Eventful Ideas

Evaluating Your Event

One of the most important, but often overlooked parts of planning special events is the wrap up and critiquing of the event. In order to measure the success and impact of your efforts, analyze time and money spent, and justify future events, you must have a clear picture of everything that has transpired.

You will need to be very objective in your review, so it is extremely helpful to get anecdotal feedback from participants. (Few will complete surveys, but many will ‘chat’ about their experience with you.) It is also important to speak to all of your suppliers and to facility staff to identify any issues that you may not have been aware of. They can provide you with their suggestions for improvements and pointers for your next function. Check in with sponsors at this juncture as well to determine if they believe that their objectives were met. By doing so, you will be able to address any concerns in a timely manner and you will know where you stand when you approach them for your next event.

Questions you should ask when critiquing an event:

Was it a good choice?
Did it attract the audience you targeted? If not, why?
Did you achieve your goals?
Did you allow sufficient time and resources to plan the event properly?
Were problems handled in a professional and timely manner?
What could be changed to improve it?

Budget:

Did you stay within your guidelines?
Does the amount you raised warrant repeating such an event?
Were there items missing from the budget?
If you were to do the event again, how could you cut expenses?
Is there anything that needs to be added to the budget?

Committee:

Did each committee member complete assignments in a timely manner and within budget?
Did the chairperson communicate regularly with the event manager?
Were there sufficient numbers of people on each committee?
Did the committee meet regularly? Did they meet often enough?

Location:

Was the chosen site best suited for the event?
Should the facility be larger or smaller for a similar event in the future?
Was the available equipment adequate (chairs, tables, kitchen facilities)
Was parking adequate?
Was weather a consideration?

Entertainment:

Did it enhance the event? Was it appropriate?
Was it within budget?
Were the sound and light systems adequate and functioning?
Were all the contracts properly negotiated and executed?

Food/Service:

How was the presentation?
Were there sufficient food and beverages?
Was staff sufficient, personable and efficient?
Was the budget adequate?

Publicity:

Did you have sufficient lead-time to produce the publicity you wanted?
Did publicity get to the right sources?
What other sources did you need?
Were sufficient mailings sent out and in a timely manner?
Were the mailing lists up to date?
Was there good follow-through?

Be sure to take the time to celebrate the things done well, but as Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.’

And when you are through improving… you are through!