Given that upwards of 1500 people attended the forum, managing an ‘open mic’ was problematic in the past:

• often the question had already been addressed by the time people who had been queued
• questions were off-topic
• occasionally people were disruptive
• accessibility for disabled persons was an issue
• vocal clarity was challenging at times

Pulse Retail Systems (PRS) supplied it’s SMS/Pro technology and consulted with organizers to tailor a solution that worked for the forum.

A person sitting just off stage was moderating the questions and relaying the appropriate questions to the on-stage moderator.  This way, any off-topic or disruptive behavior could be managed; additionally duplicated questions could be filtered out.

Disabled persons and people who weren’t comfortable in front of a microphone were given the same access as others:  their voice was being heard.

The forum received hundreds of questions during the event and also after the event.  It proved that people would engage via SMS. An unexpected outcome was that an analysis of the questions provided additional insight for the organizers as to the key issues that were on people’s minds.