Taking Lynnwood’s ‘Pulse’

LYNNWOOD — Wanted: opinionated Lynnwood residents and business owners.

City officials here will be taking advantage of a free offer from the Association of Washington Cities to use its new electronic voting technology.

With individual keypads, audience members can respond to questions, rank issues and determine priorities — then see their answers (as a group, not individually) displayed immediately in a PowerPoint format.

AWC officials say the keypads help meetings come alive.

Questions asking for a yes/no, ranking or priority response are projected like a PowerPoint presentation, and the audience votes, using an electronic keypad (they call them pulse pads – they take the “pulse” of the audience, according to AWC officials.

The audience’s answers are tabulated automatically (using the built-in software) and displayed immediately.

“The beauty of the technology is that it lets everyone see the mood of the room,” said Mike Bailey, Lynnwood’s finance director.

How people can vote could vary from meeting to meeting.

People can vote individually, or sit in groups and vote collectively, after discussing an issue.

AWC officials said, “What the pulse pads do is make it easier for you to communicate and for everyone to voice their opinion.”

While this communications tool can be used in a variety of situations to build consensus and create awareness, Bailey said Lynnwood will be using it primarily to get feedback from Lynnwood citizens/ business owners on its budget.

Lynnwood Mayor Mike McKinnon, however, said he didn’t want the questions restricted to just the budget.

“I’m willing to talk about other things as well,” McKinnon said.

The high-tech, town hall-type meetings will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12 and 5 p.m. Oct. 13 at the City Council Chambers, 19100 44th Ave. W. in Lynnwood.

A meeting will also take place at the Lynnwood Kiwanis Club meeting at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 14 at the World Concern building at 19802 Highway 99.

For more information call 425-775-1971.