Inside the mind of the delegate
By TJ (26-11-2007)
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A new report, Inside the Mind of the Delegate, provides HR departments charged with managing internal events, with a minds eye view of delegates.
The report was developed by Crystal Interactive, which specialises in facilitating and building interactivity into events, using feedback from just under 5,000 delegates who collectively have attended 51 events in the past 18 months.
Uniquely, the feedback is based on open-ended questions – what delegates liked and what they would do differently. These questions were posed immediately after events and gave the respondents the opportunity to say anything they liked. The thousands of text based comments and feedback were analysed to identify common issues and event problems.
Chris Elmitt, director of Crystal Interactive and author of the Report, explains why the feedback is so powerful.
"The open ended nature of our approach meant that we weren't channelling the comments into well-worn event survey areas such as the quality of the venue, speakers or food. As a result we unearthed event areas that repeatedly dissatisfy delegates, and which typical event research never explores."
Key areas of delegate dissatisfaction include content, organisation and interactivity.
- Not enough time for networking – almost 24% of the organisational criticisms centre on timing issues, with organisers trying to pack too much in. Content-cramming puts a squeeze on networking which is far more important to the delegates questioned than organisers appreciate.
- Workshops not working – workshops are a practical way for attendees to mix with others in informal groups yet 28% of criticisms centre on them. The main problem is that workshops often lack focus, aren't given enough time or seem to produce meaningless output.
- Discussion and follow-up – delegates want more time built into agendas so that important issues unearthed at a conference can be further discussed. They asked for zones in lounge areas where further discussion can be captured/facilitated during coffee breaks mid-event. If this is not possible improve the follow up, which many feel is negligible, so that the discussion can continue after the event.
- Travel – don't go all out for a smart venue, as unnecessary travel impresses no one.
- Focus and depth – allow content to be focused and deep – this works far better than broad agendas.
- Real time content shaping – 42% of content criticisms are because attendees have preferred topics they wanted the event to cover. Organisers should gather delegate views at the event and allow this to inform and shape the speaker slots in real time. This kind of event modification takes courage and speaker dexterity but delivers a far better event experience.
- Involvement – 25% of delegates want an active role in events. 10% said they also want far more debating and question and answer time.
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