Just asking attendees to set phones to “vibrate” isn’t enough
People think they’re being polite and attentive by turning their cellphones to “vibrate” mode during conference sessions, but that isn’t enough to keep their attention. According to Fast Company, the sound a vibrating phone makes is the third most-addictive noise there is (behind only a baby’s giggle and the Intel dum dum dum dum). As the article says, “When we switch our phone into silent mode, we think it cannot be heard. But the vibration has its own sound, and almost immediately the test subjects stopped whatever they were doing to attend to their phones.”
The whole article is well worth a read, especially to those of us who wonder where marketing will go next. Which should be every conference planner, because no one puts more time, money, and research into how people learn and how to make learning stick than marketers. Now that they’re starting to look into how to reach people through more than just their visual sense, here’s hoping we do as well (and we’re not even selling anything other than good ideas, right?).
March 4th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
My son could actually identify the noise of a vibrating BlackBerry before he was two. When he heard it, he’d say, “Daddy! You BlackBerry is speaking to you!” I could never decide if that was more funny or depressing …
March 5th, 2010 at 10:41 am
If you do not want to be disturbed, you should just turn the phone off. Vibration mode, to me, is only to not disturb the others around you, rather than to give your full attention to a presentation or conference. Plus you’re even more likely to be thinking “Was that my phone vibrating? I better check!”
March 10th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Actually the worst part isn’t vibration noise that the problem, it’s how the cell phone owner reacts to it that causes the disruption.
Typically when someone feels their phone vibrate, they immediately whip it out to see who’s calling (as Maranda noted). That action causes others around them to look at them checking the phone. So now you have maybe three or more people distracted. Then, if the call seems urgent enough, the callees will get up to take the calls in the hall which distracts at least the entire part of the room behind them. Usually they start answering the call as they’re exiting the door. So make that the entire room that gets distracted.
There is only one way to eliminate cell phone interruptions: Make them turn them off. At some networking events, it is standard policy to require people to turn them off before the meeting starts. Some even institute fines for any cell call interruptions. A little harsh, but these people are stealing attention away from the presentation.
Maybe providing attendees with cell phone break times can help ring in a new era of interruption-free meetings.
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