21+ Common Attendee Event FAQs and How to Answer Them (2024)

How much time do you and your team spend answering attendee questions, either before or during an event? If you’re spending a significant amount of time on this, chances are your event FAQ needs updating. A FAQ document is useful for any event, no matter how small, and creating one can save you a considerable amount of time and effort.

Why You Need an Event FAQ

When you host an event, it’s not enough to point attendees to the venue and then leave them to it. Some people will intuitively know how to get the most out of a corporate event or conference, but this won’t be the case for every attendee. While you can’t guess every unique problem ahead of time, it’s definitely possible to anticipate the most common problems and questions that attendees are likely to have.

Creating an event FAQ is the best way to deal with these common issues, for two reasons:

1. It’s a more convenient way for attendees to find solutions to common problems – If they can look up an FAQ, they don’t have to spend time waiting on the phone or in line at the event to find a solution.
2. It’s more convenient for you – Providing a FAQ resource means you and your team don’t have to worry about dealing with those common, easy-to-solve issues that might otherwise eat up a lot of your time.

Event Frequently Asked Questions: Choose Well

There are two important aspects to creating a useful FAQ:

1. Correctly anticipating what questions and problems attendees are likely to have
2. Making the solutions available in the most logical places

The first part of the process is all about choosing the right questions. If it’s your first event, this may be a little more difficult because you may not have a firm idea of what questions or problems attendees are likely to encounter. Checking out other event websites can help you understand what the most common trouble spots might be.

Otherwise, spend some time thinking about the various processes that attendees go through to attend an event—registration, ticket sales, check-in, and so on. For each process, consider if there are any trouble spots where further clarification may be helpful.

If you’ve hosted previous events, you may already have the data you need. Some places to look might include data from:

• Post-event surveys or social media polls
• Emails and notes from previous event attendees
• Data from team members who’ve worked customer service at previous events

The Most Common Event FAQs

FAQs should always be short and to the point. Aim to answer each question as succinctly as possible. If any require longer answers, consider providing a short answer with a link the user can click on if they need more information. That gives your users options, without turning your FAQ page into an unwieldy monster.

Here are just a sampling of common event FAQ:

Prior to the Event

1. What do the different ticketing prices mean?
2. Are earlybird discounts available?
3. Are there VIP tickets with perks available?
4. Is there preferred accommodation I can book?
5. How secure are my credit card details?
6. If I book my ticket online, how do I collect my ticket?
7. Where can I review my registration information?
8. Can I register and buy a ticket at the event?
9. Can I get a refund if I change my mind about attending?
10. If the event is canceled, how do I obtain a refund?
11. I booked the wrong session; can I change my booking?
12. I can’t pay by credit card; is there an alternate payment method?
13. I have special accessibility needs/dietary requirements; can you accommodate me?
14. Is there a dress code for the event?
15. Where can I find information about the event agenda and schedule?

At the Event

16. What parking arrangements are available at the venue?
17. I booked at the preferred hotel. Are there any shuttles organized to transport me to the event?
18. Where do I go to check in?
19. Where can I buy a ticket on-site?
20. Where is the keynote/my next session/the exhibition hall located?
21. If I lose my ticket, where can I get a replacement?
22. How do I download the event app?
23. Are there breakout sessions? Where can I find information about them?

Where to Answer Common Attendee Questions

Once you’ve determined what questions need to be addressed in an event FAQ, the next step is to decide how you want to make that information available. In general, FAQs should be easy to find and access, and it’s usually best to provide important information in at least two different locations. Some options include:

Event website: Most people will head to your event website when they have questions in the weeks prior to the event. Before it actually starts, this is the logical place to provide details about registration, scheduling, and other need-to-know info. You can also include FAQs and info about event attendance, as a backup for those who can’t or don’t want to use the event app.

Email blast: A day or two prior to the event is a good time to send out an email blast with links to the most important “need-to-know” info for the event. This means things like:

• Check-in and registration locations
• Shuttle timetables
• Instructions for downloading the event app
• And any other info attendees should have in advance of the start of the event

Event app: All FAQs and troubleshooting information relating to event attendance should be made available on the event app. Most people will find an app easier and faster to navigate than the event website, and it’s generally more convenient to use the event app when you’re actually at the event.

Information kiosks: Most attendees will prefer to use the event app or website to answer common questions, but there are a couple good reasons to have at least one information kiosk that’s staffed by a real person.

1. Some attendees will have problems that aren’t covered on the website or app FAQ. It’s generally a good idea to have one or more people ready to deal with those situations.
2. It’s important to provide a source of information and help that doesn’t rely on the user’s phone. People may forget or lose their phones; or their phone may run out of juice; or maybe they just prefer to deal with a real person when they have a problem.

Good Event FAQ Provide Help When It’s Needed

When attendees have problems, it’s important that the solution is both easy to find, easy to access, and easy to implement. Event FAQs should do all three. And by turning potential problems into solutions, they help ensure every attendee can enjoy the event as intended.