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Power User Tip: Submitting Multiple Votes With One Text

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You probably know that we use Keywords or Codes to process votes and send them to your particular polls. For most of our users this involves an audience following along with a live presenter and submitting their answers to polls as they are displayed on stage or in a classroom.

"What if I want to receive multiple votes on the same poll from each of my participants? Or What if I have a bunch of polls' instructions written down on posters or handouts?

Do my participants have to submit a separate text or web vote for each poll?"

Nope! You can submit multiple votes in one text message, one tweet, or with one web response (www.pollev.com). Here's how it works:

  • Enter the keywords or codes separated by a space into the "message body" of your text message, tweet, or the pollev.com page. You can enter as many multiple choice options as you like. Just make sure you don't send half of a keyword if you get to the character limit on your phone. (Typically 130 - 160 characters depending on the carrier.) 
  • The votes will be submitted and processed all at once, whether you're voting on one poll or several. (Make sure you have your polls set to accept multiple responses per participant if applicable.)
  • When using the session feature, you can start your message with the session keyword (to join the session) followed by the single digit answer codes to submit multiple votes within a session.
  • What about Free Text Polls? - You can include a response to a Free Text Poll, as long as you enter it as the last vote in your response. If you enter another poll's keyword after a Free Text Poll's keyword, you will simply submit that keyword within your response to the Free Text Poll. (Note: It is best to vote on a Free Text Poll with one text message because you have a character limit when responding via SMS. So, the less votes included in that message the more space you'll have for your reply.)

Try it out! Send a message with multiple keywords.

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(Ex: Text "1ofmany 3ofmany 6ofmany" to 22333)

Good News for Promethean ActivBoard and ActivInspire Users!

The latest version of Promethean's ActivInspire software now supports the ability to embed HTML in your Flipcharts ... so what? Well, that means you can now easily integrate Poll Everywhere with your Promethean interactive whiteboard!

Here's how:

First, you want to make sure you've updated to the latest version of ActivInspire (1.6.47432 at the time of this post). You can do this by opening the help menu and selecting 'Check for updates...'

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Next, you'll need to grab the necessary embed code for your poll. This can be found under the 'Share and Publish' menu when viewing a poll by clicking the 'Blog or webpage' link. You're going to want to copy the code for the 'Live Chart Widget.' (Note: The width and height parameters of the poll are contained in this object. You may need to adjust these to make the poll legible when embedded in your Flipchart.)

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Now, open the Insert menu in ActivInspire and select 'Embedded HTML' from the 'Link' section. Then just paste the code copied from the 'Live Chart Widget'. Notice in this example we've changed the height and width parameters to be larger, so our chart won't be too small when embedded in the Flipchart.

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Success! The embedded poll will receive and display live votes as long as you have an internet connection.

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You can edit the embedded object in ActivInspire by clicking the blue bar or clicking and dragging to select it. This will allow you to move, resize, and adjust the object's properties.

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Click The Gear | Visual Settings Demo - Change Size, Color, Show & Hide, Logos, Background Images, Animation Effects, and More!

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The following demo video will cover a laundry list of visual settings that you can "tweak" to your heart's desire. If you prefer a more hands on learning experience, we recommend giving it a try on your own by hovering your mouse over a live poll and clicking the gear!

Disclaimer : This is a long video! But if you've already created some polls, and you're curious as to how to make them fit your awesome personality or visual theme, this is the video for you!



 

Pre-populating Poll Results

 Great question from a customer whose brand you would recognize:

Hi Jeff

My portion of the show is the less challenging as far as polling goes, but there are several points in the presentation for Free Text Polls. I know there will be someone backstage "editing" unwanted responses, but they're also concerned about small audiences and not enough responses. Is there a way to have "pre-loaded", backup texts appear without a bunch of us furiously texting them backstage?

Sure.

1) Enable direct web voting for the poll. It's still secure, and doesn't cause extra instructions to be displayed on the poll's live chart. 

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Then use another web browser to copy-paste in sentences and comments during the live poll.

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2) Pre-populate each poll with some responses, but *leave them unapproved* as far as the moderation panel goes. Then approve them if the action is slow, so that they show up on screen.

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How to Optimize Your Texting Response Rate

Recently a customer asked me "What's a typical response rate for a corporate event audience?" I told him that in in audiences >200 people, we've seen everything from 40% to 100%. What's more interesting is discussing, "Why?"
 
When we reference "all communication channels" below, we are generally referring to your event's printed materials, the projector or big screen, and the verbal channel.

These factors increase response rates:
  • Direct incentives for participation
    •  Credit for participation, or inferring attendance (only applies to non-anonymous polls)
    •  Entry into a raffle
    •  The poll is interesting or humorous
  • The poll is intended to be 100% anonymous, and this fact is reinforced over all communication channels
  • The presenter makes a good case for why everyone's participation is vital for data collection
  • The poll is used to reveal a surprising finding or shared opinion
  • The poll is used as part of a corporate mobile game (team-based jeopardy with scoring, or a mobile scavenger hunt, for example)
These factors decrease response rates:
  • The "worst case cost" of $0.20/message for those with no texting plan is not disclosed over all communication channels 
  • The "You will never receive follow up text messages" message is not disclosed over all communication channels 
  • There's no "How To" visual, or verbal instructions are not spoken
  • The event does not run a confidence-building practice poll first, including feedback of success such as a reply message or on-screen confirmation
  • The subject matter is contentious and poll is anonymous ("They won't know I didn't participate, so I'm not going to risk it")
  • The audience demographic does not text and doesn't have the belief in their ability to figure it out in time to participate
  • One of the mobile carriers had marginal cell phone reception (this is much rarer than we had feared in the early days of Poll Everywhere)
All event producers will of course be mindful of the tradeoffs - you're trading valuable event time to do things such as a text-to-screen warmup. But hopefully this list will give you the tools to decide how to plan your cell phone participation event.

 

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