CMP SERIES
CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE
18 What types of programs do you benchmark your
current offerings against to gain perspective on your own
conference results? (Select as many as are true, but only
those actions you perform routinely.)
600+400= 60% Against our previous comparable
programs.
350+650= 35% We typically do not use
benchmarks.
170+830= 17% Against other programs we offer.
110+890= 11% Against programs within our
industry segments.
070+930= 7% Against programs of our direct
competitors.
060+940= 6% Against programs within the
meetings/conferences industry
in general.
410+590= 41% We are generally satisfied with
our current practices.
200+800= 20% We are maintaining the status
quo, not having found worthwhile improvements.
140+860= 14% We are maintaining the status
quo, not having explored the
practice in depth.
090+910= 9% We are dissatisfied and are
actively looking for alternatives.
090+910= 9% We are extremely satisfied with
our current practices.
050+950= 5% We are dissatisfied but are not
actively seeking improvements.
020+980= 2% We are utilizing state-of-the-art
practices.
010+990= 1% We are so unhappy that we have
moved away — or are moving
away — from using them.
19 How satisfied are you with the attendee-response
forms (paper and/or digital) that your organization is
currently using?
Only 18 percent of respondents use competitive analysis
to benchmark their conference program results against
others in their industry. The majority ( 60 percent) benchmark against their own previous programs, while 35 percent don’t benchmark at all.
Despite their frustrations, only 9 percent of respondents
said they’re looking for alternatives to their current
feedback forms. Thirty-four percent are sticking with
what they’ve been doing because they haven’t explored or
found worthwhile improvements. That respondents say
they place a premium on helping their attendees learn and
do better in their work, yet accept the status quo when it
comes to this aspect of their own roles, represents “sort
of a disconnect,” Thalheimer said. “I think more people
should be looking to improve their practices.” .
17 New technologies are appearing all the time. What
new technologies are on your radar that might help your
organization gather data about your conference?
In terms of new technology tools to help gather data on
attendees, respondents mentioned attendee-location
tracking/beacons, polling, apps, and online survey software. Many attendees expressed concern about costs and
the challenge of balancing new tech with privacy. One
respondent said: “Privacy trumps tech.”
ON THE WEB
To learn more about Performance-Focused
Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a
Dangerous Art Form, by Will Thalheimer,
Ph.D., visit smilesheets.com.
Convene’s epanel on survey evaluations was conducted by Lewis&Clark,
lewisclarkinc.com, and sponsored by DMAI’s empowerMIN T.com.
Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.
