Documenting your event can be carried out in a number of ways, each with their advantages. At the end of the day, however, Documenting your event is an essential way to evaluate your event, from the performance of your stand and staff, to the types of Visitors attending, busiest times of the day and most/least successful areas f your exhibit. Last time out we looked at the reasons why to document your event. – Read The Value of Documenting Your Event

The main tools for documenting an event are video, photography, audio recordings, surveys and press clippings. Some of these can be used in conjunction with each other to get a more rounded vision of your event.

Video: Thanks to the shrinking size of equipment and relatively low cost, video-taping your show is probably the best way to document an event. Do not feel restricted to use just one Camera either as clever use can give you strikingly different angles on your show. For instance, a fixed camera at altitude can look down on your whole stand and give you valuable information on daily traffic, both hotspots and not-so-hotspots. Another camera, which can be used by a Booth staffer can be used to record any announcements/presentations on stand as well as to get some interviews with visitors. This material can be used for evaluating and improving your event as well for Marketing material.

Photography: A simple, inexpensive way to capture your booth and visitors. Useful for using in future marketing material or presentations.

Audio: Recording is useful for keeping a record of announcements or presentations but also a simple tool for gathering feedback from booth visitors. Again, quotes can be used for future promotional material.

Surveys: An essential part of any event, use surveys to gauge the good and bad points of your exhibit. Keep your survey forms short and sweet and entice people to complete them with free entry into some form of competition on your stand. Surveys can also be carried out using audio recordings.

Press clippings: Make sure you keep an eye or all mentions of your company and exhibit in local and trade press or online sites. If you don’t have the time, there are companies who can do this for you. The more mentions, the higher profile your event. It’s a good way to see the reaction to your announcements at the event and how successful your show marketing campaign has been.

Make sure you check that the show organizers are OK with any recording you plan to do – the same goes for your neighbors on other stands – you don’t want to be accused of spying on the competition.

Lastly, social media is vital here. Use your documentation during the event. Documenting the event is not only good for post-event analysis. Those recordings from the stand – positive quotes from visitors, presentations, product launches – are marketing gold. Post constantly to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. with videos and photos attached.

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