Engaging Attendees with Live Q&A and Polls

The IMEX Group is a giant in the events industry. Twice a year, their trade shows IMEX in Frankfurt and IMEX America host over 13,500+ and 14,500+ visitors respectively. The attendees come to do business with suppliers from around the world, network and discover the latest learnings.

The IMEX Group team takes the attendees’ education seriously. Right in the middle of the buzzing show floor there’s a dedicated area called the Inspiration Hub. It hosts more than 100 learning sessions throughout the three-day event.

Inspiration is one of the core values of the IMEX Group. Our aim is to unite and advance the meetings industry, doing everything we can to educate and innovate, explained Milda Salciute, Knowledge & Events Senior Executive at IMEX Group.

Through our shows – IMEX in Frankfurt and IMEX America – we want to provide the best quality education and create a space where people can learn from each other.

The team intended to keep the learning on the show floor: We wanted to make it really easy for our delegates to reach the Inspiration Hub in between appointments, Milda continued. That came with a challenge, though.

Battling the buzz on the trade show floor

We were aware that background noise could easily derail the attendees’ attention from the discussion and impact their learning experience, Milda described the situation.

To fight the hum, the team provided the attendees with headsets that transmitted the speakers’ talks. The organizers also wanted to give participants a way to interact with presenters. That’s how Slido came into play.

We were glad to find a solution that helped us keep an active dialogue between the speaker and the audience, continued Milda. The technology proved invaluable for the Q&A after each presentation.

Collecting questions during Q&A sessions

During each learning session, the attendees were invited to submit questions for the speakers using their mobile devices. This streamlined the process and allowed people to join the discussion without having to raise their voices.

As soon as the Q&A started, the crowdsourced questions were displayed on the screen, which kept participants in the loop about what was being discussed.

Using live polls to tailor the content

Using Slido at the IMEX Group trade shows not only ensured easy audience engagement, it helped the speakers deliver more structured and relevant content.

We offered our speakers an option to use live polls during their presentations, explained Milda. They used it mainly to learn more about the demographics, level of knowledge, or preferences of their audience.

The information gathered through the live polls proved to be priceless for the presenters. The speakers changed their approach to how they structured presentations by tailoring the content to participants’ needs, continued Milda.

Over the course of five IMEX Group shows where Slido was used, live polling grew in popularity among speakers. At the most recent show, IMEX America in 2018, the speakers used a total of 78 polls, almost a 100% increase from two years ago.

The result: Better learning through dialogue

Slido provided new ways for trade show visitors to participate and engage with presenters during the learning sessions. Thanks to the technology, the speakers were able to create a dialogue with the audience and improve the delivery of their content.

As a result, the IMEX Group created a richer learning experience with Slido, adding value for both the visitors and the presenters.