PowerVote facilitates interactivity and the carrying out of surveys during your events

Over 2,500 people used the electronic voting system during ExpoManagement in 2008

Since 2006, HSM, a multinational company that each year organises various executive training programmes, has used the electronic voting systems during ExpoManagement, one of the leading company management forums in Spain. During the last forum held in Madrid on 23 and 24 May, electronic voting keypads were used during the Orange and Daemon Quest conferences. All together, over 2,500 people used the system marketed by PowerVote to participate in the various thematic presentations. According to Maximiliano Massuci, Operations Manager at HSM Europe, this electronic voting system is extremely versatile and allows not only for an interaction between the audience and the speaker, but also for the carrying out of surveys and studies among the participants.

The best option

The multinational company HSM considered various alternatives present on the market before adopting the PowerVote system. According to Massuci, the other options did not offer the same services as PowerVote.
“This tool has advantages not shared by conventional voting systems. For example, within the same building, two rooms can vote simultaneously without experiencing any interference between the radio signals. In addition, you can differentiate in the voting processor which remote control is in the process of voting in one room and which is voting in the other, while the conventional systems existent on the market do not offer this possibility. With a normal electronic voting system, the radio signals experience interference when voting takes place in two juxtaposed rooms, which risks altering the voting results.”

The advantages

An individualisation of the vote and the carrying out of analyses among the participants by separating the various samples from the available groups are among the advantages underlined by the Operations Manager at HSM Europe.
“The system is very flexible and very easy to implement. You can use it for basic applications or in a more complex manner to gather concrete data. What’s more, this system is easy to use, as demonstrated by its flexibility for an audience such as ours of some 3,000 participants: for a 5-option question, only a few seconds are needed to ask and answer the question and evaluate the results. It also allows for an exact determination of the participants’ level of understanding, for the speaker can modify his or her presentation based on the results obtained.”

The second application used by HSM is the carrying out of surveys among the participants. The questions can be presented, completed and commented on immediately.
“It’s very interesting, because the participants are surprised to see the results up on the screen,” points out Massuci.
However, he admits that for certain speakers, a sort of psychological block exists faced with such new technologies. “Speakers are normally very traditional and they are afraid of opening a breach allowing for interactivity. Here we are confronted with a critical point.” Massuci argues in favour of educating speakers so that they can adapt their conferences to this type of system.

A complete system

Before the sudden emergence on the market of electronic voting systems, the most common method of voting during these events was by a show of hands. The presenter asked a question and the audience members answered by raising their hands. As the Manager of Operations at HSM Europe recognises, this system is possible during small meetings, but not during events gathering together hundreds or even thousands of participants.
“It is very different to ask a question directly to a room of 50 people and to ask this same question to an audience of 1,000 people,” he points out.
However, he also considers that this tool can be used during meetings of only several people or with a smaller audience.

According to Massuci, the PowerVote system is very flexible and easy to implement.
“It can be used for basic applications or in a more complex manner to gather concrete data. PowerVote is very easy to use.” In addition, Massuci asserts that no application is lacking in the PowerVote voting system: “There currently exists no better tool.”
HSM has so far used PowerVote only at ExpoManagement, but during its next meetings, the company plans on hiring this tool for an adequate application.

About HSM
Founded in 1989, HSM is a multinational company that provides directors and executives a variety of training products and services. To this end, the company uses the most advanced tools and techniques, relying on the principal sources of knowledge and management experts at the international level. HSM offers its services to a market of over 500,000 clients distributed throughout South America, the United States and Europe. Its shareholders include JP Morgan, Dresdner Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, La Nación and HSM’s top management team.
Outside Madrid, ExpoManagement is presented each year in Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. The HSM Group also organises other executive training events: the World High Performance Forum and the World Marketing and Information Forum.