VOXR Guide – Reliable Interaction!
Preparing voxR - Being reliably interactive!
The VOXR Guide.
Four steps to Successful Audience Interaction
1. Reliable Internet (please read this, even if you already have access to WiFi)
There's two common misconceptions with our online world today:
1. "We need WiFi"
2. "WiFi is the best thing we can have."
Important: Both assumptions are as common as they are wrong.
In fact, oftentimes MOBILE internet is much better than WiFi.
We'd therefore advise you to choose your best setup with this guide:
Events for up to 250 people
In this section we'll look both at
1. Internet for your audience and
2. Internet for yourself as the organisor.
1. Your audience
- For audiences with up to 250 people your best internet option is in fact not WiFi, but mobile internet. Most international travelers today also have international flatrates.
- You might want to offer WiFi too. However, we strongly recommend not to not FORCE people into WiFi, if they are just fine with their mobile flat.
- There's one exception. If the participant's provider is not available at the location - then (and only then) you'd need Wifi.
- Therefore we recommend the following:
1. Download the MobileCheck and send it to your event location with the request to return it within 3 working days (Deadline is important according to experience)
2. Check the results, once you have the pdf back.
- Are all the common mobile networks (in your country) available at your event location?
- And have there not been any problems in the past?
- Answer YES? Then you are (with very unlikely exceptions such as sudden mobile phone mast interruption) usually well supplied.
- Answer NO? Then you have to work with WiFi. Please then proceed according to the variant: "More than 400 participants".
3. If you also want to use WiFi, please send the following WiFi specifications to your WiFi provider (if this is the location, then to the location) and ask for confirmation:
- Please note: The general perception is that "Any WiFi is automatically good".
This is wrong. 3 years of experience with events around the world show: There are very different WiFi qualities. And while VOXRs data usage is really very, very small, it's still worth double checking.
2. You as the organizer
Let's be clear: Whilst 1 or 2 non working mobile phones in the audience are not a problem, your presentation laptop and your control panel must reliably deliver.
Therefore, to avoid any risk, we recommend:
- For the presentation laptop a LAN-CABLE Internet connection. For your convenience we have mentioned this already in the information pdf to your technician (see further on this Guide).
- For the control panel a laptop with a LAN-CABLE too. Now, if you want to be mobile on stage (like we do), you would use a mobile phone or tablet with data connection. But we strongly recommend having a CABLE-bound device near as a backup for a WiFi "emergency" near the stage.
Events > 250 but less than 400 people
For events up to 400 people a very important question arises:
"Is it possible that most of your guests use the same mobile operator?"
For explanation: This is sometimes the case if you have a special contract with your company for employees and this is also taken advantage of.
-> If you answer "NO, we expect the usual colourful bouquet of data connection distribution", you can proceed as if you had only 250 guests.
-> If you answer "YES, we are all at xyz", then proceed as if you were more than 400 participants.
Background: Up to 250 guests are safe PRO mobile network, at 400 you can still expect secure reception for most of them. Mobile gambling starts at 400 - so you should secure that with WiFi.
Events with more than 400 people
WiFi (please also read if available!)
1. Your audience
- Since only 250 people can be supplied per mobile phone provider, you need WiFi.
- As WiFi is not the same as WiFi, please send the following WiFi -LAN specifications to your WiFi provider:
- Please note: Although the general perception is that WiFi is automatically "good". However, our many years of experience have clearly shown that it is worth checking.
- ATTENTION: WiFi supply is not only a technical question - experience has shown that this is a very communicative problem. Please be sure to read the section "Informing the public".
2. You as the organizer
With a lager audience, you can not longer rely on mobile networks, because the mobile cells of the providers can be "clogged". WiFi is also a risk for larger groups. No problem for the audience if two or three guests can not participate. But a stable internet connection for central VOXR devices is essential. Therefore we strongly recommend:
- For the presentation laptop a LAN-CABLE Internet connection. This is usually easy to organize, to your convenience it is also included in the information to technicians.
- If you want to be mobile, you can also use a mobile phone or tablet with data connection for the control panel for events for up to 250 people. For a guaranteed function we recommend a laptop with LAN-CABLE connection as a backup in case of an "emergency" near the stage.
IMPORTANT: Inform the public
If (only if !) you use WiFi, the following procedure is very important:
The processes
1) "go online" and
2) "Lead the audience to VOXR"
are two processes that must be separated in time.
- You must have your audience online before the event begins. (Otherwise the audience has to take two steps at once - please trust in our experience: group dynamics go wrong, even with the most intelligent audiences, including top managers).
- Download one of the following "VOXR WiFi note" and place it on the chairs, or openly on the conference folder (not in it!):
- ATTENTION 1: Please do not experiment with your own ideas about "WiFi". Please do not put powerpoint films, e-mails, signs or notes in conference folders. All this (and even more) others have already tried (so have we). Please trust in our experience, the VOXR notes on the chairs are by far the safest.
- ATTENTION 2: Do not write down the VOXR information anywhere. This is what the moderator / first speaker does when VOXR really comes into action, not before. Here too: It may be against intuition, but we have learned that this is by far the safest method.
- Bonus-TIP: Make an announcement from the "Off" 10 minutes before the event starts and say: The event starts in 10 minutes, if you are not yet online, please go online" (You do NOT have to explain how. The VOXR WiFi hint does that, see above).
Securing mobile surfing
- Since experience has shown that many subscribers are now surfing via their own mobile flat rate, these subscribers will not enter the WiFi. That's okay too, they can participate via mobile phone. BUT: If there is no mobile phone reception, then you should point this out in the online information to avoid producing "strays".
- If there is mobile radio at your location, you can find out by sending the following mobile radio check to your location and asking for a return within 3 days (the latter has turned out to be enormously project simplifying).
2. Clear Presentation: Setting up your projector computer
An important person in the interaction of VOXR is the person who puts VOXR on the beamer and thus on the screen.
In smaller settings, it might be you yourself (the laptop is then usually on stage).
In larger settings this is the AV-technician and / or the responsible director in the tech-booth.
We recommend: Send the person responsible for video this pdf:
Make sure to also send them your individual VOXR-link too, so:
www.voxr.com/show/YOURVOXRNAME
3. Elevating Engagement: VOXR actions that really work
Tip for selecting VOXR actions - what works from experience:
- Actions that deliver results that you can immediately use right in the event itself (comment, pass on to a speaker, etc.) - this way the audience realizes that it has an influence on the event (!)
- Actions that are extremely easy to understand: Questions / requests to questions are good if I can type something in the audience IMMEDIATELY without thinking. More abstract questions are more difficult to act and deliver worse results.
- PRO-Tip: The easiest and most effective way to use VOXR is not to ask the audience something, but to let the audience ask their questions (!) This only takes a minute and you get a great picture of what your audience is actually interested in.
4. Inticing Introduction: The key to participation
The instructor / facilitator / first speaker is extremely important for the event interaction. The way you have VOXR introduced is decisive for the quantity and quality of the participation. If you are not presenting yourself, please send the following links to the person introducing VOXR.
Our urgent tip: Ask if he/she has watched the video. It has happened to others before you that you have not asked and so have given away a larger participation
For the Introduction: voxr.org/moderation (just 7min)
(if you are presenting, just watch the video yourself )