Report on the Social Media Marketing

Conference

Business Decision Making for Marketing and Events

UMCDN4-15-1

1,179 Words

20004362
Executive Summary
Through asking attendees to complete an annual survey following the conference, deductions
have been made as to what was successful about the conference and which areas are in need
of reform. Through analysing responses, it became clear that networking opportunities,
catering and venue location were key detractors from attendees’ satisfaction. Due to this, a
change in venue location would be highly beneficial to contentment levels, as well as new
caterers to ensure recognition of dietary preferences/needs. Moreover, how additional
networking opportunities would benefit the main demographic of the conference.
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................0

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................2

SECTION 2: METHODS......................................................................................................................3

SECTION 3: RESULTS ........................................................................................................................4

SECTION 4: DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................6

SECTION 5: RECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................7

SECTION 6: REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................8

Figures List
Figure 1 ...................................................................................................................................................4
Figure 2.................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 3.................................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 4.................................................................................................................................................... 5

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Section 1: Introduction
In this report, I’m going to explore some of the key areas for improvement based on the
survey results received over the last 3 years. There has been a range of data supplied, which
highlights some of the key areas that must be considered moving forward to next year’s
conference.

The report will explore the data received and the trends that have become clear across the
years. Through this, we will be able to draw conclusions from the data as to what can be
improved in the future, why this is important, and the potential benefits of making changes to
certain aspects of the conference. Some of the key areas to be that are going to be analysed
include the location of the venue, the quality of catering, and the opportunities available to
attendees within the conference.

2
Section 2: Methods

To create this report, I used the survey codebook to make the results of the survey much
clearer. This enabled me to be able to identify areas of concern among attendees, and
subsequently which key areas required analysis. Additionally, I chose to code some of the
qualitative data from the respondents, which was done through categorising attendees’
responses for certain questions into 5 sections. This allowed for clear representation of the
data, making analysis and recommendations much easier to consider.

I decided to focus on the areas that I did as these showed some key trends in areas such as
attendance and expectations of the conference. This resulted in me being able to make some
key recommendations with regards to next year’s conference.

However, it was also very important to remain ethical when choosing which data to use for
analysis. One key aspect of this was making sure to keep the identities of the respondents
anonymous. This helps to ensure that results are genuine, as respondents may be less inclined
to give truthful results if their identity can be traced. As well as this, anonymity protects
respondents from possible harm (Vainio, 2013). Furthermore, it was important not to pick out
specific data which appears to benefit the company, as this would result in unrealistic and
non-beneficial recommendations.

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Section 3: Results

This graph shows the

Why Did Different Job Roles Attend the reasons that the different
Conference in 2021? job roles attending came to
40
the conference in 2021. It’s
clear that meeting others
35 was the most common
35
30 motive, with 86 people
28
choosing this in total. This
25
Quantity

was followed by keeping up

20 22 22 to date, which had 64 votes.
15 17
This graph also helps to
16 show the most common job
10
roles of those who attended
5
6 1
the conference, with 62
1 3 4 1 5 1 4
0 entry level attendees, 50
Small business Entry Level Role Middle Upper from middle management
owner Management management roles, 43 small business
Job Role owners, and 11 attendees
from upper management
Keep up to date To satisfy CPD To meet others Other roles.
Figure 1

This graph highlights Key Complaint Areas of the Conference

the key complaint areas
35
from the conference
across all 3 years. The 3 30

main dislikes were 25 29

26
Quantity

regarding the venue 20

/travel, quality of 20
15 18
catering, and timings of
sessions during the 10
10
conference. Across the 3 5 8 7
5 0 6 5 0 0 6 6
years, venue complaints 0
increased by 24, Venue/Travel Food Timings Career Specific Session
catering complaints by complaints
26, and timing Category
complaints by 13,
however there were 2019 2020 2021
none for this area in
Figure 2
2021.

4
 Figure 3 shows the
How likely are you to recommend the NPS’s of how likely
conference to family, friends or associates? attendees of the
(NPS) conference were to
recommend the event
0.00
2019 2020 2021
to others.
-1.00 -0.60 Improvement has
-2.00 been seen over the
-3.00 years, as the NPS
-4.00
increases from -9.04
NPS Score

-3.61
in 2019, to -3.61 in
-5.00
2020, and finally to
-6.00 -0.60 in 2021.
-7.00
-8.00
-9.00
-9.04
-10.00
Year

Figure 3

Figure 4 shows the

different sized companies Size of Attending Companies by Year
that attendees came from
each year. Companies of 1
16-50 are the most 3
5
common, with an average 2021 10
98
of 92.67 people each year. 28
This is followed by 1-5 21
with an average of 26.30,
2
and 6-15 people having an 4
6
Year

average of 25.30 per year. 2020 7

Regarding the remaining 92
25
sized companies, these 30
remained low throughout
the three years, accounting 3
7
for a collective average of 10
2019 7
13.05% of attendees yearly. 88
23
28

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Quantity

Over 1000 people 501-1000 151-500 51-150 people

16-50 people 6-15 people 1-5 people

Figure 4

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Section 4: Discussion
There are some clear trends which can be seen from the figures above. Figure one shows that
there is a strong desire to grow connections and network whilst at the conference. Not only
this, but there was a large amount of people who attended to keep up to date. These two
points suggest that there should be more opportunities for networking, and inclusion of key
information from throughout the previous year.

Regarding figure 2, it’s clear that complaints regarding the venue and catering are
continuously increasing, with huge rises across the three years. This suggests a need for
change within these areas, as they show no sign of levelling off. Timings of the day also
appeared to be a problem, however there were no complaints in 2021 suggesting that this may
be less vital, but still important to analyse through the coming years.

Figure 3 shows a positive trend in the change of NPS’. Whilst there has been an increase over
the last 3 years to an almost positive NPS, it is still just below 0 meaning further
improvements must be made to reach a positive NPS in 2022.

Finally, figure 4 highlights that smaller companies were the most prevalent at the conference,
with 88.55% of attendees in 2021 coming from companies of 50 or less staff. This suggests
that there should be more focus on smaller companies and how the conference can benefit
them. Comparatively, there should also be new methods to encourage those from larger
companies to attend the conference.

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Section 5: Recommendations
My first recommendation for next year’s conference is to change the venue. This is
something which needs to be done, considering the sharp increase in complaints shown in
Figure 2. Through changing the venue, the number of complaints regarding accessibility can
be reduced, possibly even attracting new attendees. This would benefit the trend of NPS’s
shown in Figure 3.

Next there is the complaint area of catering, also shown in Figure 2. This was a key concern
of attendees, which means reform is needed. Through supplying better quality food and
catering for more dietary preferences/needs, we can help attendees to feel more comfortable
whilst at the conference. This can also be achieved through attendees feeling satiated –
something which would stem from an improved catering system.

Finally, there is a clear desire for networking opportunities. Figures 1 and 4 highlight the high
attendance from smaller companies and lower-level roles, as well as the main reason for
attending being to meet others. Due to this, it’s important to increase the opportunities for
attendees to meet others at the conference. Networking is vital for attendees coming from
these areas, as it allows individuals to expand their connections to those who may benefit
their future careers (Forret and Dougherty, 2001). This could further help to push the NPS for
2022 into the positive region.

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Section 6: References
Forret, M.L. and Dougherty, T.W. (2001) Correlates of Networking Behavior For Managerial
and Professional Employees. Group & Organization Management [online]. 26 (3), pp. 283-
311. [Accessed 22 December 2021].

Vainio, A. (2013) Beyond Research Ethics: Anonymity as ‘Ontology’, ‘Analysis’ and

‘Independence’. Qualitative Research [online]. 13 (6), pp. 685-698. [Accessed 09 January
2022].