There's No Vanity in Good Evaluation

Hello again everyone,

Wrapping up Vanity Fair has meant that most recently, I have been involved in the event's evaluation. However, my supervisor and I started planning methods of evaluation long before the event was actually hosted, as pre-planning is really important in identifying the most effective data collection and evaluation strategies. If you don't think about it beforehand, afterwards you're left thinking, "Damn, we should have gotten people to do this, and sign up for that", and so on, resulting in missed opportunities which could really influence the effectiveness of activities and communications in the future.

One method of data collection we devised was to offer patrons a free raffle ticket upon entry. This gave people an incentive to fill out their details, as the raffle prizes included a $400 quilt set, $300 handbag and a Garden City voucher. In order to be included in the draw, people were asked to list their full name, address, email, the means by which they heard about Vanity Fair (The Sunday Times, database mailout, Facebook etc) and whether they were interested in receiving updates about BCCWA's activities, on the raffle ticket.

This resulted in approximately 300 new contacts added to BCCWA's database and also provided the marketing team with important feedback about which methods of communication were most effective in attracting patrons to the event. The data was saved in a spreadsheet for further evaluation and use in the planning of next year's event. Word of mouth (WOM) was one of the most common communication mediums listed by patrons, so next year's communications plan will focus on devising ways in which to generate greater positive WOM about the event and maximise its effect.

The number of people who attended the event was also used in its evaluation, in order to gauge strategies and supplies needed for next year's event, which should be bigger and better! Approximately 500 people visited Vanity Fair on Sunday, 11th September, which was seen as a measure of its success as it was the first time BCCWA had ever held it.

Sales figures were also used in the evaluation. Approximately $10, 000 was raised in total by Vanity Fair. Of that figure, $8, 000 was from the sale of clothing and $2, 000 was from entry fees, cake and drinks sales. Drink and cake sales were surprisingly low, so next year the organisers know not to focus too much on this as a source of revenue, or perhaps alter the offerings to encourage greater sales of these.

Feedback from the volunteers who helped on the day was also gathered and utilised. Many volunteers commented that there wasn't much for them to do during their shifts, as patrons were pretty capable of looking after themselves and didn't need much aid, which may result in a smaller volunteer task force recruited for next year's event.

All in all, from its evaluation the inaugural Vanity Fair vintage and designer clothing sale was deemed a success! It reached its fundraising target and exceeded sales and patronage estimates. It was a fantastic event to help BCCWA launch and organisers expect next year's event to be much bigger and better, as the general opinion in event management is that the first time is always the hardest!

Kind regards,

Rebecca Schaus

Bentley Campus

14272149