Open Evaluation of Conference Speakers
I speak at a lot of conferences. Part of my job. For quite some time I’ve been promoting the idea that conferences should provide open rating systems of the speakers. This way you could have the prior feedback of other conference participants to help you decide if you should listen to someone speak. Of course, the idea isn’t perfect or foolproof. It is more an attempt to share information.
In this spirit of sharing, I offer the complete text of the email I just received from the organizers of the Software Development Best Practices conference, which contains my evaluation. I’m pleased to learn that my session beat the conference average but that not all of the people who attended my session completed feedback forms (I had more than 14 people). I think that this is because my presentations rely a lot on “learning by doing”.
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Dear Luke Hohmann,
I’d like to extend my sincerest appreciation for all of your hard work in preparing and presenting for SD Best Practices 2006. I hope you enjoyed your experience.
Below is a link that will allow you to access your session evaluation results and the compiled comments that were collected. We rely heavily on attendee feedback to help us determine which topics best met the needs of the attendees and where we can make modifications to better meet expectations for next year.
https://www.cmpevents.com/?M=7I3QW2VGMEjoZwelCQJDMpKPWm532XRGCE1eewP2pA==
Please note: Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions will not have evaluation results.
We’ve received some really positive feedback regarding the conference.
On behalf of the Dr. Dobb’s SD Events Group I want to thank you for your part in that success. Without your commitment, we could not have done it.
We’ve transcribed the notes as they were written—complete with spelling and grammatical errors, along with the occasionally profound and or profane comment. Also, take note that comments do not always accurately reflect the overall rating of your course. Unfortunately, many attendees who rate courses highly do not make any comments, sometimes making the tenor of the comments seem overly critical. In any case, I hope you find the feedback valuable.
Below is some information that you might find helpful in order to compare your results with the conference average.
1.) Average Overall Rating: 7.94
This would be an average of question #6 on the evaluation form “Overall rating of the presentation” This rating was determined by the attendees.
2.) Average Rating: 8.10
This is an average rating of questions 1-6. This rating is located at the top of the evaluation summary, next to the headcount.
3.) Average Headcount: 65
Thanks again for all of your hard work and dedication to the event. I enjoyed working with you and hope to do so, on future events.
Save the date: SD West 2007 will be held March 19-23, 2007 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Sincerely,
Michelle Ruettinger
Conference Specialist
Dr. Dobb’s SD Events Group
CMP Media
600 Harrison St., 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94107
