Conference Feedback Survey
Organizing an event or conference can be a demanding task. It needs time, effort, patience, and perseverance. From the planning period, location hunting, looking for designated speakers, getting people to register, preparing logistics, and executing the event itself, it is a very difficult task especially if you have such a small team. You may also see research survey examples
Be it an event or conference with 30 or 30,000 expected participants, being the person responsible for it can be nerve-wracking. What if the event fails? What if the participants aren’t satisfied with what they paid for? There are a lot of questions you need to ask but how and when do you do it? You may also like survey questionnaire examples
Importance of Conference Feedback Survey
As the name implies, a conference feedback survey is intended to gauge the participants’ thoughts and insights regarding the conference. It is also intended to help organizers improve the content and execution of future conferences.
Organizers get a clear idea of what their participants think about the conference from the registration process, to the conference proper down to the conclusion of the conference. Perfect Surveys are usually done before, during and after the conference. You may also check out What Is a Survey Questionnaire?
1. Provide Vital Information for Improvement
The information gathered from the survey serves as a basis for improvement of the next event. The transparency about the positive and the negative aspects of the conference experience enables organizers to have a concrete basis about what to do and what not do in the next conference. Asking first-time attendees is also a good way to have an idea about their experience in joining such conferences. You may also see Customer Survey.
Having an open mind to hear the truths about the conference says a lot about the willingness of the organizer to listen to attendees’ opinions. Through this survey, you can also generate new and creative ideas you can apply to your next conference. You may also like feedback questionnaire examples & samples
2. Get Diverse Answers
You can’t possibly please each attendee in your conference, thus, it is better to gather diverse answers from the majority of your attendees. Getting a variety of answers about all the sessions in the conference can help you determine if the participants were satisfied with the sessions or not. If a certain number of participants find a specific session less useful, it will help you decide how to improve the said session. You may also see Marketing Survey.
3. Can Strengthen Your Event/Conference
Hearing or reading unpleasant truths about how you conducted your conference can help you strive to be better. Working with the rest of your team regarding the attendees’ feedback assists you tremendously in becoming a better organizer and also helps you come up with a better and more improved conference in the future. You may also check out how to write the perfect survey
Advantages of Conference Surveys
1. Pre-Event Survey
It is beneficial for organizers to get to know their prospective attendees in order to track them. You must have knowledge regarding the attendees’ demographics, hobbies and other details that can help you plan your conference around their interests. During the planning stage, you can survey your attendees about their interests and expectations. Through this, you can somehow have an idea what would be the best thing to do in your conference. You may also see Website Survey.
If you already have quite a number of registered participants, a survey can be conducted among the participants before the conference commences. A few weeks before the conference is the perfect time to get your participants excited about the event. As you are busy finalizing and overseeing all that is needed for the conference, survey your participants about their expectations and what they want to see or hear during the conference. You may also see how to write a survey questionnaire
2. Mid-Event Survey
A survey during the conference itself monitors the quantitative and qualitative satisfaction of the attendees. While your attendees are immersed and captivated with the topics of your conference, it is a good time to ask them about their opinions on how the event is going so far for them. You may also like how to develop survey questions
When you survey your attendees during the course of the sessions, you eliminate the tendency of your team making guesses about the attendees’ satisfaction. You will be able to catch instant feedback email about your event/conference. Mid-event surveys help quantify the attendees’ satisfaction and give more clarity to the conference organizer if they are doing a good job or not.
3. Post-Event Survey
After the event/conference is over, it’s time to regroup. A survey conducted after the conference highlights the high and low points of the entire conference. It also gives you an opportunity to re-engage with the attendees and ask for their insights on the conference as a whole. You may also check out survey questions to ask your customers
While the sessions and experiences are still fresh, it is the right time to ask for each attendee’s constructive feedback. It is also a good time to prompt and reinforce a call-to-action, encouraging the attendees to donate, purchase or subscribe for future events or discussions. It is also the perfect time to inform attendees about the next conference your team is organizing and encourage them to register. You may also see how to request a response to a survey or questionnaire
Questions to Ask on Conference Feedback Surveys
Here is an example of a list of possible questions you can ask regarding your conference:
1. Pre-Event Survey Questions
- Which of the events or speakers are you most excited about?
- How do you feel about the cost of the event?
- How do you feel about the location of the event?
- Are you staying at one of the suggested hotels?
- How did you hear about the event?
- What are you hoping to get out of the event?
- What are you looking forward to the most?
- What can we do to make the registration process easier?
- Is there information about the event that you couldn’t find or access easily?
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2. Mid-Event Survey Questions
- How was the check-in process?
- How would you rate this year’s keynote speaker?
- Which speaker or event have you found the most informative so far?
- Is the conference layout easy to navigate and well-marked?
- Are the speakers relative to your needs?
- If you could change one thing about the conference so far, what would it be?
- How would you describe the atmosphere or mood of the conference?
- How would you rate the helpfulness the of on-site event organizers?
You may also check out how to ask clients feedback
3. Post-Event Survey Questions
- On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the event overall?
- Which event or speaker were you most pleased with?
- Did you have ample time to network?
- What can we do to make next year’s conference even better?
- What kind of speakers would you like to see next year?
- Do you feel as though the conference had a cohesive message?
- Did you learn actionable information that will help you in your work life?
- What features should we add to the event?
- Given your experience, would you encourage others to attend next year?
- On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to come back next year?
You may also see examples on how to conduct a business survey
Tips for Creating a Conference Feedback Survey
In order to have an effective conference feedback survey, make sure your surveys are:
1. Relevant
Make sure your survey is still relevant to the attendees when you distribute it. For example, when you distribute your post-event survey, make sure the experience is still fresh in their minds. It must be immediate and instant. You may also like pros and cons of website surveys
2. Engaging
Incorporate visuals that can help the attendees understand the survey better. Include photos or videos from your conference into the survey.
3. Fun
Moments of fun and entertainment during the conference can be included in your survey. Include photos of speakers and performers to refresh the attendees’ memories. It may be easier for the attendees to remember parts of the conference where everyone was sharing fits of laughter and were active in the discussions. You may also check out feedback email examples & samples
4. Quotable
It is important to include memorable messages and takeaways from the conference. This can help ensure that your attendees will remember the significant parts of the conference while providing them context about the message you want to deliver even when attendees have left the venue. You may also see how to ask clients feedback
5. Mobile-Ready
It is better to tailor the format of your survey to mobile devices since people normally have their smartphones in hand. Through this, your attendees can immediately answer your survey in any location as long as they have internet connection. This will make it easier and convenient for your attendees to complete the survey. You may also like define customer satisfaction?
6. Rewarding
Motivate your attendees to answer and accomplish the entire survey. Small incentives such as a gift certificate or an entry to a raffle promo can go a long way for your attendees finishing the survey. However, limit your incentives as they can create bias and skew the results of your survey. You may also check out examples of questionnaire for customer satisfaction
7. Compelling
Make people who missed the event feel guilty for not attending the conference. Include footage such as portions of the keynote address or other highlights of the conference. This can also encourage those who missed the event to make your next conference a priority. You may also see product questionnaire examples & samples
8. Results-Oriented
When creating your survey, you must give it some thought and think about the questions that will give you meaningful and useful information. Also, ask questions that will give you measurable data.
Conference feedback survey provides you an overview of what your attendees have experienced during the conference. Through this, you can measure the effectiveness of your strategies in planning, organizing and executing the event/conference. Lastly, the data and information you successfully gather through your survey can help you develop new strategies and concepts, helping you improve the overall package for your next conference. You may also like questionnaire examples in word
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