A few more of your comments

"‘… what a good event it was – I hope you have already started planning next years!"

"Thanks – very useful two days."

"Congratulations … a really useful and enjoyable conference."

"Excellent networking opportunity."

" … the programme was well structured and effectively delivered."

What people said they liked best

• Finding out about the process of mapping provision in Sussex
• Lively, small group discussions
• Excellent networking opportunities
• Eating buffet style and being able to network
• Having a break after each session so there were no problems with sessions over-running
• The input from students
• Helpful staff
• Inspirational speakers
• The wide range of topics – something for everyone.

What people would like more of:

• More input from students and potential students
• More input from employers
• More debates.

What people liked least

• There were a couple of IT hiccoughs
• The air conditioning – too cold at times
• Room layout wasn’t always conducive to whole group discussion
• Densely populated Powerpoint sometimes difficult to see, and not enough time to talk
• Not being able to attend more of the parallel sessions.

What we’ve learned

• How to book for one day only wasn’t obvious on our online booking form
• We didn’t let people know that we were charging a single, two-day fee for ease of administration - the conference was heavily subsidised by the SLN
• People like friendly room layouts – for example, groups and circles
• Too much choice can be difficult when lots of sessions look interesting
• We didn’t capture enough of the excellent interaction and discussion that took place
• It would be helpful to allocate a team member to each room to meet, greet, sort out IT, check room layout and take notes.

THE FUTURE

One final comment, we were asked to ‘Keep ‘em coming!’

Our next conference will be held on 20 and 21 June, 2007 at the University of Sussex Conference Centre, Bramber House, Falmer, Brighton.