The end of an event is simply the beginning of a new chapter. It’s the part of the event novel where you reflect on the event journey, reawaken the event objective and hammer home the event message while the experience is still fresh: entrenching positive memories in the minds of both attendees and the wider target audience. Welcome to post-production. 

Wrap-up report

Gathering both personal feedback and hard data, the wrap-up report should dig deep into the positives and negatives, the mistakes and the successes, the stand-out moments and the room for improvement. 

First off, costs. Tallying up the total event cost is crucial to working out the eventual return on Investment (ROI), but the report should also analyse whether the event ran to budget and if not, why not? Were the principal costs – the rooftop terrace, the live neon artists, the Peruvian-Italian fusion caterers – a fair reflection of their value? What’s more, you should also evaluate the event KPIs made at the objective stage: did attendee numbers meet expectations? How many contact details did you collect? Were their highest expectations on health & safety met? 

From there, it’s onto the feedback. Event success is inherently subjective, so it helps to speak to the wider production and operations teams to gauge their views on the pluses and minuses. This allows you to have eyes on all parts of the event. For example, the canapés may have tasted fantastic, but perhaps there were multiple power cuts in the kitchen. 

Souvenirs

‘Souvenirs’ are, by their nature, memory triggers, transporting people back to the event – including those who didn’t even attend – and solidifying the positive experience. In fact, according to psychologist Daniel Kahneman, souvenirs may be even more important as we tend to remember the peaks and ending of experiences the most (Kahneman, 2000). As such, make sure each guest leaves with an awesome memory, such as a digital caricature of their experience or a limited edition miniature of a new product. 

Of course, when we talk about souvenirs, every event must be followed by albums of dazzling photos and series of fantastic videos. From fun collages to interactive 360 degree montages, putting together highly vivid and eye-catching multimedia on social networks straight away will get the jealousy ball rolling. 

Finally, be sure to write up a case study, which explains the event objective, the chosen strategy, the deliverables and tangible results, such as ROI and numbers of new connections. These should also include testimonials from partners and guests as having real-life responses enhances both the event and event management’s reputation.

Social media

There’s a good reason why over 80% of event marketers use social media to promote events and almost 50% of event planners have a dedicated social media team: exposure. As such, each event should have a social media strategy that involves hyping the experience pre-event where possible, providing updates and photos during the event and then really letting fly post-event. In particular, you should:

• Highlight the parts of the event that underline the key brand message. 
• Remember FOMO is a powerful marketing tool. 
• Offer rewards for sharing content, transforming attendees into event boosters. 
• Keep the conversation going with regular scheduled posts. 
• Use hashtags – they not only clarify the association between an event and a brand or message, but also help track engagement and provide simple analytics for working out ROI. 
• Ensure the content is always culturally and Covid sensitive

Recognition

Nowadays, it’s not just audience recognition you should search out, but industry recognition too. There are an increasing number of awards that highlight incredible events and it never hurts to apply. At Rebel & Soul, for example, our neuroexperiences have garnered multiple awards, including Golds for Efficacy and Creativity for The Macallan Experience and Marketing Magazine’s Experiential Agency of the Year.

Follow-up opportunities

The way in which a brand follows-up with partners, attendees and speakers will directly affect the impact of an event and having a dedicated post-production plan is a must. At Rebel & Soul, we’re post-production pioneers and we certainly don’t stop the memory-making express when an event is finished. Come on board to find out how we can maximise your post-event impact. 

For more information on event planning and management success, read our whitepaper: The ultimate guide to event planning & management.