1. Even if you are all not speaking to each other you still need to evaluate the event.

Most of the time committee members get along well – for those occasions where there is acrimony, you’ll have to grin and bear it and address all the issues in the evaluation. It would be easy to skip it and avoid any unpleasantness but the evaluation really is essential to help improve the event for next year; especially if different people will be involved next year – they need to know what worked and what didn’t work including possible solutions to any obvious clash of personalities on the committee.

2. Don’t just evaluate the event itself, evaluate the process leading up to the event. A lot of problems can arise when communications aren’t clear between committee members, sponsors, attendees etc. that may be resolvable with clearly written guidelines and processes that will help next year’s committee.

3. Don’t hold the evaluation at a bar or restaurant. It’s far too distracting and not conducive to getting any real business done. Have the after event celebration at a bar or restaurant but have the in-depth evaluation somewhere else. Same goes for after the event, everyone wants to go HOME, so wait until a week or 2 later while things are still fresh in everyone’s minds but long enough away for everyone to get a little break!

4. Don’t just recycle the same printed evaluation each year to hand out to attendees at the event (if it’s appropriate to do it at the event.) Get creative and offer real incentives for turning in the evaluation. And don’t think it’s just for conferences, it’s always good to find out how you did and how you can improve any kind of event. Make sure you ask about marketing and website activities i.e. how they heard about the event, was the website signup process smooth.

5. Create a thorough evaluation report and send it to the full committee and board. The evaluation is not just an opportunity to vent (although that can also be helpful if done respectfully) but an opportunity to REALLY get feedback and look for ways to improve committee structure, planning process, theme, venue, food, communication, marketing (on and offline), attendance, registration, organization, and event activities/content.

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