When all is said and done, the curtains have closed and the doors are locked, how do you measure the success of your event?

It's often easy to use the numbers in attendance or the profit margin as a rule for an event's success, but I've found in my years in the Event Management field that those elements can give a false sense of accomplishment. Every event creator, similar to a fashion designer or performing artist, should be as interested in the "day-after" reviews as much as effectively conveying ones creativity. The reviews can make or break how your next event will be supported, and affects all other players in the event execution (i.e. artists/speakers, vendors, venue, organization/cause, etc.).

Who Do You Want To Reach??????

It has to start there! Answer that question...who do you want to reach with your event? That answer gives you the tools to ensuring your reviews will be great! It leads you to know how to reach your target audience, what your audience expects, and what may be a "turn-off" for your audience. Often times, especially in Christendom, events are done because of a traditional/routine expectation...and as a result the audience has gotten smaller, and increasingly disconnected. A gospel quartet of 40+ year olds are clearly not what a group of teenagers are looking for, neither is monologue/message that lasts more than 45 minutes.

 Ask yourself who do I want to attend? What kinds of events would they usually attend? Which group/artist/speaker would this group pay to see? ...keep going with the questions until you've figured out the age, likes, desires, spending capacity, etc. of your target audience - a profile of sorts.

Once you have this profile do not lose it! These answers have to lead you to every element of your event...the locations, the time of day, day of week, speaker/artists, food (or none), price, frequency,...the list goes on.

Defining your audience, and planning for them meticulously equals longevity and loyalty to your events/projects. Try it, let me know the difference it made.