Analysis of the delegate feedback from the 2020 Researcher to Reader Conference, held in London on 24-25 February, shows increasingly high levels of satisfaction with the event, with delegates rating both the varied sessions and the event overall very positively.

The survey showed 96-98% of respondents agreeing that that the Conference was relevant to them professionally and valuable use of their time.  These sentiments were even more positive than the already encouraging 2019 feedback, with the percentage ‘strongly agreeing’ on relevance growing from 40% to 63% and on value from 32% to 56%.

The presentations at the Conference also received a generally positive response, with a large majority getting an average rating at least 3 out of 4. Only two out of the 11 presentations fell below last year’s minimum rating of 2.8.  Seven of the 11 presentations got over 80% favourable ratings.

The Workshops, Debate and Panel received generally positive feedback, with one workshop (Improving Peer Review Support for Researchers)  getting a perfect 4/4 rating, and two others getting a very strong 3.6.  The Debate received a score of 3.5, with very favourable comments.

The organisation and venue also rated highly, with the event administration narrowly missing out on last year’s 100% positive ratings, with just 2 respondents awarding ‘Fair’.  The temperature of the rooms continued to be a challenge, although only 15% rated it unfavourably –  an improvement on 2019.

Delegate comments were also very positive, with responses that included:

• An enjoyable and interesting two days with a good mix of session topics and styles.
• Fantastic event.
• Extremely thought-provoking and relevant across the scholarly landscape.
• Exceptional standard.
• Very practical and informative.
• Excellent, illuminating.
• This was an excellent venue and a very well managed event.
• Lively and encouraging presenters.
• Great conference.
• Thoroughly interesting and relevant.
• I will be back next year.
• Good service from venue staff.
• I enjoyed hands-on activities and representation from sectors across industry.
• These are just getting better.
• I really liked the mix of panels, debates etc; more engaging than straight presentations.
• Thank you for a very interesting two days.
• Couldn’t be more ideal.
• Networking opportunities were good.
• A really great meeting to learn more about the industry and meet a range of people.
• Excellent mix of topics, speakers, formats.
• Good range of insights, good engagement from the audience.
• The programme was thoughtfully put together.
• I love this conference.

Overall, the survey results showed yet more positive feedback for the event, and we also received many useful suggestions for improvements and innovations for 2021.

Mark Carden
26 March 2020