Case Study : Gathering visitor feedback at Melksham Food Festival, Wiltshire
 

 

For the past six years, Melksham Food Festival has attracted growing numbers of visitors to their two-day summer event. 2014 was no exception, with more than 3,000 members of the public travelling to the Wiltshire market town. Melksham Town Council and the volunteer committee behind the event sought to gather visitor feedback via an online survey.

 

 

The Project

 

Deputy Town Clerk Miriam Zaccarelli approached MyCommunity to host the committee’s consultation campaign. We supported Miriam in writing an effective feedback survey, which was then published to the public area of MyCommunity.net.

 

At the festival, MyCommunity and a team of festival volunteers were on hand to gather email addresses from visitors as they left the event. Immediately following the festival, we sent those on the list a URL for the feedback survey.

 

 

The Results

 

In the days following the festival, MyCommunity received more than 60 responses to the survey – substantially more than festival organisers had gathered in previous years. 

 

In addition to revealing visitors’ views of the festival, Miriam and her team were able to dig into their qualitative and quantitative response data thanks to our easy-use demographic analysis tools. Our results report found that 48.4% of respondents visited local shops after attending the festival, of which 73.3% were female; 32.3% of respondents spent more than £10 at the festival, of which 60% were female and aged over 34 years. Insights like these will have high value when planning future events in the town.

 

Using MyCommunity’s postcode mapping of survey respondents, the committee were also able to determine where visitors had travelled from to attend the festival. This will allow the team to closely tailor their promotional efforts for next year’s event.

 

 

What Happened Next?

 

A combination of the demographic and geographic information provided in their MyCommunity report has helped Miriam and the team build a compelling case for sponsorship at next year’s festival. By demonstrating the buying and travelling habits of those attending the 2014 event, the committee can also choose potential sponsors more intelligently.

 

Since closing their food festival consultation, Melksham Town Council have gone on to host three more surveys at MyCommunity.net for civic awards and their wider Neighbourhood Planning activity. 

 

 

If you’re hosting a public or private event, MyCommunity offers an easy and effective way to gather visitor feedback. For more information, take a look at what we do or contact info@mycommunity.net