Event Tech Live

Event Tech Live is an educational forum that provides a platform for industry professionals to come together and immerse themselves into the world of event technology. I had the pleasure to speak on a panel discussing ‘how to measure app data, pre and post event’. When creating an integrated digital app solution for clients, there are many factors that go into the planning, implementation and testing stages. However, what measures are actually in place to capture app data pre and post event? And how are companies using this information to really engage with their audience? These are two key questions that I often face: its important to know what type of data you are trying to capture, and when is the best time to capture? You always must ask yourself, how can you use the data to make events more successful and how can you get the most out of this measurement post-event valuation?

Pre event:

We’ve been a part of a time where feedback such as ‘it was fun’, ‘I enjoyed myself’ ‘it was too hot’ was okay. However, this no longer holds any sufficient value. As times have changed through the technological climate, we are finding that by implementing and setting benchmarks for the pre-event at an early stage, helps us to understand how our attendees think, and shape their interests to help us receive constructive feedback. This can be done by defining your targets in a number of ways:

  • Gather what you want to come out of your event. Time is key factor; making sure the right questions are being answered at the key times.
  • Define your measures of success and include this into your event so this can be measured to capture real life feedback.
  • Work SMART – be specific in what you want to target. Measure your success and ensure its meaningful to your audience. Make sure that the goals set out are achievable and action orientated. Be realistic in what you want to achieve, and this will enable you to measure the results in order to relay feedback to the client.

Live event:

Keep your audience captivated and constantly on their toes in order to achieve the highest level of engagement. This is the perfect time to take advantage of your audience, as you can tap into information that paves a way for you to have a better understanding of how they feel or how their thoughts may change over the course of the day. A solution we have implemented previously is a live feedback interactive screen with a range of emojis (sounds cliché), but this is a great digital tool to measure the success during the event, which will ultimately give you post-event evaluation. By doing so, this allows measurement at various stages throughout the event. Another form of interactive feedback is a series of questions sent out via an event app. Delegates will be encouraged to use the app pre, during and post event which, in turn, will spark interaction for them to express feedback.

Post event:

Make sure you have a cascade that reinforces and use your data to understand what’s the most beneficial way to cascade this. Ensure that you assess the milestones, even if it’s one week, one month or three months later, as you want to ensure the impact of the event has longevity. Once you have collated all relevant information, create a report that clearly shows your facts and figures against your targets. This report needs to be a clear concise document and can be a template that is then reused for all events, providing event scores.

To conclude, always set measurable benchmarks and use the data gained at beginning stages to help sculpt your content. At the event, obtain real time feedback to keep your audience engaged. Use your cascade to reinforce and realign against the benchmarks made and create a report to review the targets set and help sculpt the next event.


Alice May – Head of Live Digital Solutions

Alice May is the Head of digital event solutions for drpdigital’s digital solutions and communications agency, drp, who specialise in producing creative solutions with impact, and innovative content across, video, creative, print, exhibition, design and live events showcasing effective communications. Alice has a passion in providing her expertise from events to helping create current digital solutions. Alice has a keen interest in pushing innovation and new technologies to help drive engagement with delegates and understands the need for effective digital communications and is always striving to find unique and different ways of delivering.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.