BACKGROUND

InfoComm International^® is the international trade association of the professional audiovisual and information communications industries. Established in 1939, InfoComm’s membership of over 3,600 companies and individuals includes manufacturers, systems integrators, dealers and distributors, independent consultants, programmers, rental and staging companies, end-users and multimedia professionals from more than 70 countries.

InfoComm International is the leading resource for AV (Audiovisual) market intelligence and news. Its training and education programs, along with its Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) and Certified Audiovisual Solutions Provider (CAVSP) credentials, set a standard of excellence for AV professionals.

InfoComm International is the founder of InfoComm, the largest annual conference and exhibition for AV buyers and sellers worldwide. Originating in the 1950s, InfoComm has evolved over the years, under several names, as the necessary event for audiovisual professionals to see the most comprehensive display of audiovisual presentation and communications equipment in the world. The association also co-sponsors Integrated Systems shows in Europe, Asia, China and India. Visit http://www.infocomm.org/ for more information.

With a variety of industry specialists leading educational sessions, we met up with three thought leaders that used TurningPoint in their presentations, each with different objectives.

CHALLENGE

Randy Jackson is part of the adjunct faculty in the Educational Outreach department of InfoComm. Randy, assistant director of classroom support services at the University of Washington, has taught a variety of seminars at the conference based on his expertise, including distance learning, classroom technology and more. He is now focused on interactivity in the classroom, finding a lot of interest in the topic both nationwide and internationally, particularly in higher education.

In his presentation, “The Interactive Classroom,” Randy spoke about a variety of technology in classroom that invokes interactivity, including audience response systems. The past two years, this presentation was one of the largest sessions that the conference offers, with over 160 attendees.

In the discussion, Randy addresses the general field, available technology, the direction of the field, and gives a hands-on experience when he can. Randy worked with Turning Technologies to provide ResponseCards^® for the audience.

Randy’s challenge is to not only discuss interactive technology, but use it in his own presentation to show capabilities and effectiveness.

Paul Chavez works for audio manufacturing company Harmon Pro Group, the parent company of several large audio companies (JBL, Soundcraft, etc.). Paul is a seasoned teacher at InfoComm, and has taught classes for the last seven years on a variety of subjects. This year’s topic was “Design in the Digital Age,” targeted for AV systems designers.

Paul’s session was full of a wide variety of people: independent consulting design firms, professional service firms that sell design services for the construction industry, design builders who work for contractors- designing and building systems, end users, universities and companies, independent programmers and more.

In his presentation, Paul was identifying and discussing how certain recently-adopted digital products have caused problems for designers. The process of interface design has changed—and not necessarily for the better! Paul was charged with leading a session that exposed a weak spot in the practice of design.

Turning Technologies was an integral part of supporting his claims because he was able to take demographics up front and share data with the entire room immediately. The data he gathered supported some bold claims that may have seemed negative, but instead he was able to address the issue through facts.

Todd Dunn, CTS (certified technology specialist), is on the InfoComm Board of Governors and is the Chairman of the Presentations Council. In his day job, he works as a technology coordinator at Lackland Air Force Base. A CTS is defined as having advanced knowledge of the AV industry: sound, lighting, projection, general presentation- with deep exposure to technology and a basic understanding of how all the concepts work together.

Todd also freelances nationally as an AV specialist, in charge of presentation reports, speaker review, directing large venue shows, graphics operations and serves as an all-around show technician. The Base is supportive of his freelance work because he returns with fresh skills, and provides effective, progressive solutions to the Base as a result. Through his national research and hands-on experience, he found Turning Technologies.

At the conference, Todd was on the floor networking, helping attendees, facilitating and setting up meetings. His personal goals were to trade ideas, connect, learn and share with other professionals in the industry.

Todd has become well known for his expertise in presentation technology and his name has become synonymous with audience response systems, with his preference being Turning Technologies. It was his challenge to see what else is available in the industry and found himself still a number one fan of TurningPoint.

SOLUTION

Randy found that attendees enjoyed learning about the software component of TurningPoint – the PowerPoint integration. He was able to show deeper features through demonstrating how to set up the product in different environments, whether for in-class use, focus groups, to guide discussion, let the audience decide topics through branching functions, and more.

“It’s powerful to have that functionality where you can map out the presentation and give the audience the power to control,” he said. “It takes some preparation, but it’s a fun way to let the audience decide what they are interested in most.”

Randy also looked to the audience to see how it can be used to meet their own personal needs. He enjoyed seeing their interest in a wide variety of special applications – TurningPoint is not just for attendance anymore!

Paul found that using TurningPoint in his presentation gave him the ability to engage the audience by completely peppering the presentation with questions.

He began with demographics questions, prepping and querying the audience of their understanding and stance on the state of the industry. This set the stage for the core message of his presentation. When he went into interface design issues, he used TurningPoint to ask about the training, background and problems of the attendees. He ended the session discussing the future and what kinds of technologies will continue to disrupt their processes. He asked which technology the audience felt was the most disruptive, and also defined some solutions that will help both the attendees and Paul himself.

“TurningPoint allowed the audience to do more than just sit and listen,” said Paul. “It gives the group their own feedback and group opinion, so the presenter doesn’t stand alone.”

Paul also enjoyed the opportunity to use data as a tool to find solutions. “Through data, I tried to see if we could find a dollar amount to estimate the cost of this issue,” said Paul. “It’s not an issue if it’s not costing any money!”

With the conference data, he was planning to match his findings with market data to plan on doing some post-analysis. “It was a great session – I was able to prove theories, discuss industry issues, and leave with ideas and data that will lead me to finding more solutions.”

Todd hit the floor at InfoComm recommending and using TurningPoint in many ways. Because of the nature of his business, he is always looking for the best and brightest new products, yet he still believes that TurningPoint is the leader for many reasons, including functionality, support and ease of use.

“The software is the easiest to use. If you can use PowerPoint, you can use TurningPoint,” he said. “Only when you dive deeper into reports, scoring, and other functions do you even need to try!”

Todd admits that the first couple of years that the technology was available, many people viewed it just as a novelty or a way to break up time and invoke some interactivity. People often only wanted quick results. But as people explore the depth of the technology, Todd states that “it’s really evolving; users love the reports, discovering more and more…education and experience is the key!”

CONCLUSION

An underlying theme for this year’s conference was the important realization that messaging is an important aspect of the AV industry. Former AV industry events were often technology-focused, ignoring or minimizing the importance of the message. You can have flashy boardrooms with state of the art technology, or lights that enhance the stage, but if the message isn’t the focal part of the presentation, there is a disconnect. Turning Technologies has given all three gentlemen opportunities to get their messages across effectively. In the classroom, at a large-scale conference, or as a research tool for the industry, TurningPoint played a role.

For more information about purchasing or renting a Turning Technologies audience response system for your event, contact us at 866-746-3015.