The following is the collation of the evaluation feedback from conference participants. The feedback has been generated through a conference session where 5 groups used the H form method to structure their feedback. This year, all conference participants contributed to the feed back. The feedback is collected under the three headings: Positives, Negatives and Recommendations, and under each heading Lesley has grouped feedback under common themes.
We will try and keep up posting these evaluations. Looking back, it shows that recommendations from earlier conferences have been listened to, and implemented, and do attribute to the positives of the next conferences.
The overall evaluation question was: How "good" has the conference been for you?
| Positives | Negatives |
|---|---|
The Group / People | |
| People, attitude and love, a strong group identity Great diversity of people, meeting with international persons Good size of group gave me the chance to talk to everyone Because of smaller group and longer time, more chance to interact with everybody Less people giving more opportunity for more sharing Great people and ideas, very inspirational Presenters /participants taking risks, willing to share / participate The sharing of knowledge and willingness to help each other The participants made the conference to be a good one - everyone took responsibility Meeting new people, learning more about experiential learning Positive, constructive and supporting atmosphere, people were good listeners and sensitive to the perspectives of others The experience of being amongst people who are interested in the same subject as I am was great and encouraging Continued mix of people old friends and, importantly, new people Personal contacts - fun and professional New people: feel relaxed and welcome, efforts were made for new people Personal: I benefited from having pre-set personal goals |
More participants needed, small group Some good friends missing (funds / price ???) People who wanted to come not being able to I needed a week to make it affordable because of the flight High effort to come Overall costs high, need for greater accessibility Missed a lot of people because they could not make it, haven't met people I really wanted to see High overall price (hotel + travel) There was not a full European representation at conference I would like to know who is experienced on what subject at the beginning of the conference New people: no real network for new comers, personal contact details Personal: I wasn't well prepared myself, not being an active participant in discussions myself |
Workshops | |
| A great variety of workshops Workshop content great, interesting and diverse range, valuable content High quality workshops Very high quality sessions, experienced presenters Interesting and useful workshops, the tips I got were very hands on - I can use them directly Interesting topics and tools I can use Getting resources and sources Challenging tasks, new experiences I hardly had workshop clashes |
Not everyone providing a workshop or poster Couldn't do all the sessions Having to choose between several interesting workshops It might have been more creative in terms of new workshops The way the workshops were organised - did not help that there were no summaries on subjects for everyone A bit more clarification on the workshops before I chose needed, like goal, methodology etc Some workshops were not in-depth in the meaning or purpose, and how to adopt into the company One workshop had no-one show up despite interest initially |
Time/ Scheduling | |
| Enough unstructured time Time slots great, workshops and breaks there was enough time Priority of scheduling given to workshop givers - good A private timetable was possible No time pressures Organisation on time most of the time |
Felt some time pressures from others More time needed Duration - too short Short conference - not enough time to interact with people, went too fast Issues of timetable getting pressured (day 3) Dates of conference in our peak season |
Location / Facilities | |
| Excellent Beautiful place, would love to come for a vacation Opportunity to visit Turkey and benefit from the good weather Very comfortable room facilities Great food, great weather, great place A conference and holiday in one go The chance to be so much outdoors with good weather conditions, good scenery and setting All inclusive location / cost The atmosphere and place were peaceful So many alternative places to make outdoor sessions |
Remote location, lots of time needed to be used for travelling, we lost the Sunday, too far from international airport, not that easily accessible Conference main room (windows missing and noisy) Indoor facilities - noise, light, heat Sitting on mats for many hours No separate space for eating times (sometimes, depending on tourists) Hotel was too big, a tourist hotel No togetherness of accommodation Very large and impersonal hotel / facility, which made me feel lost sometimes, kind of distracting We didn't get to decide about things like how late we stay in places, people invade our space often The place was not "natural" enough for me to be perfect Location should be in a more "outdoor" setting There was a lot of distance to cover between bedroom, restaurant and locationsInternet access was poor |
Organisation / Programme | |
| Organisation was excellent Unobtrusive organisation, good Very kind and relaxing approach of the people in charge, things went very smooth Organised well, things went smoothly Longer than last year Credit card payments Long breaks Structuring of plenary sessions - getting better Format open and flexible Everyone is invited to contribute Democratic session process - good Conference scheduling went fastest I had seen Relaxing even though really full content Keep traditions like the International Dinner and the Bell Provide opportunities for informal networking |
Would like more conference playtime Lack of pre-conference programme I missed "experiential outdoor" stuff, by which I mean more than doing activities outdoors Communication, after the first announcement No outdoor activity for all eg hike, boat Missed a get together and introductions at the beginning Proceedings need to be better published No formal qualification / recognition available to show skill, and assure quality for customer, provide marketing material for practitioners |
Scholarships | |
| There is a scholarship system to help those who need it to attend |
Scholarship news came too late Scholarship can be more |
Below, you see the form that was used to structure this evaluation method.
