What is event closure, why it matters & how to do it right
When planning a corporate event, it’s easy to find yourself focusing solely on the start of the event. After all, that’s the deadline in your calendar and the date/time you’ve been reminding everyone about for weeks. While it’s obviously important that the event starts (and continues) on the right foot, it’s also worth taking some time to plan for an organized, professional event closure process.
As a past event attendee, you may find this scenario familiar: the event happens, various talks are held, maybe there’s a meal or drinks… and everything just sort of trails off. Then, in the days and weeks afterward, it’s almost impossible to find materials that were discussed at the event, or figure out who might have photographs, or even lay the groundwork for a similar upcoming event.
So why does good event closure matter? It helps to:
- Bring the event to a close in an orderly way, expressing your overall organizational skills and an overall sense of professionalism.
- Ensure that the event’s accomplishments are passed forward into relevant activities and daily operations.
- Highlight positive experiences about the event (and how your own hard work has paid off!).
- Gather valuable feedback about vendors — what worked and what didn’t.
- Make your next event easier, by setting yourself up for continued success.
“That’s all very well,” you might be saying, “but that sounds like a lot of work… And I’m just relieved we got through the event in one piece!”
Don’t worry — it doesn’t involve much work at all, and in fact will save you valuable time whenever you need to plan more events, submit portfolios, showcase your activities to upper management, and so on. Here are a few simple steps that will really pay off:
Send thank you notes. Once an event’s over, people generally start to concentrate on what’s coming up on their schedule. Even the simplest thank you note reminds them about the event and leaves them with a positive impression.
Request feedback — and act on it! Even though you probably have a good idea whether different aspects of the event went well, it’s vital to get perspectives from the attendees themselves. Then, it’s equally important to act on that feedback, which can include passing it on to vendors. Remember that vendors are your best partners for shaping great events, so they value positive comments and ratings as well as (if needed) some constructive criticism.
Share material from the event. Attendees inevitably misplace handouts, or need to refer back to something that was mentioned in a presentation. Make it easy for them to find these documents, videos, and so on. It’ll save you time dealing with dozens of individual requests.
Enable & encourage social media sharing. It’s important to post the photos and videos taken by your team on social media and/or your website, but it’s maybe even more significant when your guests upload their own images, videos, comments, and more. These reinforce the company’s branding while seeming more authentic and therefore stronger than the “official” media.
Set a baseline for your next event. That feedback we mentioned? It’s also a great tool for measuring attendance and engagement, which will help you to evaluate the event overall and set a baseline that you’ll aim to improve on for future events. Upward and onward!
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