If everything is going well, then you won’t be in the middle of this bonfire, but instead sitting around the outside of it drinking in both a well deserved sense of satisfaction and probably something best referred to as an “adult beverage.” Take your time to enjoy yourself and let the cares of the day burn away because after about the first 3 rounds of drinks, the comments of the day are going to come in.
Now, no matter what, 90% of the things anyone will say to you will be, “Great event, I had so much fun.” Gather these in your heart and hold on to them. These compliments will fortify you for the real work of the next few days, which is taking the other 10% of the comments and learning from them. Generally speaking, most of the negative feedback will actually be pretty good constructive criticisms that you can learn from, but some of it will just be hurtful words from someone that wishes the event had gone differently for any myriad of reasons, most likely because of something that happened to their character, and almost always it will be something beyond your control.
Of course, you should never forget that some people are also just dicks.
The key to all of this is to figure out who is giving you good feedback to make the next event even better.
I have a very simple way I determine the value of feedback.
Step 1 - Enjoy praise, and remember it, but don’t focus on it.
It’s important to remember what you did right, but we really do learn more from our mistakes. It’s good to get the compliments, though, it lets you know that the players, who you spend so much time thinking of as the enemy, really are your friends and do appreciate what you give them. Also, it makes you feel really good inside. You deserve to feel proud. Running an event is not an easy task.
Step 2 - Ignore the angry ramblers.
Generally speaking, you can easily tell who is just spouting garbage for the purpose of stirring up drama or because they have a personal reason to be angry. You can tell, because either they won’t say anything directly to you, or when they do, it will be loud and and spittle ridden. There is nothing you will learn from these people other than that you don’t want to party with them that night. Ignore them completely. If you don’t, you’ll only let their issues drag you down. If they have real issues, they’ll come to you or another officer when they’re calm and talk about it rationally.
Step 3 - Seek out the people that matter to you.
Chances are, there are players that came before you, and that you respect and admire. They have probably been there before and have already learned some of the lessons that you are going through now. Listen to their advice and take a bit more stock in their praise. Make sure you seek out other veteran players, too. Even players that have never run an event, but have quite a bit of experience being part of an event will usually give you great feedback on what you can do to improve.
Step 4 - Tuck it away, and play.
There will be plenty of time in the next few weeks to go over the notes and ideas that you got from people after the event, but there are only so many hours to a post revel. Go out and enjoy yourself with the stories, songs and jokes around the campfire.
Remember, this is a game that you love, and you should keep loving it.
Relax and Enjoy.
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