Do Meetings & Events
Really Need That Much Paper?

Electronic Voting Systems & Keypads Help Board Meetings & Events Eliminate Paper


“Bottom-line, how much of our profit is directly attributable to conferences and events?” pointedly asks hotel CEO Gayle. 


Derek, the hotel’s CMO, presents his report to the board, some of whom attend the meeting remotely.  Derek’s presentation illustrates how much revenue events at the hotel generate, versus costs in marketing dollars to attract.

One such event, held the week before just beneath where Derek now stands, was The Green Business Expo.

The Green Business Expo taught varied attendees, like accountant Mike and marketing analyst Missy, how green business practices were beneficial to more than just the environment.

In the session “Paperless Accounting Strategies,” accountant Mike discovered how much money his company would save each year by going paperless.

“What’s the best way to start eliminating daily uses of paper?” asks Mike to the presenter. 

Rather than posing his question by standing and speaking aloud, Mike is able to ask anonymously via a text message typed into his hand-held Communicator.  The Communicator, an electronic keypad and voting system  from group systems rental company IML, sends Mike’s anonymous question directly to the session moderator.

This same electronic keypad and voting system is used by Mike when it comes time to vote on the effectiveness of this session, on a scale from 1 to 10.  Mike, impressed at both the thorough answers provided to audience questions, and that the event walked the paperless walk by eliminating paper evaluation forms, gives the session a 10 out of 10.

As Mike retires to his room to freshen up for the evening, he passes marketing analyst Missy in the hotel’s elevator bank.  Missy, another event attendee, arrives early for that evening’s silent auction being hosted by the expo.

Upon entering the auction floor, Missy using the same electronic keypad system from IML to enter bids for everything from carbon credits to a hybrid-scooter.  Thanks to her IML Communicator, she never once has to hover over paper bid sheets to monitor her bids. 

However, in the end, paperless bidding proved too easy as an anonymous attendee outbids Missy at the last moment to ride off with the scooter.

“Bottom-line, events and conferences are perhaps the most profitable marketing initiative hosted by this hotel, and recent event like last week’s Green Expo, even help save money by cutting back on waste,” concludes CMO Derek’s board presentation.  “It is my recommendation that the board allocate more of next year’s budget towards attracting a greater number of events.”

While results from that vote have yet to be certified, something about the vote was quite telling.  For the first time, certified board votes were completely paperless, thanks to IML electronic voting systems and keypads.