App boosts interaction at talks through dedicated URLs

Screen.io’s Slides and Polls app enables speakers to offer extra resources to their audience through a dedicated URL that is unique to their presentation. Simultaneously, the app will gather data and information from those in attendance.

Conference organizers already have the ShowGizmo app at their disposal to help them make their event more interactive for audience members, and now we’ve come across another app hoping to achieve a similar goal for when that audience have taken their seats. Screen.io’s Slides and Polls app enables speakers to offer extra resources to their audience through a dedicated URL that is unique to their presentation, while the app simultaneously gathers data and information from those in attendance. Lecturers using Slides and Polls are able to upload their slides, images, videos and documents to a unique URL which is given out to the audience at the start of the talk. Attendees can then access all of the information being discussed in the presentation on their smartphone, tablet or laptop, enabling them to explore the content as the presentation goes on. Screen.io’s app also helps speakers create their presentation and produce interactive polls, and once they have finished drafting, lecturers can practice their talk with a simulated responsive audience to get used to dealing with greater interaction. In a live setting, data from the polls is sent back to the lecturer and the app then offers tools to help them analyse it. Slides and Polls is available for USD 9.99 from the App Store and companies already taking advantage of the app include Orion, Technopolis, Korjaamo and EIT ICT Labs. Both ShowGizmo and Screen.io go a long way to livening up conferences, but how else could the experience be improved and enhanced in a way that benefits both organizers, lecturers and audiences alike? Spotted by: John Greene