Whether it’s a corporate event or a wedding, there are several ways to evaluate the success of an event. One of the most important things to consider when evaluating an event is whether or not your attendees were satisfied with their experience at that event.
For example, if you’re organizing a corporate retreat and want to know if people enjoyed themselves, then you should ask them directly about it during surveys as well as focus groups and interviews.
However, if you simply ask attendees what they thought about the food at dinner without asking why they felt that way or offering suggestions for improvement on future events – then this isn’t going to help much! We’ll cover all these points below:
How are You Assessing Event Success?
The first step in measuring your event’s success is to determine your goals. The second is to ensure that you’re measuring the right things for those goals. If you have multiple business goals, prioritize them and make sure each one is being met by the measures you choose.
If you’re not sure what measurements to use or how much weight they should carry, try asking yourself: “What would I expect from this event?” Then compare it against what actually happened at your event–and do so using data rather than just opinion or gut feeling.
Who is Responsible for Evaluating the Success of your Events?
The answer to this question depends on your organization. In general, it’s the responsibility of the event manager and marketing manager (if you have one) to evaluate the success of your events. But depending on how large or small your organization is, there may be others who are involved in making decisions about what worked best at each event and how to improve future ones.
In addition to these two main players, someone has got to be responsible for taking action based on those findings–and that could be anyone from CEO down through leadership teams and boards of directors depending on where they fall in the hierarchy of your company or nonprofit organization.
You are Going to Need to Establish a Clear Definition of What Makes an Event Successful
The next step in evaluating the success of an event is to define what makes it successful. This is a crucial step, because if you don’t know what success looks like, how will you know when and if your event has achieved it?
You should ask yourself: How do I define success for my organization? Do I want more attendance? More sponsorships from bigger companies? More media coverage? Better feedback from attendees or sponsors/vendors/venue staff members?
You may want all of these things and more! But defining what “more” means for each area will help focus your efforts on those areas where they can make the biggest difference–and let go of those that aren’t worth pursuing further at this time.
You Should Also Consider Whether or Not Attendees are Satisfied with the Value of an Event
You should also consider whether or not attendees are satisfied with the value of an event. The perceived value of an event is defined as “the extent to which someone thinks that something has been worth buying, using or experiencing.”
In order to understand how your attendees perceive the value of your events, you must first determine what their expectations were before attending and then compare those expectations against actual results after it’s over.
You can do this by asking them directly (e.g., “What did you expect from this conference?”), but that approach may not yield accurate results because people tend not want to be negative about something they’ve invested money into–and even if they do tell you what they thought beforehand, chances are good that their perception will have changed once they actually attended! A better way would be to ask them questions like “How did this conference meet its goals?” or “How would you rate the quality of information provided?”
Be Sure to Ask Attendees if They Would Attend the Same Event Again in the Future
When evaluating an event, it’s important to ask attendees if they would attend the same event again in the future. This is a good indicator of whether or not your event was successful and can help you determine what changes need to be made for future events. You should also ask them if they would recommend the event to others.
This information will help you make decisions about how to improve future events based on feedback from attendees who were actually there!
Attendees Will be Able to Share Their Likes and Dislikes with You During Surveys
You can also conduct focus groups and interviews. This is a great way to get feedback from attendees, as long as you are trained in running them and have the tools needed for recording them. Focus groups are conducted in person, while interviews are done via phone or Skype (or any other kind of video chat).
Both are useful because they give you an opportunity to ask questions directly from your audience’s perspective–and they’re typically more effective than surveys at yielding honest answers, since respondents aren’t able to hide behind anonymity when answering questions about their experience at events like yours.
You Might Need to Change Something About How You’re Organizing Your Events in Order to Make Them More Memorable or Exciting
If people are satisfied with the event but don’t want to return, it may mean that you need to change something about how you’re organizing your events in order to make them more memorable or exciting.
You might consider changing:
- The venue. If an event is held in a familiar space, such as a conference room at your company headquarters or at a nearby hotel, attendees might feel like they’ve been there before and aren’t as excited about returning next year. Try moving it somewhere new!
- The speakers. When choosing speakers for future events, think outside the box and look for people who can bring something fresh and unique to their topics–your audience will appreciate this fresh perspective!
- The theme/topic/focus of each session (if applicable). If last year’s topic was “How To Use Social Media” but now everyone has gotten really good at using social media and nobody cares anymore because we’ve all moved on to something else by now… maybe try switching things up so that next year’s topic isn’t so obvious? Or maybe go back even further than “last year”–maybe try bringing back old favorites like “How To Use Email Marketing” or even just plain old “Email Marketing 101.”
Consider Event Management Platform
A good event management platform like Cvent or Eventbrite can help you improve your events by making it easy to evaluate them. You can use the information you gain from this evaluation to make changes that will make future events more successful.
Here are some of the benefits of using an event management platform:
- It’s easy for all involved parties in an event–including attendees, sponsors and exhibitors–to provide feedback on what was good about it and what could be improved upon in future iterations. This information serves as valuable feedback for planners so they know exactly where they need improvement before planning another event in the future.
- The platform offers tools that allow organizers access to data from previous iterations of their events (if there have been multiple ones). This allows them insight into how many people attended each iteration; which demographics were most interested; how much money was raised or spent during each phase; etc..
Use Evaluation Tools and Data Points to Find Ways That You Can Improve Future Events
The next step is to analyze the results. This can be done in a number of ways, but the most popular method is through surveys and interviews. By asking attendees what they liked about your event and what could have been improved on, you’ll gain valuable insight into how best to improve future events.
In addition to asking questions related directly to the event itself (i.e.: “What did you like most about this event?”), it’s also important that organizers ask questions regarding their organization as well (i.e.: “How do we compare with other organizations in our industry?”). In addition, organizers should try asking sponsors and vendors for feedback too!
Conclusion
The goal of an event evaluation is to figure out how to improve future events. The best way to do this is by gathering data and using it to make decisions about your next event. If you have any questions about how to go about doing this, don’t hesitate!
Also read: Tips for Choosing Perfect Venue for Corporate Events
