What You Thought About Extravaganza 2024 (Part 1)

At the end of the Extravaganza in New Orleans, I asked all of the participants to fill out the evaluation form, to help us shape future events.  I also promised you that we would carefully read the evaluations and pay close attention to both the positive and the constructive comments.

Thanks to the 243 of you (not including exhibitors) who filled out the evaluation.  That represents 31.5% of the total event participants, which is a great return rate. 

This also means that there was a lot of data to go through.  The total report, when printed out, is 56 pages long (single-space, 10pt. font).  This information has been shared with the Extravaganza team leaders and will soon be shared with the rest of the teams.

I wanted to give you a quick summary of what we learned.  I think it’s important for you to know that we really do look closely at this information. Our goal is that this event helps you in your ministry. We want to know how we’re doing with that goal. 

With this much data, I’ll do this in two parts.  

First, I’ll share the demographic information about the event.  I think it’s always helpful to know who made up the community that the Holy Spirit formed while we were together in New Orleans.

In a second post, in a few days, I’ll share information about what you thought about the program.

So who was at Extravaganza 2024?

There were a total of 834 participants, including 65 exhibitors and 49 who participated in the online event. This represents a 27% increased over the size of our event in 2023 in Anaheim. We know that largely, this is because we do the E in the city of the summer youth gathering, and people want an opportunity to check out the city prior to bringing young people. Every 3 years, we ‘spike’ our attendance.

Of the 834 who participated in the event, 13.3% self-identified as people of color. This is pretty consistent with recent years. 

Not surprisingly, looking regionally, our largest participation comes from the midwest, with 330 participants coming to the event from regions 3 (Minnesota, North and South Dakota) and 5 (Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois). 

We asked participants about the number of years that they have served in volunteer and/or paid ministry:

• 0-1 years: 6%
• 2-5 years: 17%
• 6-10 years: 14%
• 11-20 years: 31%
• More than 20 years: 32%

I think these are really interesting numbers. 63% of participants have been serving in ministry for at least 10 years. It reminds me that there is a lot of experience and wisdom within our community. It also makes me wonder if we need to do a better job reaching out to those who have less experience, and who would benefit from the networking, support and connection that the Network could provide.

• We also asked about the role that participants fill in their congregations:
• 13% are volunteers
• 13% are part-time youth ministers
• 37% are full-time youth ministers
• 29% are rostered ministers
• 8% identified as “other.”

Again, these are interesting numbers. While we know that as congregations (generally) shrink, and more and more volunteers have to take on the responsibility for these ministries, fully 66% of participants were either full-time lay or rostered ministers.

We asked about how many times people have attended the Extravaganza:

• 23% said that this was their first Extravaganza. (Welcome!)
• 45% have participated between 2-5 times.
• 22% have been there 6-10 times, and
• 12% have been to the E more than 10 times.

We asked why people chose to attend the Extravaganza:

• 6% said you were invited by a friend or colleague.
• 7% said there was a particular speaker you wanted to see.
• 2% were drawn to the E by the musicans.
• 12% were excited by the workshops.
• 24% wanted opportunities to network with peers.
• 19% were looking for personal renewal.
• 5% were asked to go by a supervisor.
• 13% said that you come every year, and
• 12% listed “other” as your reason.

We asked participants how they are feeling leaving the Extravaganza and allowed you to pick all the words that apply to you:

• Renewed: 46%
• Resourced: 57%
• Inspired: 55%
• Equipped: 34%
• Spiritually fed: 34%
• Networked to colleagues: 63%
• Refreshed: 38%
• Hopeful: 53%
• Other: 5%

And finally, we asked you if you would recommend the Extravaganza to a friend or colleague. 1 meant “no chance” and 10 meant “absolutely.” 

The average score in 2024 was 8.71. We feel pretty good about this score. This question also helps us arrive at a “Net Promoter Score” for the event. The Net Promoter score helps organizations like ours look at objective data about how people feel about the event.

A Net Promoter score can range from -100 to +100.  Anything above 0 is considered good.  A score over 50 is considered excellent.  A score above 70 is considered “world class.”  

Extravaganza 2024’s net promoter score was: 54.

In my second post, I will share the scores and comments about the overall event, as well as main stage, learning, hospitality and other areas.