Best questions for event attendee survey about check in experience

Here are some of the best questions for an event attendee survey about check in experience, and practical tips on how to craft them. We’ve also included advice on generating your own survey in seconds with Specific—just build an AI survey now and explore next-level feedback.

Best open-ended questions to ask event attendees about check in experience

Open-ended questions are essential when we want deeper insights—beyond just yes/no or fixed responses. They encourage event attendees to share specific moments and emotions, revealing overlooked issues or surprising positives. Use these anytime you want qualitative feedback or discover the “why” behind your check-in process.

1. Can you walk us through your check in experience from arrival to receiving your badge?

2. What, if anything, surprised you during check in?

3. Describe how the check in process made you feel as you first arrived at the event.

4. Were there any parts of the check in that you found confusing or unclear?

5. Can you share a memorable moment—positive or negative—from your check in experience?

6. How did the staff or technology involved in check in meet or fall short of your expectations?

7. If you could change one thing about the check in experience, what would it be and why?

8. How would you compare this event’s check in process to other events you’ve attended?

9. Did you encounter any delays? Tell us more about the cause and how it was resolved.

10. After check in, how prepared and welcomed did you feel?

Using open-ended questions like these can lead to detailed responses—helping organizers understand what’s working and what needs attention. Research shows that conversational, open-style feedback not only yields more nuanced perspectives but also delivers greater data quality for improvement. [5]

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for event attendee check in surveys

Single-select multiple-choice questions are great when you want to quantify responses, spot trends fast, or ease your guests into the survey. Sometimes, it’s simply easier for event attendees to pick from a few quick options—getting the conversation started so follow-up questions can dig into specifics.

Question: How easy was the check in process at this event?

• Very easy

• Somewhat easy

• Neutral

• Somewhat difficult

• Very difficult

Question: How long did your check in take?

• Less than 1 minute

• 1–3 minutes

• 3–5 minutes

• More than 5 minutes

• Other

Question: Which check in method did you use today?

• Self-service terminal

• QR code scan

• Manual desk check in

• Mobile app

• Other

When to followup with "why?" We recommend asking “why?” after a selection to uncover the reasons behind an answer. For instance, if someone selects “More than 5 minutes” for check in duration, a targeted follow-up like, “Could you describe what caused the delay?” leads you to actionable feedback and patterns.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add an “Other” option when the list of possible responses might not cover every scenario. Attendees sometimes pick “Other” and elaborate in followup, revealing issues such as tech glitches or security cues that you never anticipated. These surprises give you huge opportunities for improvement.

NPS question for event attendee check in feedback

NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a trusted metric that assesses how likely attendees are to recommend your event—or a part of it, like check in—to others. Asking for a “likelihood to recommend” on a scale helps you benchmark attendee sentiment, set improvement goals, and spot your true promoters or detractors. For check in experience, NPS is particularly useful because 80% of event attendees prefer seamless, tech-facilitated check in, so measuring their enthusiasm or frustration in this area can directly improve future events. [2] We’ve even set up a dedicated NPS survey builder for this: launch your NPS check in survey with Specific.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are the secret behind deeper survey insights. By having a conversation—rather than just static forms—you clarify meaning, draw out examples, and get the full picture from every attendee. Conversational surveys that use AI-driven follow-ups result in much richer, actionable data, and they lead to higher completion rates because respondents feel heard instead of interrogated. [4][7]

Specific’s automated follow-ups, described in detail here, use AI to ask context-aware questions in real time—just like a skilled researcher would. This means you gather context, direction, and actionable next steps fast, and don’t have to waste days on post-event email chains trying to clarify vague feedback.

• Event attendee: "Check in took too long."

• AI follow-up: "Can you share what caused the wait at check in? Was it a specific line, technical issue, or something else?"

How many followups to ask? Usually, two to three follow-ups strike the right balance—enough to clarify and explore, but not so many that it feels tedious. You can always set a skip-to-next rule once you’ve collected what you need. Specific has a toggle for this in survey settings, so fine-tuning is simple.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a cold form, feedback flows naturally—respondents genuinely engage as if chatting with a person, yielding honest and complete answers.

AI survey analysis, easy AI insights: Analyzing pages of unstructured responses used to be daunting. Now, AI instantly summarizes themes and surfaces trends. If you need more, chat with the data directly. You can see how this works here or on our AI survey response analysis page.

The value of automated, conversational follow-ups is so impactful that we always suggest generating your own survey to feel the difference—try it out and notice how the conversation-level feedback changes everything.

How to prompt ChatGPT (or any GPT) to generate questions for event attendee check in surveys

If you’d like to brainstorm survey questions with AI, start with a focused prompt, like below:

First, for an initial question draft:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Event Attendee survey about Check In Experience.

But if you want truly “smart” results, always give the AI more context: describe your event type, attendee expectations, what you hope to learn, and specific challenges faced in the past. The more context, the better:

I'm creating a survey for a technology conference where we recently implemented a new QR code check in. Attendees range from tech-savvy to first-time visitors. We want to know what went well and what could be improved about the check in process, especially compared to previous years when we used manual check in.

To structure your questions for easier review, prompt the AI to:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Once you have those categories (like “speed,” “staff interactions,” “technology usability”), prompt with:

Generate 10 questions for categories Speed, Staff Interactions, and Technology Usability.

Changing the categories lets you focus your survey on what matters most for your event’s context.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is exactly what it sounds like—it replaces traditional, rigid forms with an interactive chat-based interface. Respondents answer questions in a sequence that flows like a real conversation, with the AI following up based on previous responses and requesting details if it senses vagueness or ambiguity.

This approach stands out for several reasons:

• Engagement is higher—people enjoy chatting far more than filling in forms.

• Completion rates skyrocket, with conversational surveys seeing up to 40% higher finishes than legacy surveys. [7]

• Quality of data is significantly better, because respondents actually share “the real story.” [5][6]

See the difference:

Why use AI for event attendee surveys? Because today’s attendees expect fast, seamless, and even touchless experiences at check in—and so they expect the same simplicity in feedback. They’re much more likely to respond if the survey is as smooth as the event itself. Leveraging a tool like Specific for AI survey examples brings both the power of conversation and the expertise of research pros to your fingertips.

Specific makes conversational surveys intuitive and attractive for everyone involved, whether you need to create a survey from scratch or customize an expert-made template. Dive deeper into how to create an event attendee check in survey with our detailed guide, or use our AI survey generator to get your next feedback loop started.

See this check in experience survey example now

You can capture event attendee feedback about check in instantly, enjoy effortless analysis, and uncover trends faster by using an AI-driven, conversational survey. Don’t miss out on the depth of insights and the ease of follow-up that Specific delivers.