Conference Evaluation Is a Critical Aspect of Conference Management

An important part of conference management is the conference evaluation. Most association conferences are repeated annually so it is critical for the planners to make an assessment of the quality of symposium sessions, speakers and overall experience. It will be less likely that association members and guests will attend future conferences if their previous experiences are mediocre at best. Only by getting relevant feedback from those in attendance will you ever know how well your conference was received and who you can count on to provide quality presentations for your future conferences.

A good conference planner will have a clear understanding of their goals and objectives and have an effective review process in choosing speakers and session topics. These instructor selections often come from personal encounters but most come from the recommendations of others. Speakers, session topics, venues and amenities don't always provide the kind of quality desired and need to be weeded out. You can accomplish this by providing attendees with an easy conference evaluation tool that will assist you in making the necessary changes in environment, personnel and material that will assure a more successful conference in the future.

What kind of questions should you ask?
With a clear understanding of the goals and objectives of the conference in mind, prepare a comprehensive list of questions and associated measurable responses regarding individual speakers and sessions. Question responses will be either "Yes / No" or multiple level responses such "Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor" or "Strongly Agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly Disagree" to name a few. Search the internet for examples of conference evaluation questions. The measurable values usually would be higher the more positive they are as in Excellent being a value of 4 and Poor being a value of 1. The result would be calculated as a mean and provide you with a quick glance at the overall response to a given question. It is customary to provide an overall evaluation section in the survey to capture the general sense of the success of your conference which would include site location and amenities and the impact that the conference overall will have on an individual's career or practice. Some open-ended questions or comment sections should also be provided to give the attendee opportunity to more freely express their personal insights and observations. All of this data will be extremely helpful to you in planning future conferences.

What is the most widely used evaluation instrument?
At the present time, paper OMR evaluation forms are the most widely used conference evaluation instrument. They are often combined with a web version of the survey for those more inclined to use their computers in the evaluation process. It is helpful in this situation to provide wireless 'hot spots' at the conference site for immediate participation while things are fresh in their minds. However, many attendees will prefer to respond online when they return to their home or office. The data from both of these sources can be combined and the tabulated results put into a readable report generally containing such things as response counts and tabulated percentages and mean values for easy review. The OMR and web survey process is best facilitated by a company with the tools and experience. They can also assist you in preparing your questions, and designing, printing and scanning your evaluations and preparing your reports.

As one involved in conference management, you look forward to positive feedback from your attendees to assure you that things went according to your best laid plans. However, negative feedback is also very helpful in making sure you get the best resources for your next event and continue to grow into a healthy professional association. Make sure to set aside a part of your budget for the conference evaluation process and find a reputable company such as Survey Systems to help you. May your next conference be better than ever!