When you aim for high-performing corporate events you need to employ the perfect means to achieve success, right from the invite to the thank-you email. Initially, a successful event was one that was remembered. However, even the best events can sometimes have rough patches. These small imperfections can sometimes have an impact on the participant experience. Tough moments are even more impactful at a hybrid event. The question then becomes how to engage participants during an event and facilitate the learning process. What about if you were able to collect data on-site to perfect future events? Post-session and post-event surveys are there to help you transform your participant experience!
Using Surveys to Improve the Participant Experience
It's no news that surveys are a great way to collect qualitative feedback to improve future events. They also make it possible for participants to share thoughts and ideas with management and provide feedback to speakers on their presentations. In addition, they can help soften bitter moments at your event (perhaps the F&B wasn't great or a speaker wasn't engaging enough) by reminding your attendees of important moments that happened at your event. Post-event surveys composed of well-thought-out questions are a great way to recall key moments and thus engage the mind and reinforce key messages that were discussed. We tend to remember content better when it's associated with a moment in time or another person. 😉 However, post-session surveys that are sent on the spot not only help to keep your participants engaged but provide check-in points throughout your event lifting moral and creating a cadence for the overall participant journey.
1. Improve your future event programs
What makes the strength and attractiveness of your hybrid event is its agenda. Renowned speakers, sessions with promising titles, reasonable session times ... In this article, we're not going to teach you how to create your event program, but here we will help you collect some opinions on it!
To make sure you create the perfect agenda for your next events, ask attendees which sessions they liked the most with the option to respond openly to express their thoughts. If your participants are following an Event Track, don't forget to ask them which one they were in in order to better target the right areas of improvement. Be particularly rigorous about the length of your sessions!
Did your program include enough breaks? Was the program structure based on Event tracks or simply followed a sequence of sessions? Was your content adapted to your target? Did the content work as well for remote participants as it did for those participating in person? All the data collected will help you with the general assessment of your event program to make it even more attractive and effective at your next hybrid event.
2. Get feedback on each session
A post-session survey for a great experience
Your hybrid event will most likely be composed of several different sessions. Plenary sessions and workshops are often separated by a small coffee break. Launch a survey immediately at the end of each session. You can even launch something easy to fill out such as “rating” the session they just attended. Providing them with a moment to rate their experience requires them to think about what they just learned and it's a good to increase retention rates.
Ask them what they thought about the content, speakers, length, techniques used to engage the audience, and of course if they've enjoyed the event thus far. Focus on key elements of the session. Preparing these questions are simple because presenters know the main points beforehand so there's no worry as to finding the right question to ask. Harnessing the power of surveys depends largely on how you pose your questions. The best communicators know how to spin a sentence to get the reaction they are looking for. "Are you for corporate innovation and do you prefer to stay behind fast-growing companies?" No one wants to lag behind the others. OK, maybe the shy ones who prefer to blend in with the crowd. 🤷🏽♀️
Stay in their minds
By offering a short questionnaire at the end of a session, you'll allow your participants to put the entire session into perspective and avoid them getting stuck on a possible bad part. It only takes one bad grape to spoil the bunch. When asking about what just happened people tend to remember better and it's a way to associate good memories with your event. This is a good way to increase the overall satisfaction rate of your participants!
Sometimes, we tend to forget some important details of an event we participated in. This is why a little booster shot like a survey can help to bring us back to the good times and thus have an influence on our participation in future events.
Sending your participants a Thank You email after your event is a good way to provide them with resources such as the presentation, key facts and figures, your post-even survey, and of course, the ultimate tool to stay top of mind, the on-demand version of your event. Since the post-event survey is sent several days after the event, you'll help participants remember many details that they might have forgotten moving your event from their short-term to their long-term memory.
3. Obtain feedback on logistics
Your event content is only just a part of your event, albeit large. Adapting your event agenda to cater to online participants is no small feat and part of your overall event logistics. In a hybrid event, neglecting the online participant experience to focus on the in-person experience is out of the question. Mastering your event logistics is a great way to increase your event ROI. How was your communication before, during and after your event? Ask your attendees if your event communication was clear and engaging. Why did they choose an online format rather than participating on site? Was it as easy to attend face-to-face as it was to connect to your virtual event space?
Logistics play a huge role in your participant experience. Changing rooms on site requires proper signage, but changing from one online session to another isn't always easy. You need to be equipped with a high-performance EMS loaded with features to enhance the participant experience. Take Eventdrive's "Next session" button and customizable agendas for example. With the Netflix style Next Session button, your remote participants will never be lost as they are transported from one session to another in just a click. For on-site attendees, an event app is essential for providing them with important information and of course keeping them engaged. Ask your attendees to rate their online and on-site experience. Remember to include all important event elements that could be improved and implemented in future events: invitations, the event website, registration forms, the virtual event platform, the interactive services used online and on site, your event email campaigns, the participant journey...
Remember that F&B can also play an important role in your guests' overall satisfaction, so you'd want to make sure your caterer is on point.
4. Get ideas for your next events
Your event surveys are above all a source of inspiration for your next events, whether they be online, hybrid or in-person. What type of sessions would they like to see on the program? Which topics should be discussed? Who should be invited as a guest speaker? What types of on-site activities would they enjoy? The best event ideas are drawn from event attendees.
The event venue choice is not always easy and requires a lot of thought and creativity. You're not in this alone! Ask them, without asking them, for help! 500 brains will generate more ideas than one, as brilliant as it may be.
Questions that should always be asked in event surveys
Even though we have gone through many interesting questions above, here are a here are a few must-haves for hybrid events.
Per session
- What did you think of (insert important part here)?
- How would you rate this session overall?
- How would you rate the engagement techniques used?
- How would you rate the speaker(s)?
Per event
- Did you participate in the event online or in person?
- Which event track did you follow? (if no Event track, ask them to check which sessions they attended)
- How would you rate the event overall?
- How would you rate the event format?
- How would you rate the speakers/presentations?
- What do you like to see improved?
- Would you like to participate in the next edition?
Also, there's no better way to assess your attendee's feedback than providing them with a comments section in your event survey where they can freely speak their mind.
There is now no doubt that event surveys are not only a powerful way to immortalize an event and to improve the on-site experience, but also a means to leave a positive image in your attendee's mind. So what are you waiting for? Start using surveys at your hybrid events!
