INNOVATIVE GOLD RUSH

Biz taps gold mine: Response technology earns $35 million!

Turning Technologies helps companies, universities, politicians and more poll consumers/ voters etc. to gain information and organize it for help with marketing, elections, sales, new product design, research and insights into possible service offerings.

The key for any startup is to figure out how to take an existing concept and simplify it to appeal to a broader market. Mike Broderick, founder of Turning Technologies, has built on that initial concept over the years and sales have rocketed from just over half a million in 2003 to an estimated $35 million in 2008. The company’s suite of products offers interactive response systems for audience and students alike.

After years in the business, Mike Broderick, Turning Technologies’ CEO, believed there was an untapped market for response technology in classrooms as well as boardrooms. Mike and two other original founders saw huge possibilities to create easy-to-use, portable and affordable products.

Turning Technologies, LLC develops interactive audience response and polling systems for use by schools, businesses, and other organizations. The systems, comprised of presentation software, participant response devices, and a wireless receiver that gathers participant feedback, has changed the response industry and made Turning Technologies a global leader in its field.

Their latest product, ResponseWare Web, allows participants to submit responses to interactive PowerPoint questions via Internet-connected devices including the iPhone, the BlackBerry, other mobile devices, laptops, and even a desktop PC through a web browser. The web application immediately transfers their responses to an interactive polling slide typically presented to the audience via an LCD projector.

ResponseWare enables mobile polling – creating the ability for users to respond to interactive questions. Users already accustomed to instant connectivity using their mobile devices will now be able to communicate their understanding of materials and concepts immediately to their proctor using those same tools. In addition, they will find the anonymous ability to ask questions and seek further insights as a useful technique.

ResponseWare is available for free download at the Apple App Store. For more information about ResponseWare or TurningPoint student response systems, visit www.TurningTechnologies.com 
TurningPoint® – interactive PowerPoint® software – was launched in 2002, with groundbreaking credit card size ResponseCard® response devices following in 2004. With its seamless integration to the most popular presentation software on the market, the interactive, data-collecting software had little learning curve – perfect for teachers, lecturers or presenters – so different from the complicated and confusing response technology of the past, TurningPoint adaption quickly took off.

ResponseCards instantly appealed to the industry as well, with their size and durability. First with infrared capabilities and followed quickly with radio frequency, ResponseCards are small, simple, durable and much cheaper than previous response devices from other companies. Within only a couple years, Turning provided professionals and educators spanning the globe with a complete package to engage their audience, instantly collect valuable data, and dramatically improve learning and meeting environments.

Turning Technologies’ systems are used regularly by many of the world’s most respected corporations, academic institutions, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Over half of all U.S. higher education institutions use TurningPoint systems including Ohio State University and Dartmouth College. Corporate users include Hewlett Packard, Johnson & Johnson and McDonald’s Corporation.
Turning’s CEO Mike Broderick’s motto is, “We’re just getting started. Keep watching!” •

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