One of the most effective ways that we’ve found to assess and engage your audience is by using an Audience Response System (ARS) to enhance your meeting.
Have your corporate events become stale? Are you looking to add a unique touch to your company’s meeting? Do you wish you had better engagement from your team? With the help of expert planners to guide you, you can design an event that is more personalized, exciting, and engaging for your attendees.
If you are looking for a creative approach to onboarding new employees, optimize your onboarding with video and visual content as part of your training.
You want to ensure that your event is effective and successful, right? One proven way to measure this is by using post-event surveys. Post-event surveys allow you to evaluate the return on the experience (ROE) so that you can continue to improve your participants’ experiences at future events.
What is Return on Experience (ROE)?
Return on experience (ROE) measures the value your event delivers to attendees beyond just logistics and execution. Unlike return on investment which focuses on cost, ROE focuses on the quality of the experience itself, whether attendees felt engaged, informed, motivated, and satisfied. Post-event surveys are one of the most direct ways to measure ROE because they capture attendee sentiment immediately after the experience, giving you the data you need to evaluate what worked and what needs improvement for future events.
The team at Miller Tanner has compiled some best practices for boosting your survey response rate in addition to optimizing with key questions that will best measure your meeting’s effectiveness. That way you can stay ahead of the curve in providing an event that meets both your goals and your attendees’ expectations.
3 Tactics to Boost Survey Response Rate
Association Now recommends using these tactics as a guide to help boost your survey response rate:
First, explain the importance of survey feedback so that the participants know that their input is valued and crucial to future event planning.
Be concise and simple. Limit to a small number, yet essential, questions and use a yes/no or multiple-choice format.
Have one open-ended question which allows participants to give more personalized feedback.
3 Powerful Open-ended Post-Event Survey Questions
Start Us Magazine lists post-event survey questions that can determine your meeting’s effectiveness. These three questions can drive a lot of insightful feedback from your participants.
#1 What is your level
of satisfaction for this event?
Start with a big picture question to get a sense of whether your participants were satisfied with the event experience overall. Use open-ended questions or create a scale (example: 1-10).
#2 What elements did
you like the most/dislike the most?
This is a powerful open-ended question that can give you a lot of insight into what resonated best with your participants. The answers might surprise you so make sure to create a list of the feedback to be applied when planning your next meeting. This allows you to also address any negative feedback that you might receive for improvement on future events.
#3 What was the
highlight?
This question is not only helpful for post-event surveys but also for multi-day events. If you are conducting daily surveys, using ARS or other engagement tools, during your meeting, this question allows you to effectively gauge what participants enjoyed the most – possibly allowing you to add the activity to the next day’s agenda. For example, if the highlight for a majority of your attendees was a 30-minute break for networking, consider adjusting the agenda to accommodate your participants’ interests.
Get Specific
If you want to be more targeted with your survey questions, Get Feedback offers these following post-event survey questions as a way to dial into the details. You can add a few of the following specific questions to your survey to generate more detailed feedback:
Which event or speaker were you most pleased
with?
Did you have ample time to network?
What can we do to make next year’s
conference even better?
What kind of speakers would you like to see
next year?
Do you feel as though the conference had a
cohesive message?
Did you learn actionable information that
will help you in your work life?
What features should we add to the event?
Be Concise
And if you’d like to keep your questions more scale-based, Meetingsnet offers these six post-event questions that will reveal the effectiveness of your meetings using a question set called the Event Performance Indices or EPI.Based on Meetingsnet’s analysis, using the combined set of the following six post-event questions will best reflect the effectiveness of your meeting:
How satisfied are you with the meeting’s overall value in helping you improve your on-the-job effectiveness?
How satisfied are you that the meeting was well worth the investment?
How satisfied are you with the overall meeting experience?
How satisfied are you that the meeting was motivating to you personally?
How satisfied are you with the quality of the education sessions at the meeting?
How satisfied are you with the quality of the networking opportunities at the meeting?
Understanding the Event Performance Indices (EPI)
The Event Performance Indices (EPI) is a structured set of six post-event questions designed to measure meeting effectiveness across the dimensions that matter most: value, investment, overall experience, personal motivation, education quality, and networking quality. What makes the EPI effective is that it uses a consistent scale-based format across all six questions, making it easy to track results over time and compare performance across multiple events. Rather than relying on a single satisfaction score, the EPI gives you a multi-dimensional view of how your meeting performed and where to focus improvements.
Summary
We’ve highlighted a few different ways to approach your post-event survey.
Explain why feedback matters so attendees feel their input is valued and will actually be used. Keep the survey short with a focused set of essential questions in yes/no, multiple choice, or scale format. Include at least one open-ended question to capture personalized feedback. Start broad with an overall satisfaction question before moving into specific feedback. Use scale-based questions like the EPI set when you want to track and compare meeting effectiveness across events over time. Send the survey promptly while the experience is still top of mind for attendees.
Our team can help design post-event surveys that measure your event’s effectiveness. Reach out to our associates to learn more.
In effort to help readers to summarize the information found within this post, we’ve recapitulated the article in question and answer form.
How Can I Get More Meeting Attendees to Respond to Survey Requests?
To begin, convey the significance of survey responses so that participants understand how important their contribution is to future event preparation. Second, keep it short and sweet. Use a yes/no or multiple-choice style answers and keep the number of questions to a minimum. Finally, have at least one open-ended question so that participants may provide more customized input.
What are Some Examples of Post-Event Survey Questions to Ask?
Begin by asking a broad question, such as “What is your level of satisfaction with this event?” to get a feel of whether your attendees were pleased with the entire event experience. “What aspects did you like/dislike the most?” is a strong open-ended question that may reveal a lot about what your participants appreciated (or didn’t appreciate) the most. “What was the highlight?” is an excellent open-ended question that works well for both post-event surveys and multi-day events.
What are Some Example Questions to Ask Post-Event to Get Specific Feedback?
Which event or speaker did you like the most? Did you have plenty of time to network with other attendees? What can we do to improve the conference next year? What kind of speakers or topics discussed would you want to see at the conference next year? Do you think the conference’s message was consistent?
What are Some Post-Event Questions to Ask to Discover the Effectiveness of a Conference?
What level of satisfaction do you have with the meeting’s overall value in terms of assisting you in improving your on-the-job effectiveness? How certain are you that the meeting was well worth your time and money? What level of satisfaction do you have with the entire meeting experience? How pleased are you that the meeting was personally motivating? How pleased are you with the quality of the meeting’s educational sessions?
Should I Conduct a Post-Event Survey After Every Major Convention?
In order to enhance the success of any event, it is necessary to conduct a post-event survey. Post-event surveys may help you better understand your audience’s requirements and desires, as well as where to concentrate your time and attention for future events. Your attendees will appreciate being heard, and you will get insights on how to create an experience that will entice them to attend your future event.
How We Provided Translation Options for a Virtual Event
Virtual events offer an affordable, efficient method for delivering key messaging. The goal of a virtual event is to spread a consistent message where a smaller budget and time constraints might apply. Miller Tanner Associates aims to simulate the key elements of a face-to-face meeting – interpretation being one of those essential elements. When a client wants to offer interpretation to a select group of attendees, it is our job to make sure that happens with ease.
THE CHALLENGE
Virtual platforms introduce a few challenges. Unfortunately, these platforms rarely have multiple audio channels that allow attendees to choose their preferred language translation. For this reason, advanced virtual event translation is important. Additionally, the slides shared with the audience and translation must match the timing of the presenter. The message and instruction to attendees need to be coordinated accurately with the presentation, polling questions, and any attendee interaction with the presenters via text.
THE SOLUTION
Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) has designed a creative solution that meets the translation needs of the attendees.
MTA uses a suite of virtual products that allows us to open multiple meeting platforms and isolate the features in each one.
Our solution offers local and toll-free numbers for countries around the world providing added convenience to attendees during a 4-hour session.
We provide thorough instructions on how to connect for interpretation prior to the meeting, and within housekeeping slides during the meeting.
We also provide presentations and recordings to our interpreters days prior to the meeting, allowing them the opportunity to study the content and presentations.
THE RESULTS
Our clients and their attendees are equally important to us and our primary objective is to provide ease during any eventface-to-face, virtual or hybrid events. Using ingenuity, we provided a simple, creative solution for our client which enabled the attendees to listen to a very difficult protocol in their native language while ensuring a better understanding of the study.
Contact our team of experienced event planners to learn more about translation solutions for your virtual events.
The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that brings our corporate meetings and events to life for our customers.
Today, we introduce you to Carrie Hui, Global Experience Manager – Events. Carrie, fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin, is a highly-valued member of our Asia-Pacific team based in Hong Kong. She is always willing to take on new challenges to support the Global Experiences Team in delivering a successful outcome for our customers.
We’ve curated a mash-up of some of our best blogs with tips for creating successful meetings in the life sciences industry. Use these strategies from the Miller Tanner Team to improve and maximize your meeting’s capabilities.
Miller Tanner Associates (MTA) Chief Compliance Officer Mary Long shares the challenges and best practices for addressing compliance when planning investigator meetings (IM). Read more.
Find out how Miller Tanner Associates partnered with our client to develop solutions to improve the training process for a more successful clinical trial. Read more.
Training, continuity in training messages, and documentation of training are all critical components of a successful clinical study. Learn how to maximize your training strategy. Read more.
We survey every investigator meeting participant so that we can better meet your attendees’ expectations. Here are a few ways you can deliver an exceptional meeting to your medical professional attendees. Read more
The Miller Tanner difference is our people. That’s why we want to introduce you to our team of superstars that bring our corporate meetings and events to life for our clients. Today we introduce you to Senior Global Experience Manager Julie Hagan. With her extensive background in managing a variety of event types, along with her invaluable sense of humor, Julie makes event planning look like a walk in the park; however, behind the scenes, she is skillfully arranging each event’s staffing needs like a pro.
Meet Julie Hagan
Tell us about your current role with Miller Tanner Associates (MTA)? What are your primary responsibilities?
As a senior global experience manager, I work with an incredible team of global experience designers and specialists. One of my primary responsibilities is assigning our team members to our client meetings – both for face-to-face and virtual programs. Staffing is all about aligning our experienced planners with clients to create seamless experiences.
How long have you been with MTA? I have had the pleasure of working at MTA for the past 15 years.
What did you do before joining MTA?
The majority of work I did before joining MTA was in the non-profit sector. I had the opportunity to plan everything from incentive trips and advisory board meetings to international conventions and leadership trainings.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is working alongside the amazing Miller Tanner Associates team members. We truly have the best humans on our team hands down.
What’s been your favorite event destination as an event planning professional?
Top favorites on my list for event destinations are Barcelona, Budapest, Berlin, Cape Town, Melbourne, and San Francisco!
Julie in Athens
What’s been your most memorable destination to date and why?
Athens, Greece was always on my bucket list and I’m so lucky that I was able to plan a meeting there. Being able to say I’ve touched the Parthenon is pretty cool. I never dreamed my job would create that opportunity, but it did!
Do you have a few great travel tips that you could share?
Dress comfortably, pack light and always carry an extra toothbrush.
What do you do for fun?
I love sports! I enjoy watching my Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Titans, and Nashville Predators. As of recent, I’ve even been seen clapping a time or two for my husband’s Georgia Bulldogs (shhh!).
What do you enjoy most about living in Tennessee?
I’m originally from a small town north of Nashville. I grew up in the same house where my great grandparents first lived. My parents still live in the same house and although the Barbie dolls and Def Leppard posters are gone, my room is always waiting for me when I go back.
I currently reside in Nashville and have to say, it is the best “small town, big city”. It’s known as Music City USA, Nashvegas, The Athens of the South, and Smashville – but I just call it HOME. I love it!
What’s your favorite aspect of MTA?
Our annual face-to-face MTA Workshop is my favorite. Once a year, our company has the chance to gather together to train, learn, and strengthen our professional skills. The outstanding spur-of-the-moment dance parties are pretty fun too. It has been awesome to watch our team grow year after year.
What makes Miller Tanner Associates stand out as a meeting planning company?
We are made up of a collective group of outstanding people that truly care about the experiences we create for our clients. At MTA there is always a time to foster learning, share a smile, and make an impact.
Does the idea of paperless meetings sound daunting or liberating? Here are 10 convincing reasons to shred the paper and embrace the digital devices at your next meeting:
1. Mobile access from any device.
In the digital age, access from anywhere at any time has revolutionized how we work. Having all meeting documentation accessible on mobile devices creates a seamless experience for your attendees.
2. Reduce costs and save administrative time.
When you go paperless, you eliminate the costs associated with printing, ink, and mailing in addition to the administrative time involved.
4. Personalize event schedule with sessions and presentation details.
By digitizing your meeting, you can also personalize the attendees’ event schedule so that there’s no question where they need to be and when they need to be there. This is especially useful for breakout and/or departmental sessions.
5. Distribute real-time notifications.
Keep your meeting’s agenda running smoothly even when change occurs. Last-minute agenda updates and announcements can easily be sent to your attendees through electronic notifications.
6. Consolidate travel and event information in one location for easy access.
Not only can attendees quickly access all meeting details within one source but also all travel details to and from their meeting.
7. Aggregate meeting data automatically and instantly.
A digital dashboard generates more accurate insights into your meeting data giving you the ability to analyze and view metrics visually in real-time with no additional mental effort.
8. Ensure data security.
Sensitive information and digital documents can be easily tracked and managed in a secure portal.
9. Manage more effectively with less effort.
When you consider the amount of time and effort spent managing a meeting and its paper trail – from creating and distributing copies, organizing and filing, and protecting and shredding (for security purposes), it’s much more than you might realize. A digitized meeting frees up time to focus on more important matters like ensuring that your attendees are happy and engaged.
10. Reduce your meeting’s carbon footprint.
U.S. businesses use around 21 million tons of paper each year and discard enough to build a 12-foot wall from Los Angeles to New York City. You can have an impact on these staggering stats when you choose the environmentally-conscious paperless meeting option to reduce your paper waste.
In effort to help readers to summarize the information found within this post, we’ve recapitulated the article in question and answer form.
How is Mobile Access Beneficial for Paperless Meetings?
The ability to work from anywhere at any time has changed how we operate in the digital age. Having all meeting materials available on mobile devices ensures that your guests have a more-rounded and consistent experience.
Do Paperless Meetings Lower Costs & Save Admin Time?
When you go paperless, you save money on printing, ink, and shipping, as well as the time it takes to manage paperwork.
How Do Paperless Meetings Increase Engagement?
Your participants will be able to prepare in advance and engage more effectively during your meeting if papers and agendas are accessible from any device prior to the meeting date.
How Do Paperless Meetings Provide Enhanced Security?
With a secure gateway, sensitive data and digital documents may be readily monitored and better controlled.
What are Some Other Ways Paperless Meetings are Beneficial?
Instantly aggregating meeting data because a digital dashboard provides more accurate insights into your meeting data, allowing you to visually evaluate and see metrics in real time without exerting any extra mental effort. Furthermore, when you select for the ecologically friendly paperless meeting option to cut down on paper waste your meeting’s carbon footprint is drastically reduced.
Sydney is Australia’s largest, oldest and most diverse city. It has become one of Miller Tanner’s popular destination cities for hosting meetings and events because of its multicultural diversity, its proximity to Asia-Pacific, its dynamic landscapes, and hotel conference sites and amenities.
We asked our own Global Conference Director Natalie Lowndes, who moved to Sydney from England, why she believes Sydney is one of Australia’s most desirable meeting locations and why it’s a good choice for meetings and events. Continue reading “Top 5 Reasons to Host an Event in Sydney”
You’ve heard the saying, “no man is an island”. The same holds true for events.
Events simply cannot survive in and of themselves. Successful events require an abundance of resources – research, focus, knowledge, and logistical savvy – in order to orchestrate their many moving parts.
Many companies try to go it alone and assume that planning an event using internal resources will save money when that’s usually not the case; companies often spend more either financially or in taking up other resources by not hiring a professional planner.
When you hire a professional planner, like Miller Tanner Associates, you are also employing our professional planning expertise and our extensive network of vendor relationships with hotels, rental facilities, AV companies, and more. Planners have access to discounted rates that typically aren’t available to those outside the industry. Our MTA event planning professionals also have the unparalleled skillset and know-how to negotiate the best rates and in turn, pass those savings on to you, our clients. We have the processes in place to efficiently manage your event through our intuitive event management tools and to keep your event on track from start to finish.
Beyond saving your company money, time, and resources, professional planners are passionate about what they do and have the aptitude for doing it. Because they are engaged in planning events every day, our corporate event planners possess a deep reserve of knowledge, creativity, experience, problem-solving, and vision that just can’t be easily replicated. By relying on a planner, you’ll have the confidence that every detail of your event is thoroughly planned, seamlessly executed, meets compliance requirements, and, most importantly, is delivered within budget.
Contact us to learn more about how our team can partner with you to plan a successful, exceptional event experience.
Event planning can be challenging if unprepared. It demands time, focus, research, budgeting, logistical skills and relevant knowledge that many corporate leadership teams simply don’t possess. Full article
