Surfest 2012

ICMS Event team – Group Report

Evaluation

The importance of evaluation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxwVBgStLyk

Event evaluation may seem like a dreary task compared to the creativeness and excitement of other aspects of event managemgent, it is sometimes an area that is completed briefly or even forgotten about all together. But event evaluation has proven to be a crucial part of event management and when done with careful thought, an event may be able to reap countless benefits from its event evaluation.

Achieving event aims and targets
According to the MBA knowledge database, an event evaluation “is an activity that seeks to understand and measure the extent to which an event has succeeded in achieving its purpose” (MBA Knowledge Base, 2011). It “can help to ensure that project activities continue to reflect project plans and goals” (Evaluation Definition: What is evaluation?, 2011). Prior to the event and during the planning phases, tangible aims and targets are set out by event organisers clearly and actions are then taken to achieve them. An evaluation is helpful in monitoring progress and giving an insight as to whether the event is developing in the right direction. According to one of the festival organisers, Warren Smith, a few of SurFest’s aims are for the men’s competition to become a 6 star event and increasing their prize money, as well as promoting Newcastle as a tourist destination and increasing community spirit. Therefore with the help of an evaluation they will be able to see whether appropriate action has being taken to achieve these aims and whether or not SurFest achieved its purpose.

An important tool
Event evaluation is an “important tool” to assist event organisers “in the planning and running of future events” (National Water Week, 2011). The results generated from an evaluation are used to identify an event’s problem areas and in turn help event organisers to take actions to improve the event. Event evaluation is a particularly important tool for SurFest because it is an annual event, and being an annual event, it is necessary for its event organisers to improve and uphold their standards to ensure the continuity of SurFest every year and in time develop it into a bigger and better surfing festival.

Satisfying Major Stakeholders
Event evaluation is important for sponsors and participants of the event because they will need to decide whether their goals and aims for sponsoring or participating in the event was worthwhile, and whether or not they should continue to support the event or renew the sponsorship contract. Some of the major stakeholders for SurFest include its sponsors and supporting organisations such as Burton Toyota, the Tinkler Sports Group, the New South Wales government mainly through Events NSW and Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) and it is particularly important for the event organisers to satisfy these organisations to ensure continual support.

Obtaining Helpful Information
Information obtained through the evaluation of an event not only assists the event organisers in improving the event, it also paints a picture of how the event has turned out realistically instead of what the event organiser visualizes it to be. For example, the demographic information gained from customer surveys may reveal that the majority of participants visit locally instead of internationally, and attendees make the decision of attending the event around 2 weeks before the event. After gaining this helpful information event organisers would be able to save costs on marketing and promotion and concentrate mainly on advertising locally and at a later date closer to the event.

Types of Evaluation

The evaluation process should be ongoing and should occur throughout the different phases of an event. The three main types of evaluation are:

* Pre-event Evaluation * During-event Evaluation * Post-event Evaluation

Pre-event Evaluation
Pre-event evaluation is conducted before the event has taken place. The event organiser should conduct the pre-event evaluation 6 months to a year (sometimes even longer for mega events) prior to the event date. It is linked closely to event planning and it evaluates everything to do with the planning and setting up of the event. Areas of pre-event evaluation may include: * Marketing– How the promotion of the event has taken place and how the general public are responding to it * Budgeting – Keeping everything under budget and reflecting on whether or not the budget is being spent effectively * Satisfying Sponsors – Checking if sponsors and supporting organisations are happy with how the event is shaping up and double checking with them what they expect to gain from the event and aim at satisfying these needs * Venue – Making sure the venue fits the purpose of the event and will cater for the expected number of attendees and finalizing venue costs * Transport – Evaluating and finalizing attendees transport plans and deciding on whether or not arranged transport is sufficient for the number of expected attendees

During-event Evaluation
This is evaluation conducted while the event is in progress. Event organisers should evaluate at the time of event to monitor performance and also to pick up on anything that goes wrong immediately before situations worsen. SurFest, is predominantly a series of surfing competitions over a 12 day period involving over 720 surfers, the safety of all participants are the priority of the event and it is essential for the evaluation of the event to take place during the event to maintain a safe and controlled environment for the participants and safety precautions to be taken for their protection.
Apart from safety issues, it is important to evaluate an event whilst it is happening because event organisers want to keep their sponsors happy at all times. This is because the event is what they are sponsoring and it is crucial that they are satisfied with the performance of the event and how it has turned out. Therefore during-event evaluation would also consist of feedback from sponsors and supporting organisations as well as monitoring the event and seeing if everything is going to plan.

Post-event Evaluation
Post-event evaluation is conducted after the event. It looks at whether or not goals and aims of the event have been met. Post-event evaluation also concentrates a great deal on feedback, both internally – including sponsors and staff, and externally – attendees of the event.
External feedback is usually collected in many forms such as surveys, questionnaires, online website comment boxes etc, and each survey should consist of less than 10 relevant questions to avoid irritating the person who is completing the survey. As for internal feedback, event organisers should reflect on how the event might be improved for next time and how to achieve its aims more effectively.

Recommendations for SurFest

According to one of the event organisers, Brooke Williams, SurFest’s current strategy for obtaining information from attendees is through surveys this is by having the staff of the event walk around with clipboards collecting data. For generating more accurate feedback, here are some recommendations for SurFest:

* Website: The SurFest Website could have a javascript put in for any ip address that enters into the SurFest website for the first time, a short survey of 3 questions asking the visitor to fill in before they can actually enter the SurFest main website. This will provide SurFest event organisers with valuable information of who visits their website and they will be able to get an idea of who the potential attendees are. There should also be a feedback area on their website where visitors can give extended responses and feedback.

* Iphone application: Today, many people have an iphone and it is quite economical to make an iphone app. SurFest can build their own iphone app which would include event schedules and itineraries, surfer profiles and information about SurFest’s sponsers etc. This iphone app will be free and all users have to do is fill out a quick questionnaire about their background, about their accommodation choices (if they are not from Newcastle) and email addresses etc.

* Prizes: Visitors can be encouraged to provide their background information and comments on the event by entering a lucky draw, which the prize can be worked out with the biggest sponsors, Burton Toyota. This will gain massive response from the attendees of the event and generate a lot of external feedback.

In conclusion, through the many benefits of conducting event evaluation, SurFest could really benefit from doing a thorough event evaluation of their own. This will assist them in the improvement and development of their event.

Reference List
Evaluation Definition: What is evaluation? (2011). Retrieved 2011 from Evaluationwiki: http://www.evaluationwiki.org/index.php/Evaluation_Definition
National Water Week. (2011). Post Event Evaluation. Retrieved 11 6, 2011 from National Water Week: http://www.nationalwaterweek.org.au/post-event-evaluation.php
MBA Knowledge Base. (2011). Event Evaluation. Retrieved 11 6, 2011 from MBA Knowledge Base: http://www.mbaknol.com/marketing-management/event-evaluation/