Nothing beats that huge feeling of relief after an event! Despite how hard we work and how much we look forward to it during the planning process, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t glad it was over…at least until next year.

You, your planning team and your volunteers all probably have bigger and better things to move on to after the completion of a successful event. However, you shouldn’t miss the opportunity for a follow-up meeting to gather valuable information.

It is best to go ahead and schedule this early in the planning process. Plan to hold it a few days immediately following the event. You’ll want your thoughts to be fresh in your memory, but you’ll also want to take time to look at some of the evaluations before meeting with your team.

First, you’ll want to take care of business at this meeting. Do any prizes need to be mailed to participants who left early? Do you have thank you cards to be filled out and addressed for those who made large donations of time or money? You can work with your planning team to do this together and save time for everyone.

Next, you’ll want to discuss the race itself. We can only improve next year by evaluating our current performance. You’ll also need to decide if you want your entire group to meet or if you want to meet with your planning team and volunteers separately.

I should probably define these groups. For me, your planning team is your group of coworkers who likely work for your organization and have been assigned or willing to help you plan the race. This also includes those who work for your partner organizations. Volunteers are those members of the community who give their time to help with the event. Your planning committee might consist of one or the other, or both.

Many times we forget about the volunteers after the event is over, but they hold valuable info. They were likely the ones doing much of the hands on work while you ran around taking care of details. They can relay comments that were overheard, how the water stations operated and if they received adequate guidance as a volunteer.

During this time with your planning committee, review the basics of participant information – number of people, genders, ages, etc. Next, review the summary of the evaluations you have received up to this point. Then open the floor for discussion. Give each person around the table the chance to discuss the pros and cons of the event from their perspective. If you have a talker in the group, set a time limit so each person gets a chance and the meeting doesn’t go on forever.

Ask some questions of your group – how was the race course, did you meet your participant goals or did the event flow well with registration, packet pick up, etc.?

You might consider treating this meeting as a focus group and assigning a person to record all of the information which you can then transfer to your files for future use. If you’re group is big you can split into smaller groups for discussion.

Use the info you gather to guide you for events in the future. Typically new races get better year after year as you evaluate yourself and make positive changes.

If your event will be occurring again next year, set a date for your first planning meeting. Even if you have to change it later having it on the calendar initially will allow your team to plan for it and increase the chances that your volunteers will make time to help you again.

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