As a deaf person, I love technology and it helps connect me to many people. But even I can’t believe this true story from Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development, Inc and I disagree with the conference leader’s actions.
{Begin story}
I attended the Inbound Marketing Summit here in Boston. It promised several excellent speakers, offered lots of interesting topics, and the entire thing was blogged, twittered, flickred and videoed from start to finish. So I put on a suit (yes, I own several) and headed on down to the Cambridge Marriott.
That’s when things got interesting. The keynote speaker addressed a packed room of about 300 people. He spoke for 40 minutes or so, after which they opened it up for questions from the audience. Sort of.
Because as it turns out, the only way you were allowed to ask a question was by emailing it or Tweeting it to the front of the room. The conference leader then selected the questions he liked and read them to the speaker.
Huh? I’m sitting ten feet from the stage, but if I want to ask a question, I have to mail it in? If you ask me, this makes about as much sense as telling restaurant customers that the only way to eat in the dining room is to first have your meal delivered to your home and then drive it back to the restaurant.
And so as someone who’s been trying to follow in his wife Linda’s example of making the world a better place, I figured I ought to say something. So immediately after the session, I walked up to the conference leader and politely offered my feedback:
Me: “You know, it struck me as kind of odd that with a roomful of real, live, people, the only way to ask a question of the speaker is to send an email.”
Conference Leader: “You can also Tweet it.”
Me: “Wouldn’t it make sense, particularly at a conference whose central theme is “community,” to let people interact directly with the speaker?”
Conference Leader: “Do you have an iPhone? You could use that.”
Anyway, realizing I was getting nowhere, I thanked him for his time and promised to email him a hearty handshake.
Here’s the point. Technology, for all the wonderful things it brings (particularly to us small business owners), can lull us into missing the bigger picture. The Acres of Diamonds, if you will.
My conference leader friend, for example, was so taken by the Internet’s ability to help people connect instantly across time and space, that when offered the real thing, he chose the simulation.
That’s big. But it’s not just him, we all do it:
…We attend conferences and meetings with our laptops open, listening with one ear and typing emails with the other (not that I think you type with your ear).
…We let the phone go to voicemail every time instead of picking it up when it rings, because it’s more efficient to only return the calls that “really matter.”
…We love our E-Newsletter for the way it lets us stay top of mind with our list of contacts, but when one of those contacts emails with a question, we don’t bother replying.
You get the picture: Technology is great, but it’s no substitute for human interaction. And every time we use it to cut the people out of the equation – whether in the name of efficiency, a desire to appear bigger, or some other “too busy for business” rationalization – we miss out on a golden marketing opportunity.
Because in a world filled with unanswered emails, unreturned phone calls and unreachable corporations, sometimes just looking someone in the eye and listening to what they have to say puts you and your company at the front of the line.
{End story}
Does it seem unreal to you? I’d LOVE to have this feature if I should speak at a conference — but not to this extreme. I’m comfortable with public speaking. My fear comes in not hearing the questions asked. So this would make a great work around. Instead of taking this approach, here’s what I’d do:
- Tell people to send me questions through a Tweet or an IM.
- Call out the person’s name asking the question.
- Let the person ask the question out loud while I read the question.
- Answer the question.
This allows the person to ask the question face-to-face for all to hear while taking the fear of not hearing the question out of the picture. Hmm … makes me wonder if I should speak at sxsw where everyone brings a computer. But what would you like to hear about?
Meryl,
I like the idea of using Twitter or IM to send a message to a conference speaker, but not everyone at a conference has a laptop or other device to send a message.
Your work around sounds like a good solution for managing questions, allowing the personal interaction with the speaker.
With the addition of some type of accommodation for those conference attendees who don’t have a device for messaging, I think it would work well. Good idea!
Meryl,
You bring up an interesting point. I was at the conference as well and I thought the idea of asking questions through Twitter was interesting but it is certainly more controlled. Your post made me think of something else however, what would happen if an individual were blind? I don’t know if Twitter is programmed to accommodate blind individuals but if not, that would be a problem. What are your thoughts?
Jess
Hi Meryl,
Disclaimer: I’m one of the event organizers
Thanks for posting and opening up the conversation. I agree there are pros and cons to this method, the pro being that you can moderate questions better, and the con being the impersonal touch and inability of some to actually send in their questions. (What I also like about this method is that it opens up the discussion beyond the conference walls – we were live streaming the event and our live viewers were also able to send in their questions.)
I sent a similar note to Michael explaining our reasons for choosing this method and our hope to open up questions to the live audience in a more effective way next year.
Would love to hear what you all think – what you’ve found to be most effective in taking questions in a large conference setting like this.
Thanks,
Ellie
@Jess — You’re right that not everyone will have mobile devices or laptops. I would certainly not exclude them. I did suggest once to have sticky notes available for people to write questions down for me. As for visually impaired, I can’t answer that straight out — but they have tools to allow them to communicate in other apps, if not twitter.
@Ellie — Thanks for jumping in and sharing the background. I figured it had live streaming and it was a way to involve the people not at the conference. I would think that if they can hear the speaker, they can hear audience ask questions when given a microphone (I’ve seen this).
I’m all for tech communications as it ensures I miss nothing and I feel like I am on equal ground. I’m also realistic and know the importance of human and face-to-face contact.