Member Article

Event Planning - how to measure success

Running a successful corporate event is not just about making sure everything runs smoothly and that everyone has had a good day. That is important of course – but it is also about being able to show a return on investment or more commonly the ability to show a return on objectives (ROO) according to Mike Walker, Managing Director of MGN Events.

Clients and company bosses expect you to be able to measure the value of your event and it is important that have a procedure in place that covers this. A technically flawless production and lots of happy delegates are great outcomes when you come to the end of all the hard work required to put on a good corporate event or conference.

Nowadays however you need more than happy customers to justify the considerable financial outlay that a large corporate event may require and your client or Managing Director will be looking for measurable results. This is something that you need to plan for at the very start. Below are some of the key issues you should consider:

• Objective setting and Planning: when you are planning your event you must set clear, measurable objectives. Agree with the client how it will reinforce the mission of the organization concerned. Make sure the objectives you set can be benchmarked so that you can return to them with the client post-event and be able to show obvious ROO.
• Target Audience: During the planning phase you must also agree your ideal target audiences and make sure you are inviting the right people to your event. Are they at the right level in the organization and will they be able to learn from your event or change behaviors as a result of what they learn? If you attract the wrong people to your event then you will not be able to achieve your objectives or justify the budget you have spent.
• Learning: Many events and conferences are about learning and sharing knowledge. The amount that a delegate comes away with as a result of a planned event can be measured through online surveys forms after the conference which specifically focuses on knowledge learned as a result of the event.

The questions on your survey feedback form must therefore reflect your measurable objectives e.g. you may want to focus on issues such as:

- How much new information the delegate came away with - How useful they found the information on the day - Whether their attitude towards particular issues have changed as a result of the what they have learnt - How they a plan to apply what they have learnt

• Behaviour change: can you measure behavior change as a result of learning gained at the conference or event? You may want your delegates to stop doing something, do something differently or do something new. This is quite hard to measure but the best and cheapest way is probably through online surveys and self-reporting. Behaviour change is something that you may need to go back and measure some time later via a follow up survey form 3-6 months post event.
• Satisfaction: this can be client satisfaction as well as delegate satisfaction and can be measured via delegate interviews and feedback surveys post event.

If you can show the money men within your organization that events can be measured in terms of ROO/ROI then you can be more certain of your budgets going forward.

To find out more about this issue or to discuss your corporate event needs, MGN Events can be contacted on 01932 223333

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by MGN Events .