Event feedback survey template

Events have a short life: the attendees are together for a day or three and then scatter. Feedback collected during the event can still change the next session or the catering on day two; feedback collected after it shapes the next edition and the sponsor report. This template supports both, and works for conferences, trade exhibitions, corporate events, public festivals and cultural programmes.

Replace the session and facility options with your own. For multi-day events, keep the same overall question every day so you can see whether day two fixed day one.

Full version (QR code, email, SMS link or web) — 11 questions

1. Overall, how satisfied are you with the event?
   Answer type: 1–5 smileys (Very dissatisfied → Very satisfied), required
2. How did you attend?
   Answer type: Single choice: Attendee · Exhibitor · Speaker · Sponsor · Media · Other
   Exhibitors and sponsors judge an event by very different criteria — separate them.
3. How relevant and useful was the content?
   Answer type: 1–5 stars
4. Which session or activity was most valuable to you?
   Answer type: Single choice from the programme + “Other”
5. How would you rate the quality of the speakers overall?
   Answer type: 1–5 stars
6. How useful were the networking opportunities?
   Answer type: 1–5 stars + “Did not take part”
7. How would you rate the venue and facilities (seating, sound, catering, washrooms)?
   Answer type: 1–5 stars
8. How smooth were registration and entry?
   Answer type: 1–5 scale (Very difficult → Very easy)
9. Was the event a good use of your time?
   Answer type: Single choice: Yes · Partly · No
10. How likely are you to attend our next event?
    Answer type: 0–10 scale
    Some organisers use the recommendation (NPS) question instead; either works if you stay consistent.
11. What one change would make the next event better?
    Answer type: Open text, optional

At the exits of halls and on the show floor, people are moving between sessions. The exit version takes ten seconds:

1. How are you enjoying the event so far?
   Answer type: 1–5 smileys, required
2. What could be better? (shown for 1–3)
   Answer type: Multiple choice: Content · Speakers · Seating and space · Sound · Catering · Queues · Other
3. Anything we should fix today?
   Answer type: Open text or voice note, optional

For conferences with parallel tracks, one survey for the whole event is not enough to manage the programme. Add a short session survey behind a QR code on each room door or on the final slide:

1. How useful was this session for you? — 1–5 stars
2. How would you rate the speaker? — 1–5 stars
3. What should the speaker add or change? — open text, optional

Use one channel per room, and switch the session name in the survey with the schedule — or simply ask attendees to pick the session from a list. Session ratings let you share fair, specific feedback with speakers and decide whom to invite back. For more on event measurement, see our guide to attendee experience at conferences and events.

Collect at three moments: during, at the end of each day, and after the event.

• Hall exits and the show floor, during the event — tablet kiosks or QR stands, exit version. Monitor scores live and fix problems the same day.
• Session room doors or final slide — QR code, session survey. Ask within the last five minutes of the session.
• End of each day — SMS or email link to registered attendees, short version. Catch day-one issues before day two.
• Within 24 hours after the event — email to all registrants, full version. Response rates drop quickly after the first day.
• Exhibitors and sponsors — separate email survey, adapted version. Ask about lead quality, footfall and organiser support.

Headline figures: overall satisfaction (share of 4–5), intent to return (share of 9–10 on question 10) and “good use of time” (share of “Yes”). Example: 1,100 attendees, 380 full responses; 81% satisfied, but networking scores well below content, and the comments point at a lack of space.

• By attendee type: exhibitors, speakers and visitors experience different events.
• By day and by hour: live exit ratings show when queues, overcrowding or catering problems peak.
• By session and track: rank sessions by usefulness and response count; use it to plan the next programme.
• Content vs logistics: high content scores with low venue scores mean the programme is right but the format or venue is not.
• Year on year: keep questions 1, 3 and 10 identical across editions so you can compare.

During an event, closing the loop means fixing things today:

1. Low exit scores trigger real-time alerts to the operations lead for that hall or area.
2. Issues with a clear owner — catering, AV, cleaning, security — become tickets routed to the supplier or team responsible.
3. Attendees who left contact details about a specific problem (e.g. a registration error) get a personal reply.
4. After the event, publish a short “What we heard and what we will change” note to attendees — it raises response rates the following year.

Keep the tickets from each edition. Before planning the next event, review which problems came up repeatedly — queues at registration, overcrowded rooms, catering running out — and brief suppliers on them in advance. The same process for any customer-facing team is described in closed-loop feedback, and the ticket side in ticketing.

Qmeter supports the whole event setup: tablets in kiosk mode at hall exits that keep working on unreliable venue Wi-Fi, QR codes per room or area, and email or SMS campaigns to registrants after the event. Live dashboards show ratings by area and hour, low scores open tickets for the right team, and surveys can be offered in more than 100 languages for international audiences. You can build the template in the 14-day free trial.