Tips for Successful Post-Event Surveys

 

By Beth Buehler

 

Next time you are asked to fill out a post-event survey, consider it time well spent providing important feedback to organizers. If planners have taken the time to ask your opinion, they can use it to make improvements for next time, bring back popular speakers and experiences, and help bosses and clients examine the ROI of a gathering. The topic is so important that Destination Colorado Meetings reached out to its planner advisory panel to seek tips for successful post-event surveys, and Jeanette Stensgaard, CMP, HMCC, MBA responded with great information.

 

“Post-event surveys have definitely become an area of growth and evolution for me, and I’ve found them increasingly valuable in measuring impact and guiding future improvements. I’ve learned a lot by trial, error and leaning into the data to tell the story of an event’s impact,” says Stensgaard, chief brilliance officer and owner of Denver-based She Plans Co.

 

“One person who really influenced the way I approach post-event data is Kyle Jordan, director of meetings at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). I attended his session at the 2022 Meetings Industry Council of Colorado Educational Conference and Trade Show titled ‘The Importance of Data to Demonstrate the Value of Meetings.’ It completely reshaped how I structure and analyze surveys,” she says.

 

For those interested in attending an upcoming educational session by Jordan, he is leading an event data analysis certificate class on June 18 at MPI’s 2025 World Education Congress (WEC) being held in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Here’s what tips Stensgaard shared during our communication about successful post-event surveys.

What types of events do you conduct post-event surveys for?

We survey for continuing medical education (CME) accredited nonprofit conferences, internal training and larger-scale industry meetings. If the event includes education, networking or strategic impact goals, we aim to collect feedback regardless of size or format (in-person, virtual, or hybrid).

 

Why are post-event surveys important?

They help us measure success beyond the logistics. We use them for the following reasons:

• Understand attendee experiences;
• Track behavior change or learning outcomes;
• Assess alignment with organizational goals;
• Identify shifts in sentiment and priorities over time; and
• Justify investment to funders, sponsors or boards of directors.

 

Do you have a list of questions you typically ask?

Yes. Our always ask list includes:

• Net promoter score (NPS): How likely are you to recommend this event to a friend or colleague?
• Open-ended feedback: What was the most valuable part of your experience? What’s one thing we could improve?
• Content rating: For sessions, we ask about clarity, usefulness and alignment with expectations.
• For CME-accredited events, we also include required questions to ensure attendees receive their credits. These are focused on learning outcomes, session structure and material relevance.

 

Do you have any additional tips for successful post-event surveys?

• Start with NPS. It’s a simple metric with big insights.
• Ask only what you plan to use (less is more).
• Include one open-ended question to gather stories or unexpected feedback.
• Tailor follow-up questions based on NPS category (e.g., promoter, passive, detractor).
• If the event is recurring, ask “What would make you return next year?”

 

Do you adjust your post-event surveys based on the type of event or client?

Absolutely. For corporate/incentive events, we focus on motivation, team connection and memorable moments. For nonprofits, it’s mission alignment, donor satisfaction and program impact. For academic or medical meetings, we zero in on knowledge gain, practice change and research relevance.

 

Is it a practice of your clients to do post-event surveys?

Yes. In many cases, it’s an expected part of our planning services. Our nonprofit clients often need survey data for grants or continuing education compliance, and corporate clients are increasingly looking to quantify ROI and engagement. It’s become a key deliverable for both strategic planning and storytelling.

 

Do you use a survey-related company or AI to help prepare post-event surveys?

Not a dedicated company, but we do use platforms with AI functionality—like SurveyMonkey’s sentiment analysis and Qualtrics’ text interpretation—to help us process data more efficiently. We also lean into templates developed from Kyle Jordan’s session, which we tweak based on the event type and audience. We also use AI to help compile and analyze open-text responses, which is particularly useful for identifying sentiment trends, keyword clusters and recurring themes that might not pop up in numeric data alone.

 

How are you delivering the post-event surveys and gathering the information?

Another tip for a successful post-event survey is we send them within 24 hours of the event’s conclusion, usually via email through platforms like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms or Qualtrics. For short events or workshops, we’ll sometimes embed a QR code at checkout or push a survey through the event app. Timing and brevity matter most; we aim for under 7 minutes to complete.

 

Anything else?

Don’t just collect the data, report it back. We create short debrief summaries for clients that include the NPS score, a few powerful attendee quotes, top-rated sessions and opportunities for improvement. This helps close the feedback loop and builds transparency with stakeholders. Plus, it’s often the foundation for next year’s strategy.

 

Now it’s time to put these tips for successful post-event surveys to work. Also make sure to let people who responded with their feedback know how much it is appreciated!

 

Top Photo: Meetings Industry Council of Colorado Educational Conference & Trade Show, courtesy InSync Photography

 

Colorado native Beth Buehler has been editor of Colorado Meetings + Events magazine for 20 years, helped launch Mountain Meetings magazine, and was on the team that introduced Southwest Meetings + Events. She has planned numerous meetings and events and enjoys exploring Colorado.