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The Aftermath

Post event analysis is vital for measuring the true worth and impact of any event. Stephen Tormey discusses the methods commonly employed to analyse satisfaction rates following conferences and explains what exactly we can learn from interpreting statistics after an event.

All conferences have a particular aim. Whether it’s to improve staff morale or convey a serious or educational message to a target audience, all conference holders are looking for some return on their investment – but how do you quantify the success of a conference? The answer is in post event analysis, a methodical means of extracting information from delegates, which will, in turn, demonstrate to you whether your conference has achieved its aims…or not. Post event analysis can tell you a number of different things. Firstly it might assess the attitude of the delegates to the conference, in the second place it can measure the satisfaction rates with the conference amongst those people who put the conference in train in the first place and finally, overall return on investment can be analysed from the perspective of those who commissioned the conference, both in terms of financials and use of people’s time. From the organiser’s point of view, the easiest way of con - ducting post-event analysis is to debrief the people who are involved and go through a specific checklist of items, according to Ciaran Hynes, managing director of Bravo conference organisers. That would involve looking at the initial requirements, aims and objectives of the conference and then trying to define in the course of the debrief, whether those aims and objectives were met. From a delegate point of view this would take the form of a questionnaire, which can be as simple or as complex as required. As event organisers themselves, Bravo conduct their own post event analysis to see where things could have gone wrong or could be done better the following year. “If you are doing an annual conference, you can therefore bring improvements from year to year,” says Hynes. “From the point of view of the person who put the conference in place, they can see if their objectives were met – and if they weren’t they can ask why and see if there is anything that could be put in train for the next one.”

However, the age of the questionnaire being handed out during the conference may be coming to a close, as very detailed online questionnaire forms are now being distributed after the event as part of the overall service – this said, for the moment the traditional method remains a favoured option. Whether online or on paper, generally Hynes would recommend that a questionnaire be sent out no more than five days after the event finishes. He suggests that after that point the information becomes tainted and that the event is not sufficiently fresh in the minds of the delegates to guarantee accurate answers. Post event analysis does not apply solely to the delegate, however, as all those involved can benefit from hindsight and constructive criticism. “Personally, Ithink post event analysis is important in all aspects. I don’t believe that events or conferences happen anymore just for the sake of it,” says Hynes. “I believe that everyone is looking to ensure that the money they are spending is getting a result, so across the board post event analysis is very important.” Event organisers such as Bravo can conduct post event analysis on a client’s behalf. “It is a service which is offered to people as part of the package, sometimes they take it and sometimes they don’t, but if they do we will include that as part of our overall fee,” continues Hynes. However, if you yourself choose to take on the responsibility of post event analysis, then Hynes has some handy tips to help you to maximize the information that you extract from the delegates. “The questionnaire has to be snappy and to the point. You must give people multiple choice answers, any questionnaires that ask people to ‘comment on the above’ will invariably come back blank,” he says. “If you are looking for an overall impression at the end you have to lead them by giving them the option to tick boxes quickly, in order to focus their minds and get the information.” Furthermore, if you are handing out a questionnaire at a conference Hynes would encourage you to stop delegates before they step out or make it a compulsory part of the conference that they must complete the questionnaire, thereby giving you a better sample for generating representative statistics. However, there may be a wind of change in the air for post event analysis, in his opinion “There is something we have been trying to implement for a while now, which is coming of age in the US. Meeting Professionals International (MPI) are running courses on post event analysis and return on investment,” says Hynes. “They are trying to apply science to this whole process, but we are not there yet in this country. I have seen nobody do it yet but Bravo has been looking into it and we feel that it is on the way and once the process becomes more scientific people will place a lot more emphasis on it and it will benefit the industry in general by making post event analysis purely objective.” This more scientific method may not be in common practice for several more years in the future, but, irrespective of the method used, it is clear that post event analysis is a very important tool, not only in quantifying the success of your conference, but also for identifying ways in which you can build on your successes (or failures) to produce an even better conference in the future.