Conference feedback is the start of next year's plan, and a survey that asks how satisfied delegates were on a scale of five starts nothing. The questions that matter are the ones whose answers change a decision: which sessions to keep, which format to drop, whether the day was too long, whether the price was right, whether they will come back and whether they would send a colleague. This page is written for the organiser writing the conference feedback survey: the questions, the timing, the response rate to expect and what to do about it, and the numbers from the event itself, attendance by session, actuals against budget, that the survey should be read beside. Lanyardo Pro keeps the answers against the sessions so the next programme is built on them.
Six questions that change a decision, and the ones that do not
Which three sessions were most useful, by name. Which one would you cut. Was the day too long, too short or right. Was the price fair for what you got. Will you come next year, and would you recommend it to a colleague. What one thing would you change. Those six drive the programme, the format, the runway and the price. Overall satisfaction, venue rating and catering rating are pleasant to read and change nothing you could not see on the day.
When to send it, and the response rate to expect
The same evening or the next morning, while the badges are still in bags, with a reminder three days later and nothing after. A response rate of a fifth to a third of delegates is ordinary for a survey with no incentive; a prize draw lifts it, a long survey kills it. Six questions on one screen with the session names pre-filled from the programme is the shape that gets answered. Speakers get their own two questions about the room and the AV.
Read it beside the numbers the event produced
Attendance by session against room capacity says which sessions filled, whatever the survey says about them. The blended ticket price actually achieved against the one the planner template assumed says whether the tiers worked. Actual costs against the budget template's lines say where the estimate was wrong. The survey explains the numbers; the numbers keep the survey honest, since the session everyone praises and nobody attended is a session to move, not to keep.
What to do with it
One page for the committee: the sessions to keep, the ones to cut, the format changes, the price decision, the runway decision, each with the survey line and the number behind it. Then the plan for the next edition starts from that page rather than from a blank one, which is what Lanyardo Pro is for: the answers sit against the sessions, the actuals against the budget, and the next planner template opens with this edition's figures in it.
Questions people ask about conference feedback
Should the survey be anonymous?
Yes for delegates, which raises both the response rate and the honesty; the ticket type can still be asked as a question. Speakers can be asked by name, since their two questions are about their own room.
How do we collect attendance by session?
A room chair with a clicker at the door is enough for most events and costs nothing; badge scanning at the room door is the app's version of the same count. Either gives the number to read beside the survey.
Does Lanyardo send the survey?
No. Any survey tool sends it; Pro keeps the results against the sessions and the edition so they are there when next year's programme is built. The questions on this page are the ones to put in whichever tool you use.