It’s that time before your event when you need to get some insight from your guests to add the finishing touches to your event. You may be wondering what to ask and how to get the right information that is going to help you improve your event. Here, we are going to break down a few categories of questions that you will want to ask attendees before your event even begins!
Questions About Food
There are so many considerations that you have to have when it comes to providing food and drink at your events. What if someone needs gluten-free options? What about meatless? Vegan? Food allergies? All of these are different options that you have to be acutely aware of when it comes to taking care of your guests.
So, when it comes to asking questions about food, you need to be very specific so that you can compile data and build up information about your guests and make sure you are getting their dietary needs taken care of. You can use open-ended questions that allow a person to describe what their food allergies are, or use short-form answers and multiple-choice questions to make compiling data a little faster and easier.
Placement and Personal Preference Questions
This can be a bit of a touchy subject with people, and that’s because it asks guests to be vulnerable about their social needs. As a society, we have grown more aware of interpersonal relationships and the needs of different individuals for their comfort.
Here, you want to ask questions that are open-ended so that people can have the freedom to write in multiple names or make sure that they are away from someone who makes them uncomfortable. Make sure that you ask a few questions about placement that also ask about what kinds of seating guests may prefer. For example, check out the placement questions in this blog by zkipster.
Traveling and Transportation Questions
Depending on your event, you may have guests who are flying in or driving in from other areas. This can lead to issues with getting your guests to the event on time and create frustrations for them, which is definitely something that you want to avoid!
With these types of questions, it may be better to have Yes/No type questions. This will make it easier to collate data and see how your guests are travelling. This may lead to the fact that you need additional transportation options or reserve transportation services for your guests.
Accommodation Questions You May Need
One thing that you definitely need to be aware of is accommodations for your guests. There are going to be some things that you may not need completely, but it will give you insight into what your guests need to make their stay at your event as comfortable as possible.
A great way to approach these kinds of questions is open-ended and straightforward. Be direct in your wording and ask guests if there are any accommodations that they need outside of food and travel. You may have guests who need someone to guide them due to blindness. Someone may need additional audio accommodations, or someone who understands sign language. There are multiple ways that people learn to navigate the world, and it’s your responsibility as the event manager to make sure you adjust to see what people need to feel comfortable.
Communication and Consent Questions
These types of questions are usually pretty simple and straightforward, so there’s not much that needs to be asked. Just because there’s not much to ask doesn’t detract from the importance of these questions!
Ask your guests how they want to receive updates about the event so that you can tailor their experience as much as possible. There is something special about having your communication tailored to guests so that they are receiving updates that are most accessible to them.
The last part of this is consent. You probably already have a photographer scheduled, and if not, you should probably jump on that. You need to make sure that your guests have the option to give their consent to have their face/personage posted online. This is very important!
Putting it Together
There’s something about receiving a well-thought-out, 10-minute survey that gets people on board and geared up for an event. You don’t want your survey to take too long, and you don’t want to forget key questions. Rely on your team so that they can help you with checking for any missing questions, spelling, and formatting. Don’t try and do it all alone! It’s important to rely on your team. Make sure to send out the survey several weeks ahead of time so you can adjust your event accordingly. Good luck!
