First COUNTER conference attracts positive feedback

In conference feedback, 86% of respondents rated it very good or excellent, but asked for more introductory topics. We take a look at what you said about the first COUNTER conference.

Last month we held our first ever COUNTER conference. We had a great half day of speakers sharing their experiences, approaches and innovations in using COUNTER in their work. Now that the hectic work of delivering the conference is complete we have had a chance to look through your feedback. Thank you to the 49 people who shared their comments – a response rate of 27%.

The big headline numbers are that 86% of respondents rated the conference as very good or excellent. And a further 12% rated it good.

So, what did people like about the conference? The most popular responses were: Conference being free to members (78%), Online nature of event (71%) and Quality of Sessions (63%). Respondents also highlighted Speakers (43%) and Ease of joining (41%).

“I think it was an excellent conference!”

Thank you! This community is exactly what I have been wanting for!

More introductory topics next time

The most common criticism of the conference was the time of day it was held. Some participants in Asia and the east of Europe highlighted that it was very late in the day. In turn, participants in the Americas found it too early. And we already knew that the timing made joining live from Australia and New Zealand extremely difficult. With the global nature of COUNTER’s community this is a common challenge without a simple solution. If you have ideas for ways to address this please do let us know.

We will be sharing recordings of the conference with registered participants soon. We will also share some of them publicly. Do keep an eye on our news stories and social media for updates.

Some other comments highlighted the technical depth of the presentations. They were pitched just right for some people but some others, especially those who are new to COUNTER, found them a bit complicated.

“I found some of the topics overwhelming, but it’s part of the learning curve and I’m grateful for the experience”

This issue was reflected in the suggested topic for future events, with interest in some more introductory topics. We are looking at ways to provide more basic educational material in the future. Do do keep an eye on our emails and social media for news of future activities.

“It would be nice to have a session for those just starting to adopt COUNTER. Today was very interesting, but we are probably at a much earlier stage than most of the presentations.“

There were several comments asking for more accounts from libraries and others about how they are using COUNTER. People also asked for more technical advice and updates.

“I liked learning experience from libraries on how they used the COUNTER reports to enhance their work. It was really inspiring.“

Tell us more!

Thank you to all who took the time to answer our feedback survey. Your comments will be very useful as we plan future conferences, webinars and presentations. 

The conference feedback survey has now closed but our annual satisfaction survey is still open. We would love to hear views from across the COUNTER community. And you can reach us by email with any comments and suggestions too.