Association Headquarters

Twenty Ways to Measure Success

By Chris Brown, CEM, CMP

“It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way.” Aristotle

Obviously, Aristotle was not a professional meeting planner. Your event success story should review data that is obvious, and not so obvious. For example:

Positive changes in:
• Revenue derived from sources such as registration, gate fee, sponsorship, grants, advertising, Web linking
• Attendance
• The number of completed and returned hard copy and on line session evaluations
• Speaker handouts submitted on time
• Abstract submissions that result in more poster presentations
• The total number of room nights
• Milestone efficiency
• Stakeholders’ recognition of your efforts – e.g. board of directors, sponsors, leadership, peers, boss
• The completion rate and feedback from surveys
• Participation of advisory committees and focus groups
• Retention of sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees
• Attendee satisfaction, based upon their smiles
• Net profit vs. budget

Decreases in:
• Presentations running overtime
• No shows
• Attrition
• Expenses of production, printing, and distribution
• Audio-visual and long distance telephone expenses
• Typos, math errors, and misspellings in event publications
• Time spent in planning, executing, and evaluating your event

Chris Brown, CMP, CEM, is Senior Meetings, Exhibits, and Trade Shows Manager at
Association Headquarters, Inc., in Mount Laurel, N.J.