In our previous blog we indicated that 'evaluating an event' is often an underestimated part of event communication. A pity! This blog shows how event planners Dirk Prijs (Association for Event Managers), Liezeth Blom (Sligro Food Group) and Marlies Rienks (Amsterdam Marketing) use the online survey for their events!
When to use a post-event survey?
Dirk: After every event! The results are very valuable to me, because we find out what our members experience.
Liezeth: Especially for external events. We also use Momice for internal events - for example when someone celebrates a jubilee. However, feedback is particularly important for external events, organised for business relations and with different purposes.
We always ask our audience for feedback, in order to measure the objectives. Only then we know if we are doing the right things.
Marlies: After almost every meeting. Meetings initiated by the management with certain objectives, should always has to be measured with a post-event survey. Especially in the case of larger (more expensive) meetings, it is important to be able to justify these costs.
"To me, the post-event survey is the most important part of the event. Feedback from my members is essential.
Dirk Prijs, Association for Event Managers
What type of questions do you use?
Dirk: NPS (Net Promoter Score), multiple choice questions and open questions. By including the NPS in every survey, I measure the enthusiasm of the visitors. This enables me to compare returning events and possibly adjust the content or design.
Our team discusses whether or not to organise a similar event in the future, or perhaps in different format. It’s the ideal way to observe trends at events that return annually.
Liezeth: Multiple choice questions, open questions and ranking questions (stars). We mainly use them to collect feedback on the content of the programme and the speakers.
Marlies: All of them! Because of the variety in the questions, there’s a bigger chance that your respondents complete the event survey.
How does it feel to read the feedback?
Dirk: That really depends. Sometimes I love to read the feedback and sometimes it can be rather in your face, that can be challenging! When people are very critical, I try to find out why.
Liezeth: Illuminating! It helps us to organise better events in the future. I am always happy with the feedback I receive.
Marlies: Visitors complete the survey because they feel involved. So it’s your responsibility to put this feedback to good use. The more feedback you get, the better you can do next time. So bring it on!
"Try to limit yourself to 5 questions: forget questions about catering and location - look into the content of the event."
Liezeth Blom, Sligro Food Group
Do you have tips for other event planners?
Marlies: Analyse the output critically: did you ask the right questions? Discuss the results with your colleagues, so you can filter out the most valuable information.
Dirk: Avoid using closed questions: try to formulate your questions differently so that you can gather more information with fewer questions. This helps you to keep the event survey relevant to your visitors.
Liezeth: Limit yourself to 5 questions: forget questions about catering and location - look into the content of the event.
"Intense feedback of our stakeholders is an important motivator to do even better next time."
Marlies Rieks, Amsterdam Marketing.
TIP: Do you want to create a smooth event survey in 5 steps?
