Use audience feedback to enhance your program content

Expo! Expo! IAEE’s 2024 Annual Meeting and Exhibition delves into the inner workings of exhibitions and events, with six unique learning tracks delivered by thought leader Florence Torres, CEM, Informa Conference Manager. She will introduce at the conference, Improve the quality of audience feedback to facilitate future content development.

Florence will discuss high-tech and low-tech tools to solicit feedback from the conference audience. She will explore:

• Set feedback expectations. What do you really want/need to know to help make change?
• Explore the different options/tools you can use to gain audience insights, including the pros and cons of each.
• How to make it fun to help train your audience to use these tools more easily.
• Identify low-hanging fruit that will change future programming, formats, and other experiences at the event.

Participants are encouraged to submit questions and stories during this interactive session, as learning from each other is priceless!

You’ll share your opinions on how to consciously evaluate your audience feedback goals. Can you walk us through a specific example of how you help organizers re-evaluate their audience feedback goals? What was their initial approach? How does your approach lead to more actionable insights?

I don’t want to give away too much about the teachable examples we’ll be discussing during the session. However, for one show a few years ago, we were initially tracking all the information about the sessions and speakers. We use paper assessments, a mobile app, and include questions on a post-event survey. It’s definitely overkill. You must understand (and admit to yourself) the negative knock-on effects of this approach. You fatigue your audience with the number of touchpoints, you disrespect their time by asking them for essentially the same information on three different platforms, and you ask them for feedback in too many areas. You must always start by defining your goals; what do you need to know in order to decide on future actions? We will discuss this further during the meeting.

You also detail how to use emerging tools to gain feedback to improve your audience’s comfort level. Can you share a particularly successful strategy you’ve implemented to help your audience overcome their hesitancy using new feedback tools?

Introducing this tool before an event will help keep people not only engaged, but satisfied with it. We’ve tried them all, but you know your audience best. Implementations include: crowdsourcing using feedback collection tools on social media; embedding it in audience emails, including pre-show “know before you go” emails; and at check-in/check-in.

The ultimate goal is to increase the quantity and quality of audience feedback. What is the most significant change you have implemented that resulted in a significant increase in the quantity and quality of audience feedback? How do you balance these two factors? What metrics do you use to measure success?

Ha, you really want to steal my audience now! In short, QR codes are your friends; embrace them. Another core principle is to adopt the KISS approach – keep it simple, stupid! It’s great to increase your engagement and increase the overall value of your feedback. In terms of quality, though – it’s really how you create it. Input quality (strategic goal setting) = output quality (available data). I will save the discussion of measuring success for the conference; don’t miss it!

Action items for those planning to attend one of my expo sessions! Expo! Participate now and share what you’d like to hear more of during the session so I can tailor the content using one of the tools I’ll discuss. It takes two minutes and there are three ways to access the question:

1. Visit slipdo.com and enter the code hear more.
2. Use this link or
3. Scan this QR code:

What sparked your passion for this subject? Why is this information so important in today’s business environment?

As a “consumer” I appreciate good content. I also admire programmers who plan what they offer with intention and passion. Those who focus on what the audience needs and what the audience wants. One of the best ways to do this is to simply ask. If you strategically ask your audience for their opinions, you’ll get answers. Then your content will have value and your revenue will reflect it.

Florence summarizes how to get the most from her courses in the short video below:

Expo! Expo! is the place to learn about the latest industry trends and technologies, and network with professional peers. Find more information here Includes how to take advantage of special promotions for IAEE members.