Tag Archives: event planning

Measuring the Thankfulness of Attendees

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Most events provide some type of feedback mechanism whether it is hard copy surveys left on chairs, post event email surveys, or open ended questions on social media. A post entitled "Do not poke the conference feedback bear if you are not willing to act" made us laugh and then got us thinking. How should we gather feedback to ensure we're able to act on it?

One key to getting effective, actionable feedback is the timing. How do you get people's fresh, raw opinions? Low tech paper surveys may be the quickest way to get an immediate response, but they are not terribly effective. Most people pick them up at the beginning of the session and have either stashed them away or taken notes on them by the end. How else can we gauge response right after an event or session while it is fresh in attendee minds? Continue reading →

Make New Friends: How to Attract First Time Attendees

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In some of our more recent posts we have provided ideas for changing up regular events. From unconventional venues to slowing down event pace, to changing the content delivered--we've found a lot of inspiration for how to make changes. One more change you can make is attracting new attendees. A new group of people will bring different perspectives and will view your content (be it old or new) with fresh eyes. So how do you find these new people? This article in BizBash provided some great ideas that got us thinking. We wanted to expand on some of the ideas that are most applicable to government events. Continue reading →

Break from the Norm: Unconventional Event Spaces

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Last week we talked about when it is time to revisit the format of an annual event. If that post got you thinking, we're going to challenge you a bit to really make a dramatic change to your event by thinking of unconventional venues.

Earlier this year, we provided some ideas to get your events out of the ballroom. Then we read this article on the Event Manager blog and it got us thinking even more out of the box. While some of their suggestions may not be the best fit for the government-centric/professional development events (Food trucks in an urban parking lot, for example), it does provide some food for thought.

There is a certain well-known rotation of venues that the government community is used to. When your attendees know all of the secret parking areas, make a beeline for the beef wellington, and know the exact location of outlets for recharging phones and laptops you may be at a place that is overdone. If you're looking to make a change, simply thinking outside the box when it comes to a venue may provide the breath of fresh air your event needs to grow its attendee base. Continue reading →

How Embracing the Slow Philosophy Could Enhance your Next Event

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From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on www.eventmanagerblog.com

As Event Managers we strive to ensure value and as a result we often try to cram every minute of the event schedule. But is this actually having a detrimental effect on our events? Should we actually seriously consider slowing down the pace to see the benefits?

A lot of thought and planning goes into any event programme. As an Event Manager I see it as my duty to create an efficient and flowing schedule strongly focused on the content with, dare I say it, almost perfunctory breaks throughout the day. Continue reading →

Ch..Ch…Ch…Changes: Changing Up Your Annual Event

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We're all comfortable with familiarity and routine, but when it comes to annual events, a measured amount of change is a good thing. In an age of decreased travel, training budgets, and time strapped attendees, freshening up your event is not just a good idea, it's necessary to build audience growth and profit.

This article from BizBash provided insight from leading event planners as to when and why to look at changing up annual events. Some comments that jumped out were: Continue reading →