What do you do if attendees' feedback can boost your professional growth in conference organization?

1 Choose the right feedback methods

There are many ways to gather feedback from your attendees, such as surveys, polls, interviews, focus groups, social media, and analytics. The best method depends on your goals, budget, time, and audience. You should choose a method that is easy, convenient, and relevant for your attendees, and that allows you to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. For example, you can use online surveys to measure satisfaction, learning outcomes, and return on investment, and you can use interviews or focus groups to explore deeper insights, opinions, and suggestions.

2 Ask the right feedback questions

The quality of your feedback depends on the quality of your questions. You should ask questions that are clear, specific, and relevant to your objectives and expectations. You should also avoid leading, biased, or vague questions that can influence or confuse your respondents. For example, instead of asking "Did you enjoy the conference?", you can ask "What did you like most about the conference?" or "How did the conference meet your expectations?". You should also balance open-ended and closed-ended questions, and use rating scales, multiple-choice, or yes/no options to make it easier for your respondents to answer.

3 Analyze the feedback data

Once you have collected the feedback, you need to analyze it to find patterns, trends, and gaps. You can use different tools and techniques to organize, visualize, and interpret the data, such as spreadsheets, charts, graphs, or software. You should look for both positive and negative feedback, and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your event. You should also compare the feedback with your goals and benchmarks, and calculate key performance indicators, such as satisfaction rate, retention rate, or net promoter score.

4 Act on the feedback results

The final step is to use the feedback results to improve your conference organization skills and plan your next event. You should prioritize the most important and urgent issues, and create an action plan with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. You should also communicate the feedback results and the action plan to your team, stakeholders, and attendees, and thank them for their participation and input. You should also follow up with your attendees and update them on the progress and outcomes of your action plan.

5 Learn from the feedback process

The feedback process is not a one-time activity, but a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. You should evaluate the effectiveness of your feedback methods, questions, analysis, and actions, and identify what worked well and what can be improved. You should also seek feedback from other sources, such as peers, mentors, experts, or online resources, and learn from their experiences and best practices. You should also keep track of your professional development and achievements, and celebrate your successes and milestones.