Here are some of the best questions for a Conference Participants survey about networking opportunities, plus tips to help you create surveys that actually reveal what matters. With Specific, you can build such a survey in seconds—no manual formatting, just real insights fast.
Best open-ended questions for conference participants about networking opportunities
Open-ended questions let us see the real stories, motivations, and suggestions from conference participants. They offer space for honest feedback and can uncover unexpected context. However, open-enders tend to have higher nonresponse rates; a Pew Research Center study found open-ended survey questions average about 18% nonresponse, compared to just around 1–2% for closed ones [1]. Still, when we’re looking for deeper understanding, these questions are well worth asking, particularly at networking events where personal experiences shape how value is perceived. Here are our favorite open-ended questions to unlock richer data:
What networking opportunities at this conference stood out to you, and why?
Can you describe a valuable connection you made during the event?
What challenges did you face when trying to meet new people?
How could we improve networking sessions for future conferences?
What kinds of people or companies did you wish you could have met, but didn't?
What networking formats (e.g., roundtables, speed networking, informal mixers) did you prefer?
How has your professional network grown because of this event?
Were there any barriers that made you less likely to participate in networking activities?
What would make you more likely to initiate conversations at future events?
Do you have any suggestions for tools or technology that would facilitate better networking?
Despite higher nonresponse rates, open-ended answers give organizations actionable comments—one PubMed study found that 80.7% of decision makers found these open comments “very useful” for improvement [2]. For a deeper dive on writing effective questions and analyzing narrative responses, check out our guide to creating conference participant surveys.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for networking opportunities surveys
Single-select multiple-choice questions are ideal when you need to quantify results or make it easier for participants to respond quickly. These are helpful if you want to spot trends, start a conversation, or lower friction for participants who may not have time for lengthy answers. Sometimes, choosing from concise options gets the conversation started, after which a follow-up can collect the details that matter.
Question: How satisfied are you with the networking opportunities provided at this conference?
Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied
Neutral
Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Question: Which networking format did you find most valuable?
Roundtable discussions
Speed networking
Informal mixers
Virtual breakout rooms
Other
Question: Did you make a meaningful connection with someone in your field?
Yes
No
Not sure
When to follow up with "why"? Including a “why” follow-up after a multiple-choice selection is essential if you want to dig a layer deeper. For instance, if someone selects “Somewhat dissatisfied”, a simple “Can you share why you felt this way about networking opportunities?” can give you actionable insights that go beyond numbers—so you can address specific obstacles or improve formats intelligently. Mixed approaches get results: one research study found that combining scores with open-text boosted prediction of future behavior by 27% over ratings alone[3].
When and why to add the "Other" choice? “Other” belongs in questions where your list may overlook less common but important options. Follow-up questions after an “Other” selection can surface ideas, needs, or experiences you might never have anticipated.
Should you use an NPS question to evaluate networking opportunities?
Net Promoter Score (NPS) distills complex sentiment into a single, actionable measure—“How likely are you to recommend this conference’s networking opportunities to a peer?” It’s a proven way to benchmark satisfaction and identify participants who are enthusiastic or need extra attention. For conference organizers, this offers a direct path to quantify success and segment the audience for more effective post-event communication.
We recommend including the NPS question along with a follow-up prompt for explanation. You can generate a tailored NPS survey for conference networking using Specific’s builder—fully customizable and chat-driven.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where conversational surveys truly stand out. With AI-backed logic, like in Specific’s automated follow-up questions feature, surveys adapt in real time to what someone just said—clarifying, probing, and uncovering richer detail you can actually use. Instead of filling inboxes with back-and-forth clarifications, the AI gathers context on the spot, often surfacing insights that would be missed by a static form.
Conference participant: “Networking was alright, but I didn’t really find it useful.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share more about what didn’t work for you, or what could have made networking more useful?”
Without a follow-up, we’re left guessing… while the right probe yields precise, actionable input.
How many followups to ask? For most networking-focused surveys, 2-3 smart follow-ups per open-ended question are enough. But you should enable skipping the rest once the needed information is gathered—Specific lets you set this up to optimize for depth without overburdening participants.
This makes it a conversational survey: Each response prompts personalized, relevant next questions—so instead of a cold form, participants enjoy a natural back-and-forth.
AI survey analysis is painless: even with lots of unstructured text, platforms like Specific make it easy to analyze responses using AI—you chat with the data, getting instant summaries and themes without needing to code or export spreadsheets.
This approach is new—if you’re curious, try generating a survey for networking feedback right now and see how automating follow-ups can make feedback conversations effortless.
Composing ChatGPT prompts for great networking survey questions
If you want to generate thoughtful Conference Participants survey questions about networking opportunities using AI tools like ChatGPT, start with a focused but open prompt. Being specific about your audience, goals, and event context leads to more relevant, real-world questions. For example:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Conference Participants survey about Networking Opportunities.
To get even better results, add more detail ("We're running a tech conference focused on digital transformation, and we want deep feedback on how well our structured and informal networking supported meaningful connections. Please generate open-ended survey questions."). When you give a richer prompt, AI performs better:
We're surveying participants at a large, international science conference. Our goal is to find out if our networking lounges, scheduled meetups, and app-based matchmaking helped attendees connect meaningfully. Suggest 10 open-ended questions that help us learn what went well, what was missing, and new ideas to try.
After you’ve got questions, you can prompt the AI again:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Next, review the categories and pick the ones you want to go deeper on. Then ask:
Generate 10 questions for categories "Barriers to Networking" and "Technology for Connections".
That’s how to keep iterating until you’ve got a survey tailored for actionable insights. If you’d prefer a more guided workflow, Specific has an AI survey generator that streamlines this process for you.
What is a conversational survey (and why make one for networking?)
A conversational survey transforms the rigid, impersonal questionnaire into an interactive chat. Instead of giving answers with no context, participants engage in a flow that probes, clarifies, and adapts—resulting in more honest and detailed responses. Using an AI survey editor makes this creation process radically simpler than the manual drag-and-drop forms of the past.
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Surveys |
|---|---|
Static, can’t rephrase questions on the fly | Dynamic—AI adapts and follows up based on previous answers |
Time consuming to build and edit | Simple to generate, edit instantly with plain language |
Limited context collection | Context-rich, collects detail where it counts |
Can feel impersonal | Feels like a chat; more engaging, friendlier |
A field study showed surveys done via AI chatbots yield significantly better responses for informativeness, relevance, and clarity than traditional web surveys [4]. This boosts both the quality and usefulness of networking feedback.
Why use AI for conference participant surveys? Conferences are busy, and participants only have so much patience for forms. Using an AI survey example means more responses, fewer incomplete answers, and richer detail in every comment. With Specific, your conversational survey feels like a natural extension of the conference experience—easy for attendees, effortless for organizers.
The advantages are clear if you want actionable feedback: you can focus on making your conference’s networking opportunities world-class, instead of fighting with spreadsheets or guessing what attendees meant in single-sentence replies. For tactical steps on setup, check out our article on how to create a conference networking survey.
See this networking opportunities survey example now
Ready to turn piles of vague feedback into clear, actionable insight? See how a conversational AI survey with smart follow-ups can instantly reveal what really works (and what doesn’t) in your conference networking efforts—while making life easier for both organizers and participants.