Evaluation of LIFT06: can we measure the impact of conferences?
April 27, 2006 at 7:16 pm 1 comment
I’ve just finished a very interesting project – the evaluation of the impact of the LIFT06 conference that took place in Geneva in February 2006. In a true open source spirit, the evaluation report is available for everyone to consult. With this evaluation, we tried to go beyond the standard assessment of reactions to a conference. We looked at changes to knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Using a triangulation approach combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, I believe we could identify the influence of LIFT06 on these above variables. We were aware of the limitations to the evaluation given that it was a punctual evaluation and based largely on self-assessment of attitudinal and behavioural changes, which I explain here in the report.
What sort of changes could we identify?
Changes to awareness and attitudes: Through and online survey, the majority of attendees (82%) agreed that LIFT06 provided them with interesting information on the usage of emerging technologies and 70% agreed that LIFT06 influenced what they thought about the subject. This quote taken from an attendee’s blog illustrates this point:
“And just think; if I had never gone to Lift06 I would not be feeling anything like this strongly about the issue”
Changes to Behavior: Evaluations of conferences are rarely able to show a direct relation between the event and changes in behaviour of attendees. With LIFT06, some attendees indicated a change in behaviour, such as starting a blog or getting a new partnership. another key objective of LIFT06 was to “connect” people – 94% of attendees reported that they met new people at LIFT06.
Entry filed under: Conference / event evaluation, PR evaluation, Training evaluation.
1. Evaluation of LIFT07 - can we measure the long term impact of conferences? « intelligent measurement | June 19, 2007 at 8:40 pm
[…] improving future conferences, the study set out to find out what was the longer term impact of the first LIFT conference (held in February 2006). By surveying attendees that participated in both the 2006 and 2007 […]