8 Ways BYOD Will Improve Your Meeting

What is BYOD?

Most people have heard of “BYOB”, but have you heard of “BYOD”? This new concept of employees and attendees bringing their own smartphones and tablets to participate in meetings is a growing trend in today’s tech-savvy world. BYOD stands for “Bring Your Own Device” and offers many benefits to meeting hosts, sponsors, and attendees. 

How are BYOD tools useful for attendees?

• Offers an opportunity to network.
• Answering survey questions help meeting hosts to adjust content to match the needs of their audience.
• Attendees can communicate their learning needs.
• Meeting materials are available for all participants to easily access.

The term "Bring Your Own Device" can be traced back to 2009 where it was originally coined by Intel. The Intel IT Center ranked the top benefits for BYOD:

8 Ways BYOD Will Improve Your Meeting

1. Improved Productivity – From a corporate standpoint, one of the main reasons employees say they use their mobile devices during presentations is because they can get more done with their own personal device. Many people have apps that they like to use on a daily basis to accomplish their tasks, such as calculators or to-do lists. It is just simply easier for employees to accomplish things if they are allowed to use their own mobile device.
2. Collaboration Opportunities – Many companies have chosen to get rid of physical network infrastructure and have gravitated toward the idea of sharing data in the Internet cloud. This approach allows you to put all of your data in one place where it can be shared, edited, and viewed by everyone throughout the organization. Mobile devices allow for easier sharing of information and better, faster communication between meeting hosts and attendees.
3. Lower Company Costs – Employees would prefer to choose their own device rather than being given a specific one from their company. For that reason, people are willing to pay for their own smartphones and tablets if BYOD is implemented. Organizations that effectively apply BYOD can save up to $1,300 per year for each mobile device. In addition to this, meeting sponsors will cut back costs by eliminating fees associated with tablet rentals, voting kiosks, keypad devices, etc. 
4. Increased Attentiveness – Your attendees will be less distracted if their devices are linked to the meeting content, speaker material, etc.  By relating the devices to the meeting in real time, attendees are more likely to be engaged and involved.
5. Participation and Engagement – With a variety of available apps and software tools for both smartphones and tablets, there are many ways you can boost the participation of your audience. These tools allow people to answer polling questions or submit a question for the presenter or subject matter experts using their device. Interactive polls help track learning, benchmark best practices, and allow presenters to tailor their presentations to better meet the needs of those in the room. This will help keep your audience focused and on-topic.
6. Gain Feedback – Taking notes on a tablet is a great way for employees to quickly type up their thoughts and anything they may want to address at the end of a meeting. Smartphone and tablet polling software is available so that your audience may answer survey questions and stay involved in the meeting, while you are gaining insight and feedback that will help you to adjust the content of your next meeting based on the needs of your audience.
7. Keeping up with Current Trends – It’s no secret that technology, specifically the proliferation of mobile devices, has been an important trend over the past few years. The pace of related changes is accelerating and is likely to gain momentum in the next few years. The faster your organization adopts these new trends, the easier it will be to keep up with the growing needs of team members, customers, and stakeholders.
8. Attendee Satisfaction – Bottom line is that attendees are happier, and when people are happy they tend to be more creative, focused, and involved.

The honest truth is that whether BYOD is planned or not, people will most likely bring their phones into meetings and conferences, which may lead to distractions for themselves as well as others around them. By helping attendees use their smartphones and tablets during a presentation as an interactive device, you can better grab their attention, keep them focused on the purposes of the meeting, and move them from being passive attendees to active participants. 

There are a variety of innovative apps available for smartphones and tablets that can be used in your next meeting with little to no experience or training needed. Most of these apps, once installed, can be used immediately and easily. There are a variety of polling, gaming, and voting apps available to fit the particular needs of your company. So try using BYOD at your next meeting, conference, presentation, or exhibition and see the change in your participants' satisfaction!

Smartphone and Tablet Statistics

• 1 in 5 people in the entire world have a smartphone.
• 1 in 17 have a tablet device.
• As of June 2013, 61% of all Americans own a smartphone.