8 min read

How to Write a Blog Post About an Event: A step-by-step guide to writing an event recap

Marcy Fletchall

November 20, 2022

What you'll learn

What you'll need

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Hey there, copywriters, marketing agents, marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners, event planners, and bloggers! You’re probably here because you’ve just hosted an event, and now you want to write a blog post about it. You may think this will be a tedious, time-consuming task, or maybe you feel like you don’t know where to start! Well, good news: It’s none of those things. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing an event recap blog post.

Let’s review the steps needed to create a successful blog post for an event recap. You’ll find a more engaged audience and readers who come away wanting more by following these guidelines.

What’s an event recap?

Event recaps are a great way to communicate the benefits of an event and share them with those who couldn’t attend. They provide a high-level overview of the event, highlight critical speakers and topics, and allow you to share your thoughts on what worked well and what will improve for future events.

Are Event Recaps Useful?Event recaps are useful and effective because of the multiple benefits of the style of reporting, which helps you find quality employees, builds the authority of your company, and is a fantastic networking tool. Having a quality event recap post on your blog backed with an even better email to lure them to it is absolutely worth the effort.

It’s likely the people, the stories, and the emotions, not just that there was a speaker and an audience, will excite the reader to attend the next event! It’s an event where you can summarize valuable content in pictures, quotes, stories — you name it!

Event recaps are a great way to drive traffic and engagement on your website and social media channels and an excellent tool to communicate the result of a successful event so you can plan for the next. Remember, it’s the people, the stories, and the emotions, not just the speakers and what they said but reactions by the audience! An event recap can be so much more than simply reporting on what happened. The best part? They’re easy to write, so let’s get started!

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How To Write An Event Recap Step-By-Step

Step 1: Know your target audience.

Whether internally or externally, it’s essential to know your readers before writing anything. Don’t write anything before the event. But be prepared with a camera and video (or phone) prepped and ready to roll; tools for capturing conversations, interviews, and other activities, and deciding on clothing and shoes to ensure comfort for walking and standing for a long time. Be sure you have a name tag and the name of your organization to identify yourself when asking questions.

Step 2: Capture information about the event before it happens.

The first thing to do is to make sure that the event will actually happen. We know, we know—we’re surprised too! But sometimes, circumstances end events, and they don’t happen for various reasons.

Gather all of the data about the event you can – speakers, sponsors, hosts, booths, etc. Even capture a few interviews before the event happens to garner excitement. Look at social media and other advertising to see what’s said, and make a few notes. Reach out to speakers and sponsors to make a few appointments for interviews during the event. Be sure you capture the names of those you interviewed, their title, and any other relevant information.

Step 3: Attend the event.

So now you’re at the event. Now start taking copious notes that are legible and organized in a way that makes sense, and the jest of the conference recap will flow easily. You were there early to capture people as they arrived and get a few quick interviews to build excitement about the event. Then what? Get the event handout, and begin taking notes during the event as it happens. This way, when you write your blog post, it will be read from an engagement perspective.

“So live life with your eyes wide open, so you can embrace unexpected moments because you never know when you will be inspired.” – David Tutera, celebrity wedding planner

Take great notes. Walk around and get a feel for the attendees and sponsors. Interview people – sponsors, speakers, attendees, vendors, and anyone else you can find of interest. Be engaged with the attendees, getting quotes and information. Ask questions that matter. Most importantly, be sure to write down names, titles, and companies they represent.

How To Interview An Event Attendee

You: Hi. Do you have a few minutes for a few questions? I’m covering the event to produce a recap. In your opinion, was this a successful event, and if so, what are your key takeaways?

Attendee: This was a fantastic event. I particularly enjoyed the breakout meetings. They were informative, and the speakers made it so exciting to participate. My key takeaway, I’d have to say, is the confidence it provided to take some bold steps in managing my business differently to plan for the future. I would want to look at my leadership skills and make changes that support my team. The second thing that was a key takeaway for me was the review of the different types of strategies to incorporate more diversity into my organization. And last, it’s entertaining. I’m having a blast meeting new people and seeing old friends.

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How To Interview An Event Sponsor

You: Hi. Do you have a few minutes for a few questions? I’m covering the event to produce a recap. I really admire your display. Your banner and handouts are very impressive. You represent the Council on Leadership and Development for the Pikes Peak Region, right? Can you share with me why you sponsored this event and your key takeaways?

Sponsor: Sure, I’d love to do that. As you know, the world of work is evolving, which caught many leaders between stakeholders and employees. We know this isn’t happening in every case, but the majority. So, my team and I felt this conference prioritized sharing new best practices for leaders and providing some tools for them to move in a more contemporary direction. We wanted to host workshops that offered vital insights into leaders’ changes and ways to make that happen. One of our major takeaways was the receptive embrace of the DEI, you know, diversity, equity, and inclusion, strategies leaders can incorporate in their business. Wow, did we get a warm response to that!

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How To Interview An Event Speaker

You: Hello. Do you have a few minutes for a few questions? I’m covering the event to produce a recap and wanted to get your perspective on why you chose to talk about the leadership failure during the Great Resignation?

Speaker: Sure. It’s a great question that evokes some uncomfortable responses from leaders. It’s controversial and disruptive, which are things that help us get to clarity. It’s straightforward – our business culture puts the business and its profits and stakeholders first and employees last. We value the dollar more than the people who make our companies great. Leaders who are in touch and engaged with their people would have seen that this behavior isn’t sustainable and had to change. It’s like the 1972 movie, Network, where the guy says about business and work, “We’re mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.” It applies today, and leaders need to be on top of their game to attract talent, retain talent, and engage talent. So I wanted to bring the backstory of this to the front and give leaders, managers, supervisors, really, all attendees the outline and strategy of change. This information and these tools will help move these leaders into a more caring and compassionate group and understand that a more diverse environment offers more significant potential to keep a business healthy and strong.

Step 4: Take photos at the event

There’s nothing better than seeing yourself at an event having fun. Get some happy snaps of people doing just that. Take pictures of the speakers, the people gathered in the auditoriums, or at the breaks. Get lots of photos from the crowd, people interacting, speakers on stage, and other locations to visualize the conference’s value.

Step 5: Take a video and create a story.

Not everyone can take video cameras around with them. But fear not, you have a phone that can do the trick. Take a few bits here and there to gather the best images possible. Engage event attendees and collect valuable footage to show for your recap video. If you’ve hired a videographer, give them an outline of what and who you want to video.

Courtesy of Consume-Media‍

Final Step: Write the event recap blog post

Essentially, every recap follows a basic formula as outlined below. By working with this outline and keeping the information you include relevant, your recap will serve as an effective advertisement for future endeavors while also providing some fascinating insight into your company.

Gathering your resources will make the process faster, cause less stress, and produce a clean post. If you’re new to blogging or writing, there are plenty of tools to offer support and content, as well as different blog formats from which to choose.

Let’s write!

Write a recap within 12 hours of the end of the event. Keep it fresh and timely. So I have a deadline.

Start by asking these questions: What was your purpose in attending the event? Why were you excited? What did you learn? Don’t answer these questions verbatim, but they can help keep you on track while writing, which means you come away with something more cohesive, well-rounded, and engaging.

Write a brief overview of the event using the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” information gathered from the event data. Then flesh the parts with more details. Just like the event itself, your recap post should be fun and fresh.

Recap the essential points you think your readers should know without sounding overly formal or stiff. Try using bullet points.

Keep your tone conversational to represent your brand. Be sure to write consistently with your voice and style throughout the piece.

Use subheadings like intro, summary, takeaways, and closing, and make sure each section has a point or piece of information in it.

Start with an attention-grabbing image or GIF. Keep the reader interested with images, GIFs, videos, and other inserts that will hold their attention to the very end.

Use action verbs to create a sense of movement. Create content that works on multiple channels. Be sure your post has links to social media accounts that are most relevant to the readers. You need not post all images but a few to give the reader a sense of the benefit the event gave attendees, sponsors, speakers, etc.

Make sure the interviews are interesting and relevant. Identify the speaker and the role they played at the event. You may want to consider adding your commentary if it adds value to the post.

Bring your story to life with multiple photos and videos taken at the event and add them to your post. Readers like to see themselves and others at an event, so spread them throughout your post. Adding videos, images, charts, graphs, and icons can add significantly greater views. Be sure your images are sharp. All photos and videos should be

Be sure to build in a few headings that offer links to other posts and perhaps other websites or blogs. Remember that an event recap is still an article, so don’t be afraid to include some interesting quotes and anecdotes, interesting facts, and statistics if appropriate.

Reach out to event planners and organizers for more information if you need it. Ask for a backlink to their website and offer an opportunity for those who didn’t attend to watch for what’s in store for future events.

In the end, briefly tell what the event meant to you personally, and provide a call to action to attend future events. Include actionable tips for readers who weren’t there.

Editing is a must and a valuable activity. You may be able to edit it yourself, or you may need to get someone else to do it. If you get someone else, make sure your helper understands the tone of voice you’re using and your target audience.

Proofreading is mandatory. Be sure there are no typos or grammatical errors – especially if English isn’t your first language! These will look sloppy and could be embarrassing (or even damaging) for your brand. So proofread check for plagiarism, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

The final step is to ensure your blog post recap is SEO-ready. Preview your post. Ensure the URL slug is accurate, and the meta description captures your audience.

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Bonus: Don’t forget to craft an excellent event recap e-mail to send out to your subscribers. You can easily find an email template online to make sure you’re professional from beginning to end.

Takeaway

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Writing an effective event recap doesn’t have to be challenging or time-consuming. Following this informative and easy step-by-step guide to writing a blog post event recap can be exciting and fun. Writing an event recap is a powerful way to market your event, build excitement, and encourage people to attend the next one. And it’s an excellent way to give your sponsors some free marketing in exchange for their support. It’s all right here waiting for you to dive in. So, why are you waiting? You got this!