Ending Your Event on a High: A Free Post-Event Debrief Template

Don’t let your post-event debrief be an afterthought

We know we’re not telling you anything new when we say event building is a resource-heavy activity. Events often take many weeks/months of preparation, multiple internal and external stakeholders, and weekly check-in meetings. So bearing that in mind, it is essential to dedicate enough time and headspace to the post-event debrief, or analysis, to wrap up the project with your team and with your suppliers.

In doing so, you should end up with a list of key learnings and trusted supplier(s) and technology, which will help to make your next event your greatest, and most streamlined, yet!

At London Filmed, we invite our clients for a post-event call to provide space for both parties to reflect on the finished project. The call allows us to celebrate the wins, feedback on specific aspects of the project, and learn what could be done better next time. This debrief, together with a client’s internal feedback, helps to establish the ROI, and determine what their future events will look like.

Read on to learn about our debrief process, the questions we like to discuss with our clients, and how you can run a seamless post-event debrief with your external event tech suppliers. You can also download our post-event debrief template so you’re well-prepared for your next debrief.

Don’t hang about!

Talking about the event as soon as it has finished may well be the last thing you want to do, but it is important to run these debriefs as soon after the event as possible. By all means have a little breather, but aim to leave it no longer than five days for external suppliers, and a couple of days with your internal team so the event is fresh in everyone’s minds. Having these meetings scheduled and planned in advance also gives everyone a chance to reflect according to your debrief process so you can get the most out of the session.

Prepare, reflect & be thorough

OK, so it is time for your post-event debrief with your external supplier. What should you reflect on?

The best place to start is your original event objectives and your event goals. How well did you meet them? Did you exceed them? Were there any you didn’t quite hit? These top-level questions are also a great place to start for your internal debriefs.

While we advise your internal debriefs are structured and rigorous, external debriefs can be a little more flexible. Focus your time on what went well, and what learnings you can take forward to make your next event even better. Take time to prepare in advance and be thorough, allowing all your stakeholders to have a voice and noting any common feedback. In this way, you’ll make the most of your time together so you come out of it with a clear set of learnings, and importantly, knowing whether you’d want to use the same supplier next time.

What should I ask myself?

We’ve outlined some questions that we use to prepare for debriefs with clients and that you can ask of your team in preparation for an external debrief with your production, tech, and/or media team. Depending on the event type, form your debrief around the relevant questions.

Project management:

1. How well was the project managed from start to finish?
2. How easy were the project planning tools to use?
3. Did you feel supported throughout the project?
4. How was communication between the internal and external teams throughout the project?
5. Was there anything you’d have liked us to have included in your project that wasn’t?
6. Would you want to work with the supplier again?

Event design:

1. How well were your objectives translated into the suggested event design – venue/platform/features/branding/animation, etc?
2. How well was the event branded?
3. Were you happy with the overall event experience – graphics, animation, transitions, pre-recorded content, social media content, etc?
4. Is there anything you’d do differently next time?

Technology:

1. Did the event technology perform well and support the needs of the event – live-streaming, audiovisual, platforms/features, etc?
2. Did all speakers attend speaker briefings and did they feel comfortable and confident in the technology and the process?
3. Did the technology work well for the attendees?

Venue/Event platform:

1. How well did the venue/event platform suit the event purpose/theme and the audience experience?
2. Would you use the same venue/platform again?
3. How was the team at the venue/event platform – technical support, communication, did they make you feel at ease and confident?
4. Would you use the venue again?

Engagement:

1. What tools and methods were used to engage the audience?
2. How well did these engage the audience?
3. How well did they integrate within the agenda and event build?
4. Is there anything you’d do differently next time?

Event budget:

1. If there had been more or less budget, what would you have added or taken away from your event?

What next?

Use your internal debrief to create some top-level recommendations for future events. Add to this the reflections from your external debrief(s), so what you’re left with is a concise, helpful document of learnings and trusted suppliers and technology to make your next event your greatest, and most streamlined, yet.

Free post-event debrief template

Our post-event debrief template is set up and ready to share with your team. It runs through the questions above with a rating score and space for any notes. This is the perfect tool to prep for your debriefs with suppliers. To use the interactive template, just head here, select all (command a) > copy (command c) > open new google docs and paste (command v) to save it to your drive. Or download the PDF version below.