Which high-profile drug maker recently began allowing shareholders to vote on executive compensation at shareholder meetings?

A. Pfizer

B. AstraZeneca

C. GlaxoSmithKline

If you chose “A. Pfizer,” you’re correct.

Beginning in 2010, Pfizer shareholders will be able to approve or vote against executive compensation for the CEO, CFO and other top execs every two years, according to ABC News. The drug maker’s first shareholder meeting to be affected by the decision is tentatively scheduled for April.

Pfizer follows in the footsteps of Microsoft, which in September made the decision to give shareholders a vote on executive compensation every three years.

Extending the voting power of shareholders will require companies to put voting processes under completely detailed scrutiny. When leveraging voting systems, companies must ensure the systems can provide 100% accuracy and an immediate, full audit trail of attendance and participation.

Looking for more of the latest trends in shareholder meetings? Subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event Blog RSS feed or by email. Or follow us on Twitter.

Latest Shareholder Meeting Trend: Shareholders Voting on Executive Pay was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

IML Connector Audience Response System

Attendees at this week’s International Confex Exhibition in London got a firsthand, exclusive view of the brand-new IML Connector audience interaction and voting tool.

Not there? Not to worry.

We’ve got our own exclusive look at the new audience response system.

The audience response device – in direct response to event producer demand – reduces the amount of hardware necessary for attendees to fully participate in events. The single handheld device combines:

• Multiple audio channels and portable PA system
• Instant voting with configurable menus and choices
• “Push to talk” functionality, allowing attendees to ask questions without waiting for the mic

The Connector audience response system takes interaction to a whole new level by incorporating intuitive features such as an accelerometer that detects tilt and orientation. Imagine using the Connector at your next event to capture an actual show of hands.

User-friendly features have also been incorporated into the Connector. In place of an industry-standard alpha-numeric keypad, the Connector utilizes a QWERTY keyboard. Plus, the device offers a color screen for multimedia and high-resolution graphics, which enables more detailed question and answer sessions.

Learn more about the new Connector and other audience response systems available from IML.

To receive the latest news and tips for enhancing your next event with electronic bidding and pledging, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

Gain an Exclusive Look at the Next Generation of Audience Response Systems was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Could new requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) soon change the way your business conducts shareholder meetings?

The SEC has proposed several new measures to grant even more voting power to shareholders of US companies, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.

Here’s how suggested measures could affect shareholder voting for US corporations moving forward:

Before: In general, shareholders have had a difficult time influencing the way companies operate, especially when it comes to executive pay.

After: A new SEC proposal would give shareholders a non-binding vote on executive pay.

Before: Shareholders have long had the right to nominate director candidates, but the process was extremely expensive because they had to use their own proxy documents.

After: A new SEC proposal would allow shareholders to nominate director candidates using the company’s proxy documents, thus streamlining the process and making it more cost-effective.

Before: Previously when shareholders sought to remove a director from a board without nominating their own candidates, they would cast protest votes during shareholder meetings, hoping the director would resign on his or her own.

After: A proposed measure from the SEC would prohibit brokers from casting director-election votes on behalf of investors who don’t vote. With the new measure in place, brokers can’t dilute shareholders’ message by voting on behalf of non-voting investors.

Before: Previously, executives could be re-elected in uncontested elections with just vote.

After: A new measure would require directors to win more than 50% of investor votes to be re-elected to boards. Executives not receiving a 50% vote would have to submit their resignation.

Granting additional voting rights during shareholder meetings will necessitate an even more accurate, streamlined voting process.

By leveraging electronic voting systems, companies can ensure:

• Rapid, accurate voting results
• Detailed audit trail of attendance and voting
• Quick, automated registration for shareholders
• Instant identification of shareholders with voting rights

To receive the latest tips on electronic voting for shareholder and other meetings, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

How Voting at Shareholder Meetings Could Change as a Result of New SEC Measures was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

When you cast a vote, typically the goal is to choose the best possible option—whether you’re voting on a new school board president or a city ordinance. When was the last time you were encouraged to vote on the worst choice?

The Cotton Land Cluster of Dog Shows is doing just that as part of a fundraising contest to collect money for the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit in Louisiana.

The charity dog competition honors the ugliest dog and the best owner/dog look-alike. Last year, the contest contributed more than $5,000 to its cause, according to The News-Star in Monroe, Louisiana.

Macmillan Cancer Support is following a similar lead. The London-based cancer charity has launched the Ugliest Mug fundraising contest in search of the most quirky or peculiar drinking mug in the UK, reports news source Your Thanet. The winning mug will be chosen based on its “ugly” factor and its bizarre history or story.

The contest serves as a jumpstart to the organization’s major fundraising event, the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. During the event, UK residents are asked to host their own coffee mornings with friends, family and co-workers. The money collected during the coffee mornings will be donated to cancer patient care and treatment. Last year the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning raised £7.5 million; this year’s goal is more than £8 million.

Take a cue from these successful fundraising events and host your own variation. To maximize results, use an electronic voting system to have some fun and get creative:

• Plan a charity ’80s prom night. Instead of voting on the most popular king and queen of the prom, select the “Most Hideous Dress” and “Worst Tux.”

• Host a vintage car show. Don’t honor the most beautifully refurbished car; instead let attendees vote on the “Worst Clunker” or “Biggest Gas-Guzzler.”

• Hold an “un-fashion” show. Attendees can vote on the “Oddest Dress,” “Most Bizarre Hat” and “Ugliest Tie.”

How else could you use electronic voting systems to honor the “worst of”, have fun and raise money for your charity?

Fundraising Contests Get Creative and Honor the “Worst” Choices was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Any school board knows that when the decision is made to close a school, it often involves a heated debate and a potentially explosive board meeting. That’s exactly what happened in early August at an East Aurora School Board meeting in suburban Chicago. The emotion-filled meeting demonstrated the need for an accurate voting system and method to structure public debate.

The Beacon News reported that after weeks of examining the success of the 1-year-old Magnet Academy, the school board had planned to put the school’s future to a vote during the Aug. 3 meeting. But that vote never occurred. Instead, dozens of passionate parents, school administrators and teachers filled the meeting room and flooded out into the hallway to fight to keep the school for gifted students alive.

School administrators arrived armed with a PowerPoint presentation to argue their case for retaining the program. Parents, some in tears, voiced their frustration that the decision was coming just weeks before the beginning of the school year. Some even said they weren’t aware of the potential plans to close the school until the day of the board meeting, The Fox Valley Villages Sun reported.

After 3 hours of back-and-forth debate, board members decided not to put the school’s future to a vote. Instead, they voted unanimously to continue discussion on the topic at a later meeting.

School Board Meetings: Structure the Debate

There’s no denying that the discussion to close a school elicits a deep emotional response. For parents, it involves the well-being and future of their children. For teachers and administrators, it could mean an end to their livelihood.

But it’s difficult to make an informed, confident decision on a critical issue when emotions are high and voices are loud. To be most effective, events like school board meetings must devise a voting system or plan to:

• Remove as much emotion as possible to achieve a consensus. This is particularly true with a subject as sensitive as a school closing.

• Gain open and honest feedback from all parties. Both board members and attendees must avoid group mentality, where the strongest opinion becomes the opinion for all. Offer everyone an equal opportunity to voice their opinion. The loudest are heard first, but all opinions deserve to be voiced.

• Structure the debate and discussion in an orderly fashion. When meetings turn into screaming matches, it’s tough to make progress.

• Allow for anonymous voting when necessary. Voting should be instantaneous and accurate as well.

Wireless audience response systems are a simple and effective way to structure the debate. These products can provide microphone queuing for more democratic Q&A sessions. Some can allow moderators to gauge audience reaction at any given moment. Products can also ensure every audience member’s voice counts by allowing them to vote secretly, without pressure from peers.

Perhaps with tools like these, the East Aurora School Board meeting could have gathered opinions in a more timely, efficient and organized manner in order to advance toward a decision.

How do you think school board meetings could be improved by structuring the debate?

Voting System Needed: Heated School Board Meeting Ends in No Decision was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Audience voting is all the rage when it comes to reality game shows. But could that formula work for charity, too? A local dance studio in Florida thinks so.

A Social Affair Dance Studio in Jacksonville is raising money for juvenile diabetes by taking a cue from the hit ABC show ‘Dancing With the Stars’. Plans are well underway for its Nov. 1 fundraiser to benefit the North Florida Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

During the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ charity event, local celebrities paired with professional ballroom instructors will compete for the title of Jacksonville’s favorite dancers. Like the television show, audience voting will play a big role:

• 50% of the voting will be from the competition judges.

• The remaining 50% will be based on audience voting, both during and before the event.

• Supporters can cheer for their favorite dancer by donating $1 per vote.

Additional Audience Voting Ideas
Following the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ audience voting formula has certainly worked for A Social Affair Dance Studio. The successful event is now in its 7^th year!

What other fun and interactive charity events can be inspired by the show?

• Serving With the Stars: In a doubles tennis match or volleyball tournament, local celebrities are paired with professional or collegiate players from the area. Fans vote on the best dressed team, most improved player and best serve.

• Cooking With the Stars: Local celebrities partner with restaurateurs and chefs in a cooking and baking competition, where guests cast their votes for the best dishes.

• Racing With the Stars: Local celebrities and area athletes are paired on teams to compete in a relay race, 100-meter dash and a hurdle-jumping competition.

With audience response systems that allow guests to electronically cast votes or place bids, participation is guaranteed. Learn more about how audience response systems can help maximize fundraising at your next event.

What other events can benefit from audience voting?

Audience Voting: Not Just for Reality Game Shows was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Photo Credit: Tiffany Oelfke

When you host a corporate meeting, fundraiser or silent auction, you risk rolling out a red carpet no different from any other in the eyes of your audience.  If you are renting out a conference center, in fact, you may be rolling out the exact same red carpet.

In helping thousands of organizations and non-profits host successful red-carpet events, audience response systems company IML has learned that audience interaction is key to a memorable gala or meeting.

Using our systems, organizations and non-profits have hosted red carpet events that have resonated so strongly, the shade of the red carpet transformed into a deeper shade of purple.

To share these successful purple carpet stories with you, and help you write some of your own, audience response systems company IML proudly launches our blog, “The Purple Carpet Event Blog.”

Concepts you find here will help you host successful red carpet events with topics including:

• Interactive voting solutions for efficient corporate meetings
• Creative ideas for exceptional fundraising dinners
• Profitable suggestions for silent auctions that exceed projections

We commit to ensuring the information you find on The Purple Carpet Experience will be invaluable as you plan your next event.

If you have questions or topics you would like to see in upcoming posts, please leave ideas below in the comments.

Audience Response Systems Transform Red-Carpet Events Into The Purple Carpet Experience was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com