Dec
28
Survey says…
Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog, Girls Fight Back!
About two weeks ago, I sent out an online survey in regards to the Summer 2009 Girls Fight Back Conference we’ve been planning. I met with countless hotels and conference venues here in Colorado, and found some excellent prospects. It was coming time to get serious, save dates and sign contracts. While I felt the feedback during the Fall Tour about this conference was overwhelmingly positive, my team and I decided to ask our peeps for more specifics about what they were looking for in this training opportunity. I’m glad we asked, because we received feedback that changes our original vision, starting with WHERE this conference should be held. Here’s what 100 women surveyed from across the nation had to say:
93% of women were interested in attending a GFB Conference, focused on safety & self-defense for women, and held over a weekend in Summer 2009.
63% said they were not willing (mostly for financial reasons) to travel to Denver for the conference. 32% said they would make the trip.
The top cities suggested as alternative locations (in order of popularity): Chicago, New York tri-state area and Washington DC.
Many people suggested having multiple training conferences, held regionally.
June was cited as the best summer month to hold a conference like this.
Downtown, in a larger city, was named as the preferred setting.
People weren’t overly concerned about becoming GFB certified instructors. They expressed wanting to simply train and learn with GFB, with certification not being a major factor.
77% of responses stated the training needs to be $200 or less per person. 45% would pay up to $350 and 16% would pay up to $450.
65% felt social activities outside the conference were “somewhat important” followed by 30% who felt social is “very important.”
The top 5 subject areas of breakout sessions include (in order of popularity): Basic self-defense, rape & sexual assault prevention, date (acquaintance) rape, assertiveness/boundary setting and self-esteem/self-confidence.
53% want lunch provided by the conference, 39% want breakfast provided and 28% want all meals provided.
We’re going to take the next few weeks to make some decisions using this data, and will post more information as soon as it’s available. At this point, it’s looking like regional conferences might be a better bet, and possibly keeping the trainings to one day (instead of a full weekend) in an effort to keep down conference costs and travel fees. I’m also wondering if 2010 might be a better idea, since 2009 is right around the corner! If you have ideas, please comment below…now is a very crucial time in planning these trainings and we are listening! P.S. – For anyone who plans events or ever needs to collect feedback to make educated decisions, go to Survey Monkey and send out surveys for free! It’s an incredibly valuable tool.
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2 Responses to “Survey says…”
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Hi Erin,
It seems that the women who took the survey want a more intense version of your seminar and not so much the certification. I think that several 1 day trainings nationwide in 2010 would be a great idea. The GFB Certification could be an additional training for those who are serious- there could be a session in the 1-day training to discuss the steps/expectations of a GFB trainer.
I think undertaking anything in 2009 is dicey because of the economy and unknown factors. Conferences are a lot of work and to undertake one in such difficult times when, by your own expalantion in the prior post, few women end up showing up when it’s Go Time, would seem like a recipe for disaster.