Measuring the Success of an Event

Measuring your success must begin the moment the first person arrives for your event.  Watch to see if your attendees smiling. Are they participating in the activities? Are your staff and volunteers engaging your guests and making sure their needs are addressed? A real plus is if you see attendees thanking the event planner and/or committee?

After the event were attendees asking if you plan to do event again next year?

Event planners and organizers need to  write down all of the comments they hear the good and the bad are equally important and should be included in a full written evaluation of the event. This will give you a great starting point for future events.

After the event take time and refer back to the expectations you established when planning your event and hiring your event planner to see how you did

• Was your event well-organized, well-attended, and well-regarded?
• Did you get positive media coverage?
• Did you get new members, donors or volunteers?
• Do you have a more educated community?

Share  your results! Compile your evaluations into a summary and share with all the organizers, staff and volunteers.

Linda Lighthill  is the owner and lead event planner at Successful Events  With a Master’s in Education of the Deaf from Smith College in Northampton, MA, Linda taught hearing impaired children for HISD, before beginning Successful Events in 1985. During her early years in teaching, she became a Professional Clown entertaining at Company Picnics, Grand Openings and Business Promotions. Some of her clients included Texas Instruments, Circle K and Wendy’s. Clients asked Linda to help them arrange for tents, catering, pony rides and DJs. Linda saw a need based upon these client requests and knew clients would benefit from one person coordinating all aspects of their events. Read more