YouBthere: Where Every Voice Gets Heard

Engagement and connectivity between the audience and a speaker in a corporate event is vital to its success. Oftentimes, attendees do not devote all of their attention to the speaker because they are busy using their smartphones, tablets or laptops. Without a doubt, speakers find this to be distracting, disrespectful, and a little defeating. Sooner or later, our whole world will be accessible via smartphone or tablet. Meeting planners are also searching for ways to receive quantifiable feedback to not only improve the event, but to know what the audience is looking for. If used in the right way, technology can help audience participation and speaker engagement and this particular tool, YouBthere, does just that.

YouBthere is a web-based app that is used to achieve communication and connectivity between the speaker, audience, and event planner. This tool is dynamic and interactive and has several main components. First, the audience is able to connect to the speaker’s profile directly by using the app. Scanning a QR code, or simply searching for the speaker that is presenting through the database connects the speaker and fellow audience members. Here, the audience can ask questions that go directly to the speaker. The speakers can instantaneously download data and therefore, immediately improving their performance. When accessing the speaker information, the attendees have an option of whether or not they want to provide their e-mail address. If they do, this gives the speaker additional contact information for follow-up and feedback.

Another interesting tool that is very beneficial to the speaker is the polling option. The audience has the capability to rate the presenter, on a scale from 1-10, during their presentation. As the audience submits their scores, the speaker is able to gauge how well they are engaging the audience. If scores are high, they know they are capturing the audience. If scores are low, they are able to adjust the way they are presenting in order to fully involve the audience. People love participation and giving their feedback, so this is a great way to emphasize the opinion of the audience.

YouBthere is currently in the process of creating an overtime blog in order to build a community for the conference attendees once the event is over. Questions that didn’t get answered can get posted and a continuous conversation can keep the attendees involved in the subject matter well after the event ends. An additional tool that is close to completion is the availability of live streaming, referred to as YouBthere anywhere. It is an excellent option to reach individuals that were not able to attend the conference and still looking to gain insight.

One last advantage that this tool holds is the survey option. There is an opportunity to customize questions for the audience to gain awareness on the success of an event. Having all of the information and responses in one location not only makes it easier for the audience to respond to, but it is much simpler for the meeting planner as well.

As YouBthere’s founder Chris Revord says, “It is in the front end of where everything is going.”