NBN Conference survey results

We would like to thank everyone who has responded to the survey we carried out following this year’s NBN Conference. With 73 responses from 170 delegates attending on the day, the results are in!
 

Below, we have summarised the responses and comments received.
 

The rating system runs from 1 being Poor – 5 being Excellent

Overall satisfaction with the conference

60% rated it as a 5
37% rated it as a 4
1% rated it as a 3

Overall satisfaction with the format of the conference (i.e.morning sessions, breaks, lunch, afternoon sessions):
58% rated it as a 5
37% rated it as a 4
4% rated it as a 3

Where are you from?
89% were from England
5% from Wales

3% were from Scotland

1% from Spain

Please indicate which sector you belong to:

29% – Local Record Centre

26% – Charity sector

14% – Government / Agency

10% – Academic

8% – Volunteer recorder

7% – Scientific / Research

4% – Scheme or Society

1% – Consultancy

0% – Private sector

Please rate your overall satisfaction with the lunchtime displays and demonstrations

8% rated it as a 5

53% rated it as a 4
33% rated it as a 3
3% rated it as a 2

If you have attended a previous NBN Conference, how did this one compare?

This was generally seen as being a better format and therefore a better Conference than previous events.

• The shorter talks were very well received and the 5 minute talks especially so.
• The morning and afternoon breaks were well received
• Some delegates commented that the displays and demonstrations were not as good as previous years
• Delegates generally liked the delegate pack with the printed booklet containing the programme, delegate list and other information

Here are the comments:

• Very good, revised format worked well and talks and displays were good
• The shorter talks were much better and sped things along nicely. The morning and afternoon breaks helped a lot and were an improvement.
• The talks were more interesting. The displays rather less so.
• In previous years the talks tended to be a bit overlong so it was good this year having talks that were on average shorter and including a session with short talks so more topics could be covered.
• This one was great and great food. I liked the shorter presentations and networking time as well – gave variety. Last years conference was also excellent (so was the food).
• Probably best yet (although this is only the fourth one I have been to)
• Talks better than usual. Time allocation outside talks better than usual but perhaps still too short!
• Amongst the best. Interesting talks and much more positive outlook.
• One of the best.
• I haven't been for a long time. I thought the format of mixing full presentations with speed presentations were excellent. The supporting information pack was also excellent.
• Quality of the speakers was better than in previous years. I particularly liked the 5 minute talks but found I wanted to hear more!
• Much more engaging and higher tempo – previous conferences have felt a bit slow paced with too much long in-depth plenary. Having shorter, punchier talks really helped keep attention focused. A bit more interactivity and structured networking would be good though – not always easy to start up conversations at lunch etc. so good to get the ball rolling with some group discussion/workshop sessions.
• Good, I particularly liked the short presentations but would not want more than about 3.
• I thought the 5 minute presentations were excellent and at the perfect point during the day. The conference pack with abstracts and space for notes was very useful.
• There's always a high standard of talks and a relevant theme, but this one was better for networking due to the longer breaks and the sandwich lunch. It was well attended and there was a good cross section of people.
• This is the first one in a very long time (ever?) that was positive and clear how the constituent parts of the family could fit together, with the feeling that data providers rather than funders had been put at the heart of the day. The new format for talks, breaks and the speed talks worked really well too, and I've walked away with a long 'to do' list for following up on informal discussions during the break out time.
• It was the most enjoyable for a while.
• I “attended” this one virtually through the hashtag – I have previously not attended as it never seemed relevant or been made aware of the detail of of the conference by other means
• I found it more interesting than last year.
• This year's conference was perhaps better than last years, although from memory there were more lunchtime displays last year, though it is difficult to recall accurately. Perhaps there could be more variety from year to year. A minor point!
• I attended last year for the first time. So this year was my second NBN Conference – I enjoyed this year more. I thought that the timings for the day, and the way the day ran, was better. I liked the soapboxes – it was a good change from the main talks and provided insights into lots of different topics in a short space of time.
• Great but I need more time to talk to others
• I attended 3 years ago. I much preferred this conference. The venue is accomodating and the positivity of the talks was really great.
• This one felt like it had a lot of energy. It felt pivotal. The speed-talks worked great. Almost feels like we could do with even more of those and less of the longer ones. Not sure what the right balance would be.
• Somehow more vibrant. Loved the short presentations.
• The last one I attended was in rather cramped seating so this one was an improvement. I liked the short presentations – these help to concentrate the mind of both speaker and listener! Would not want the entire proceedings to comprise of these though – a mixture is great.
• Much better, more vibrant and the shorter format presentations worked well just need to get rid of the old boy network medals ceremony and you may have a modern conference
• I have only attended 2 recent NBN conferences, but enjoyed this one more. I liked the shorter (to the point) talks.
• More focussed talks, not such good displays,
• This year was very engaging. There was enough time in breaks and during lunch to eat and rest and also chat to people.
• I felt that the keynote speech last year was more interesting, as we had a member of Parliament speaking, but this year the speech was less informative. However, the range of the other talks was more interesting than last year. Really enjoyed most of the talks.
• Very impressed with John Sawyer's presentation. I generally would need to review the presentations and summaries in the Newsletter.
• Best of the 4 I have attended
• Very similar
• Best one yet – been attending for past 5 years. Subtle changes improved already good previous formats
• Very good more time for refreshments and conversations. The food queues were shorter
• Much better, less LERC bashing 🙂 and great speakers too.
• Much better to have a morning break and something to eat at the start. We left at 5 am to get to the conference so something to eat was needed prior to the start. Lunch time sessions this year not as good. More advertising and sales rather than good information or demonstrations. Really liked the 5 minute sessions – good to mix it up like this. Also really liked the Aus presentation – great to hear about innovative stuff from elsewhere.
• It was good- the talks were a good mix- and the short ones were very effective.

How did you hear about the 2014 NBN Conference?

Delegates heard of the Conference in a mix of the following ways:

• Website
• NBN eNews
• Direct email to members
• Direct email alerts
• Through their own office / work place
• Through LERC
• Through University tutors
• Through direct links with the NBN Trust
• Via social media / via the hashtag
• From previous attendance

Please rate your overall satisfaction with the catering

36% rated it as a 5
41% rated it as a 4
16% rated it as a 3
4% rated it as a 2
1% rated it as a 1

Please rate your overall satisfaction with the venue and the facilities

71% rated it as a 5
25% rated it as a 4
3% rated it as a 3

Please rate your overall satisfaction with the location of the conference

58% rated it as a 5
32% rated it as a 4
8% rated it as a 3
1% rated it as a 2

Please rate the progamme and the format of the day?

56% rated it as a 5
38% rated it as a 4

3% rated it as a 3

 

Were the topics relevant to you?

96% said yes

1% said no

Were there other topics you would have liked to have been covered? If so, please provide details

Specific comments are shown below:

• More from the people who submit records
• I'd like to hear more about innovative collaboration within the NBN family, especially where national and local have worked together to improve services
• There are a very wide range of potential topics but one of the key things is to get an introduction to things you may not have considered as well as more information on things which are directly relevant.
• I would recommend that there is a good presentation of the Diver project in 2015. There are a very few inspirational charismatic recorders out there who can enthuse the voluntary sector to complete a project. One such person is David Pearman of BSBI.
• It's been nice previous years to have a talk from a recorder/specific recording group, so something very species based.
• Love to see usage figures, and uses of the Gateway
• Perhaps one year the smaller third sector recording organisations that feed records to the NBN 
• Gateway could be recognised or represented in some way.
• How data is used to make a difference on the ground
• It was good to see women speakers.
• There was no talk specifically covering marine issues this year, although Katie Winney and Lori Lawson Handley did mention marine things.
• A little more on how the data flows between NBN, local record centres, schemes and individual records can work would be appreciated.
• Ecological capacity in the planning system
• I'm out of my depth with some of the computer talk. There is sometimes a flavour of business clichés from some speakers, with flow-diagrams and exhortation. I know time is limited and each conference has a theme, but a little more biology is always welcome.
• How biological recording can better inform at local government level e.g. how can the importance and use of 'better data' and sharing already being seen at organisation, NGO, and in government quangos be passed down to Local Government levels?
• It's always nice to have a talk from someone from outside of the biodiversity field bringing in ideas. Someone from museums, the arts, humanities or technology fields.
• Coming from a mammal conservation charity, it would be great if we could have someone representing mammals!
• I would have preferred (a) more about the use of recording, showing its relevance and value in a more direct way, (b) fewer more substantial preservations, (c) fewer sales talks promoting other organisations and agenda.
• It would be good to have some case histories of expansion and decline

Overall, were the speakers informative, prepared and engaging?

97% said yes

0% said no

Did the line up of speakers have any bearing on whether you attended or not?

40% said yes

58% said no

Please rate the booking system for the Conference

45% rated it as a 5
37% rated it as a 4
11% rated it as a 3
3% rated it as a 2
1% rated it as a 1

Please rate the delegate pack and Conference abstract

53% rated it as a 5
32% rated it as a 4
10% rated it as a 3
3% rated it as a 2

Overall, based on your total experience at the conference, will you attend or recommend someone else attend next year’s conference?

74% rated it as very likely
25% rated it as a likely

Please provide any comments you have on future conference locations, topics, speakers or general suggestions regarding the conference:

Here are the comments we received:

• Would like to see a speaker from: GBIF, The ODI and/or wider open data movement, 
• Wikipedia/Wikidata, Creative Commons, Open Knowledge Foundation, Museums Computer Group. Dominic Oldman of the British Museum and author of this paper would be good: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july14/oldman/07oldman.html 
• The London location is fine for me but I wonder if NBN have considered holding the conference at other less London-centric locations – York, Bristol, Edinburgh, Birmingham? Maybe every other year or every third year? 
• Give the Burnett lecturer longer – make it a keynote. Send the programme abstracts out in advance and the delegate list – I only found the latter on my way home and did not actually realise that the programme was in a glossy printed booklet until the first coffee break. (Previous years was a separate sheet so was looking for that!) Do not try to put in too many talks – the 5 minute ones was an excellent idea to get quick messages.
• Having a speaker from overseas was excellent! The UK biological recording community is quite small and it can be a bit 'navel gazing', it does us good to look at how other people are doing things. Maybe a speaker from Biovel or one of the european gbif nodes. Liam from NBDC. It would be good to invite someone from COBWEB to get them engaged with the NBN, one of the partners is Nottingham uni so they're local! Similarly, someone from the PREDICTS project – can this link up with NBN? And keep us posted on remote sensing, and interoperability with other types of data generally, it's good to think about biodiversity information in the wider sense, beyond the traditional WWWW records. 
• Hon memberships and celebration of record milestones are good, but maybe give an annual award for data openness too? Conservation Commons award. Someone who's increased access to their data – it would have to be someone who isn't obliged to, e.g. by funders or inspire, but just because it's the right thing to do. If I think of a marine speaker I'll let you know but maybe something to do with data for the planning of MPAs in Scotland.
• I always arrive late because arriving into London after 10am by train is MUCH cheaper. I can't though leave London until after 7pm. So if the whole conference was shifted later by 1 hour I could attend all of it with ease, without affecting my return time home.
• Catering – was good but lunch not as good as last year. Location needs to be within public transport access. 
• Would like to hear about the use of data in determining forward direction in Biodiversity 2020.
• I would like to hear about future for online recording, both from people who already use it and from some who are sceptical (e.g. most botanists and lichenologists)
• A list of the delegates included in the pack would be very useful to make it easier to find people in the breaks who you would like to talk to. I didn't find any of the leaflets in the pack useful. I mentioned a food allergy during my booking but this was not catered for.
• I don't think the lunchtime demos really work in the way that they are billed in the programme – I was happy with the way I was billed and was prepared to talk about what you'd asked me to talk about, but on the day it was just another session when people could ask questions and I did my best to answer them, and I didn't really get asked about what the programme said I was going to address! Not a big deal, it was useful to be there and have the discussions that I did have, but maybe the lunchtime session works best as a general discussion session rather than a demo of specific things.
• Choose one talk to have more detailed and longer questions session/discussion
• An expensive peak time travel ticket into London to be on time – could the conference be held in a different city? May affect attendees as well. Overall a great day.
• Move the date away from Friday. Offer if at other locations periodically perhaps RS every other year?
• I felt the venue was too small for the number of people attending, there was not enough space to move around and mingle properly.
• A mix of talks and workshop sessions might facilitate more discussion.
• I'd be interested to hear how Defra / DCLG are going to support the open data agenda with regard to their own data holdings, and the organisations they're encouraging to embrace it.
• Venue is excellent. It would be really good to start at 10.15 to give those of us who live in the outback chance to hear the keynote address in full. Generally I come away from each year's conference with an important quote. Perhaps we should look in the future to having a session really suggested by Dave Goulson on recording quantity.
• Small qualification on earlier ranking: the catering was rather limited for vegetarian delegates (of which there are always many at environmental conferences!), otherwise nice. 
• A few more lunchtime displays in a larger area would have been a bit better, but this is only a small improvement on what was an excellent conference.
• Location of national conferences will always be a problem, however I would suggest moving it around the country or picking a more central location.
• It has been suggested having the conference in varying locations e.g. central England to make it more accessible for some however London transport links usually win out.
• As mentioned, would be good to have some more interactive sessions to facilitate networking. It makes the lunch and coffee breaks much more valuable if you have met a few people during a group discussion or workshop so you can carry on those discussions. Particularly if you are a relative newcomer to NBN.
• Was the conference recorded for live streaming- or web publication. It would be good if was available to those unable to attend the day in London.
• The innovation of a conference booklet with each speaker's prologue and space dedicated to note-taking was a boon. I hope you can continue this provision. The speed talks were another good idea (and their placing at the end of the morning session). The chairmen watched the clock well at this meeting.
• Continue to ensure the presentations represent the full range of organisations in the wider national biodiversity network. Decide if medals still relevant and broaden participation if so
• I would be willing to travel north e.g. Midlands/ North West, to attend future conference e.g. to share knowledge with those unlikely to come to London for a conference.
• Honestly one of the best conferences I have ever attended. The presentations were engaging and the other delegates were keen to debate during the breaks. The refreshments and venue were excellent, of course, and the location very accessible. I would certainly attend again and recommend others to do so.
• Someone from Natural England talking in more detail about how they use data loaded onto the NBN Gateway for their everyday and strategic work.
• The catering seemed slightly strange this year, rather than coffee and biscuits in the morning there was fruit, which I thought might have been better with lunch! It was all very nice though. All the speakers were excellent and I think the location is good, it's easy to get to and the facilities are very good.
• The online booking system needs work. This year my registration response was an 'out-of-office' message.
• Travelling to – and especially back from – London on a Friday is expensive and difficult. I personally think that a national conference should be held in the midlands.
• As a member of the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) and being interested in making records open access (within very limited boundaries) it would be interesting to learn more about record ownership and the legal situation. This could be related to the use of records in the conservation of species and habitats. As to the location of the conference there seems to be an increasing London-centric approach to conferences in general to the detriment of the Midlands and Northern England and indeed Scotland. There are problems here in cost of travel and time commitment for many of the London based organisations, however there are some very good reasons for reaching out geographically, not least that many recording societies are away from the wider London area. I've already mentioned this to NBN staff and I'll be contacting you later with ideas for future venues. The NBN and the NFBR have a close working relationship and this natural link should be strengthened. Perhaps at the next NBN conference a speaker (even of a speed presentation) could be from the NFBR to highlight these links and mutual benefits whilst looking to the future. The speed-presentations introduced this year were stimulating, relevant and informative. I would certainly like to see this technique used again next year. Another idea would be to have a penultimate session where all presenters form a panel (with a chair-person) for question time. Panel members besides answering questions from the floor can interplay with each other. Even asking each other questions. If there is a common theme to the conference this technique can produce some lively repartee and useful information. I hope this helps. 

Next year's Conference

The comments made here will be invaluable in helping determine next year's event, so thank you for taking the time to give your feedback.  We will start planning the 2015 Conference in February / March, so if you have any other comments please contact us direct.