My hair curls when people talk about measuring ROI. Most event professionals know that acronym stands for Return on Investment. Even so, they use it to refer to everything from polls and surveys to return on objectives studies to unique evaluations like Customer Relationship Value. It’s a lot like referring to all facial tissue as Kleenex. The problem is that in the case of event measurement, we’re dealing with more than just a runny nose. Mention ROI to a senior executive but deliver something else and you’ve lost professional credibility. Developing an ROI stream is an arduous methodology that requires assessing participant satisfaction, learning, application, business impact and, finally, an ROI calculation. To get a taste of just how resource and time-consuming the process can be, download the case study I authored for “Proving the Value of Meetings & Events” by Jack Phillips, Monica Myhill and James McDonough. It’s a 25-page “Cliff Notes” version of the full ROI client report which ran to 150 pages. But here’s the good news: proving the value of events doesn’t have to be that labor intensive. There are lots of credible, proven ways to demonstrate event value. For a few ideas, take a look at today’s Event Tips.