The Review after the Fair

Do you do a review after your fair? Look at what went well, what didn’t go well. It may make a difference for your next event or the next time you come to this fair.

I worked for a Chamber of Commerce for years, and they put on world-class events. They had been doing this for years and had it down to a science. They had people in charge of each area of the event. They had volunteers under these people. Everyone had a job to do, and they all had someone to report to if things didn’t go well.

But even with all of this, there were always ways to improve. After each event, they pulled together everyone who worked at it to get feedback. Each person was asked to report what went well. What they heard attendees saying. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

They monitored social media before, during, and after the event. They send out surveys to attendees after the show to get additional feedback.

Why did they do this? To make sure the next event they hosted was better. Someone at the meeting took notes. And yes, these notes were used the following year during planning. 

Each year, something new came up.

Sometimes things couldn’t be changed. No one can control the weather, but maybe bringing in speakers earlier could mitigate a speaker showing up late. 

Sometimes things needed to be changed. A venue that didn’t allow good flow would be changed. Maybe they needed different food, finger food, nothing spicy. 

Sometimes a decision was made to not host the event again.

The important thing was gathering the data, so the following year, an event could be even better. 

Why did I tell you this, to let you know you should do the same thing for each event you sell at.

So, conduct a review after the fair and look at what could be going better after your events.

Things to consider:

• • What sold well? 
    • What was the price point of these items? High. Low.
    • Were they more specific to the region?
    • Was it where they were in your booth? Eye-level, in a bin, so they could be reviewed and touched?
  • Did you have a lot of traffic in your booth?
    • What drove this?
    • Did certain pieces catch people’s eyes?
    • Did you have something in the front which drew people in?
    • Was it the location of your booth?
    • Could people walk through your booth well to look at everything?
    • Was the weather too good or too bad and people didn’t come to the event?
  • Did you push out information about your event on your social channels?
    • Before, during, and after?
  • Did you talk to many customers?
    • What kind of feedback did they give
  • Did you get people onto your email list? Or a follow on social media?
    • Contact them to thank them for following or being added to your list.
    • Ask for feedback if they purchased something from you.
    • Let them know where you will be next.
  • Was this the first year at this event?
    • Should you come back?
    • Did what you sell fit in with the overall feel of the event?
  • Did you make a profit?
    • Taking all of your booth, travel and inventory costs, did you earn money?
    • This spreadsheet will help you track your booth expenses, it’s free when you join the email list.

Just a few things to get you started on your day after the fair review. Take notes during the fair, watch, listen.

If you crushed the event, note what went well so it can be repeated. If things could be better, look at small ways you could make the next one go better.

What else would you add to your review process?