PULTEVENT
Event mood meter: 6 mood sets for different kinds of session
Monday after a two-day conference. The programme manager has the usual feedback survey open: a response rate she'd rather not mention, and average scores so close to each other that they say nothing. Then she opens the mood charts. The Tuesday morning track on regulation was mostly question marks. The customer case panel was a wall of targets. One breakout that the survey rated 'fine' drew more handshakes than anything else in the building. Now she knows what to change.
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A mood meter is a live read of how the room is feeling, captured while the session is happening instead of reconstructed from memory a week later. Attendees tap a reaction on their phones; the screen shows the mix; and every session keeps its own record, so after the event you can compare the keynote to the panels, the morning to the afternoon, one breakout room to another.
In PULTEVENT it's the live reactions mechanic of the Forum interactive section, used as a measuring tool. Delegates open it through a QR code or link in the phone browser, with no download and no registration. The moderator controls it from a laptop, the hall sees the mood on the projector, LED wall or TV. It relies on the server, so the phones and the laptop must be online.
6 mood sets for different sessions
1 Keynote set
The full default set: lightbulb for 'learned something new', target for 'great case', fire for 'hot topic', handshake for 'agree', heart for 'thank you', question mark for 'confusing'. Broad enough for any inspirational or strategic talk.
How to run it. Leave the set as it is for the first keynote, so you have a baseline to compare other sessions against.
A consistent set across keynotes lets you compare speakers fairly.
2 Technical track set
Four reactions: 'new to me', 'already knew this', 'too fast', 'lost me'. For developer talks, finance sessions and anything where the depth of content matters more than the applause.
How to run it. Brief technical speakers that 'already knew this' is useful information, not criticism. It tells them where to skip ahead next time.
You learn whether a track is pitched at the right level, which a satisfaction score never tells you.
3 Panel set
Three reactions: 'agree', 'disagree', 'want to hear more'. The mood of a panel is about positions, so the set is about positions too.
How to run it. Let the panel moderator see the split on a tablet. A peak of disagreement is a cue to put a follow-up question.
Panels with visible disagreement tend to be the ones people talk about at the coffee break.
4 Workshop set
Three reactions: 'got it', 'need an example', 'slow down'. Small rooms, practical content, a facilitator who can adjust on the spot.
How to run it. Show the meter on a TV beside the facilitator rather than on the main screen. It's a working tool here, not a show.
Facilitators correct pace in real time instead of learning from a survey that the workshop ran too fast.
5 Internal all-hands set
Four reactions: 'clear', 'motivated', 'concerned', 'have a question'. For town halls where leadership announces changes and internal communications wants to know how they land.
How to run it. Pair the meter with an anonymous Q&A. When 'concerned' rises, the Q&A will tell you what the concern is.
Internal comms gets an honest, immediate read on each announcement, not only the overall mood of the day.
6 Awards and closing set
Two reactions: heart and fire. No analysis, just energy. The flying emoji fill the screen as each winner walks up.
How to run it. Pause intake during the speeches of winners and reopen it for the walk-up and the photo.
The end of the event looks and feels like a celebration, and the photos show it.
A session per talk
Every speaker or slot gets its own session with its own reaction set and its own chart.
Mood, not a score
The screen shows the shares of each reaction as bubbles and bars. No numbers are shown in the hall.
Sets you define
Rename the reactions for each kind of session, switch off the ones that don't fit.
Compare afterwards
Line up the charts of different sessions and see which ones worked, and how.
Why a mood meter beats a post-event survey
A survey arrives when people are back at their desks, the answers compress into a narrow band of polite scores, and you can't tell which session they are thinking of. A mood meter is captured in the moment, one session at a time, from far more people, because a tap takes a second. It doesn't replace the survey. It tells you which questions the survey should ask.
Running sessions properly
Start a new session as each speaker takes the stage, and give it a name you will understand next week: room, time, title. Change the set if the format changes. Pause intake during videos or sponsor slots, and clear the screen if two short talks share one slot. Each session keeps its own set and chart, which is what makes the comparison possible.
The most common mistake is simple: nobody starts the new session, and a whole afternoon ends up in one chart.
Rate limits and honest data
Without a limit, a handful of eager tappers can outweigh a quiet majority. A limit such as one reaction per person every three seconds keeps the picture representative. For a measured technical session use a relaxed limit; for an all-hands where every voice should weigh the same, a stricter one. One phone counts as one participant, and the server enforces it.
Reading the charts after the event
Look at the mix, not the volume. A small breakout with a high share of lightbulbs did its job better than a packed keynote with mostly hearts. Look at the shape over time too: a session where question marks climb in the second half needed a break or a simpler second part. Export the charts, send each speaker theirs, and use the comparison when you plan next year's programme.
What to say from the stage
The host introduces the meter once, in the morning, in plain words: 'Your phone is a mood button for every session today. Tap whenever something lands, or doesn't. The speakers see it, and so do we.' Then point at the screen the first time it fills, so people connect the tap to the picture.
Before each session the host only needs one line, such as 'the meter is open for Anna's talk', and it helps to explain any renamed reactions. After a strong session, a quick comment on the screen ('lots of lightbulbs for that one') tells the room their taps are being noticed, and they keep tapping for the rest of the day.
Technical basics
Runs in the mobile browser on iOS and Android and on any screen the laptop can drive, from a TV in a meeting room to an LED wall in a plenary hall. Phones and the laptop need internet, since reactions are counted on the server; a phone that drops out rejoins its session automatically. The free 72-hour demo needs no card; after it you choose a monthly plan or one payment for lifetime access, priced on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who hosts forums, industry conferences and corporate events, and has run over 500 events since 2014: best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He built it for his own stages first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run a mood meter at an event
- 1
List every session in the programme and pick a mood set for each type.
- 2
Create one reaction session per slot with a clear name and the right rate limit.
- 3
Connect the screen and test a session from your own phone.
- 4
Show the QR code at the start of the day and explain the reactions in one sentence.
- 5
Start the matching session for every speaker and pause it during videos.
- 6
Compare the session charts afterwards and send each speaker their result.
FAQ
What does the hall see on the screen?
Can every session have different reactions?
Can I compare sessions after the event?
How do I stop one person dominating?
Do attendees have to install something?
Can we pause it during a video?
See also
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