The Importance of Conference Feedback
Dec 01
Contests, Tips for Meeting Planners, Trade Shows ASAE & the Center, attendee interaction, meeting attendance 5 Comments
As conference attendees consider the events they will continue to attend, or are forced to justify attendance to their employers, the value of the conference must be high.
What better way to incorporate the needs and desires of your attendees than to value their feedback?
Karen Freeman, CMP with VSR Financial Services, Inc. says:
Incorporate feedback sheets for your conference as a way to gain insight on how your attendees feel. Collect them as they leave or ask them to fax or mail them to you. Put your address and fax number on the feedback sheet so they don’t have to hunt for the information later. Then read them and listen to what folks have to say.
The most important step is to incorporate some of the ideas into the next conference. When folks know you really listen they feel more like they are a part of the conference. And all meetings are created for the attendee…right?
I received an email yesterday about ASAE & the Center’s 2010 Annual Meeting & Expo. The message focused on the changes for 2010 based on attendee feedback, in a question answer type format. (First by identifying the problem followed by the solution.)
ASAE is utilizing attendee feedback to create a better experience for the attendee…and what better way to engage the audience than by taking their opinions to heart? An attendee whose input and ideas are implemented will be more likely to continue and increase involvement within the organization.
So let’s keep the feedback forms coming!
Karen Freeman’s advice won the November ConventionPlanit.com Stellar Tip Contest. If you have a meeting related tip to share, submit your thoughts for the December contest – and respond to this post, too!
Dec 01, 2009 @ 19:28:54
I agree with you 100% that feedback is essential for conferences. However there are a variety of ways to receive feedback including
– email
– Twitter hashtag streams
– in-person
– online quick polls
– idea sourcing apps (eg. crowdsound, uservoice)
– facebook pages
– and of course feedback forms
Event planners should be listening and actively encouraging feedback on all these channels. That is the only way that they will get a true view of the variety of customer needs.
I attended a conference recently. I was shocked to hear from a few attendees that they had suggested to the organizer that the sessions be more interactive and that the organizer had summarily dismissed those suggestions saying, “people like lectures”. What an odd statement. What people? Does she have data to support that?
Anyway, since I spend a lot of time thinking in this space, I went to the organizer and offered my support. She asked me to email her so I did with a whole bunch of ideas. I hope that some change will come about, but I am not holding my breath. You can read the suggestions here: http://bit.ly/6aL73q
Dec 02, 2009 @ 10:37:10
Swan, thank so much for sharing your thoughts and experience. What methods of feedback do you feel bring about the most response? It is important to open multiple channels of communication between attendees and organizers, and those you mentioned can surely accomplish this.
Regarding the conference you mention…I’m curious, did any of the attendees ask the organizer to clarify the “people like lectures” comment (with questions similar to those you raised)? The letter you posted on your blog offered some excellent suggestions – and should be part of any conference! Have you heard from the organizer yet? It could be helpful to have fellow attendees email the organizer with similar ideas; the more dissatisfied attendees the organizer sees, the harder it should be to ignore the problems. Good Luck, keep us posted! -Ashley
Dec 17, 2009 @ 14:28:21
Ashley, thx for the comment on my blog post about Wave Chats.
As for which channel, the answer really is that it depends on your audience. You have to go where they are. However, I am biased towards online polls. They can be embedded on web pages, are quick, give immediate feedback to those answer the questions, and can be provided in a list to get more in-depth survey-like feedback.
No, I have not received any reply yet from the conference I wrote the open letter about. I don’t expect any either. Their conference has been shrinking for years and may continue to do so if they don’t start listening to their audience.
Dec 10, 2009 @ 19:03:14
This is a must. A must as those who don’t want to complete feedback forms, can’t grow without. Have tried to add raffle tickets for those who complete surveys. Got this and other great ideas at a2zmeetingsandevents.com
Dec 29, 2009 @ 12:24:43
you need to develop a six month marketing goals and try to work out a one year marketing goals .