Apps

Crowd Mics — Turn Every Mobile at Your Event Into a Microphone

by Tara Thomas
11 years ago
3 min read
Written by Tara Thomas
Buffer

This is truly a revolutionary event technology that is getting a lot of buzz in the industry.

Thanks to Crowd Mics – no more running microphones around the room! And here are 5 solid reasons why you should check out the Crowd Mics app:

  1. Hold Q&A and polling right on the app
  2. Create conversations between all your event participants
  3. Encourage session participation, especially for the ‘shy’ ones
  4. Break out in group karaoke!
  5. Bring on the “First to Answer” games and raffles

Tim Holladay, Co-Founder of Crowd Mics, tells us more about how it came to be.

LAUNCH-CM-Founders1. Why and when did your company get started? What was the inspiration?

We launched Crowd Mics February 25, 2014 at LAUNCH Festival 2014. A year prior my co-founder and brother Sean and I were sitting in a meeting together and the presenter wanted to hear from the crowd. However, responses and comments from the crowd couldn’t be heard by any of the 150 attendees. After about 5 interactions like this Sean leans over to me and said “how is it that I can talk to someone across the world but I can’t hear the lady in this room?” There has to be a way to use my phone as a wireless microphone. That was it! Crowd Mics was born.

2. How did you come up with the ‘name’ and concept – what’s the story behind the name?

The name is pretty descriptive. Crowd Mics is the mic for the crowd. I wish we had a cool story behind it but we don’t.

3. What is your “big innovation?” What’s the coolest features of your tech?

The microphone! We enable the microphones that everyone carries with them everywhere. With Crowd Mics, the audience can speak into their device and be heard over the sound system at live events. No additional hardware, just a sound system, wifi, the devices and people’s pockets, and the Crowd Mics apps. It’s simply not being down right now.

crowdmic2

4. How does your technology change the game for event professionals?

No more running microphones around the room or putting mics on stands in the isles. Attendees talk from their seats are are heard. Besides the potential financial savings, the audience interaction is way better. On top of that we have a text commenting feature for the moments when it’s not the right timing to talk. And our dead-simple polling feature is great to get a quick pulse on the crowd. We’re trying to just make it smile to be heard.

crowdmic3

5. Is it possible to measure ROI on your product?

Yes. Just looking at our voice commenting you can see how it compares to renting a wireless mics. For the cost of two wireless mics you can put 200 mics in the room. Calculate how you want!

6. What do your best customers love about you?

We’re just starting but you can’t beat the mic feature. We also try to be very responsive and helpful. You can catch us just about any time anywhere.

7. What industry trends and shifts are you following that you think are important?

Crowd interactivity is seems to be a growing trend. More and more presenters are trying to find ways to engage the audience in an interactive and simple way.

8. Any lessons learned from the trenches?

Event professionals work in a high-stakes environment. Everything is high-profile and urgent. We’ve also learned that the combination of mobile and wifi is hard. That’s probably why it hasn’t been done…until now!

Have to ask: What’s your favorite app? (Not your own)

Boring answer: Mail.

Better answer: Lose it! Dropping some pounds!

 

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Tara Thomas

CMO & Co-Founder at The Meeting Pool
Tara is CMO and Co-Founder of The Meeting Pool, and a round-the-clock marketeer who works with tech companies on marketing activities including branding, events, social media, public relations, communications, strategy, and operations. Her background in the marketing of technology applications and online services spans a broad set of technologies including software-as-a-service, B2B, enterprise, financial services, publishing, real estate, and automotive markets. She has over 15 years of expertise managing strategic event marketing programs for companies including The Television Bureau of Advertising, Oracle, IPIX and The Cobalt Group, a leader in the automotive marketing space. Most recently at Certain, Inc., Thomas oversaw a myriad of strategic marketing initiatives that were essential to Certain’s growth.
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