Online Registration
As a meeting planner, you know that there are many steps to creating an awesome event! After the beginning stages of venue coordination and reviewing feedback from past events (we’ll get to that later) to marketing and planning the perfect catering, every step is essential! Another essential step is creating a registration platform that is easy to use and efficient in gathering the details you need! Read on to learn about online conference registration platforms and how they can ensure smooth sailing for your next event. Plus, get informed about how to ask the right questions in your post-event survey.
Utilizing online registration platforms such as Jotform makes for a seamless and easy registration for attendees, and planners. It has everything you need in one place! From sharing general information such as the schedule, and event and/or hotel location, to payment processing, online registration is the way to go for your next event. Visit Greater St. Cloud offers FREE registration assistance as well as other complimentary event services! The Marketing and Services Coordinator works with meeting planners to create a registration page with all of your specific needs! Connect with the team at Visit Greater St. Cloud to learn more and get started.
When creating an online registration form, it is important to think through what information you will need to gather. For example, if there will be meals included at the conference attendees will need to confirm if they will be having meals, what meal choices they will be having and if they have any dietary restrictions or preferences.
Registration should also include: Emergency contact information, association membership information (for non-members), accessibility needs, and whether or not they are a first time attendee so you can offer a special welcome to the event!
Other things to keep in mind for your registration: Can you garner topics of interest in order to fill time slots with the most relevant and requested information? What are attendees hoping to learn at the event? If the event has breakout sessions, will conference goers need to register for what breakouts they plan to attend?
For conferences that are several days, will there be a choice to attend part of the conference instead of all of it? And how will this reflect pricing and meal choices?
All of these are great questions to keep in mind as you plan for an event. Of course, every conference is different, and customization is key! One of the many benefits of doing registration online is the ability to share the registration with the conference committee as a draft and edit as needed before sharing the finalized version! Lastly, choosing a deadline for registration is necessary for event planning logistics such as catering needs and classroom sizes for breakout rooms.
Post Event Surveys
When crafting a survey keep in mind the intention of the survey and, arguably most importantly, have a plan for how you will best use the feedback you receive. Keep reading to learn more about the planning that goes into creating an effective survey.
When creating the survey, it is important to keep in mind who will be viewing and using the results. Is your survey for planning committee use, reporting to the board, gauging interest on topics, garnering input, or receiving feedback comments that can be used to promote the event the next year? Whether you’re using the survey for just one of the listed uses, or all of them, effective questions and easy to use formatting are essential.
To start, keep it simple with basic questions. A few examples of basic questions to ask for post-event surveys could include:
- Overall, how do you rate your experience at the conference?
- How satisfied were you with the breakout sessions?
- How do you rate the catering?
- Overall, were you satisfied with the venue?
Another aspect to keep in mind is the design of the survey itself. For these types of questions, rating scales and multiple choice questions work best. Generally speaking, the quicker the survey is to complete, the more people will respond. Built in features such as 1-5 scales, or multiple choice questions are ideal.
However, open-ended questions are necessary to get more personalized and detailed feedback from attendees. More complex questions such as asking for comments and complaints about the conference, will need to be formatted with a text box for responses.
Setting a timeline for survey responses is also important. The timeline can vary, it is best to have ample time to look over and analyze results with plenty of time prior to planning the next conference. This allows planners to actively utilize the feedback to improve for next time! Afterall, the most important part of an event survey is reflecting on the results and using those responses as a guide to plan an even better event in the future!
Let registration and surveys be a tool that drives meaningful discussion and brainstorming for your organization from the folks that are attending, use these in your decision-making process and get specific in your questions.
Contact Visit Greater St. Cloud to learn details about online registration, and event surveys for your next conference in Greater St. Cloud!