Evaluation Report

Grace Kimble

March 2013

1 | P a g e

Summary

This document summarises evaluation of the King’s College Festival of Food and Ideas

(March 7th

- 22nd

2013). This Festival highlighted contemporary research representing nine

schools at King’s College, London in a programme of lunchtime and evening events.

Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to gather intelligence about the audiences

attending. Evaluation results represent four hundred and two visitors from a total of two

thousand, seven hundred and sixty three booked tickets. Fifty visitors were surveyed by

interview; three hundred and twenty returned written responses. Data collection aimed to

answer the following key questions:

• Audience segmentation: Who attends events?

• Perception of King’s College: How do events change visitors’ views of the

organisation?

• Impact: What is the effect of events for visitors?

The first two questions are answered using data aggregated from the eight sample

events. The third question is addressed individually for each event.

Results show that visitors from a range of sectors attended events. 29% of the survey

sample was age 17-25 and 70% were age 26-70. The majority of visitors were based in

London. Many visitors had never been inside King’s College before, and the Festival gave

them an opportunity to better understand both the range of research and the campus.

The fact that these events were free was commented on favourably, for example by A

level students and professionals who are unable to attend development opportunities

during work hours. A number of visitors were potential King’s undergraduate or post

graduate students.

Visitor responses show diverse levels of accessing the panels and talks, with some

visitors reflecting on new knowledge (such as becoming aware of organisations like the

Food Ethics Council) through to others synthesising thoughts to suggest novel solutions

e.g. for food labelling. Interactivity and the opportunity to try something new

(developing chocolate tasting skills) were most positively welcomed.

In a sample of 50 interviews, when asked ‘how likely would you be to recommend a

Festival of Food and Ideas event to a friend, using a scale of 0-10?’ the mean score was

9.26.

This Festival was popular and has potential to draw in new audiences to King’s College

London in future, if repeated and developed.

2 | P a g e

Contents

Page

1. Audience profile 3

2. Perceptions of King’s College 6

3. Impact: Event Case studies

Evening Events 9

3.1. Chinese Food and Medicine

3.2 The Science of Chocolate

3.3 Proof is in the Pudding: Food Labelling and Healthy Eating

3.4 Spectacular Food: Celebrity Chefs & Food Politics

3.5 Does Healthy Eating Cost More?

3.6 The Dark Side of Food: Eating Disorders, Comfort Eating and

Food Addiction

Lunchtime events 16

3.7 Food in Africa: Rice, Industrialisation and Nigeria

3.8 Marching on their Stomachs: A Military History of Food

4. Promotion 19

5. Related events 20

6. Recommendations and improvements 21

Appendix: Methodology 22

3 | P a g e

1. Audience Profile

Figure 1: Audience age distribution

Event attendees included a diverse range of ages and occupations. Using data from the

evaluation sample, 1% were age 16 or under, 29% age 17-25, the majority (70%) age 26-70,

and less than 1% were age 71+. Figure 1 shows that the evening event ‘The Dark side of

food: Eating Disorders, Comfort Eating and Food addiction’ had the highest proportion of

younger attendees. Observation and interviews revealed a typical group to this event to be

three King’s/ non- King’s students who were visiting to hear a speaker whose work they had

read; for example students from St. Mary’s College in Twickenham. The lunchtime event

‘Food in Africa: Rice, Industrialisation and Nigeria’ has the smallest proportion of younger

attendees. The lunchtime events tended to attract specialist audiences; it follows logically

that expertise in a specific topic is proportional to years spent studying.

Figure 2: Visitor categories in relation to King’s College

4 | P a g e

Figure 2 shows that nearly three quarters of attendees were not linked to King’s College through

study or employment, before booking tickets to the Festival of Food and Ideas. This is related to the

results showing that the festival changed 80% of the evaluation sample’s perception of King’s

College (see p6), since many visitors had little prior experience of King’s College. The Festival of Food

and Ideas attracted a new audience to King’s College.

Using the evaluation sample (402 visitors) it is possible to gain some insight into the occupations of

attendees as shown in Figure 3. Of the sample, 17% were doctors, nurses and health professionals.

15% of the sample were British University Students, representing those who were both existing

students and prospective students. The category ‘other’ includes, for example, museum workers,

actors and human resource staff (grouped owing to low frequency of individual roles). The theme

attracted a wide range of professionals, and some visitors (for example those from the food

industry) commented that it would have been beneficial to the series to include more non-academic

speakers on panels.

Figure 3: Audience occupations: evaluation sample only

5 | P a g e

Festival reach

Figure 4: Postcodes of evaluation sample

Figure 4 shows the postcodes where the largest percentage of visitors lived were SE (21%),

N (17%) and SW (15%). The majority of visitors worked or lived in London. Looking at this

information in relation to data about event promotion (section 4), it is clear that many

successful promotion channels were London centric such as Time Out London and the

Evening Standard. Given the level of positive responses to events, in future the festival has

potential to attract visitors from a wider field; for example inviting A level students to visit

from schools as booked groups, if this would meet strategic priorities.

6 | P a g e

2. Perceptions of King’s College

Figure 5: Responses to the question ‘has visiting an event in the Festival of Food and Ideas changed your

perception of King’s College?’. Data from a sample of 50 interviews representing 82 visitors in groups of

varying sizes.

Figure 5 shows that 80% of the sample (fifty interviews representing eighty-two visitors)

changed their perception of King’s after visiting the Festival of Food and ideas.

Figure 6: Responses to the question ‘which three words do you associate with King’s College?’. Words are

shown with size in proportion to the frequency of their occurrence. Data from a sample of 50 interviews

representing 82 visitors in groups of varying sizes.

7 | P a g e

The ‘wordle’ illustration in Figure 6, above, displays words that visitors associated with

King’s College, with size according to their frequency of occurrence. It is clear that King’s is

seen as academic and prestigious. The fact that many visitors had not previously been to

King’s is reflected in the size of the word ‘first’. Strategic priorities will determine which of

these aspects are desirable qualities for King’s external image; however there is clear

potential to build upon aspects of this detailed and largely positive array of perceptions by

attendees. For example, the perception that King’s is ‘posh’ could dissuade potential

applicants from studying at King’s. However, there is evidence that through inviting visitors

to an event, King’s was seen to be friendly, and the fact that events were free encouraged

access. The quotes below show interview responses when visitors were asked to explain if

and how the Festival had changed their perception.

Yes

• It’s more modern

• More welcoming to the general public.

• Unknown before, now much more aware of the place. Knowledge of the building,

was not expecting such a modern/ contemporary room/ technology

• I really like the campus and area. I will be researching the Masters options here.

• Yes, definitely. My brother is thinking of applying and I would encourage him.

• Yes, I didn’t pay attention to Kings before, it has highlighted it for me.

• Yes. The breadth and outreach of kings, and the activity of kings.

• Yes, much more accessible, always thought very academic. Diversity of Kings,

accessible.

• Improve my impression on Kings

• Yes, I know about a greater breadth of departments. It is better than UCL, more

accessible, open.

• Yes. I really like the campus and area. I will be researching the Masters options here.

• Maybe. More public, more accessible.

• Yes. Unknown before, now much more aware of the place. Knowledge of the

building, was not expecting such a modern/ contemporary room/ technology

• Yes, enhanced it.

• Yes. More welcoming to the general public.

• Yes. Making it more accessible, more fun, you don't get a lecture on chocolate. It

works because it is scientific but also entertaining, not just academic.

• Yes, we didn’t know about Kings before.

• Impressed they did it for free and that it's open to the public.

• Great trying to communicate health messages.

• Very cool that this is here, that it happened. Unified, thematic eg military theme

• This has been a reason to come here. Would like it to be more of a hub to meet with

business professionals, a platform for debate

• Yes, it looks nicer inside, I have never been here before

• Promotion of knowledge of food. Accessibility.

8 | P a g e

• Yes, I was unaware this was accessible

• It opened it up for discussion points

• Yes, just discovered this university through interest in food.

• Yes, a chance to come in from outside. Like the theatre, kept imagining it with the

dead bodies from a long time ago. More friendly than I thought.

• I am more positive. Heard of Kings as a famous institute, didn’t know a lot about it,

impressed by these events.

• Yes, there were good speakers. It brought a bit of knowledge about Kings.

• Yes. Ive never been inside, made my idea more tangible. Great idea to showcase

lecture talent.

• Yes, there aren’t enough things like this run in King's. It’s great to bring it to industry

because there is always a need for CPD. We have a lot of seminars within the

divisions and it's good to bring it together.

• Yes, although I already had a good perception because I did an MA here

• Yes, it’s my first time here

• Free entry is fantastic

• Yes, much more accessible, always thought very academic. Diversity of Kings,

accessible

• Yes. Know a bit about the kinds of things on offer. Great facilities.

• The Festival’s great. Nice to see them doing open events, great they've got funding

to do, obviously lots of effort.

• Yes, very much so. I’m local but didn’t know about it.

• Yes. I didn’t realise this was a topic they were interested in.

• Yes, Nice to see stuff open to the general public. Didn’t know about it before.

• Yes. Really impressed by free events.

• Yes, festival amazing with the diversity of events

• Yes, would like to get on a mailing list

Maybe

• More public, more accessible.

No

• I knew it well. If it wasn’t fantastic I wouldn’t be here! Food in Africa visitor

• No, had a high opinion anyway. Could only get better if studied here.

• No, pretty good already

9 | P a g e

3. Event Case studies

Evening Events

Evening events attracted large audiences with a wide range of prior knowledge. Evening

event formats included single speakers and panel discussions. The most highly rated format

was an interactive sessions that included food tasting; the Science of Chocolate. Visitors

were also enthusiastic where lecturers had planned demonstrations, such Professor Peter

Hylands in the talk Chinese Food and Medicine. Given the diversity of prior experiences of

audience members in large capacity venues, there was a spectrum of expectations regarding

the level of discussion. Some visitors focussed on aspects of the title which may not have

been the key focus of the talk. For example, when discussing the cost of healthy eating with

Professor Tom Sanders, some visitors considered monetary cost as the crucial meaning of

the word cost. Therefore, care must be taken when choosing titles to anticipate alternative

interpretations, and if necessary to set expectations clearly in the supporting marketing

description. Question and answer sessions at the end of talks were consistently highly rated,

and more time could be devoted to audience input in future.

When quotes are given below, the visitor occupation, postcode and method of finding out

about the Festival are stated in brackets to give a fuller picture of Festival attendees.

Student ambassador with Chocolate samples at evening event ‘The Science of Chocolate’.

10 | P a g e

3.1. Chinese Food and Medicine

Prof Peter Hylands, Strand Campus , Tuesday 12 March, 18.30–19.30

Chinese culture blurs the boundaries between food and medicine – the talk will use some

well-known Chinese remedies to illustrate this fusion and also highlight some recent work at

the College aimed at trying unravel some of the complexities of Chinese medicine by relating

it to western concepts of disease.

Highlights and reflections

• Learning about the chemical studies in Western world to "import" medicine from

East. I am a user of traditional Chinese Medicine and would love to see more use of

it in Western World. Therefore learning that there are clinical studies taking place to

help regulate its use is really good news. Events manager, W14 (heard about event

via Time Out)

• Once Prof Hylands got into his stride, it was so interesting that it was a pity it was

only 1 hour allowed for the lecture/ presentation. Architect, N10 (heard about event

via Eventbrite email)

• This theme is really interesting and could be run as a yearly festival. NW10 (heard

about event via Eventbrite)

•

Researcher, W5 (heard about event via word of mouth)

11 | P a g e

3.2 The Science of Chocolate

Professor Clive Page, Head of the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology,

Professor Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry (UCL), Professor Mark Miodownik,

Professor of Material & Society (UCL), Master Chocolatier Keith Hurdman

Strand Campus, Wednesday 13 March, 18.30–20.00

As well as tingling our tastebuds, chocolate has the power to ignite the pleasure centres of

our brains. Speakers explore the history, science and sensations of this global delicacy.

Highlights and reflections

• Bringing science to life in a non-intimidating format. Marketing role, N16 (heard

about event via Time Out)

• Making it more accessible, more fun, you don't get a lecture on chocolate. It works

because it is scientific but also entertaining, not just academic. History, science (KCL

staff, heard about event on site).

• Tasting, describing what you could feel. It reminded me of wine tasting, describing

the experience. Let us behave like scientific experts. (King’s student, heard about

event via advert on site)

• A really wonderful event (Screen designer, heard about event via word of mouth)

• The demonstration of science through experiments and the comparison of chocolate

to other items eg veg fat (Designer, S8. Heard about event via Eventbrite email)

• Live demonstrations, excellent speakers (Lab technician, SE19. Heard about event via

word of mouth)

• The samples! So interesting (student, SE1. Heard about event via word of mouth).

• Excellent- well organised evening. Lots of variety (E12, heard about event via Time

Out).

• Mix of science and entertainment (student, N15. Heard about event via word of

mouth).

• Excellent presenters. Good explanations. Chocolate tasting. (Technology manager,

SE22. Heard about event via Eventbrite email).

• Enthusiastic hosts (KCL Professor, N1, heard about event via word of mouth)

12 | P a g e

• Great atmosphere! (student, E16, heard about event via word of mouth)

• Tasting explanations informed by the chocolate experts and scientists (social worker,

NW5, heard about event via word of mouth).

• The tasting!! Very entertaining (Events Co-ordinator, W14. Heard about event via

Time Out).

• Using cocoa butter as wax, and tasting of chocolate (Business consultant, W13. Heard

about event online).

• Chocolate tasting and flames. Speakers were really knowledgeable (startup CEO, WC1.

Heard about event via Time Out).

• Both the chocolate and fascinating information (Civil servant, N5. Heard about event

via word of mouth).

• The tasting and talks were equally fine (Herbalist, N15. Heard about the event via

word of mouth).

• Informative, Lively, interesting (Teacher, IG7. Heard about the event via word of

mouth).

• Excellent! Thank you! (Researcher, SW17. Heard about the event via KCL website).

• The speakers were knowledgeable but made the content of the lecture interesting and

accessible for non experts. (Marketing role, SE1. Heard about the event via word of

mouth).

• I can't stop noticing the cold feeling in my mouth as the chocolate changes from solid

to liquid. A brilliant way to learn a bit of chemistry! (E8, heard about event via

Londonist site).

• Hearing about the structure of chocolate (Helpline manager, SW14, heard about event

via word of mouth).

13 | P a g e

3.3 Proof is in the Pudding: Food Labelling and Healthy Eating

Prof Alan Maryon-Davis, Strand Campus, Thursday 14 March, 18.30–19.30

Traffic-lights, coloured cartwheels, guideline daily amounts, flashy health claims ... After

decades of confusion for consumers and wrangling between the food industry and the health

lobby, it looks as though the UK will soon have a standardised uniform approach

to food labelling. Why has it taken so long? What does it mean for shoppers? How can food

labelling encourage healthy eating? Prof Alan Maryon-Davis, frequent media commentator

and King’s expert on food and health policy, looks at the big issues behind the labels.

Highlights and reflections

• Enjoyed the discussion at the end- good to hear the opinion of others and discuss

current affairs. Nutritionist, HA0 (heard about event via Twitter)

• useful update on legislation! Good speaker, very friendly and enthusiastic. Dietician,

SE13 (heard about event via St Guy’s and St. Thomas’ email).

• Are there children's recommended amounts? How easy would that be? Journalist, HP6,

(heard about event via PSCI-COMM email group list).

• New traffic system, info regarding tailoring individuals, questions very good

(Administrator, SE1. Heard about event online).

• All of it- very enlightening (writer, SE5. Heard about event via word of mouth).

• Clarification of progress of labelling system (student dietician, SE10, KCL website).

• The pictures on the powerpoint slide made it easy to follow and I am better

informed than an hour ago! (Psychologist, SM5, heard about event via email at

work).

• Q and A sessions (Biologist, N2, KCL website).

• Finding out what the law actually is on food labelling (Nutritionist, NW5, heard about

event via word of mouth).

• Latest news in food labelling (Chef/ nutritionist, SE1, heard about event via word of

mouth).

• Information on the new food labelling system coming out in summer 2013 (Food and

health advisor, SE1, heard about event via word of mouth).

14 | P a g e

3.4 Spectacular Food: Celebrity Chefs & Food Politics

Mike Goodman, Strand Campus, Monday 18 March, 18.30–19.30

What do Jamie, Hugh, Heston, Nigella, Nigel and Gordon know about food that we don’t

already know? And, really, why do they now have so much ‘spectacular’ media space to tell

us what to eat and what to not eat? This panel, through a number of different perspectives,

looks to explore and debate the proliferation of TV food programmes, the rise of the

celebrity chef and their increasing influence on everyday food culture. In particular,

discussion will focus on the role that celebrity chefs play in the politics of food, healthy eating

and the contentious public debates about what constitutes ‘good food’.

Highlights and reflections

• Learned about academy of culinary art and food education at school for 2014.

Optimistic for the future of health for british kids. (Student/ self-employed, SW13,

heard about event via word of mouth)

• Hearing a forum, debate, new topic. Unexplored research eg Christine's PhD. A

chance to come in from outside. (Dietician, first visit, heard about event via

Eventbrite).

• I like the different approaches- cultural anthropology, political- but I'd like to see

what we are supposed to do next. Do we know what to do once we've been

influenced? (SOAS student, NW3, heard about event via word of mouth).

• Academy of culinary arts, Food ethics council- independent charity. Celebrities as

communication channel. Food media, waste running at 25%. Change style of food in

supermarkets. Raise expectations. (Editor, E2, heard about event via Private Eye).

• Wish the celebrities have more influence on policies and raising awareness of the

wasting food in each household. (Research student, W5, heard about event via

Eventbrite).

15 | P a g e

3.5 Does Healthy Eating Cost More?

Professor Tom Sanders, Strand Campus, Tuesday 19 March, 18.30–19.30

What we eat has a profound effect on our health. This talk will explore how what we eat

effects the risk of major chronic disease (diabetes, heart disease and cancer) and what

changes we need to make in our diet and will answer the question “Does it cost more to eat

healthily” based on the analysis of recent research.

Highlights and reflections

• Easy to understand for general public but also included studies to back up. Easily

broken down to make it easy to understand what the he set out to cover. Assistant

buyer, N8 (word of mouth).

• Little bits of opinion and personal experience. Interior designer, N4 (heard about

event via Time Out).

• Low income. Choose ready meals portion size- no waste. Don’t change what they

cook because they can’t afford to provide another meal/ more calories if it is

rejected. A microwave meal uses very little electricity vs a casserole which is a long

expensive cook. Company Director (education), HP9 (heard about event via email

from Guild of Food workers).

• So concise and interesting. I think this emphasises how much control we have over

our food choices. Also, I realise we don't know and teach these things in high

schools- and it makes me wonder if we should. I loved this lecture. It was great.

Careers advisor, KT6 (heard about event via IB update by admissions).

Visitors attending ‘Does Healthy Eating cost more?’, Edmond J Safra lecture theatre

16 | P a g e

3.6 The Dark Side of Food: Eating Disorders, Comfort Eating

and Food Addiction

Professor Ulrike Schmidt, King's College London; Professor John Morgan, Chair Section of

Eating Disorders, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor Jane Ogden, University of Surrey;

Mrs Susan Ringwood, CEO of beat; Mr Ameet Patel, Consultant Surgeon King's College

Hospital; Dr. Lee Hudson, Consultant Paediatrician at St Mary's Hospital and UCL.

Denmark Hill Campus, Thursday 21 March, 18.00–19.30

Why does food become the source of dread for some people and for others is the source of

excessive desire? A panel of experts will discuss the above questions and many others.

Highlights and reflections

• All speakers had a wealth of knowledge to share with the audience. (Nursing

student, SW16, heard about event via brochure at Guy’s hospital).

• Chair's management of debate and introduction. (Psychiatrist, WC1, heard about

event via KCL website).

• Interaction of environment, genetics, food industry, family. (Dietician, W4, heard

about event via word of mouth).

• We're not addicted to sugar, we're addicted to the social versions of sugar!

(Dietician, N1, heard about event via word of mouth).

• There is genetic resistance but in this climate, nobody is really resilient. Food is so

readily available it might be hard to identify who is at risk- anyone could be at risk.

There is apparently an evolutionary drive to consume high fat food to gain energy,

and children do the same so it would very hard to eliminate high fat food

consumption when it is being processed so easily and in such high demand. Are our

evolutionary ancestors to blame for our high fat cravings? (MSc student, SW17,

heard about event via KCL email).

Panel members at the Institute of Psychiatry

17 | P a g e

Lunchtime events

Through observation, postcard and interview responses, it is clear that lunchtime events

attracted a more highly specialised audience with expertise in the talk topic.

These events were located in smaller capacity rooms, such as the Council Room, as opposed

to lecture theatres. The fact that there were fewer attendees, coupled with the change in

atmosphere when speakers and visitors are on the same physical level in the room, may

have been a factor in the rich conversations following on from lunchtime talks.

One recommendation for lunchtime talks is to maximise the potential for deeper discussion

to develop by allowing fifteen minutes for audience question and answer sessions. When

the audience looks smaller than in a lecture theatre, speakers may initially be reluctant to

do this owing to a fear that there will not be enough questions. However, it is suggested

that the relatively high expertise of the audience will counteract the lower attendee

numbers. In addition, visitors are more likely to ask questions when there is a smaller

audience and a more intimate, discursive atmosphere.

For example, at the talk ‘Food in Africa; Rice, Industrialisation and Africa’, the chair allowed

quarter of an hour for audience questions. One visitor owned a farm in Nigeria, in addition

to his role as a banker in the city. His sister had booked the event for him after seeing it

advertised online. He had recently invested in growing Cassava, a government subsidised

crop. Another visitor, an engineer, was considering purchasing land in Nigeria for biogas

production. As a result of the talk, the visitors discussed available UN subsidies and the

potential market for crops, then swapped contact details.

Dr Ikpe discusses investing in crops with a Nigerian farmer and a potential biogas farmer.

18 | P a g e

3.7 Food in Africa: Rice, Industrialisation and Nigeria

Dr Ekaette Ikpe, Strand Campus, Monday 18 March, 13.00–14.00

This talk considers the immense significance of this most simple of grains in Africa. It does so

with a case study of the rice economy in Nigeria and explores the impact of this on labour,

domestic industrial outputs and processes, and, last but not least, domestic food supply.

Highlights and reflections

• Discussion about aesthetics and economics of food (former UCL student, used to live

in Nigeria. Heard about event via word of mouth)

• A number of respondents cited the clear depth of knowledge shown by the speaker

in this presentation

3.8 Marching on their Stomachs: A Military History of Food

Dr Niall Barr, Strand Campus, Tuesday 19 March, 13.00–14.00

This talk explores the importance of food – and its supply - to armies and navies throughout

history. How have armies and navies sought to ensure their food supplies in the past? What

has been the role of the military in the cultural transfer of food and tastes? What role has

the denial of food played in military strategy and what has been its impact on populations?

This talk was also given at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham on the

5 March 2013.

Highlights and reflections

• All respondents who commented were positive about the quality of the talk (detail,

engaging, interesting).

• Very well structured, delivered, clear. Lucid. Chronology- in context. Stories, new

aspect was how food was developed, changed thinking. (family group, heard about

event via word of mouth; know people at King’s but had not visited before).

19 | P a g e

4. Promotion

Figure 7 below shows how visitors found out about events, using data supplied on booking

tickets (via Eventbrite). It is clear that word of mouth played a significant role in poplarising

the Festival, with booking dates revealing that many tickets were booked after the festival

started. This, coupled with an average score of 9.26 when asked ‘how likely would you be to

recommend these events to a friend, out of 10?’ suggests that positive initial experiences

lead to subsequent bookings. Observation and interviews showed that some visitors

attended more than one event. Several visitors expressed regret that they had found out

about the Festival after events that they would have liked to attend had already taken place.

Figure 7: How visitors found out about events (all Eventbrite data, n = 2763)

Evaluation sample data (Figure 8) confirms the role of word of mouth. It allows more

detailed understanding ; for example emails included SE1 bulletin, Guy’s and Thomas’ email,

school career advice and work circulations. The category ‘Other’ includes Delicious

magazine, via Bompas and Parr and a UCAS convention.

Figure 8: How visitors found out about events (all eventbrite data, n = 2763)

20 | P a g e

5. Related events

The hyperlinks below link to festivals also visited by attendees:

• Ballymaloe Litfest of Food and Wine in Cork

• Brighton Science Festival

• British Museum exhibitions

• British science festival

• Cambridge Science Festival

• Cheltenham Science Festival

• Earls Court exhibition events

• Edinburgh Book Festival

• Hay on Wye Festival of Literature and the Arts

• King’s Cross Ice Cream Festival

• Imperial Festival

• Intelligence squared

• King's Brazilian festival

• King's October literature festival

• London Book Fair

• LSE Fashion and Food

• LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival

• Museum of London

• National Theatre Live

• Newcastle Science Festival

• Open data institute

• Oxford symposium on Food and Cookery

• Royal Society events

• Science Museum lates

• Taste London Food Festival

• V and A events

• Wellcome Collection events

21 | P a g e

6. Recommendations and improvements

The following recommendations are based on visitor evidence from interviews and

postcards, and evaluator observations made by Grace Kimble, and evaluation team

members Jake South and Hannah Clipson.

1. Continue to offer free events

Visitors were impressed by the fact that events were free, and this allowed some visitors to

use the lectures as Continuing Professional Development opportunities. For example, a local

government worker had no budget to attend CPD, but was using ‘Does Healthy Eating Cost

More?’ to develop his knowledge. Where samples were given out, visitors were

overwhelmingly positive about the chance to enjoy events for free. Clearly, the festival has

widened access to members of the public who were previously unaware of King’s, and

continuing to offer free events will bring the potential to continue increasing access.

2. Display signage informing visitors about photography

Some visitors expected to be warned in advance about photography taking place at the

event. It is recommended that signs inform visitors about the presence of a photographer.

3. Address AV issues: quality of equipment

Audio-visual equipment did not function consistently in the Anatomy lecture theatre in

particular, and it is recommended that this is improved to reduce interruption to visitor

understanding.

4. Use a web platform to invite questions and provide content

Some visitors were disappointed not to have had the opportunity to ask questions. Using an

interactive web platform, for example a twitter feed plug in, would allow more visitors to

submit questions rapidly. This would also bring the opportunity for the chair to group

questions for panel discussion. Some visitors expected lectures to have content and

references available either before or following the lecture, and a web platform where

speakers could upload material would meet this need.

5. Each sessions should include a brief introduction to King’s for new visitors

Visitors who have not been to King’s site before were impressed by the lecture rooms; by

being on site at a prestigious place with an academic history. There is potential to introduce

key aspects of King’s to new visitors briefly at the start of each lecture.

22 | P a g e

Appendix: Methodology

Two approaches were used in order to capture the views of as wide a range of visitors as

possible.

1. Postcard evaluation

All visitors were given a postcard, left next to their seat, asking for evaluation feedback.

320 completed postcards were collected in total.

2. Interviews

Approximately 5 visitors/ groups were interviewed by Grace Kimble, Jake South and Hannah

Clipson per event.

50 interviews were collected in total, representing 82 visitors in total.

Business cards with a survey weblink were also distributed to visitors for more in depth

feedback online.

Acknowledgements

With grateful thanks to Hannah Clipson, Jake South, Gabriele Wright, Richard Palmer and

the student ambassador team for support.