How We Define Event Success: Part I – How it should be done
When it comes to determining success, business professionals start by determining their overarching goals and objectives, translate these into sensible metrics or KPIs, store them in a repository where they can be properly analyzed and interpreted, and then turn that data into meaningful insights and ultimately, a competitive advantage.
So what does this mean for event professionals?
When it comes to determine event success, there’s how it should be done and how it’s actually done. First, let’s look at how it should be done.
Determining event goals and objectives
Every event, no matter how small or how large should define their overarching goals and objectives. These are specific, clearly-defined event goals they’re trying to accomplish. And ideally, they should be aligned with the overarching business goals. Event objectives are aligned with and support the overarching goals.
Translating event goals and objectives into meaningful metrics or KPIs
Once event goals and objectives have been defined, they need to be translated into metrics (general units of measure) that can be tracked. Metrics that represent crucial areas of performance are called Key Performance Indicators or KPIs. While there may be some standard event KPIs, every event is unique in some way so you ultimately have to determine the KPIs that work best for your event.
These metrics have to be collected in some type of system so they can be easily accessed by event professionals or their key event stakeholders. These measurement systems can be as simple as a spreadsheet or complex as a SQL database or comprehensive data warehouse.
Data repositories, analysis, and interpretation
Finally, once an event has defined its goals and objectives, translated those into metrics, stored those in a data repository, you can analyze the data, looking for meaningful trends or patterns, and interpret those trends and patterns to make more informed decisions about your event.
Finally, once an event has defined its goals and objectives, translated those iJust as every event does this for the event at-large, each functional area within the event (like registration or marketing) must do the same. This is how everyone understands what areas of the event are performing successfully (i.e., aligned with the overall event goals and objectives) and which may need more attention.
This is how events should determine if they are successful. It’s how event professionals should keep “score”.
How a national sales meeting keeps score
A large software company had recently acquired several of their smaller competitors. Senior management wanted to hold a meeting of all sales representatives across the enterprise with the goal of getting everyone on the same page with the new corporate sales strategy. The event featured formal and informal educational sessions led by key managers about the company, its new competencies, and the strategic plan. There were also a number of structured networking opportunities designed to build trust among employee groups. Phone interviews as well as pre- and post-event surveys were conducted.
Some of the more important metrics/KPIs included:
- Employee commitment to the new company (before and after the event)
- Satisfaction with internal and external communications
- Outstanding obstacles to integration
- Feedback regarding professional development needs
All this data, and more, was collected in a database for analysis and interpretation. The pre-event data revealed a lack of commitment among new employees as well as anxiety among existing employees about their status in the new organization. This led management to place a greater emphasis on their commitment to all employees and share more about the opportunities (and challenges) facing the company. The post-event data showed this greater level of transparency was appreciated by all employees and contributed to more optimism about the future of the company. Management was also able to identify lingering confusion among customers as a need that had to be addressed immediately, so a new marketing campaign was launched explaining more thoroughly the value proposition of the new company.
This is just an example of how one company determined event success. They used the event to gather business intelligence that could be leveraged for their competitive advantage.
Summary: This is an example of how organizations should define event success. Most organizations do not focus on this level of detail, and as a result, cannot determine with any certainty the business value of their events.