Event satisfaction questions to use with EVA
Eight questions to assess sessions, logistics and the overall experience, with the context EVA needs to collect useful answers.
An event satisfaction survey can combine ratings, options and open comments. Choose questions based on the decisions you need to make and ask people who have experienced the relevant activity. With EVA, you can introduce them in appropriate conversations during the event and reserve others for the closing stage.
These eight questions can be adapted to your programme. You do not need to use all of them or send them together to every attendee.
Eight questions you can adapt to your event
1. A session’s usefulness
How useful was the sustainable purchasing workshop, from one to five? One means not at all useful and five means very useful.
Ask people who took part, when their participation is established by the conversation or available information. Record the rating against the workshop so it does not become mixed with satisfaction for the whole day.
2. The reason behind the rating
Which part was most useful, and what was missing?
This can follow the earlier rating if the person wants to expand their answer. A comment explains a number: someone may rate the practical cases highly while wanting more time to discuss them. Retain both aspects.
3. A specific part of the logistics
Thinking about the return transfer you used, what could we improve?
This applies to people who used that transfer and can talk about it. Asking afterwards helps identify a specific point, such as signage for the meeting place, rather than requesting a general rating of “the organisation”. If you do not know whether they used it, confirm that first.
4. Missing content
Which topic would you have liked us to cover in more detail?
You can ask after a session or at the end of the event. In the first case, name the session; in the second, make clear that you mean the full programme. Answers help you consider what to expand, without assuming one request describes the whole audience’s interests.
5. Networking outcomes
Were you able to speak with people matching the profile you were looking for? Yes, partly or no. If you would like to, tell me what was missing.
Ask people who sought contacts or took part in the networking activity. The selected option makes answers easier to group; the explanation helps distinguish lack of time, difficulty finding relevant people or an activity that did not fit their aim.
6. The priority improvement
If you could change one thing about this event for the next edition, what would it be?
This is a closing question. Asking for a priority helps collect a specific proposal, which you can later relate to ratings gathered during the day. Do not turn every comment into a commitment to change before reviewing its context.
7. An activity’s length
Was the time available to work through the workshop cases insufficient, about right or excessive?
This applies to workshop participants. Specifying what the time was needed for is more useful than asking whether the session was “long”: someone may want a shorter presentation and more time for practice.
8. The overall rating afterwards
Thinking about the complete event, how would you rate your experience, from one to five? What most influenced that rating?
Reserve this for the end, when the attendee can assess the whole experience. Keep this answer separate from each session’s rating scale. Using the same scale does not make two different questions a single measure.
Turn the question into an objective for EVA
The objective tells EVA what information you want to obtain and when asking makes sense. For the workshop, you can prepare an instruction like this:
Collect a usefulness rating for the sustainable purchasing workshop from one to five, and identify missing content. Ask when participation is confirmed and it fits the conversation, after resolving the person’s enquiry. Do not repeat the question if they have already answered, or insist if they do not want to.
Suppose Clara writes: “I have just left the workshop. Where is the next session?” EVA can answer that question and then ask about the workshop’s usefulness. If Clara only asks where the workshop takes place, you do not yet know whether she attended.
EVA needs context to introduce feedback. It does not automatically observe where each person is or which activity they have just finished. That information may come from the conversation or a relevant connected source.
Use the answer to decide what to review
“I needed more time to compare suppliers” can be grouped as a request for more practical work. Before proposing a change, review how many people mention that theme, what other answers there are and which workshop they concern.
A working decision might be to consider an additional supplier comparison section. The answer identifies something to investigate; it does not by itself demonstrate that the whole audience wants that change.
When presenting results, retain the question, response count and context. The complete process is explained in how to collect feedback during your event and prepare the report.
With EVA, you can prepare objectives before opening conversations. Start with questions that help make a real decision for your next edition.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should a post-event survey contain?
The ones you can justify through a decision or necessary information. This list is a bank to choose from, not a recommendation to ask everyone eight things.
Can I use these questions during the event?
Yes, when the context supports them. The overall rating belongs at the end; a workshop question may fit a conversation with someone who confirms they took part.
Does EVA’s feedback represent the whole audience?
Not automatically. You need to review who responded and which experience they were describing. People who speak to EVA may differ from those who do not.
