Session: Measuring Impact

Overview

Did the conference work? How do you know?

Why check

• What worked and what didn’t - Learn for next time.
• Make it better - Use what you learn.
• Show sponsors and people - Tell them what happened.
• Help other organizers - Share what you learned.

What to track

Numbers

• How many people came
• Where they were from
• New vs. returning
• Different kinds of people
• What their roles are

What happened

• Did people go to sessions
• Were the topics interesting
• Did people talk to each other
• Did volunteers help

Did it matter

• Did people meet each other and stay in touch
• Did ideas turn into projects
• Did people actually use what they learned
• Is the FOSS community stronger for this

Ask people

• Quick survey after the event (2-3 questions max)
• Twitter and other social media
• Talk to sponsors
• Listen to people talking in the hallway

How to collect feedback

• Survey - Google Forms is easy. Keep it short.
• Social media - Watch the hashtags on Twitter, Mastodon, etc.
• Just listen - Pay attention to what people say in real-time.
• Follow up - Email people weeks later. “Hey, did anything you learned actually get used?”

After the event

• Team meeting - Get together soon and talk about what happened. While it’s fresh.
• Write it down - What worked, what didn’t, and why you made the decisions you made.
• Share it - Tell people what you learned. Other organizers will want to know.
• Check on it later - Look at your notes next year. Some of it will be old by then.

Does it matter

• Did people stay friends - Are people still talking?
• Did ideas become projects - Did anything actually happen?
• Is the community stronger - Is FOSS organizing better because of this event?