Are speakers evaluations a requirement, weapons or lack of interest at conferences? #ls10
Tags :Lotusphere
Speakers spend varying amounts of time preparing sessions for everyone to consume at Lotusphere. Some spend weeks (or a month) making demos, perfecting slides, generating code and practicing over and over. The intent is to build the best possible session (length of the session does not matter) for everyone involved. The end goal is happy attendees that take away tons of new information, fee tools or code and the feeling they learned something. Some are even entertained along the way.
Now what speakers get back is the difference. Speakers are normally nervous enough about the impression that was made and how they did. They sit anxiously by and sometimes run right away to look at evaluations as people leave the room. Others wait patiently for the evaluations to be entered, manually, into the system for review. either way it is hard enough to digest. Every comment, checkbox, compliment and concern are digested. Some speakers take things to heart, and very serious. Others glance and shrug. The next points are very serious and where I am headed.
Evaluations are greatly appreciated and definitely wanted by each and every speaker. Not just one or two, but in quantity. If there are 100 or even just 20 people in the room, then I personally expect 95% of that number have an eval. Even if you only quickly check the boxes and run out. or go online and fill it out. Spend the few moments to compensate for the weeks of prep speakers did. it isn't much to ask and I honestly fore myself to make sure and do it out of respect for the session. No matter if I liked it or not.
Now what gets placed on the evals has apparently become a game of chance. From blaming speakers (not the conference producers on final evals) that the room is too hot/cold, that the projector didn't work to something I never anticipated. From some recent Twitter traffic I submit the following craziness:
1.Oh and ZERO evals for (session removed) - yet people stopped me, emailed me, thanked me for it. Problem is getting feedback to IBM.
2. I did not fill any evals at #ls10 - as a way of saying 'could do better'
3. Didn't look at evals till today, disappointed (+ embarrassed) that people evaluate speaker looks.
Does anyone see a crazy pattern here? Evaluations are not weapons of choice. Not filling one out is of no help to anyone at all. Simply state what more or less you would have wished to see. If you are contacting the speaker with praise, please let IBM know in performing an evaluation there. IBM does look at these and helps in getting your favorite speakers back and removing those you did not like. But the last one? Stating how a speaker looks is of no concern to anyone. Heck, there is not even a section that asks you that question or ever would. I am sure your job performance reviews do not have that type of section, since it would be against any and all companies Human Resource rules. While we are all human and may notice such topics, evaluations are not the place to include them.
It seems now it is too late to fill out evaluations, we can only hope for better at any event that we all attend or speak at. I am sure the yellow-verse can do better. Can't we?
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On Monday, February 8th, 2010 by Chris Miller
