Heather Mason, CEO of Caspian Agency, and Meg Stensrud, Division Head of Inquisium, joined forces to discuss the importance of attendee feedback and how it shapes better events.
6. Event
Feedback
Matters
Of marketers believe improving
customer engagement is one of the
most important goals for event
marketing¹
~80%
Of marketing leaders expect
their investment in feedback-
driven marketing to increase
over the next three years²
69%
Of planners said their CEO would
agree that meetings, events and
conference provide tremendous
value to their company³
95%
Of marketers know what
their event ROI is4
LESS THAN1/3
1. DEMAND METRIC 2. FORBES 3. MPI 4. DEMAND METRIC
10. What Are Your
Survey Options?
EVENT
MANAGEMENT
FEEDBACK FORM
Basic post-event
feedback
INQUISIUM
BY
CVENT
Robust survey programs
for your entire business
11. 2015 Global Industry Benchmark Study
Complexity and Stakes are Rising
Multiple events
per year
75% host 6 or more
events per year; 50%
host 15 or more per year
Pressure to
increase
attendance
Average target attendee
increase of 22%
Significant
investment
in events
Up to 25% of
Marketing Budget
Increasing
pressure to
show ROI
1% - 3% of
Company Revenues
12. The Event Planner Producer
Evolving your strategic value beyond tasks and to-do lists
• Collaborates with executives on
strategic goals of the event
• Evaluates, selects and negotiates
venue contracts
• Develops and executes integrated
plans to generate the right
attendance
• Directs/orchestrates a host of
“Day-Of” moving parts
• Provide evidence of ROI and
identify and drive optimization
plans for follow-on events
13. Survey
Programs
vs. Projects
Projects
• Short-term focus
• Addressing a task
• Ad hoc, isolated
• Addressing a task
Programs
• Long-term, ongoing
• Solution-oriented
• Cycle, integrated
• Making an investment
17. Vision & Success Metrics:
Define the what, why and who of the
event – the vision, goals, tactics and
measurements. The resulting document
is the foundation for every step that
follows. Define the value proposition.
CASPIAN 10 ESSENTIALS
Heather Mason
START WITH THE WHY!
18. Return on investment
Start with value, not budge
Write the survey first
Write the pre-survey second
ROI: A Sticky
Subject
20. Case Study
200 person conference
Audience
• (3) separate groups
• Percentage of various
types of content
Content
• Color coded program to
match preferences
Metrics
• Pre-survey to measure
knowledge and partners
• Post survey results
21. Case Study
300 person conference
Audience
• CEOs and Execs
• Fortune 500 & Fortune
1000
Content
• Issues critical to address
• Duration of event
• Pre-event surveys to divide
into specific goals
• Determine speakers
Metrics
• Pre-survey to measure for
impact and partners
• Post survey results
• Justification for future
events
22. Challenge
No way to identify high-value, scalable local
events, and understand what brings members
back.
• Decentralized org – 53 state offices with
different Cvent administrators, event
programming and feedback collection
• Reporting challenges for multiple states –
setup prevented volume needed for
analysis
• No standard benchmarking
Solution
To enhance the AARP brand revitalization,
collecting better member feedback was essential.
Using Inquisium, AARP was able to simplify the
process without compromising the quality of data
and insights needed.
Event Feedback Case Study
MEG
Heather Mason
Heather founded Caspian in 2005, to produce conferences for the innovative and social good business space. Caspian’s social enterprise clients include the Skoll Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Dalio Foundation, Omidyar Network, Code for America, Playworks, Endeavor Global, San Diego Zoo, and Futures Without Violence. Caspian has also worked with brands including HarperCollins, Vanity Fair and Keurig Green Mountain Coffee. Within the services offered by Caspian, Heather also created the Caspian 10 Essentials methodology as a system to ensure business goals could be mapped and met. The Caspian 10 Essentials is a training program for in-house event teams whose clients include Oxford University, Swansea University, and Kew Foundation
Meg Stensrud, Division Head, Inquisium by Cvent
Meg Stensrud oversees the day-to-day management of Inquisium, the survey solutions division of Cvent, specializing in feedback program initiatives and strategy work with Fortune 1000 companies. Meg joined the team in 2007 and over the past nine years, has cultivated business relationships with some of the world’s largest organizations including pharmaceutical companies, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations and associations.
MEG
HEATHER
MEG
MEG AND Heather
Almost 80% of marketers believe improving customer engagement as the most or one of the most important goals for event marketing Source: Demand Metric
69% of marketing leaders expect their investment in feedback driven marketing to increase over the next three years Source: Forbes
95% of meeting planners said their CEO would agree that meetings, events and conferences provide tremendous value to their company Source: MPI
Less than 1/3 of marketers know what their event ROI is Source: Demand Metric
MEG
MEG
MEG
MEG
MEG and Heather
Here are a few things we are seeing the industry:
- Multiple events per year – Complexity increasing, - event every two months or more - constituents may be coming to several of them….are you tracking their satisfaction or desires event to event?
- Pressure to increase attendance
- And here’s the kicker - Increasing Pressure to drive and prove ROI - prove that those dollars are providing a return for your organization. The spotlight is on. How do you measure ROI? ROO? Are you able to do this consistently?
- I think this is hard for planners – I do. As an example, for a sales person it’s did you make your quota. For HR, did you retain X percentage of employees or attract X new number of employees. How do you as a planner consistently and accurately measure what you do and are you able to demonstrate the value?
HEATHER
MEG
The difference between a program and project might seem insignificant, but when it comes to your survey initiatives, it’s an important distinction
A program is an ongoing effort, yielding a true understanding of respondents that evolves as they evolve
A project is a short-term assignment, offering surface-level insights that remain unchanged without a plan for in-depth analysis or follow-up surveys
One is an investment that provides enduring benefits to an organization, while the other is merely a low-overhead task to check off your list
Survey projects focus on answering short-term questions without consideration of strategy and context – leading to a waste of resources, duplication of effort, and limited “actionability.”
Survey programs support continuous, flexible feedback collection with a variety of survey types designed to match users’ specific data needs, including market research surveys, training assessments and regular pulse-check surveys.
With survey projects, it’s difficult to maintain a database of respondents, deploy reminder emails, ask the right questions without being redundant, and avoid the bias that comes with one-time feedback collection.
Data accuracy depends on asking the right questions to the right people. Investing in a program allows users to maintain a contact database of respondents, send email reminders and use advanced question logic to personalize the respondent experience.
MEG
Show of hands – who has watched or heard of Simon Sinek? Author best known for popularizing the concept of "the golden circle" and to "Start With Why.” In his 2012 TED talk, Simon explains that the start with the why concept, explains why some leaders and organizations s are able to inspire and some aren’t
Go over Circle
WHAT – know what they do, HOW – some know how – value prop, WHY – Very few organizations know why they do what they do
Not make money, that is a result
Why – what is your cause, what is your belief, what's your purpose, why does your org exist, why do you get out of bed, why should anyone care
APPLE:
* CLICK ** - What to Why – We make great computers, simple to use and user friendly – wanna buy one?
* CLICK ** - Why to What – Everything we do we believe in thinking differently, challenge status quo, way we do that is by making products that are simple to use and user friendly, we happen to make great computers- an phones, a dvr, and phones.
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. The why of something inspires. Why do you do your events? I think feedback from your constituents can not only help define this but can help you shape your content as a whole. Let’s talk about the meeting planning process.
Heather
I was speaking recently with Heather Mason – Founder of Caspian, and event producing agency, and an industry leader – she has been a keynote at MPI, HSMAI, and has been featured in several industry publications. Her 10 Essentials methodology provides a systematic path through the event process.
The Essentials, seen here, stoke strategic discipline, creativity and logistical rigor, and lead to excellent, unique results. The Caspian 10 Essentials have been taught internationally and domestically as the new standard in event methodology.
*CLICK – Now notices #1 we are asked to identify “Vision and Success Metrics” –
*CLICK – Define the value prop and this is done through surveying the potential attendees – how will they define success? What do they want to see?
WHY DOES THIS EVENT EXIST? *CLICK* START WITH THE WHY
Collecting and using feedback has become an essential part of the meetings process – we are no longer talking just post event surveys.
Heather
I was speaking recently with Heather Mason – Founder of Caspian, and event producing agency, and an industry leader – she has been a keynote at MPI, HSMAI, and has been featured in several industry publications. Her 10 Essentials methodology provides a systematic path through the event process.
The Essentials, seen here, stoke strategic discipline, creativity and logistical rigor, and lead to excellent, unique results. The Caspian 10 Essentials have been taught internationally and domestically as the new standard in event methodology.
*CLICK – Now notices #1 we are asked to identify “Vision and Success Metrics” –
*CLICK – Define the value prop and this is done through surveying the potential attendees – how will they define success? What do they want to see?
WHY DOES THIS EVENT EXIST? *CLICK* START WITH THE WHY
Collecting and using feedback has become an essential part of the meetings process – we are no longer talking just post event surveys.
Heather
I was speaking recently with Heather Mason – Founder of Caspian, and event producing agency, and an industry leader – she has been a keynote at MPI, HSMAI, and has been featured in several industry publications. Her 10 Essentials methodology provides a systematic path through the event process.
The Essentials, seen here, stoke strategic discipline, creativity and logistical rigor, and lead to excellent, unique results. The Caspian 10 Essentials have been taught internationally and domestically as the new standard in event methodology.
*CLICK – Now notices #1 we are asked to identify “Vision and Success Metrics” –
*CLICK – Define the value prop and this is done through surveying the potential attendees – how will they define success? What do they want to see?
WHY DOES THIS EVENT EXIST? *CLICK* START WITH THE WHY
Collecting and using feedback has become an essential part of the meetings process – we are no longer talking just post event surveys.
Heather
Heather
Heather
Heather
Meg
Revitilize, rejuvenate
Life Reimmaged – reimage an AARP member
Think you know? “You don’t know AARP”
Questions – sure, sat but also emotional
This event makes me feel like AARP is part of my community. This event represented who I am and how I feel about my AARP membership
Members = customers
Events are a unique way for customers and constituents to mingle/socialize with company.
Take advantage of opp