Failure to Capture Post Event Feedback Data for Music Festivals.

Post event feedback on music festivals is an essential element in the continuous improvement process for organising entities. Analysis of feedback data helps organisers understand what is good and what is bad about their events. If this data is not collected organisers could continue to make the same mistakes year on year which could see the festival decline over time.

The feedback data collected by organisers helps with multiple aspects of a festival including future curation decisions, ticket pricing, sponsor packages, vendor arrangements and operational improvements. Whilst many organisers may put the obtaining of feedback data as a low priority, it should be a critical part of future proofing a festival. How do organisers typically capture and use feedback data, and what are the common failures and resulting consequences?

The Importance of Feedback Data.
Getting feedback from festival-goers, staff, volunteers, sponsors, vendors and performance artists helps organisers to understand what they are doing well as well as identifying improvement opportunities. The results of feedback can be used to make changes in the planning and implementation processes for future events to make them safer, more enjoyable, and operationally slick. It is essential that data is collected within a 48-hour window after an event, if left until after this period any incidents and specific experiences can be forgotten. For sponsors and vendors, obtaining feedback can help build better pitch documents for future events which clearly demonstrate likely return on investment, for example. Obtaining festival-goer feedback on line-ups can help build an improved curation process for next year's festival. Feedback also helps identify operational issues like queues and the provision of facilities, so organisers can address any specific problems highlighted.

Data Collection.
The timing of feedback data collection is critical with some of the most relevant safety and operational feedback obtained with several hours of the event closing and typically will involve department manager meetings. More detailed external feedback should be obtained within 48 hours where a professional detailed data collection process is implemented. The design of survey questionnaires is critical and should be done by research professionals if possible. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative data should be collected to get a balanced result. Although anecdotal feedback is common, it often does not reflect an accurate picture of the event, although it can sometimes be useful in the context of other data collected.

Analysis.
Aside from feedback data collected by surveys, organisers can also use a plethora of other tools now available because of emerging technology. Many social media platforms provide analysis tools that enable a deep dive into festival-goer sentiment from comments made about the event. This technology is increasingly using predictive AI to assess sentiment into relatable revenue generation although this is still developing. Other data can be collected from wristband activity to build festival site heatmaps by location and time, this can be cross referenced against complaints about queues, for example. Some organisers use complex formulas to analyse feedback data to find the Net Value Score of the festival which measures perceived value of experiences relative to costs (Ticket + Food and Beverage + Travel).

Common Failures and Consequences.
If organisers do not collect staff feedback within the 2-hour closing window, they can potentially miss feedback on critical safety issues experienced on a festival site. Staff are often exhausted after the event, and safety incidents can be forgotten over time. This can lead to the same safety issues occurring again at the next event. Sponsors expect high quality reports from organisers that include festival-goer feedback and social media analysis and should be provided to them within 10 days of the event closing. This allows organisers sufficient time to analyse the festival-goer feedback they obtain. If quality feedback data is not provided to sponsors, it can reduce the chances of securing a deal for future events. Any delays in contacting all parties about feedback can lead to unreliable data collection as people forget as time passes. It is not unusual for data feedback to sit with different functional departments and if this is not collated to provide a holistic picture of every aspect of the festival it can impact future planning decisions. When data is not shared the relevant remedial action cannot be taken on specific issues or incidents that occurred.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by BiljaST via Pixaby

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