How to save £100 billion That's the problem Krishnan Guru-Murthy presented to a team of experts whose proposals were aimed at getting Britain's budget back in shape. The target was to find £100 billion of savings during an hour-long live programme broadcast on Monday 21st June 2010. From cutting spending on the NHS to introducing 'pay as you go' motorways, the proposals varied from the mildly contentious to the downright controversial. Each expert presented their idea in 60 seconds, followed by an open-floor discussion where audience members were invited to contribute their views for or against the expert proposal.

And that's where TurningPoint got its 15 minutes of fame! Each member of the 600-strong audience was given a TurningPoint handset and asked to cast their vote - given everything they had heard, did they accept or reject the given proposal as a way of saving Britain's budget? Polling remained open for a few seconds while they voted, and the results were then added to the programme's 'totalizer' which was keeping track of progress towards the £100 billion target. Here at TurningPoint we talk a lot about the fact that you can use TurningPoint with thousands of handsets. We know this is the same as using 20 or 30 handsets in terms of the amount of time taken to collect votes, or the lack of stress involved in making things work. We talk about this confidently because we've done it ourselves plenty of times, but we've often struggled to really show you how effortless it really is. Remember, this programme was live so everything is in real time and under the same pressure as in real life. See it for yourself via Channel 4's 4OD service. Wait, what's the point? I only work with small groups! Really? Regardless of who you are and how you use TurningPoint, you're probably able to identify occasions where you could combine your kits to run a session with many more people than normal Assembles, PTA sessions, combined classes, group AGMs, regional team meetings, quiz nights, staff gatherings, school plays, research projects, large lectures, (okay we're running out of breath now, but what we're really trying to say is think bigger!) Using large groups of handsets is easy if you follow these steps: Grab one of your RF receivers. Gather as many handsets as you need. Work as normal. It's probably more difficult to organise the teas and coffees than it is to use TurningPoint, so maybe you should focus on that next. One final thing We're advocates of using TurningPoint well, rather than slamming your group with inappropriate amounts of multiple-choice questioning. We recommend you use questions as an aide to open discussion and debate, focussing on the human interactions in your session. The programme makers illustrated this principle really well with focus on the proposals, debates, and results, rather than the technology itself. But they would - they are a serious current affairs production team. That's where we come in. Let us be your advisors: If you have some TurningPoint kits and you're unsure how to strike the right balance then watch the programme or give us a call and tell us what you're trying to achieve. We'll use all our superpowers to help you figure out what kinds of questions and format would work for you in your next big gathering. And you don't have to own hundreds of handsets to work with hundreds of people since you can rent the extras you need for the day.