TurningPoint® Case Study

The MASIE Center

BACKGROUND

The MASIE Center is the nucleus of a business empire built by internationally recognized corporate learning expert Elliott Masie. Renowned as a researcher, thought leader, author, speaker and trainer, Masie is in high demand among both Fortune 500 firms and smaller companies for his insight on organizational learning and performance issues. The creation of The MASIE Center has enabled Masie to expand his professional reach via a range of consulting, publishing and teaching ventures.

High on the list of The MASIE Center's activities are its labs and conferences. The center's best-known event is its annual LEARNING Conference, which regularly attracts over 4,000 HR and training executives for four days of intense discussions and lectures.

THE CHALLENGE

Elliott Masie strongly believes that people who come to LEARNING Conferences should be participants, not simply attendees. "We are riveted to the concept of collaborative learning," Masie states. "Individuals learn best when they explore ideas together, finding out what others think and coming to discovery in community."

Because collaboration is so critical to his approach, Masie believes strongly in audience response technology. In his eyes, however, many systems are impractical. "Personal keypads often range in size from big TV remotes to two-pound bricks," he notes. "In order for people to enjoy using an audience response system, the keypad has to be small and comfortable, so it can travel with them as they walk around the venue."

THE SOLUTION

In 2004, Masie and his team of conference professionals discovered the Turning Technologies audience response system. Comprised of TurningPoint presentation software and ResponseCard® keypads, Turning Technologies systems are known for their ease of use, flexibility and affordability.

Unlike other presentation software, TurningPoint is 100% native to Microsoft PowerPoint®, enabling users to easily author and deliver audience queries without ever leaving PowerPoint. The product includes a Reports Wizard that easily moves data into preformatted Microsoft Excel® and Word® templates for analysis and reporting; furthermore, it seamlessly operates with education content solutions like those from Thomson Learning and Glencoe/McGraw Hill.

What attracted Masie most to the Turning Technologies system, however, was its ResponseCard RF two-way radio frequency keypads. "ResponseCard RF keypads are hardly bigger than a credit card," he observed. "The ability for participants to wear the keypad on their belt, and to be able to use it in multiple rooms, has allowed it to be a natural, organic part of our curriculum management."

After using the Turning Technologies system at four major events, Masie is impressed by how quickly and easily it can adapt to specific situations. "TurningPoint allows us to not only create questions and slides in advance, but also to stage queries on the fly. We sometimes will give participants a form and ask them to write their own questions, then we'll create a mechanism in TurningPoint to answer some of them on the spot," he states. "We've also used the software to create ice breakers. In Las Vegas recently, we asked people to tell us 'Are you richer or poorer this morning than you were last night?' We each bet a dollar on the result. In case you're wondering, only 21% were richer."

Debbie Bult, director of events for The MASIE Center, pointed to the ability of the Turning Technologies system to track groups of participant within one large facility. "We've been in 60,000 square foot ballrooms where people are organized by 'table zones'. TurningPoint allows us to process this zone information," she commented, noting now easy Turning Technologies was to work with overall. "Logistically it has worked out very well. The equipment is very portable and carries a low footprint. What's more, the Turning Technologies team has worked closely with us onsite, both in preparation for our events and during the actual sessions. They've made the whole process painless."

CONCLUSION

Masie believes the Turning Technologies system has furthered the strategic mission of The MASIE Center's learning events. "In my mind, the system has helped us in three ways," he explains. "One, it uncovers the wisdom of the crowd; in other words, the idea that the 'we' is smarter than the 'me'. Two, it lets people feel they're doing more than simply watching a presentation. And three, it allows participants to steer a session's content, even slightly. A 40-slide presentation can feel like prison if it doesn't reflect the participants' interests. With TurningPoint and ResponseCard RF keypads, participants have a say in the experience."

Both Masie and Bult reported that the Turning Technologies audience response systems are well received by LEARNING Conference attendees. "I often hear that the system was fun to use. People will ask for the name of the technology we used," stated Bult. Based on the team's conference experiences, The MASIE Center began using the Turning Technologies system at the 35-person Extreme Learning Lab immersive learning events it holds at its Saratoga Springs, New York headquarters.

"It is increasingly important that events have a sense of community," Masie said. "The reality is that we can get most of our information today over the Internet or other digital forms. The reason people come to events is for a sense of connectedness between themselves and the speaker, between themselves and the participants.

"I have found from my own experience that using an audience response technology like Turning Technologies gives an immediate ability for the participant to be connected," he concluded. "Just by seeing their data reflected with other people's data and to become a real, live interactive component of the event."

For more information about purchasing Turning Technologies' audience response systems for your organization, contact us at 866-746-3015.