One of the biggest questions we’ve gotten since launching Sidekick, is:
What Are ‘Connections’ & How Do I Get More?
So we’ve written this handy guide to help you understand connections and how the number of connections are related to your DYM Gold or DYM Gold+ Membership:
Understanding Sidekick ‘Connections’
The most basic explanation is that “connections” are the number of phones/tablets/devices that are able to connect and participate in interactive elements (like Live Voting) at the same time. Here are a few helpful scenarios to show how we calculate the number of connections in different situations:
Scenario 1: If you are presenting to a room of 50 people, and all 50 decide to scan the QR code to vote in a Live Poll, you are using 50 connections.
Scenario 2: If you are presenting to a room of 100 people, and 50 decide to scan the QR code to vote in a Live Poll, you are using 50 connections.
Scenario 3: (However unlikely) If you are presenting to a room of 50 people, and all 50 decide to scan the QR code on their phones AND on their tablets (effectively letting each person connect twice) to vote in a Live Poll, you are using 100 connections.
This means that if you are planning on using the live voting element during your presentation, you’ll need to make sure that you have enough connections available for each person to scan the QR code that is presented on the screen.
Since launching, our users have asked a lot of really good questions about connections, so we wanted to take a moment to answer them here for everyone:
Nope! ’50 connections’ refers to the first 50 devices that scan the QR code shown on the screen during an interactive element such as Live Voting. As soon as your presentation ends, all connections are reset, and you are able to connect a completely different set of 50 devices. The same is true for our 50, 100, 250, and 500-device plans.
The number of connections in your plan covers the number of phones/devices that are able to connect and participate in interactive elements (like Live Voting) at the same time. Here are two scenarios that may help make this clearer:
Scenario 1: If you have multiple groups who are using Sidekick at the same time (like youth group and kids ministry both meeting at 7pm on Wednesdays), this would mean that the number of connections is shared between those two groups. If your plan includes 50 connections, but you have 40 participants in each group (totaling 80 participants trying to connect at the same time), only the first 50 participants will be able to connect. In this scenario, we would suggest increasing your membership to include the
Scenario 2: However, if you have multiple groups who are using Sidekick, but they meet at different times (for example, your youth group meets on Wednesdays at 7pm, but your kids ministry meets on Sundays at 11am), you will only need enough connections to cover each group individually. For example, if your youth group and kids ministry each have 40 participants, you will only need a plan with 50 participants, since the two groups are not trying to connect at the same time.
That’s so exciting! In order to increase the number of connections on your account, you will need to upgrade your account to the next DYM Gold+ membership tier. The best way to do this is to contact our support team at [email protected] so they can pro-rate your current plan so that you’re not paying more than you need to (plus they’re super-nice people who are always eager to help!).
If you need more connections than your current membership allows for a one-time event, please reach out to [email protected]. Our support team is made up exclusively of veteran youth workers who totally get what it’s like to lead from the trenches. Plus, they’re really nice people, so when in need, reaching out is always a good idea.
Understanding DYM Memberships
Whether you are considering purchasing a DYM Gold or DYM Gold+ membership for the first time or you’re thinking about upgrading in order to have more connections on your plan, below, you’ll find a comparison of all of our DYM Gold & DYM Gold+ memberships, including cost and how many connections come with each membership tier:
DYM Gold Monthy
- Pay Month-to-Month, Cancel Anytime
- Access to Sidekick for 1 User
- 25 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM Gold Annual
- Get 12 Months for the Price of 11 Months When Paying Annually
- Access to Sidekick for 1 User
- 25 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+75 Connections
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 75 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+125 Connections
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 125 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+250 Connections
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 250 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+500 Connections
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 500 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+75 Connections
- $29.99 per month when paid annually
- Savings of $119.97 over monthly subscription
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 75 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+125 Connections
- $44.99 per month when paid annually
- Savings of $179.97 over monthly subscription
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 125 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+250 Connections
- $59.99 per month when paid annually
- Savings of $239.97 over monthly subscription
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 250 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
DYM GOLD+500 Connections
- $82.49 per month when paid annually
- Savings of $329.97 over monthly subscription
- Access to Sidekick for 10 Users
- 500 Simultaneous Phone Connections
- $20 Monthly DYM Store Credit
- Free Monthly Members Only Resources
If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.
Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:
If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.
Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:
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