conference technology

Here are some interactive ideas you can use to give that extra lift to your conference. 

“This year we have decided to make our conference interactive. During the Chairman’s speech we want you to hurl abuse”

The HTT Clapometer

Those of you old enough to remember Hughie Green's popular Opportunity Knocks TV show will recall the clapometer. For the non-geriatrics amongst you the way it worked was this. To choose between various contestants in a talent show the audience was asked to shout, cheer, clap, or not, to demonstrate their support, or otherwise, for a particular act. The level of noise was then (supposedly) measured and the contestant that generated the highest score was the winner. Here at HTT we have resurrected that idea and you can download the software for free. 

To install it unzip the zip file and double click on the setup.exe file. The level of the clapometer is determined by pressing any key and the pointer will move up the scale. Releasing the key will make the pointer move down the scale. The speed it moves at goes from slow at the ends of the scale to a bit faster in the middle. It takes a bit of practice to get used to, but is great fun and can effectively be used in your conference to choose a winner of a competition. Click here to Download Zipped File

The HTT Bingo Number Generator

Fancy being a bingo caller? Well we have written a program to generate random numbers to allow you to do just that and you can download the software for free. To install it unzip the zip file and double click on the setup.exe file. You will find the program in the program file folder. There are plenty of places that sell bingo cards but we are planning to add a program to allow you to print your own in the near future.

Click here to Download Zipped File

MOBILE PHONE QUIZ

We have never tried this idea as it might upset a few people, but it has been discussed with a conference producer some while ago and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Let's suppose your mobile phone number is 07733418794. Ask your audience to dial 0773341879 on their mobile phones. Then put up a question on the screen with possible answer options. For example something easy like:

Plutonium 238 has a half life of:

1). 12.4 years

2). 56.8 years

3). 74.8 years

4). 87.7 years

Then ask your audience to press the key on their phone that they think corresponds to the right answer (i.e. 1, 2, 3 or 4). The first person to get through to your phone is the winner. It is possible you will annoy the owners of 07733418791, 07733418792 and 07733418793. 

Don't forget to ask them to turn off their phones after this. You don't want to have you conference disturbed by ringing mobiles!

SAY AFTER ME...  

For this, ideally, you will need an army officer's cap and swagger stick. Put up a slide on the screen with the word "AIR" on it. Turn to your audience and say "On the count of three, all read the word on the screen." "One, two, three."

audience "AIR"

Now put up a slide on the screen with the word "HAIR" on it. Turn to your audience and say "On the count of three, all read the word on the screen." "One, two, three."

audience "HAIR"

Now put up a slide on the screen with the word "LAIR" on it. Turn to your audience and say "On the count of three, all read the word on the screen." "One, two, three."

audience "LAIR"

Now put up a slide on the screen with all three words "AIR HAIR LAIR" on it. Turn to your audience and say "On the count of three, all read the words on the screen." "One, two, three."

audience "AIR HAIR LAIR"

Put the cap on your head and the swagger stick under your arm and say "Welcome to Sandhurst chaps"

For that little gem we owe thanks to Rory Bremner.

The HTT Disappearing Card Trick

Pick a card, any card. Memorise it. Now I'll take away the card you were thinking of.

Here's a fun introduction to a presentation. Its success relies on the whole thing being done fairly quickly. The way it works is to put a slide on the screen showing six playing cards. Ask your audience to choose just one card from the six and you, by the power of thought, are going to convince everybody to choose the same card. Move on to the next slide, which is blank and ask everyone to think of the card they have chosen. Now bring up the next slide, which shows just five cards, and by magic the one they chose is missing! Download the PowerPoint presentation to see how it works.

Click here to Download the Powerpoint File

Speaker Clock

This idea isn’t really a way of making your conference interactive but is useful nonetheless. It is a clock displayed in PowerPoint to tell speakers how much time they have left to present. To use it first download the add-in (Speaker Clock.ppa). Now download Speaker Clock demo.ppt. With PowerPoint open click “Tools”, then “Macros” then “Security” and check that the security level is set to low or medium. Now click “Tools” then “Add-Ins...” then “Add New...”. Now find Speaker Clock.ppt that you just downloaded and double click it. Now click “Close”. On the top left of the screen just below the toolbar you will see a button labelled “Set timer”. Click this and set the speaker clock to its starting time. Now run the presentation. The clock will count down and the background will change from green to orange at two minutes and to red at zero minutes. At this point it will start displaying time overrun.

Click here to Download Speaker Clock.ppa

Click here to Download Speaker Clock demo.ppt

The HTT Roulette Wheel

Mesdames et messieurs, s’il vous plâit, faites vos jeux. Here’s some software that won’t break the bank. Recreate Monte Carlo by having your very own roulette wheel spinning on your conference screen. With added sound it randomly chooses a number between 0 and 36 at the tap of a key.

Click here to Download Roulette (zip file)

Animated Scoreboard - Coming Soon

QUIZ prêt à porter (coming soon)