For the novice meeting planner, the assumption could be that it’s time to move on to the next thing. However, as many veteran planners can attest, the end of the meeting means you still have some work to do. Work that will definitely help you in planning future meetings and/or retreats.

With that in mind, here are 5 things to do AFTER your meeting is over:

• Hold a post-convention meeting with your team and the venue staff. The main question to keep in mind during this meeting is, “What can we do to make this meeting/retreat/convention run better next time?”
• Collect and process event evaluations from participants while opinions are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
• Solicit feedback from the meeting sponsor (whoever has ultimate responsibility for the event). Determine if meeting goals were met. Evaluate financial results. Discuss next steps.
• Write a meeting report and provide to meeting sponsor and planning team. File the report, along with contracts, for future meetings.
• Write thank you notes to planning team/staff, speakers, key venue staff and any other vendors.

What about you? What else do you do after your meeting is over that works well for you? Please share!