Post event
Survey and evaluation
Collecting feedback from event attendees will help you evaluate the success of the event and inform planning for the future. Post event evaluation is important for:
- Knowing if the event achieved your goals and objectives
- Ensuring the event met the expectations of all attendees
- Collecting data that will help you improve strategy, logistics and scheduling for other events
Some methods for measuring success:
- Observe guest interactions and engagement during the event
- Use event surveys to gather responses and analyze results
- Send by email to attendees immediately after the event has ended (consider including some kind of incentive to fill it out, or send event photos along with a request to fill out the survey)
- Give hard copy surveys to guests during the event
- Follow-up phone conversations or a focus group meeting with a sample of attendees to ask them more in-depth questions
- Compare your estimated budget to the final investment, includinge charges that affected the budget, and indicate if budget was met or you went over the planned cost
- Note media mentions and social media reach
For support with creating and analyzing a post-event survey, contact the department.
Event debrief
All events should include an event debrief to evaluate the success of the event. The event debrief can either be an email circulated to event leads requesting feedback in writing or an in-person meeting. It is important to debrief relatively quickly after the event (one or two days) so that it is still fresh in everyone鈥檚 mind. All debrief notes should be documented for future reference. You may also wish to check in with your event vendors/suppliers to solicit or share feedback regarding their service leading up to and during the event.
Event debrief questions:
- Did the event meet the goals and objectives identified in the event brief?
- What went well?
- What can be improved?
- What suggestions do you have for future events?
Wrap-up
Other items to consider when wrapping up your event include:
- Unpack and ensure all event supplies have been returned and stored away
- Collect outstanding invoices and submit to Finance for payment
- Save event photos for future reference
- Send a thank you message to event attendees with a link to event photos or a post-event survey for feedback
- Thank your event staff, volunteers, vendors, suppliers and speakers
- Reconcile the event budget
- Circulate media release (if applicable)
- Post-event highlights on your social media channels