Post-conference survey questions and feedback templates

Start from the decisions you need to make

Before writing questions, list the decisions the results will inform: whether to keep the venue, change the format of poster sessions, adjust the fee, move the dates. Every question should connect to one of them.

Questions for attendees

Aim for ten questions or fewer and about five minutes.

• Overall, how satisfied were you with the meeting? (1 to 5)
• How relevant was the scientific programme to your work? (1 to 5)
• Which sessions or formats were most useful? (choose up to three)
• How easy was it to find information before and during the meeting? (1 to 5)
• How would you rate the venue, catering and accessibility? (1 to 5 each)
• How clear was the registration process and the fee information? (1 to 5)
• What one thing would you change? (free text)
• Would you attend again? (yes / maybe / no)

Questions for speakers and reviewers

Speakers can tell you how the programme, timing and rooms worked. Reviewers can tell you whether the rubric, workload and assignment were reasonable. Send them a short separate survey rather than adding questions to the attendee one.

Speakers: How clear were the instructions for your session? Was your slot length appropriate? What would have helped you prepare? Reviewers: Was the number of abstracts reasonable? Was the scoring rubric clear? What would make the review easier next year?

Timing and reminders

Send the survey within two days, while memories are fresh. Send one reminder after a week and close it after two. Tell people in the email how long it takes and what will be done with the answers.

A complete attendee survey you can copy

This version takes about five minutes. Use the same scale throughout so respondents do not have to relearn it, and label the ends of the scale.

Scale for questions 1–6: 1 = very poor, 5 = excellent 1. Overall, how would you rate the meeting? 2. How relevant was the scientific programme to your work? 3. How would you rate the quality of the oral sessions? 4. How would you rate the poster session? 5. How easy was it to find information about the meeting? 6. How would you rate the venue and facilities? 7. Which sessions or activities were most valuable to you? (free text) 8. Which parts of the meeting would you change? (free text) 9. Would you attend the next edition? Yes / Maybe / No 10. Anything else you would like to tell the organisers? (free text)

Rules for writing good questions

The wording of a question shapes the answer. A few rules avoid most problems, and each one is easy to apply.

• Ask one thing at a time. “How would you rate the venue and the catering?” has two answers; split it.
• Avoid leading wording. “How excellent was the keynote?” pushes the answer; “How would you rate the keynote?” does not.
• Use clear scales with labelled ends, and the same direction throughout.
• Offer “not applicable” where the question may not apply, for example for people who did not attend the poster session.
• Use plain language and avoid abbreviations that only the organisers know.
• Leave free-text fields optional and limit them, since long forms lower completion.

Raising the response rate

A survey with ten per cent response tells you about the ten per cent. To reach more people, send it within two days, keep it to five minutes, tell people in the message how long it takes and what you will do with the answers, and make it work on a phone. Send one reminder after a week. If you can, show a link on the last day of the meeting and give people a few minutes in the closing session to complete it. Do not make it long or obligatory, since resentful answers are worse than none.

Reading small numbers carefully

A meeting with 200 attendees and 60 responses gives a useful picture, but not a precise one. Report the number of responses next to every percentage, and avoid ranking items that differ by a few tenths of a point. Compare answers across groups only where each group has enough people, for example more than fifteen. Treat a sudden change from last year with caution, since a different sample can move an average. What matters more than a small difference is a consistent pattern in the free text.

Analysing free-text answers

Free text takes more time and gives more insight. Read all the answers once, then sort them into themes and count them. A simple list is enough, and it turns hundreds of remarks into a page that a committee can read.

Theme Mentions Example Rooms too small (session 2B) 14 “Standing room only, could not hear.” Poster session too short 11 “Only time to see a third of the posters.” Wifi unreliable 9 “Dropped every hour.” Praise for chairs 8 “Sessions ran exactly on time.”

A separate survey for authors

People who submitted an abstract, including those whose abstract was declined, can tell you how the call and the review worked. Ask about clarity of the call, the ease of the submission form, the usefulness of the reviewer comments and the fairness of the process. Send it after decisions, and separately from the attendee survey. Feedback from declined authors is often the most honest and the most useful, provided you make it clear that answers will not affect any future submission.

On-site micro-feedback

Some of the best feedback is collected during the meeting, when memories are fresh. A single question at the end of each session, for example “Was this session useful? Yes / Somewhat / No”, answered by a show of hands or a QR code, takes ten seconds. Ask chairs to note problems such as room noise or overrun. Keep the questions few, and use the results to make changes on the same day where you can.

Turning answers into actions

Feedback that is not acted on is a cost. After the survey, hold a short meeting and turn the results into a list of actions with owners and dates. Record what you decided not to change, and why, so that next year’s team does not repeat the debate.

Finding Action Owner By Rooms too small for session 2B Book larger room for high-interest Local org. Feb Poster session too short Extend to 90 minutes Programme Feb Wifi unreliable Ask venue for tested capacity Local org. Jan

Consent and privacy in surveys

Tell respondents whether the survey is anonymous, who will read the answers and how long they will be kept. Do not collect more identifying information than you need. If you want to follow up, ask for an optional contact address. Store the data securely, publish only summaries and remove any details in free text that could identify a person before sharing quotes.

Close the loop

Publish a short summary of what you learned and what you will change. It shows respect for the time people spent and improves response rates in the next edition.