It was important to both the exhibition and event teams that we could get feedback on our work from the public we engaged and the people we worked with to deliver Manchester Wakes.

There is some great feedback from the event's performers on the Artists page, but we were also supported in gathering audience and peer feedback by a team of researchers testing a new evaluation approach. If you came to the event or visited the exhibition you may have been presented with a Tablet device or paper survey to provide feedback on the event and/or exhibition and we wanted to share some of the positive feedback and critique this delivered.


Workers at Play - wordcloud of public feedback

People were asked to rate the event and exhibition on 11 different aspects, giving each a mark out of 10.

 The 3 highest scoring for Wonderland by the Waves were:
  • 8.6/10 ‘Presentation: it was well produced and presented’
  • 8.3/10 ‘Concept: it was an interesting idea’
  • 8.2/10 ‘Rigour: it was well thought through and put together’
The 3 highest scoring for Workers at Play were:
  • 9.1/10 ‘Enthusiasm: I would come to something like this again’
  • 8.9/10 ‘Presentation: it was well produced and presented’
  • 8.9/10 ‘Concept: it was an interesting idea’
The elements that scored lower (between 6.5 and 7.9 across the teams) were the same for both the event and exhibition

'Relevance: it had something to say about the world in which we live'
'Meaning: it meant something to me personally'

Build around a historic theme these being the lower scoring elements can be understood but shows there was scope to have brought the event messages and meaning further towards the modern world experience.
Wonderland by the Waves - wordcloud



As well as picking words to describe the event and exhibition (shown in the word-clouds) people were offered the opportunity to write comments.

 Regarding the exhibition the most positive response was from a 63-year-old who felt that the exhibition had taken her ‘down memory lane’ and that it was ‘good to see how times have changed’. One 19-year-old respondent on the other hand suggested that we could ‘pick a better subject next time’. Several respondents commented that the exhibition had been put together well; one noted that it was ‘very good being at the library’.

 Although we were not provided with any public comments from the event, one industry peer did feedback - ‘I thought all the elements of the initiative were extremely well-planned and executed.  The launch event in particular was varied and eclectic reflected in the varied audience who attended.  Heard lots of positive comments during the evening.’ A representative of the Library stated - 'A brilliant brilliant night - high quality performances + a great audience. Good organisation too. The NOVARS soundscape was mind blowing - one of the best things we have done in the library since we opened.'

 The event wasn't without criticism though with one exhibition focused attendee writing on her blog how 'there did not seem to be enough emphasis that the evening was to open an exhibition'. This is valuable feedback although the aims of the event were to raise awareness of the exhibition as well as the performers and new library facilities.
Some Final Figures

  • 224 people visited the library to attend the Workers At Play event with 105 local artists given a prestigious platform from which to entertain and inform them.
  • 101 people from 31 families attended the Spectacular Saturday event.
  • Social Media Chatter – the project had 257 mentions on twitter during the 2 and a half months leading up to the event with over 90% of these tweets being engaged with by one of more other twitter.
  • Having increased our budget by 43% through a successful grant application, we charged the public nothing, covered all costs and finished up a little under budget.
  • The main event finished on time! (actually a little early)
  • 300 sticks of rock were consumed.
  • 1 cardboard post-box was lost during the event night...