Why You Must Get Feedback During Every Event and Meeting
What separates good event planners and meeting organisers, from exceptional ones? The very best organisers always get feedback during an event/meeting, then act on it. It’s an often-overlooked part of the job, but getting feedback is crucial to improving future events, and your professional development. Here’s why:
You’ll find out what went right (and wrong)
Often, event planners have a good idea of which parts of the event worked, and which didn’t. Many times, they’re right. But sometimes, their instincts may be wrong. Asking for feedback means you’ll eliminate guesswork and know for sure, quantitatively, what your audience loved and loathed.
You’ll collect feedback while it’s fresh
There’s a subtle but significant difference to getting feedback after an event, and during one. Traditionally, organisers would wait till the end of an event before passing around feedback forms. This could be done on-site, or sometimes, after participants had already reached home and received a “Thank you for attending our event” email. Asking your participants to think back on every detail of the event, can be challenging for them – as the excitement of the moment is usually fleeting. (Except for a few exceptionally memorable activities.) Get your participants to answer questions as these segments and activities are going on though, and they’ll have it fresh in their minds – and can provide you with honest, fresh, and valuable feedback.
The data you collect will provide a valuable return on investment
By utilising the wealth of information at your disposal, you can follow up with participants effectively – and do targeted follow ups. (For example, inviting potential customers who were interested in certain product presentation shown at your event, down to a follow up presentation or workshop.) You’ll also be able to make both major and minor improvements to future events, based on the detailed feedback received. All of this, means a vastly improved return on investment (ROI) on your event.
How to make it happen
If you haven’t been collecting feedback during your events and meetings, it’s time to start. Here are some useful first steps to turning this into a reality.
Shift your thinking: For many of us, “Feedback” can be a scary word. After all, asking for feedback also invites potentially unpleasant replies and truths that we may prefer not to hear. Take it positively, and not personally. Remember that both positive and negative feedback are valuable and helpful to you – so expect, and treasure, both.
Ditch manual forms: And by “manual forms”, we’re referring to both physical (pencil and paper) and digital (submission forms that are sent to participants after events) ones. Instead, use an incredible easy-to-use mobile event app (or at least, a voting system) to get on-the-spot answers to your feedback-related questions.
Need some more help getting started? Chat with your friendly Angage team today, we’re here for you.
