Audio/Text Question Submission and Control in a Produced Online Event

1 . A method for managing question submissions in an online event produced by an event producer, the method comprising:

a conferencing system establishing an audio conference between one or more speakers and a plurality of listen-only viewers;

presenting an event production user interface to an event producer and a viewer user interface to the listen-only viewers, the event production user interface configured to enable the event producer to control the viewer user interface during the online event;

receiving, via the viewer user interface, a text question submitted by one of the listen-only viewers for presentation to one or more speakers; and

the event producer selecting the text question, via the event production user interface, for live audio presentation by the listen-only viewer via the audio conference.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the live audio presentation of the selected text question comprises configuring an audio connection associated with the listen-only viewer for two-way communication.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the configuring the audio connection for two-way communication involves changing a participant role.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the participant role is changed from a viewer role to one of a speaker role and a live question role.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the listen-only viewer requests to present the submitted text question for live audio presentation via the audio conference.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting the text question in the viewer user interface during the live audio presentation by the listen-only viewer.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the text question is submitted via a question submission component presented via the viewer user interface.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the text question is added to a questions feed presented in the event production user interface.

9 . A computer program embodied in a computer readable medium and executable by a processor for managing question submissions in an online event produced by an event producer, the computer program comprising logic configured to:

establish an audio conference between one or more speakers and a plurality of listen-only viewers;

present an event production user interface to an event producer and a viewer user interface to the listen-only viewers, the event production user interface configured to enable the event producer to control the viewer user interface during the online event;

receive, via the viewer user interface, a text question submitted by one of the listen-only viewers for presentation to one or more speakers; and

select the text question, via the event production user interface, for live audio presentation by the listen-only viewer via the audio conference.

10 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the live audio presentation of the selected text question comprises configuring an audio connection associated with the listen-only viewer for two-way communication.

11 . The computer program of claim 10 , wherein the configuring the audio connection for two-way communication involves changing a participant role.

12 . The computer program of claim 11 , wherein the participant role is changed from a viewer role to one of a speaker role and a live question role.

13 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the listen-only viewer requests to present the submitted text question for live audio presentation via the audio conference.

14 . The computer program of claim 9 , further comprising logic configure to present the text question in the viewer user interface during the live audio presentation by the listen-only viewer.

15 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the text question is submitted via a question submission component presented via the viewer user interface.

16 . The computer program of claim 9 , wherein the text question is added to a questions feed presented in the event production user interface.

17 . A computer system comprising:

a conferencing system for establishing an audio conference between a plurality of listen-only viewers, an event producer, and one or more speakers, each operating a corresponding computing device connected via a communication network;

a server configured to communicate with the conferencing system and the computing devices, the server comprising one or more processors and an event management/production module, which is stored in memory and executed by the processors, the event management/production module comprising:

logic configured to present an event production user interface to an event producer and a viewer user interface to the listen-only viewers, the event production user interface configured to enable the event producer to control the viewer user interface during the online event;

logic configured to receive, via the viewer user interface, a text question submitted by one of the listen-only viewers for presentation to one or more speakers; and

logic configured to display the text question in the event production user interface and receive a selection of the text question for live audio presentation by the listen-only viewer via the audio conference.

18 . The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the event management/production module further comprises logic configured to configure an audio connection associated with the listen-only viewer for two-way communication.

19 . The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the configuring the audio connection for two-way communication involves changing a participant role from a viewer role to one of a speaker role and a live question role.

20 . The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the listen-only viewer requests to present the submitted text question for live audio presentation via the audio conference.