Let’s imagine you’ve just thrown a big party for your friends and colleagues. Naturally, you did your best to make it a night to remember for everyone involved. But still, you’re not sure everyone had fun and you’re wondering if there’s anything you could’ve done to make it better.
This is true of any event – after you’re done hosting it, you’d like to get feedback on how it went. This is where post-event surveys kick in. Talking to everyone involved would be too time-consuming, bothersome, and even a bit pushy. Surveys, on the other hand, are non-intrusive and don’t require much time and effort to create and take
That being said, we have prepared 21 post-event survey questions to make it easier for you to obtain feedback after any public event from everyone involved. Or you can check our other survey question examples.
Let’s dig in.
Post-Event Survey Questions by Event Type
General Public Events
We’ll start the list of post event survey questions with some universal questions that can be used for almost any type of public events. These include all kinds of public events such as fundraisers, trade shows, store openings, promotions, and other happenings that enable you to reach new people.
Here are some questions to get you started.
1. Overall, how satisfied were you with the event?
Here, the participants are expected to provide the overall feedback on the event organization. It can be followed by questions about some of the more specific aspects of the event such as location, vendors, speakers, catering, and so on.
2. What did you like best about the event?
You should consider leaving this one open-ended. Post-event surveys shouldn’t be only about what you need to improve – they also help you identify what you did right.
3. What did you like least about the event?
A question like this one enables the participants to leave constructive criticism. It should be open-ended too, leaving them enough room to elaborate.
4. How likely are you to take part in one of our events in the future?
If you know anything about customer retention, you know that it’s generally much easier to get a current participant to take part in another one of your events than to convince a new person to attend. In fact, Forrester Research has found that acquiring new clients can cost up to 5x more than retaining current clients.
That’s why you should try to discover how many people would attend another one of your events in the future.
5. How likely are you to recommend our events to a friend?
Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing technique so make sure to check whether the participants would recommend you to their colleagues, friends, and family.
Conferences
Conferences are professionally-oriented events, where professionals gather to share knowledge and expand their networks. Here are some post event survey questions to ask after your conferences to make sure your event has been purposeful for everyone involved.
6. Overall, how satisfied were you with the conference?
Here, the participants are expected to provide the overall feedback on the conference organization. It can be followed by questions about some of the more specific aspects of the event such as location, vendors, speakers, catering, and so on.
7. Did the conference meet its objectives?
Nobody likes having their time wasted. So, if you promised to fulfill certain expectations with your conference, make sure you deliver on those. The best way to measure your success is by directly asking the participants for feedback with a post-event survey question like this.
8. How well was the conference structured?
Pay special attention to the conference timetable. Even the best speakers and professionals probably won’t do best if the conference is poorly structured and organized.
9. Has enough time been dedicated to discussion?
All successful conferences create a balance between instruction and discussion. Check if that’s the case with yours.
10. Which topics would you like to see tackled at the next conferences?
Post-event survey questions shouldn’t be just about assessing your last conference. Instead, you should also use them to gather useful information for your next conference. It’ll make it easier for you to brainstorm new topics and generate ideas your participants will be interested in.
Post-Event Survey Questions by the Types of Participants
Post-Event Survey Survey Questions for Attendees
11. What did you enjoy most about today?
After all, you want your attendees to enjoy the overall event experience, right? This question is also particularly useful if you’re having multiple-day events, as it allows you to receive feedback after each day and make the necessary improvements for the next day.
12. What is your biggest takeaway from this event?
People attend events hoping to get something out of it. Learn what it is that they got in return for their attendance and whether it was worth their while.
13. How satisfied are you with the following aspects of the event:
- Venue
- Date and time of the event
- Speakers
- Quality and number of sessions
- Structure and timetables
Dig into the specifics here. For this type of post-event survey questions, you might want to consider using Likert scale-type questions.
Post-Event Survey Questions for Organizational Staff
14. How would you rate the overall organization of this event?
Volunteers and other organizational staff represent the backbone of your event. be familiar with all the nuts and bolts of the event organization, so they are your best source for learning more about the organization-related stuff.
15. Would you recommend this event as a possible volunteering or part-time engagement opportunity to your friends?
Knowing whether your staff enjoyed the experience enough to recommend taking part in your events to their friends could be useful for the organization of future events.
16. Would you be willing to take part in the organization of our future events?
Being able to rely on a regular group of people to organize your events would make your job much easier.
Post-Event Survey Questions for Partners and Sponsors
17. Did the event meet your expectations? Please share your thoughts on it.
Asking your partners and sponsors (if any) post-event questions shows that you weren’t in this only for their money/assistance and that you appreciate their opinion as collaborators.
In addition, while you’ve probably known their goals beforehand, their expectations might not have been clearly pointed out. So, it might be useful in terms of your future events to find out whether your event organization met their expectations.
18. Will you take part in our next events?
Once again, I’m bringing up the importance of client retention. If you create a pool of sponsors and partners who will take part in most of your events, you’ll make things much easier for yourself, in terms of future events organization.
Post-Event Survey Questions for Speakers and Presenters
19. How would you rate our event in terms of how it served your keynote?
Ideally, speakers want to be able to deliver their message and share their knowledge with no major detractions. That being said, they are often concerned with the elements of the venue and event that either aid or detract from their presentation.
20. Is there anything we could’ve done to make your event performance better?
Even if they’re satisfied with all of the conditions, maybe there’s something you could’ve done to make it easier or better.
21. Do you have a friend or colleague who would be interested in speaking at our future events?
Speakers usually have a rich network of colleagues and professionals so their performance at your event could be an opportunity for you to further expand your own network and recruit presenters for your future events.
Plus, a recommendation from somebody who already spoke at one of your events would make them much more likely to accept the invitation to take part in some of your next events.
Post-Event Feedback Survey Template
If you’re looking for an easy and effective way to collect post event feedback – look no more! Here’s a FREE* post-event survey template for you, click on the button below to preview it.
*To access the template, just create an account (or login), and then select the template from our builder. It’s available to users on a free trial too!
Conclusion
Above, we’ve presented you with 21 sample post-event survey questions to obtain feedback after your next big event, be it a conference, seminar, fundraiser or any other type of public event. You can use post-event surveys to gather information from each and every participant at your events – from organizational staff to speakers and sponsors.
If you still need additional help conducting your post-event surveys, we’ve prepared a detailed guide on how to create a survey. So, why don’t you make your own survey right now for free?
