One of the challenges of writing a book about software like CiviCRM is that it's really easy to remain modularized - and consequently, it would be easy for you to approach the software in a purely modularized way. That's fine to a large extent; you will naturally think and be structured around these blocks of functionality such as events, members, donations, case management, and so on. However, every so often, it's good to think outside of those modularized "boxes" and push beyond to realize the full potential of the software.
You've created an event, published the registration form, collected registrations, pulled your attendance list, printed name badges, and presented a report to your Board of Directors. In short, you've experienced a successful event management process.
But what have you done to invite attendees to take further action? Have you encouraged them to become involved in a committee, sign up for an e-newsletter, or join the organization as a member?
As you construct your event and prepare to publish it, think about what fields you should collect information on that don't necessarily have direct impact on the event. For example, you could include your newsletter signup option in the registration form; you could provide a checkbox list of interest areas to learn more about your event participants and why they are attending; or you could ask if they are interested in learning new ways to support the organization through monetary donations or volunteer service opportunities.
Do you ask people if this is the first time they are attending your conference or exhibit show, and if so, would they be interested in participating in a first-timers dinner? Remember that events provide a unique opportunity for people to see the "face" of your organization. Use that opportunity to build commitment among those new to the organization.
After your event, you have a fresh list of people who are clearly interested and engaged enough to attend your conference, meeting, workshop, seminar, training, and so on. While a high percentage of these contacts were likely already in your system, some are inevitably new and merit additional follow up. Do you send a conference evaluation survey following the event in which you invite people to provide feedback and input for use in future events? This could be done with a CiviCRM profile, enabling you to retain the response directly within the individual's record (assuming you don't need to offer the option to respond anonymously).
The tools to achieve these calls for action and commitment are at your fingertips: use membership tools to encourage people to join; link to donation pages from the event registration "thank you" page to solicit monetary support; expand the information you collect in the event registration profile to learn more about your constituents and their areas of interest; and harness the power of CiviCRM's broadcast e-mail capabilities to promote and follow-up with your registrants.
Go beyond just event management tools to other CiviCRM capabilities in order to broaden and deepen your organization's relationship with event participants.