Yadah Christian Events Network

A key part of planning a successful event is learning from previous experience. The best way to do this is to review an event soon after it's over. As part of this review you record what went well and what didn't, what can be improved on and what should be changed.

A post-event review might involve meeting with others involved and having a discussion, or it may be that you just make a note of how it went and file it away. What's important is that you do it, and that you can find it again when you need it.

How to Conduct a Post Event Review

If a number of people were involved in organising and running the event you should arrange a meeting to discuss how it went.

This doesn't need to be very formal - just gather for coffee and share your experiences. It's essential that someone records the issues discussed. If you come to run another event a few months later you'll find the feedback invaluable.

It would be great if you could get some input from someone who attended the event. They can tell you how it went from their perspective and that might reveal good and bad points that you weren't aware of.

If the event was small and you were the only organiser you can still make a note of how it went and of the lessons that you learned.

 Suggested Approach

Here's a one way of looking at your event; it's called a SWOT analysis. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Strengths - make a list of all the things that you before and during the event which went really well. Perhaps you supplied pastries with coffee as people arrived for a course, and lots of them commented how it made them feel welcome.

Remember to include last-minute changes that were made in a hurry, but which helped the event to be more successful. Sometimes volunteer helpers make adjustments to the way they do things during the event and these can provide surprising and unexpected benefits.

Strengths are to built upon next time.

Weaknesses - now list everything that you did at the event and which should be done better, or not done at all. Perhaps you didn’t hire a data-projector to show slides and tried to rely on a large computer screen that a lot of people could not see very well.

There will be plenty of these issues, particularly the first time around. This is not about apportioning blame, it's about learning from mistakes. If something went wrong, identify why it went wrong and action is required to stop it from happening again.

Weaknesses are chances to do better.

Opportunities - these are things that, with hindsight, you wish you'd done because they would have made the event more successful. Perhaps you'd planned to talk to the pub across the road about using their car park but never got around to it, and on the day parking was a real problem.

There's some overlap here with ‘weaknesses’, but don't worry. It's better to write something down twice than not at all.

Threats - these are problems that might affect future events. Perhaps one of your key volunteer organisers will be moving away soon, or certain facilities won’t be available in the future.

Most problems can be overcome with planning and preparation, but the sooner you plan the easier it will be.

Threats are challenges that you can predict.

How to Record Your Review

Having done your SWOT analysis you need to write it down somewhere. Having written it down, you need to make sure you read it again before your next event.

You’ll be amazed how much is forgotten in just a few months. Reading a post-event review will refresh your memory and gets your planning off to a great start.

You can also include other useful information in the review, such as the number of people who attended, the quantity of refreshments sold, and other information that will be useful next time around.