Once you have held an event, it is vital to obtain feedback promptly (however tired you are!); in fact, it is receiving constructive feedback over the years that has provided all of us here at DRIVE with the experience and confidence to plan and manage events so effectively.
Feedback can be either qualitative or quantitative in context and it is useful to measure the effectiveness of your event using both measurables. If qualitative, you might speak to a given number of guests or delegates and simply get a general feel for their experience and enjoyment. For corporate events, it is very helpful to get formal quantitative feedback (for example, by preparing a form that goes to all attendees via email) so that you can measure the success of the event and compare it to previous events or those in the future. Any quantitative form might also allow additional room for qualitative comments, as these can often be useful in providing additional insight into the event experience.
Let’s take a conference, for example. Here we urge our clients to obtain honest and anonymous feedback from all conference stakeholders so that it is constructive and therefore useful in the planning of future events.
From conference delegates (the main group of stakeholders), we capture feedback about the event content or programme as well as what we call the ‘comfort factors’. For the content, we ask delegates to rate the content of each session on a score of 1 to 10, with 1 being low and 10 being high. We also ask them to rate the quality of the provider/speaker of that session, again from 1 to 10. We also ask them to rate the host of the event, as it is vital to get an accurate record of the perceived success of an entire event.
For the comfort factors, we ask delegates for feedback on several aspects, such as the promotion of the event, the booking process, the venue, the catering, and whether they consider the event to be value for money and useful to their job role. We also ask for feedback on the marketing and planning of the event as this is useful feedback for us as an agency and so that we can ensure that we are reaching the highest standard of event management and marketing.
Post-conference, we also take the time to obtain feedback from any exhibitors and sponsors, as well as any VIPs who were invited. This will usually be qualitative; from exhibitors we need to establish whether it was a useful investment – how many leads did they get, what is the likely rate of conversion, and so on. Sponsorship effectiveness is often tricker to quantify but we will have a conversation with each sponsor to determine whether they felt that the event represented value for money; this is particularly important if you are looking to rebook them for future events.
Let’s now consider a networking event. Once again, it is useful to extract qualitative and quantitative data for both the content (for example, if there was a speaker or host) and the comfort factors. It is important to know of any issues so that these can be put right in the future. Did attendees consider the event value for money, was it worthwhile to their job role, did they make any useful connections, have they undertaken any business as a direct result of attending the event?
One important point to note: whatever the event, if you are sending an email or asking for feedback via an online form, ensure that you only seek feedback from someone who actually attended the event. It sounds obvious but there is nothing worse than declining or missing an event (which happens, especially if the event is free to attend…) and then receiving a request for feedback! It’s these details that will set your event apart.
For all event managers, obtaining constructive feedback is vital and with every additional event under your belt, you will become a better organiser.