ENG - Learning Unit 10 - AR

EVENT PLANNING AND DESIGN CONTENTS ANALYSIS

EVENT ASSESSMENT – LEARNING UNIT 10

Learning Contents SUBUNIT 1: Event Evaluation Approaches and Models SUBUNIT 2: Event success SUBUNIT 3: Event Organisation Elements SUBUNIT 4: Event Control and Evaluation Tools

Learning hours:

10

Workload:

25

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Unit Objectives Actions / Achievements Design specific event evaluation tools

Knowledge

Skills

Competencies

Diagnose the degree of Comprehensive on event Defines event evaluation competence for evaluating evaluation approaches and approaches and models and different event evaluation models evaluates the phrases of event approaches and models

evaluation models

Comprehensive on event

Integrate the lived experiences success Measures an event’s success of successful events into the

design of events Comprehensive on event Identifies the event

organisation elements organisation elements

Identify the event control and Fundamental for event control Produces event control and evaluation tools, highlighting and evaluation tools evaluation tools the event organisation

elements

SUBUNIT 1: EVENT EVALUATION APPROACHES AND MODELS Event evaluation is critical to the event management process. It is the final step in the planning process, where the goals and objectives set at the start of an event are used as benchmarks to determine its final outcomes and success. It enables event managers to evaluate their own processes and to communicate event outcomes to key stakeholders. As events become more central to our economy and involve considerable investment by host organizations and governments, it is becoming increasingly important to accurately evaluate their outcomes. While economic evaluation dominates much of the field of evaluation literature and practice, the triple bottom line of economics, social and environmental impacts is increasingly recognised by governments and researchers alike.

The event industry is still young and is struggling in some areas to establish legitimacy and acceptance as a profession. One of the best means for the industry to gain credibility is for events to be evaluated honestly and critically, so their outcomes are known, their benefits acknowledged and their limitations accepted, However, event evaluation serves a much deeper purpose than just “blowing the trumpet for events. It is at the very heart of the process where insights are gained, lessons are learned and events are perfected. Event managers need to be aware of and utilize both primary and secondary research sources in the planning and evaluation of events. Event evaluation is properly utilized and applied, is the key to the continuous improvement of events and to the standing and reputation of the event industry. As such, it should be a high priority for all event managers to properly evaluate their events and to disseminate this evaluation to their stakeholders and interested groups. If done well, this will not only enhance the reputation of their events but also their own reputation as Professional event managers. (Parry & Shone, 2001)

What is Event Evaluation?

Event evaluation is the process of critically observing, measuring and monitoring the implementation of an event in order to assess its outcomes accurately. Evaluation is a continuous process that takes place throughout the life of an event. It enables the creation of an event profile that outlines the basic futures and important statistics of an event. It also enables feedback to be provided to event stakeholders and plays an important role in the event management process by providing a tool for analysis an improvement. However, it has three key phrases:

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

•Pre‐event evaluation: also known as feasibility studies which take place before the event in order to ascertain whether it is viable to stage.

•The monitoring and control process, which takes place during the implementation of the event in order to ensure that it is on track and to take remedial action if required.

•Post‐event evaluation, which focusses on the measurement of event outcomes and on ways in which the event can be improved.

1.Pre‐event evaluation Once the event concept has been edited and an initial scoping of the event completed, it is essential to examine whether the event can be delivered successfully within the available timeframe and resources. This process is also known as a feasibility study and may be conducted internally or in the case of larger events, contracted to an external body. On the basis of the feasibility study, a decision will be made as to whether or not the event will proceed. Shone and Parry (2010) describe what they refer to as the “screening process” to examine the feasibility of the event. This involves using marketing, operations, and financial screens to determine the extent to which the event concept matches the needs of the event and the resources available to the event manager to implement it.

Marketing Screen The marketing secrets involve examine how the target audience of the event is likely response to the event concept and whether the concept will be inviting and attractive to its audience. To determine this, an environmental scanning process needs to be undertaken.

This will help to determine whether it is likely to be perceived as innovative and popular or as boring, ordinary and predictable. A good barometer will be the media response to the concept. If media representatives consider it to be of current interest, they are likely to become allies in the promotion of the event. If the media response is poor, then it will be difficult to promote interest and engage the audience. For much of this assessment, event managers will need to rely on their own instructs and on testing the response of friends, co‐ workers, and stakeholders to the concept. An alternative, particularly if a large investment is involved in the event, is to undertake some form of market research. This can be done within the resources of the event management company or by employing marketing professionals to conduct a market survey or focus group research. Such research may reveal not only the likely market acceptance of the concept but also additional information, such as how much the target audience is prepared to pay for the event or how the event concept

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

may be adapted to meet market expectations or requirements. A further factor in the environmental scan will be to examine the competition provided by other events in the market. This step will examine whether there are other events of a similar type or theme in a similar timeframe or whether major events and public holidays are likely to impact on the target market.

The operations screen The operation screen will consider the skills and resources needed to stage the event successfully and examine whether the event manager has these skills and resources or can develop them or buy them in the fort he event. Specialised technical skills, for example, may be needed to implement the event concept. The event manager will need to consider whether event company staff members have these skills or whether an external supplier needs to be engaged to provide them. Special licenses, permits or insurance may be needed in order to implement the concept. If the event concept is highly innovative and challenging, the event manager may need to consider the degree of risk involved. It may be desirable to deliver an innovative event but it can be costly and embarrassing if the event is a failure because the skills and resources available to stage it are inadequate.

The financial screen The financial screen is the one suggested by Shone and Parry (2010). This screen examines whether the event organization has sufficient financial commitment, sponsorship, and revenue to undertake the event. The first step in this process is to decide whether the event needs only to break even‐ which may be the case if it is being staged as a corporate promotional event – or whether it is required to make a profit for the hosts organization.

The next step will be to undertake a “ballpark” budget of the anticipated costs and income of the event. Breaking the event down into its component parts will allow an estimate to be formed of the cost of each component. A generous contingency should be included on the cost side of the ledger, as at this stage of the event there are bound to be costs that have been underestimated or not yet identified. Calculating the income may require deciding on the appropriate pricing strategy and identifying the breakeven point of ticket sales. Other key revenue items to take into account may include potential government grants or subsidies, merchandising income and sponsorship support, both in cash and in kind. It is important not to overestimate the sponsorship potential and Professional advice or a

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

preliminary approach to the market may be required in order to arrive at a realistic estimate. Besides this, the cash flow is also an important aspect of the financial screen.

2.Monitoring and control process A Project will pass through a series of phrases and stages. Table one illustrates these phrases. A Project phrase is series of related tasks, performed over a period of time and under a particular configuration of management, to produce a major deliverable. The end of a phrase is often characterised by a major decision to begin the next phrase.

Scope Marketing Finance Time (deadline) Design Risk Procurement Human Resources Stakeholders Communication

Initiation

Planning

Implementation

Event

Shutdown

Table 1: The phrases of the Project management

The phrases approach to describing the management of an event is purely descriptive – as with any description, at approximates reality. The aim is to provide clarity to the confusing tasks involved in event management. Some Project phrases overlap‐planning and implementation can take place at the same time in different areas of management. The promotion Schedule, for example, may be happening at the same time as aspects of the program are being re‐designed. This chaos, however, does have a pattern and the five‐ phase approach is a useful tool to help the reader to understand it. (Times, 2017)

Initiation: The first phase of PM, initiation is characterised by the idea of the event being developed and setting its objectives.

Planning: The second phrase is the Project planning. It is characterised by working on what is needed and how it fits together.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Implementation: the application of all plans, such as hiring staff, sending out requests for tender, confirming contractors and carrying out the promotional Schedule. Monitoring and controlling * testing the plans and confirming how relevant they are to the organising process progress. Making decisions based on the comparison between the plans and reality.

Active risk management.

The event: The Project event manager is working during the deliverable; that is, the event.

Shutdown: It is the last phrase and requires a separate series of tasks and responsibilities.

This phrase includes the on‐site shutdowns and the management closure.

In a summary, these 5 processes should be monitored very carefully for the successful event.

3.Post Event evaluation Post‐event evaluation is concerned primarily with measuring the success of an event in terms of its objectives by collecting and analysing relevant data from the event. It is also concerned with evaluating the process of organising the event, and feeding back lessons and observation learned from this into the ongoing event management process. Post‐event evaluation can also build up a Picture of the event facilitating the communication of its outcomes to key stakeholders. Silver (2004), Shone and Parry (2010) and Van Der Wagen (2008) identified a number of important functions of post‐event evaluation. These include; •Measurement of event outcomes •Creation of a demographic profile of the event audience, •Identification of how the event can be improved, •Enhancement of event reputation and •Evaluation of the event management process.

Models used in Event Evaluation: Impact Assessment: It focuses on measuring the economic, social, environmental and cultural impact of events, particularly in instances where the significant justification for the event may be required.

Cost*benefit Analysis: It identifies and measures the cost and benefits of an event and takes into account externalities or spill‐over benefits for the host community.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Triple‐bottom‐line evaluation: It is a framework for measuring and reporting the events performance against economic social and environmental parameters to determine negative or positive impacts on the host community.

Ethnographic profile: Typically used in the evaluation of cultural festivals/special events, ethnography provides an assessment of these experience‐related events through a process of analysis which encompasses participant observation, interviewing and documentary resources

The Event Evaluation Process The event evaluation process has five major steps; •Planning and identification of event •Data collection, •Data analysis, •Reporting and •Dissemination.

The process must be planned from the outset of the event and will involve the commitment of resources including staff, time and budget. As the collection of data can be expensive, the budget will sometimes be a limiting factor in the design of the event evaluation process.

Planning and identification of event; There 10 important facts for an event planning: 1.Develop Event Goal and Objectives; The very first step is to establish a tangible goal and objectives. (e.g., why are you organizing this event and what do you hope to achieve?)

2.Organize a Team: Any event takes a concerted team effort to handle all of the details.

Consider identifying one key Event Manager or Event Chair as well as individual Chairpersons for subcommittees, such as venue management; speakers; entertainment; publicity; sponsors; volunteer management

3.Set a Date: The date might already be pre‐set for a reoccurring event.

4.Brand Your Event: If you want your event to stand out, you need to choose a timely and compelling theme that sets you apart from your competition. This means that you need to

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

come up with a dynamic overall theme and you need to take great care with the actual name – since it can be a key attention‐getter, especially in online media.

5.Create a Master Plan: This plan should encompass all aspects of the event, including: Venue,

logistics

&

etc.),Speakers/presenters

catering

management

(identifying,

(contracts,

permits,

confirming,

insurance,

logistics

&

management),Activities/entertainment, Publicity/promotion (online & off‐line, e.g.,: web page & online promotion; events calendars; printed programs; media relations; signage; social media, etc.), Registration (online sign‐up, payment and tracking; on‐site sign‐in, etc.), Sponsor/partner management, Volunteer management (Business.com, 2017)

6.Determine Administrative Processes: In other words, how are you going to keep track of your planning, registration, budget, guest and speakers lists, etc.?

7.Identify and Establish Partnerships & Sponsors: Are there organizations that you could partner with or call on for sponsorships to defray the costs and increase potential participation? When you involve other people or groups in your event, they have a stake in helping spread the word and making the event a success. You might want to consider: Seeking corporate sponsors to fund a portion of the event. This can range from national organizations that might want to sponsor a dinner, offer a door prize or a key silent auction item, to local businesses that might be able to provide goods or services, such as flowers for the tables, gift bag items, etc. Partnering with community organizations who might be able to offer a venue and/or assistance with organizing or staffing an event

8.Create a Publicity Plan: Even with the most amazing speaker or entertainment line‐up, you need publicity to get people in the door. Event promotion starts with the initial notice or page on your website, note in your newsletter or email to save the date and then builds to include online and offline publicity, media relations and on‐going outreach to encourage registration.

9.Establish a Budget: Your budget should incorporate estimates for all of the key items identified in your Event Master Plan. Don’t forget to include any travel or accommodation costs for speakers, presenters, etc.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

10.Determine Evaluation Process: How will you determine if your event is a success? Do you measure success by the number of registrants or attendees or is it dependent on you breaking even or raising a target amount in donations? When you set your initial event goals and objectives, you should also consider how you will evaluate the event to determine your success. If you are using a membership management software package, such as Wild Apricot’s, you can easily track registration numbers and fees. But, if your event involves tracking, for example, a silent auction, then you’ll need to put some processes in place to identify goods offered in kind and funds raised at the event.

Data collection: There are many data collection tools that help organisations gather and analyse valuable information around their events.

•Registration Systems •Online Surveys •Event Management Software •Mobile Apps •Social Media Tools •On‐Site Systems •Audience Engagement Tools •Web Analytics •Networking Tools •RFID/NFC Tools •Chatbots

Data Analysis: Much of the data from such sources can be analysed manually and computer base in order to identify key event outcomes such as attendance and financial results.

These data may need some degree of interpretation, for example, by comparing them with stated event objectives or with similar data from previous events.

Reporting: The function of the report as the record of the event will lend itself to the use of statistics to create an accurate profile of the event, supported by appropriate detail through the use of tables, graphs, etc. Any outcomes noted, such as economics or tourism impacts should support by a description of the methodology used to evaluate them and number of survey responses obtained. Both the narrative and record functions of the event report

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

combine to present a useful basis for reporting to stakeholders and for planning the next event. (Crowd, 2017)

Dissemination: The final step in the post‐event evaluation processes is to disseminate the event report to relevant stakeholder groups. This may be done by face to face meetings with key stakeholders such as the host organization, government, and sponsors, where the content of the report can be verbally communicated and discussed. For the host organisation, this may represent an important closure and for sponsors, it may give rise to a discussion on continued involvement with the event. It is worth considering additional formats of the report, for example, PowerPoint presentation may be preferred for face to face presentations or a media release may be prepared to accompany the distribution of the report to the media. If the event report is well written and carefully distributed, it can be an important tool for enhancing the reputation and future prospects of the event.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SUBUNIT 2: EVENT SUCCESS Measuring an event’s success, whether it is an exhibition, a seminar or a conference allows the identification of what is necessary to work on when planning future events. Some concrete criteria are essential to calculate event’s ROI (Return On Investment).

Define exact criteria before your event What evaluation criteria should be taken into account? This depends largely on the event’s objective – is it to present the strategic plan to the senior management? Attract new clients? Train company collaborators? Motivate teams? It is a concert, a conference or a social event? Depending on the nature of the event, it may require several evaluation criteria. Here are some of them that may be useful:

‐ The attendance rates This is one of the first criteria to be considered – count the number of guests. It can also be compared the number of people present with the number of people invited. While it is relatively easy to find out how many invitees have said they will attend, seeing how many actually turned up can be a lot more difficult. Certain tools (like OnSite) can be used to scan your guests’ invitations as they arrive, allowing you to track the attendance rate in real time. You also gain precious data such as the exact time the people arrive, which session had the highest attendance rate, etc.

‐ Guest involvement An event’s success is also judged by the extent to which the attendees participate. If they are invested in the event, they will better remember the event’s key messages and will remember it as a positive experience. How can you judge your attendees’ participation?

Use a mobile app, say for example ConnexMe or Socrative to organize votes and allow attendees to post their comments on the main screen. You will be able to track the number of private messages sent by your guests, the number of questions asked, the number of people participating in the polls etc. at any point during the event. At the end of the event, you will be able to use this data to find out which moments best captured your guests’ interest.

‐ How the attendees felt about the event

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Quantitative evaluation criteria are not sufficient indicators of your event’s success; qualitative data is also required. That’s why we often see that evaluation forms are sent to guests to find out what they thought about the event. Compiling this information has long been a time‐consuming process – and this is not counting the time spent sending reminders to the guests asking them to fill in the form.

Now there are some tools to can ask the attendees for their opinion (at the end of each session/day/the event) and the information can be compiled immediately, for e.g.

ConnexMe.

‐ Your event’s influence When hosting an external event, one of the aims of which is to attract as many attendees as possible, success can also be measured by its renown. Look at the scale of press coverage, the number of blog posts and the number of times it is mentioned on social media to calculate it. These are good criteria to use to calculate an event’s success.

‐ Define Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity, like an event, a project, a product in which it engages. It is never enough to have just a single key performance indicator; minimum three, four, or even five in place to accurately assess whether the event can be defined as a success by your measurement. Even if all measures indicate a success, the evaluation will help you make improvements to the next event reaches an even higher milestone. (Do, 2014)

‐ Sponsor Recognition It’s not just the attendees’ level of satisfaction that determines event success but also that of the sponsors as well. The sponsors are the backbone of the event because they are the ones funding it. Were they pleased with how the event went? Did they feel like your company held up its end of the bargain? It is necessary to gauge the sponsors’ impression.

Instead of a survey, though, it would be better to set a Skype or sit‐down meeting with the sponsor representative.

Remember, sponsors are hardly a one‐time deal; to establish a long‐term relationship so that they support for subsequent events. The technician organiser event should be open to

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

constructive criticisms from the sponsors and take to heart any recommendations on what can be done differently for the next event.

If the sponsor has decided not to move forward with the relationship, then obviously that is not an indicator of an event that went well even if it was generally well received by guests.

Sponsors have a different way of perceiving an event that the guests do, so be sure to cater to their expectations.

‐ Measure Revenue vs Overhead Cost In the organization of a corporate event, the purpose is to create branding and new customers. It’s also about bringing in additional revenue. To make money, though, it is necessary to spend money, and it’s possible to spend more money than to bring in if the event ends up being a bomb.

Essentially, the following parameters should be measured: •Anticipated cost vs actual cost •Anticipated revenue vs actual revenue •Actual cost vs actual revenue

Going slightly over the budget and/or earning slightly less revenue than anticipated does not automatically make the event a failure. It is possible, for example, not have brought in as much revenue as anticipated but did acquire a far above an average number of signatures to be included in the email newsletters. That’s scores of potential new clients right there, some of which may be repeated customers and bring in residual income for many years to come.

To sum up, there are many criteria that can be used to work out how successful the event was – it’s up to the event organiser technician to decide which are relevant (before the event). Choose the direct results (the number of attendees, new sales leads, etc.) or the indirect ones (improvement of the company’s reputation, guest satisfaction, etc.) Even if some of them are hard to evaluate, new tools will allow the technician to refine how to calculate the event’s success.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SUBUNIT 3: EVENT ORGANISATION ELEMENTS Event management expert Anton Shone in his book “Successful Event Management: A practical handbook” suggests that there actually are only two key evaluation issues that should be taken into account when thinking about evaluation of the event:

1)Did the event meet its objectives?

2)What can be improved for the next event, if there is going to be one? (Shone, 2001)

The purpose of it is first to try to see the bigger picture, connecting all the little things that were done while organizing and conducting the event, so it is possible to examine what was done well and what could be improved in the future events. Secondly, to see whether the objectives of the event were met (how many people you wanted to come to the event, how many actually came; how many people you hoped to attract with marketing and public relations campaigns, how many you actually did attract. etc.) And when it comes to organizing events, the identification of the main objectives is crucial, because it lets organizers understand what they want to do and then find the best ways, how to get it done. (Do, 2014)

This process can be looked at in several ways: 1.Which are the activities that turned out exactly as you wanted them to? Those are probably the ones that should be left without any changes also in the future, because it is commonly known that you should not try to fix something that is not broken, and while it works perfectly, it’s better not to experiment with it.

2.Which are the activities that went well, but not as well as you’ve hoped? These are the ones that you can try to experiment with – probably you will want to fundamentally leave them as they were, because all in all they were okay, but it is always possible to change different aspects and details, that in some cases can help a great deal.

3.Which are those activities that went badly and needs sorting out? These are the activities that you have to fundamentally overthink and change at their core. (Shone, 2001) Collecting information for the evaluation process should not be underrated (as it often happens), and it needs to be conducted systematically and thoughtfully. The amount of information depends on each events size, scale, participants etc. However, the amount of

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

information will exceed one’s expectations even if it is a small event. But it is important to understand that the collected sources of information should be properly analysed so the research is not one‐sided, expressing someone’s opinion and not valid data, and although it may sometimes seem that to carry out these kinds of evaluations a lot of data is needed (which of course is advisable), it turns out that even with a modest amount of information collected, there might actually be lots of information sources, that can be used.

Data, that is the outcome of this information collection process can be divided into 1)Quantitative data: attendee statistics, market segmentation data, sales figures, financial reports and accounts, economic impact analysis, environmental impact analysis, social impact analysis 2)Qualitative data: attendee perceptions, interviews with attendees and staff, management notes and commentary, social impact analysis, environmental impact analysis In addition, the evaluation process is very relevant not only for event managers but also for clients and stakeholders (such as councils, sponsors, clients and so on), who insist on a report on how their resources have been used and to which extent objectives have been accomplished. (Do, 2014.) Overall, stakeholders do want to make sure that event organizers and coordinators really put their money to work by spending it effectively and wisely. This is the reason for the publication of final reports and accounts, particularly for big public events.

So, in order for all stakeholders to be able to express their opinion, a short period after the closedown of the event (certainly within a month) there should also be a meeting of the various interested parties to evaluate the event.

As previously said, often event evaluation is treated as something second‐hand because of lack of time, recourses or expertise, but it should not be so because care in evaluation is an aid to future planning and should not be overlooked.

To sum up, event evaluation is a very important aspect in the process of event organization, because it helps to assess, whether the objectives of the event were achieved, what activities of the event could have been done differently and what activities were the highlights of the event. By doing this, firstly it gives you an opportunity to become a more

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

knowledgeable event organizer, secondly you learn (sometimes from success, sometimes from mistakes) how to manage events, so they become viable and sustainable, because, as said before – actually evaluation is all about the future and not about the past, as it may sometimes seem. Event evaluation is also very important for reassuring the stakeholders that their means have been spent properly, which is also related with sustainability because it can convince your sponsors and cooperation partners to stay with you also for the future events. The steps that should be focused on when evaluating an event is deciding what and how you are going to evaluate, what information you need to gather to be able to do it and once the information is gathered, efficiently analyse it, so you get the data which can be presented to the stakeholders at the evaluation meeting, which should be organized not later than one month after the event.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

SUBUNIT 4: EVENT CONTROL AND EVALUATION TOOLS Evaluation is the systematic application of social research procedures in order to monitor and assess processes and results of events and other means of communication regarding prior defined objectives. (Buhl, 2007) A distinction is made between formative evaluation that is carried out parallel to the event management process and allows adjustments to change parameters, and summative evaluation that is carried out after the implementation of an event in order to measure performance.

As evaluation methods and strategies have been already analysed in the previous subunits, here we will try to give a quick overview of the software tools that can help event planners, designers and organizer to evaluate an event. EVENT control and evaluation may be done by using some features of the software presented and analysed in Learning Unit 4 ‐ ICT IN EVENTS ORGANIZATION. For the needs of this learning subunit, we will focus on survey creation tools and social media activity monitoring tools. (Watch, 2017)

The most commonly used tool for event evaluation processes is surveyed. Nowadays internet is used by many companies, authorities, scientists in conducting all kind of social studies all over the world. Whether it is market or scientific research, the online survey has been a faster way of collecting data from the respondents as compared to other survey methods such as paper‐and‐pencil method and personal interviews.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Surveys Advantages •Minimal costs. Collecting data does not have to cost you thousands of dollars when the only cost of contacting someone is to send them an e‐mail is low when compared to other methods.

•Automation in data input and real‐time access. Respondents input their own data, and the responses are automatically stored in a survey database, providing hassle‐free handling of data and a smaller possibility of data errors.

•Less time. Rapid deployment and return times are possible with online surveys that cannot be attained by traditional methods. Capable of collecting data from a large number of respondents.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

•Convenience for respondents. They can answer questions on their schedule, at their pace, and can even start a survey at one time, stop, and complete it later. Also, they can complete the survey online, on their mobile devices/smartphones, via email or even on a kiosk.

•Design flexibility. Surveys can be programmed even if they are very complex. Intricate skip patterns and logic can be employed seamlessly. You can also require that respondents provide only one response to single‐choice questions, which cuts down on error.

Standardized surveys are relatively free from several types of errors •No interviewer. Respondents may be more willing to share personal information because they’re not disclosing it directly to another person. Interviewers can also influence responses in some cases.

Disadvantages •Limited sampling and respondent availability. Certain populations are less likely to have internet access and to respond to online questionnaires. Some examples of these respondents include the elderly and people who reside in remote areas.

•Possible cooperation problems. Although online surveys in many fields can attain response rates equal to or slightly higher than that of traditional modes, internet users today are constantly bombarded by messages and can easily delete your advances.

•No interviewer. A lack of a trained interviewer to clarify and probe can possibly lead to less reliable data. Especially regarding surveys which ask open‐ended questions because there is no trained interviewer to explore the answers of the respondents.

The easiest and simplest way/tool to create an online survey is of course by using Google Forms. One may use Google Form to gather information before (names and contact information for attendees), during and of course after the event to get feedback on conference sessions and gather suggestions for improvement. However, Google Forms is not the proper tool for every situation due to some restrictions related to its features and abilities (such an example is the "skip logic" which till recently could not be used in google forms).

Searching the www, one may find hundreds of online tools for survey creation. Before selecting the proper one for your case/needs, the following “benchmarking” review about “The Best Online Survey Tools of 2017” made by PCMAG may be a good starting point. https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2494737,00.asp. Keep in mind that as in a lot of

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

benchmarking reviews this review is not the solution to your request and is proposed that this may use as some advising material.

After the selection of the proper survey tool for your case the next step is to get familiar with its usage and of course its requirements in terms of abilities, skills and of course resources.

The most well‐known free online survey tool is probably SurveyMonkey. SurveyMonkey is an online survey development cloud‐based software as a service company, founded in 1999

by Ryan Finley. SurveyMonkey provides free, customizable surveys, as well as a suite of paid back‐end programs that include data analysis, sample selection, bias elimination, and data representation tools. In addition to providing free and paid plans for individual users, SurveyMonkey offers more large‐scale enterprise options for companies interested in data analysis, brand management, and consumer‐focused marketing. (Wikipedia, 2017)

Since releasing its enterprise in 2013, business‐focused services, SurveyMonkey has grown dramatically, opening a new headquarters in San Mateo. SurveyMonkey provides data collection, data analysis, brand management, and consumer marketing for Facebook, Virgin America, Salesforce.com, Samsung, and Kraft Foods, among others.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

As of 2015, SurveyMonkey has 25 million users and receives 90 million survey responses a month. The company was named to the Forbes Unicorn List of startup companies in 2015. In 2016, SurveyMonkey was ranked #6 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list (Wikipedia).

The following article will teach you how to create an online survey with SurveyMonkey.

(WikiHow, 2017)

STEP1 ‐ Visit the SurveyMonkey website at http://www.surveymonkey.com/.

STEP 2 ‐ Click “Sign In” at the top of the page.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

STEP 3 ‐ Enter your Username and Password associated with your Survey Monkey account and click Sign In.

Click here to create a Survey Monkey account: https://www.surveymonkey.com/MyAccount_Join.aspx?utm_source=account_login.

Alternatively, you can sign up using the Sign Up with Facebook or Sign Up with Google buttons on the right.

STEP 4 ‐ Click the “+Create Survey” button at the top of the page.

STEP 5 ‐ Enter a title for your survey and select a category. You can also choose to Copy an existing survey or Use an expert survey template.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

STEP 6 ‐ Select a template to use for your survey and click Next.

STEP 7 ‐ You will have the option to make edits to the default survey and template on the left side of your survey.

STEP8 ‐ Click the “Collect Responses” tab at the top.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

STEP 9‐ Click the method you wish to use to distribute your survey.

STEP 10 ‐ Click “NextStep”.

STEP 11 ‐ Copy the URL and paste it into your email newsletters, tweets, and anywhere else that you can post a link for your users to click and access the survey. Alternatively, you can copy the HTML code to add it to a webpage.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

STEP 12‐ Design the survey. Opening the account and knowing the basics of creating the survey are only half the process. The real work comes in designing an effective survey that elicits the information you're really after. This means that you need to know, without a doubt, what it is that you're seeking. Creating a survey without having a clue as to what you want from it will simply waste the time of all involved. Moreover, if it's clear to survey takers that the survey is random, they're much more likely to avoid taking it, especially if it appears as spam.

Social media measurement or 'social media monitoring' is an active monitoring of social media channels for information, [FT] usually tracking of various social media content such as blogs, wikis, news sites, micro‐blogs such as Twitter, social networking sites, video/photo sharing websites, forums, message boards and user‐generated content in general as a way to determine the volume and sentiment of online conversation about a brand or topic.

Social media is the new way of business and marketing. What we think and believe about our own products and services is not as important as what people (as potential costumers) have to say about it and of course about us. And nowadays social media is the channel where people are going to express and spread around their own opinion about a certain product or a certain service or about an EVENT. What if you're not there to hear (and respond to) their commentary? Numerous tools are available to help you listen in on social media. However, if

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

you do not have a social media listening strategy they are pointless. Listening in on social media is a great way to get ahead of your competitors and keep your customers coming back for more.

No matter if you have a social media strategy, you always have to listen in with social media tools. There are plenty social media activity monitoring and listening tools such as Google Analytics, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Icerocket, Social Mention, Topsy etc.

By utilizing these tools, you can find out what your audience wants so you know what to provide them. This is akin to getting feedback from your audience without actually asking for it. Think about the possibilities you can do to improve your marketing efforts by tapping into your audience’s thoughts(business.com).

To qualify for inclusion in the Social Media Monitoring category, a product must be able to (g2crowd): •

Listen for specific mentions across social media

•

Identify trending topics or phrases

•

Detail customer sentiment

•

Organize customer information

•

Identify thought leaders and influencers

So, the question that comes to your mind, once more, is which tool I should choose for my case. In order to help in finding a quick and first level answer to this question, we briefly present some of the most well‐known tools for Social Media activity Monitoring. (ProSkills, 2017)

Social Mention Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user‐ generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information. It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web's social media landscape in real‐time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc. Social Mention currently provides a point‐in‐time social media search and analysis service, daily social media alerts, and API. http://www.socialmention.com/

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Hootsuite HootSuite is a social relationship software platform that empowers businesses to execute amazing social media strategies and activities across their organizations. Its vision is to revolutionize today’s communications. Its mission is to empower its customers to transform their messages into meaningful relationships. Based in Vancouver, this popular software solution has over 500 staff located in its various offices: San Francisco, Vancouver, Hong Kong, New York, Sydney, London, Singapore, and other countries. The popular firm operates on a freemium model. HootSuite has at least 10 million users in over 175 countries. https://hootsuite.com/

Keyhole "Keyhole is a hashtag tracking tool for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram."Keyhole provides real‐time social conversation tracking on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It's easy to setup and results are provided in a real‐time visual dashboard. http://keyhole.co/

TweetReach TweetReach is a great monitoring tool for your business if you’re interested in checking how far your Tweets travel. TweetReach measures the actual impact and implications of social media discussions. It is a good way of finding out who are your most influential followers, implicitly guiding you towards the right people you should be targeting when aiming to share and promote online content. https://tweetreach.com/

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

HowSociable HowSociable is a handy tool for measuring your and your competitors’ social media presence. A free account allows you to track 12 social sites, including Tumblr and WordPress. However, if you’re interested in 24 more, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. a pro account is required. HowSociable’s approach to social monitoring is a bit different as it breaks down scores for different social media platforms, allowing you to see which social media platforms work best for you and which ones need further development. http://howsociable.com/

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

EXERCISE Challenge: Understanding interactions and pain points A leading alcoholic beverage company had sponsored a well‐known music festival along with a variety of activations for several years. The client wanted to complement findings from previous quantitative event evaluation and gain a greater understanding of the overall experience and pain points of attendees.

Clue: Research may be conducted in following two phases.

Phase 1: In‐depth interviews may be conducted to understand awareness and perceptions of the brand at the event.

Phase 2: Observational ethnographies were conducted allowing the organisers the chance to evaluate festival goer’s interaction with the brand.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

FURTHER READING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Buhl, A., 2007. :Controlling und Evaluation von Events. KonzeptionelleGrundlagen, empirischeBedeutung und EntwicklungeinesModellszur Event‐Evaluation. Unveröff.

Magisterarbeit: Universität Leipzig.

Business.com, 2017. Business.com. [Online] Available at: https://www.business.com/articles/people‐are‐talking‐are‐you‐ listening‐the‐importance‐of‐social‐media‐monitoring/ [Accessed 1 12 2017].

Crowd, G., 2017. G2 Crowd. [Online] Available at: https://www.g2crowd.com/categories/social‐media‐ monitoring?segment=small‐business [Accessed 1 12 2017].

Do, P., 2014. Event Management Case: The Annual International NIBS Conference in Lahti, Finland. Bachelor’s Thesis Lahti University of Applied Sciences.

Parry, B. & Shone, A., 2001. A practical handbook. Successful Event Management ed. London : Continuum.

ProSkills, E., 2017. EU ProSkills. [Online] Available at: http://www.pro‐skills.eu/tools/social‐skills/Four%20ears.pdf [Accessed 1 12 2017].

Times, F., 2017. Social Media Monitoring. [Online] Available at: http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=social‐media‐monitoring [Accessed 1 12 2017].

Watch, B., 2017. Brand Watch. [Online] Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/top‐10‐free‐social‐media‐ monitoring‐tools/ [Accessed 1 12 2017].

WikiHow, 2017. WikiHow. [Online] Available at: https://www.wikihow.com/Create‐an‐Online‐Survey‐With‐ Surveymonkey [Accessed 1 12 2017].

Wikipedia, 2017. Wikipedia. [Online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SurveyMonkey [Accessed 1 12 2017].

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.