Oklahoma Energy Summit 2007

The idea here is not just for the panelists to give presentations, but the audience to participate in the discussions.

To facilitate that, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission incorporated an “audience response system” into the conference.

“It is our first time using it,” says Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Corporation Commission.

Audience members basically are asked to just hang little plastic keyboards the size of name tags around their necks. When presenters ask a question, audience members can respond by pressing the keys on their keyboards. The keyboards are linked to a computer and program that tabulates the responses, which then can be shown on a center screen.

“We will be doing questions throughout the day … even writting them, depending on what audience members say during discussions,” Skinner says.

“It looks like a little calculator. I don’t klnow if experience in texting is a plus, but we will see. The younger people, I’m thinking, will do quite well.”

By Jack Money, Business Writer, The Oklahoman

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