Survey responses now in – you spoke, we are listening!
It has been nearly three weeks since our record-breaking 40th anniversary conference and celebration concluded. Our conference organizers have reached out to hundreds who attended as delegates and exhibitors in an anonymous online survey to rate their experience, and provide feedback on how we can make the experience of our annual conference even better!
In no particular order, some of the highlights of the feedback we received from delegates focused on the choice of venues, quality of presentations, responses to our conference smart phone app, and of course the food served at our events.
From the exhibitors, we also heard their views on the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, our app, and other ideas to improve how we do our trade show. See how these and other items were rated below.
Without strong support from our delegates and exhibitors, we cannot continue to make this the biggest conference on continuing care in western Canada!
We ask that you mark your calendars now and save the following date: May 27-29, 2018, when we will be returning to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler!
The feedback from our surveys have been incorporated into our early planning for 2018. For our exhibitors, here are key dates to take note of:
June 15th: RFP for Annual Conference Title Sponsor announced
September 15: RFP for Annual Conference Title Sponsor closes
September 22: Title Sponsor announced & Sponsorship Prospectus released – Premium Sponsors receive priority booth selection
October 2: Trade show sales open for BC Care Provider Commercial Members
October 10: Trade show Sales open for All
Delegate feedback – some highlights
Our delegates also provided us with some great feedback on the conference – including:
- Conference Delegates very much welcomed the Keynote Addresses by speakers Dr. Danielle Martin and Dr. Romayne Gallagher, with 95% and 92% of delegates providing positive reviews respectively. The BCCPA will continue to look to secure knowledgeable and thought provoking keynote speakers for future conferences.
- Delegates reported that they would like to see fewer panels next year, and have these sessions replaced by either individual speakers or more concurrent sessions.
- Our Conference App was a huge hit, with more people reporting that they used the conference app (80%) than the print conference program (63%). The BCCPA will follow through on its promise to be more environmentally responsible by fully transitioning to the conference app next year.
- The interactive contests, Safety Den and Care to Debate, were both positively received with 77% and 75% reporting positive feedback respectively. Delegates reported that they would like to see these events expanded in future years, with more contestants, more audience participation, and a broader range of ideas.
- Delegates provided positive feedback for both the Monday Night Club Care 1977 Edition event, and the Black and White Gala Dinner on Tuesday night, with 89% and 91% reporting positive feedback overall. Delegates reported that they would prefer for the Sunday Night welcome reception to be moved back to the roof of the Fairmont, which is feedback that the BCCPA will take into consideration.
Exhibitor feedback – some highlights
- 70% of respondents rated the venue Fairmont Chateau Whistler as very good.
- 91% of respondents approved of the Whistler location for the conference.
- 92% of respondents were pleased with the current size of the tradeshow.
- 72% of respondents felt BCCPA members should be given priority in purchasing tradeshow booths.
- 56% of respondents felt that the number of booths purchased by a single vendor should be limited.
- 72% of respondents used the conference app
- 49% of respondents felt neutral if there were no printed program in 2018, 38% would be pleased if we eliminated the printed program, and only 12% being disappointed if the program is eliminated.
- 57% of respondents were pleased with the process for selecting the commercial member for the annual conference committee. Tony Morris from ComVida was selected as the 2018 commercial rep.
Suggestions for 2018 from our exhibitors
- Allow more time at each networking break
- Have draw or contest for the exhibitors
- Use Click Game again and ask each exhibitor to submit their own challenge
- Look at a quadrant system to separate vendors from the same industry
Our conference organizing team will review all of the comments and survey responses, and work to incorporate these suggestions into next year’s event.
We have posted photo albums online from our 2017 conference here. Feel free to download and share the images. You may access our 40th Annual Conference Look Back here, where you may view all of the presentations from the event.
