Second screen technology refers to the use of a mobile device to provide an enhanced viewing experience for other content usually with interactive features. We’re already doing this at home; surfing the internet during commercials, fact checking during a movie, or shopping for a coveted item just seen in television show. With all this activity happening while people are kicking back in their recliners, it stands to reason that their second screen appetite would grow more voracious while they're away from home, attending meetings and events.

Your speaker just dropped a bombshell of a stat on your audience. Don't you think they're doing some fact-checking of their own on their devices? It's time to lean into this second screen phenomenon and help them do this faster/better. Imagine if while delivering this bombshell stat, a message popped up on the mobile app with links to three articles that support it. That's one less Google search attendees have to perform, plus this insight would likely tee up some great peer-to-peer conversations.

By now, most of you have incorporated some kind of mobile app for your event. You've already earned a spot on their smartphone or tablet. Why not leverage this digital real estate to enhance the attendee experience? Why not serve up additional content via the second screen/mobile app to enhance their learning and networking experiences?

• Presenter content
• Slides
• Polling
• Video
• Notes
• Social media links

This technology uses participants’ mobile devices to help them to focus on the presentations rather than distracting them away for other things. Some of the companies providing these services are Lintelus, FreemanXP, Evenium ConnexMe, MeetingPulse, and Microsoft’s Bing Pulse.