On-Site Research with American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Conference Attendees and Members

The Challenge

AAEP wanted to conduct on-site survey intercepts with its members at its annual conference to gather and evaluate attendee responses to understand their unmet needs and desired improvements for future events and services. AAEP’s leadership wanted a research vendor that would not be a mere data collection vendor for the multi-day event, but could be a true partner in this important research and guide them with framing research questions, collect member responses and present insights that would go beyond being “nice-to-know” but be truly actionable. Most importantly, they sought a partner that would represent them well in front of their visiting national and international veterinarians and veterinary students from all parts of world.

The Solution:

AAEP selected us due to our specialization in doing on-site research (both qualitative and quantitative) nationwide. As part of this engagement we:

• Worked with AAEP to create a survey questionnaire that addressed AAEP’s business and research objectives while keeping the conference format in context.
  • This implied that the questionnaire had to be designed so that it would facilitate member feedback without inducing fatigue or mid-survey drop-outs and early terminations.
• Provided trained bilingual, credentialed researchers™ who engaged with AAEP members as they attended the conference over multiple days, and collected feedback while their event experiences were still fresh in their minds.

• Enabled AAEP to view gathered surveys and data on member reactions and preferences in real-time to keep them updated on research efforts.

• Processed and analyzed collected data to generate actionable insights that were shared with AAEP teams post the event in a visual, story-telling format.

The Results:

This research helped AAEP to:

• Better understand member reactions to the event offerings, key reasons for attending, unmet needs and desired improvements for future conferences and events.
• Improve member retention by focusing on the offerings identified through this research that matter the most to its members.
• Save costs on future events by not including expensive offerings that were rated to be of low priority by majority members.

Testimonial:

“We were looking for a research partner and that is what Gold Research proved to be – a partner not just in execution and insight generation but also in presenting us in the right way in front of our attending members. Right from research design, to training surveyors before they arrived on-site, to keeping me updated throughout the event on how the research was progressing, Gold Research did a splendid job. Post the event, they discussed their research plan with us so we knew exactly what would be in our results report. No surprises except for outstanding execution and exceptional delivery all the way! Our leadership team was delighted with the research insights Gold Research provided and we truly feel they were able to help us get a pulse of what our national and international members wanted. We have found a true partner in Gold Research and whole heartedly recommend them to any association or event sponsor who wishes to connect with their audience to better understand their needs and preferences. “

– Sally J. Baker, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, American Association of Equine Practitioners