine seconds. Survey
research among meeting participants shows that Meridia's interactive meetings
achieve significantly higher levels of attentiveness throughout the
meeting. Audience interaction also increases understanding and retention
of important information.
Meridia developed the system, which consists
of individual hand-held wireless keypads audience members use to
respond immediately and anonymously to pre-planned and impromptu
questions. The questions, posed by presenters throughout a meeting, are
displayed on a large video screen at any time.
An on-site computer using Meridia's software
instantly compiles the results and displays them on the same screen in
three-dimensional color bar charts. The percentage or number of audience
members voting for each answer can also be revealed. "Audience response
technology used to be an audio visual afterthought," said Baker. "Now
it's become a priority. Meridia's interactive meetings generate lasting
enthusiasm and a level of post-meeting action that the old, static
meeting style could never achieve. By re-focusing their budgets more
toward meeting content, meeting planners are ensuring better results and
more bang for the buck."
Such audience interaction technology is used to
measure changes in knowledge levels, track-evolving perceptions, and
evaluate meeting effectiveness. Results of each question can be
displayed by rank order or against averages, and be tracked and
cross-tabbed according to demographic or other criteria. The resulting
information can be used to tailor the content, direction and pace of
individual meetings or meeting sessions. Immediately following the
meetings, printed disk copies of the results can be made available for
members or presenters for review or analysis. The Meridia system can
accommodate a handful of attendees to meetings of thousands.
Meridia also benefits meeting presenters.
Presenters using the Meridia system have been rated by attendees as being
significantly more interesting, more professional, and more persuasive
than presenters delivering traditional, static presentations.
"Traditional meetings have held audiences
hostage for too long," said Baker. "Meridia provides managers with a
powerful tool to measure and track the success of each meeting. More and
more major corporations are shifting their budgets toward increased
meeting Return on Investment.
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