Overview

 

Easington District Council needed to gather instant feedback from the Community and Council services. They also wanted to gauge residents' views on new initiatives.

 

Challenge

 

Organisers were using a 'show of hands' voting system and there was no way of guaranteeing that this information was 100% accurate. Furthermore, documenting the data proved time consuming and the audience weren't seeing the outcomes immediately.

 

Solution

 

IML's Communicator keypads.

 

Instant feedback

 

• All data is stored and accurately recorded in Excel® format.
• The audience can see the outcome of a vote immediately.
• Voting can be anonymous so that the audience feel confident to vote without embarrassment.

 

Simplicity

 

Our keypads are lightweight and simple to use. The conference operator will run 'test' votes to get the audience used to keypads.

 

Case study

 

Easington residents have been telling their District Council exactly what they think of them with the help of IML's voting keypads.

The District Council called upon the services of IML because they needed to raise awareness amongst residents about important issues that affect their community and what the Council and its partners are doing to address them.

The Council also needed to know whether residents felt that action taken in the past to address community issues had been effective.

The "Your Community…Your Call" conference featured speakers from authorities such as the Police, the Fire brigade, East Durham Homes and Easington Primary Care Trust. All authorities needed public feedback and opinion about their services.

Because IML’s keypads provide rapid data response, the presenter and the audience could clearly see the results of the vote immediately on screen in front of them.

Each Authority delivered their presentation and then asked the audience to answer a set of pre-planned questions using the keypads. The Police wanted to know if the audience thought that their Street Safety Measures had been effective. After the audience had voted, IML stored the information on a database. Each authority could then take the feedback relevant to them and see where they were effective, or where improvement was needed.

 

Client testimonial

 

"Before using the keypads, we had no accurate feedback facility. We used to cast the vote with a show of hands. With the keypad facility, the vote is 100% accurate and the audience can comment and then see immediately on screen what everyone else thinks.

"There was also a certain element of anonymity about it all. People are often reluctant to stand up and speak at these conferences. The keypad offered the entire audience the opportunity to make their point, without the embarrassment of standing up. Also, with a show of hands, you stand out if you have a minority opinion. The keypads allowed people to say what they really felt.

"The whole point of the conference was to get true and accurate feedback from the audience and that was exactly what we got.

"The keypads also provided a fun element to the conference. A conference like this with a number of speakers means that people can get a bit weary as the day goes on. The novelty of interaction generated more involvement and kept delegates engaged and interested."

 

Mike Lavender, Communications and Marketing Manager.