PULTEVENT
Audience polling app for conferences: 7 poll types that work without a download
An audience polling app for conferences is only as good as the number of people who actually answer, and every extra step loses a slice of the hall. Ask four hundred delegates to find an app in the store, wait for it to download over venue Wi-Fi and create an account, and you will get answers from the front three rows. With PULTEVENT the delegate points the camera at a QR code, the poll opens in the browser they already have, and one tap later the vote is on the screen.
★ Free for the first 3 days, no card required
Nothing to install means nothing to forget, update or delete afterwards. It works in Safari and Chrome on iPhones and Android phones, including older ones that someone in finance has been meaning to replace. Delegates do not give an email address or a password. They need a mobile connection or the venue Wi-Fi, and so does the laptop you run the poll from.
Polling at a conference is also more than one question with four answers. You want to know which side of an argument the hall is on, how people would split a budget, whether the last slide made sense, and which questions matter most. The Forum Interactive section covers each of these with a different mechanic, and they all run from the same laptop panel.
7 conference poll types you can run from the browser
1 A-or-B opinion poll
Two positions side by side, each with a photo and a one-line statement. Delegates choose one, and a split bar such as 61 | 39 fills the screen.
How to run it. Write the two options so a reasonable person could pick either. A poll with an obvious answer tells you nothing.
It is the fastest way to find out where a room stands on a contested topic.
2 Before and after poll
Open the same A-or-B question at the start of a session and leave vote changing on. By the end, the timeline chart shows how many people moved and when.
How to run it. Hide the running result from phones during the session, then reveal it at the end.
Speakers and sponsors get evidence that a talk changed minds, not just that people clapped.
3 Budget allocation poll
Instead of ranking options, delegates split a virtual budget across them. Each person gets 100 units by default and can put everything on one option or spread it out.
How to run it. Rename the currency to fit the question, for example points or priority credits.
It captures how strongly people feel, which a single vote hides.
4 Live pulse during a talk
Delegates tap reactions while a speaker presents. The question mark reaction works as a running poll on clarity: if it grows, the speaker knows to slow down.
How to run it. Tell the speaker in the green room to glance at the wall once or twice. Most enjoy it.
You measure the room during the talk rather than in a survey nobody fills in a week later.
5 Upvote poll on questions
Delegates send questions and support others with a thumbs up, once per phone. Sorting by popularity turns the question list into a poll on what the room wants discussed.
How to run it. Show the top five on the screen with their support counts before the moderator starts.
The session answers what the majority is curious about, not what the loudest person asks.
6 Session rating by comparison
Give each talk its own reaction session. After the event, compare the charts side by side to see which talks drew the most light bulbs and which drew question marks.
How to run it. Start a new session at every speaker change. It takes one click.
The programme team gets a feedback poll that nobody had to fill in.
7 Multiple-choice question
When you need four or five options, the wider platform includes a separate live voting section with bars on the screen, run from the same account.
How to run it. Keep the list short. Five options is about the limit for a room reading from a screen.
Some questions really are multiple choice, and you do not need a second tool for them.
Scan and vote
The QR code opens the poll in the mobile browser. No store, no sign-up, no password.
One phone, one vote
The server blocks repeat attempts. A dropped connection brings the phone back to its own session.
Results in real time
Votes reach the projector within a couple of seconds, counted on the server.
You decide what is shown
Hide results until the reveal, switch the voter count on or off, or keep a poll private to the panel.
Why no download matters so much
Every conference producer has seen it: the host says download the event app, and a third of the hall lifts their phones, half of those give up at the password screen. A browser link has no such cliff. The camera app recognises the QR code, the poll opens, and the delegate is voting before they have had time to lose interest.
It also removes a support problem. Nobody comes to the registration desk because the app will not install on a work phone with restricted permissions, and you do not need to publish privacy notices for a new app on everyone's device.
Setting up a conference poll
Write the questions before the event, not during the coffee break. For each A-or-B poll you need two short positions, and a photo if a person represents each side. For a budget poll you need option cards with a name, a sentence of description and ideally an image.
Decide the rules. Can people change their vote? Should results show on phones or only on the big screen? Should the number of voters be visible? Do participants have to spend the whole budget, or may they keep some back? Each of these is a switch in the panel, and each changes the behaviour of the room.
Reading results honestly
A conference poll tells you what the people in the hall, with a phone and a connection, chose at that moment. That is useful, but it is not a representative survey and it is not a formal vote. For decisions that need a quorum or signed minutes, use a separate formal procedure.
Look at the timeline as well as the final split. A debate that ends 55 to 45 after starting 30 to 70 is a much bigger story than one that ended where it started.
Mistakes that spoil conference polls
Opening the poll before explaining it. People vote on the first option they see and never come back. The host should read both options out, then say it is open.
Showing the running score from the first second. Early results pull later voters toward the leader. Hide results until you are ready to reveal.
Forgetting to close. A poll left open keeps moving while the host is already reading the numbers. Close it, then read.
Trying it
The demo is free for 72 hours and asks for no card, so you can build your polls and test the QR join on colleagues' phones. After that there is monthly access or a single payment for lifetime access to the whole platform, prices at pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who moderates business forums and corporate conferences and has hosted over 500 events since 2014: best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own events first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run audience polling at a conference without an app
- 1
Write each poll in advance: two positions, budget options or the reactions set.
- 2
Choose the rules: vote change, hidden results, visible voter count, full or partial budget.
- 3
Connect the laptop to the projector and open the full-screen output.
- 4
Show the QR code and have the host read out the options before opening the poll.
- 5
Watch the votes arrive in the panel and close the round on cue.
- 6
Reveal the result on screen, then export the data for your report.
FAQ
Do delegates need to download anything?
Which phones does it work on?
Is an internet connection required?
Can someone vote twice with two browsers?
Can we keep results hidden until the end?
Is this suitable for official ballots?
Can the poll screen carry our branding?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
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