The concept of BYOD sessions is great a but after being in a not so successful session here are a few considerations for running this type of session. One person working interactivelty with 150 people is a tough gig so I won’t mention the name of the session I was in. The presenter was certainly very knowledgeable about the topic but this type of session requires more than that.
If the session is to be collaborative then make the login as simple as possible and if possible distribute this to attendees before the session or at least on the big screen as people arrive.
If your audience requires a particular level of knowledge then make that very obvious in the session brief.
Be prepared for the devices that attendees will bring. If particular hardware or software functionality is required make that very obvious in the session brief.
Stick to and cover the material in your session brief, after all this is why people came to the session.
Create an online resource of the session material so attendees can spend their time interacting and not note taking.
Pace the session appropriate to the complexity of the material presented.
Run and refer to a back channel (eg todaysmeet) to keep in touch with your audience.