[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] ***SPAM*** 2010 Conference Survey Results

[Marla Ehlers]

Well, the surveys are in and the 2010 Evergreen International Conference 
planning team thought you might be interested in an overview of the 
survey results.  You'll find it pasted below (concluding with some of 
our favorite comments!), but I particularly wanted to highlight our 
findings regarding the breakout sessions at future conferences:

/*"Respondents made it clear that they would like to see more hands-on 
demonstrations of enhancements and more sessions geared toward 
front-line or end users, in particular training sessions in Evergreen."*/

This is an area we struggled with when selecting sessions for conference 
2010.  We encourage you to see this as a call to action--particularly 
you front-line or end users who are further down the road on your 
Evergreen journey than some of your colleagues.  It's never too early to 
start thinking about a presentation for next year and though we know 
we're preaching to the choir, only the Evergreen community will feed and 
nurture itself . . .

Thanks for a great conference everyone, and see you in Austin!
Marla Ehlers, on behalf of the 2010 Evergreen International Conference Team
mehlers at grpl.org

*******************
/*Post Conference Survey Results*/

/*Overview*/

*Big Picture*
While the conference had roughly 185 attendees (including exhibitors), 
only 65 (35%) completed the post conference survey.  Those completing 
the survey were predominantly IT staff (49%).  Library administrators or 
management were the next largest group (28%) with vendors (8%) and 
front-line users (6%) rounding out the survey takers.

Of these, 46% are currently using Evergreen, 15% will be migrating in 
the next year, and 25% are just thinking about it.

When asked, 48% of survey takers were able to respond substantively to 
the statement "I will apply what I've learned as a result of attending 
the 2010 Evergreen International Conference in the following ways."

*Logistics*
On average 28% found conference logistics excellent, 40% found them very 
good, and only 4% found them poor, mainly because of the wireless 
access.  Specifically, 60%-80% total found the logistics to be very good 
to excellent in the areas of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, the conference 
facilities overall, conference session rooms, the food (morning coffee 
breaks, lunch, and afternoon snack break), the conference schedule, and 
conference management.  In contrast, 56% found the wireless access to be 
fair to poor.

*Breakout Sessions*
Breakouts drew crowds from as small as 17 up to 70.  The Cultivating 
Code breakouts were the most popular, averaging 48 attendees.  Seed to 
Tree averaged 39, while Growing the Community averaged 30.  Roughly 70% 
of breakout session attendees found the breakouts to be either excellent 
or very good.

*Plenary Sessions*
The plenary sessions proved equally as popular with more than 65% on 
average finding them excellent to very good.  The opening keynote was 
most popular with 83% giving one of the two highest marks.  Lightning 
talks and the lunch session on KCLS enhancements tied for next popular.  
44% of respondents found the closing keynote either fair or poor.

*Hackfests*
Hackfests drew smaller crowds, from 13 to 75 attendees.  Across the 
board, respondents found them fair to very good, though the holds 
roundtable had three times the average finding it to be excellent.

*Other Events*
Hands down, the Grand Rapids Public Library Reception received the 
greatest acclaim, with two-thirds of those attending finding it 
excellent and the remaining one-third very good.  In contrast, only 20% 
found the Exhibitor's Reception excellent and as much as 33% found it to 
be only fair.

*2011 and 2012 Conferences*
A majority of 2010 attendees (51%) plan on attending the 2011 
conference.  Only 8% have already decided not to while the remainder are 
not sure yet.

Survey respondents felt it important to include in future conferences: 
programs and panels, keynote addresses, lightning talks, hackfests and 
roundtables, and a developers update (75%-78% support).  A local library 
reception and a luncheon presentation were of interest to 65%.  Least 
important, though still earning 40%-45% of the vote, were pub crawls, 
dine-arounds, and an exhibitors reception.  In the comments, respondents 
made it clear that they would like to see more hands-on demonstrations 
of enhancements and more sessions geared toward front-line or end users, 
in particular training sessions in Evergreen.

When asked about the 2012 conference, 5 respondents in 
Vancouver/Victoria/Whistler (2), Connecticut, Indiana, and Athens, 
Georgia, said they were interested in hosting.  Overall, 28 people had 
an opinion on where the conference should be, with somewhere in Canada 
getting 12 votes and Vancouver/Victoria/Whistler specifically getting 3.

*Favorite Comments*

    * /In general a good conference, I love the community, it is so nice
      to mingle with so many smart & friendly people./
    * / The conference was exceptional overall./
    * /you guys are awesome, please keep doing awesome stuff/
    * /I usually hate conference and avoid going to them. This
      conference was very informative and fun to be at. It is great to
      see so many people exited about Evergreen. Hope to go next year.
      /
    * /The Evergreen conference is a very different animal from anything
      I had previously attended. Bewildering at first, exhilarating by
      the end, the collaborative ambiance was intoxicating./


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