You know more than anyone just how much goes into planning the perfect event. It’s on you to nail the right setting, the invitations, the music, and the small yet significant details that bring it all together. 

There’s nothing better than seeing the delight on your clients’ faces when they see your vision come to life on the day of the event. But the times that your work didn’t live up to their expectations? Eek! We don’t ever want you to be in that position. 

One way to knock your events out of the park is to include an event planning questionnaire as part of your discovery process. By asking your clients the right questions pre-event, you can rest assured that you’ll deliver the event experience your clients are after.

Get our event planning questionnaire template

Content Snare is here to help you nail your next event. Sign up to access our event planning questionnaire template and save yourself lots of time prepping your own.

Start your trial here

What questions should I ask clients in my event planning questionnaire? 

Here are 20 questions to ask in your event survey that can be applied to just about any event management process - weddings, graduations, corporate events, conferences, fundraisers, birthdays, networking events, and the list goes on!

Questions about the working relationship 

Ask these questions to get a feel for what the client is looking for when working with you as an event planner. 

1. Have you worked with an event planner before? If so, how was that experience? What went well and what didn’t?
   
   
2. What is the most important thing to you in a working relationship with an event planner? What do you need most from me?
   
   
3. What is your preferred method of contact? Are there any best hours to reach you?
   
   
4. How hands-on or hands-off would you like to be in the process of planning your event? Are you set on your own ideas? Do you expect to work collaboratively or hand most things off to me?

Questions about event specifics 

Ask these questions to understand exactly what type of event you’re planning. 

5. What type of event are you planning? What’s the occasion?
   
   
6. Do you have an event location/venue yet?
   
   
7. How many people do you plan to invite?
   
   
8. How will you be inviting guests?
   
   
9. Can you describe the demographic you’re inviting?
   
   
10. Do any of your guests have personal challenges the event will need to accommodate (e.g. disability access)?
    
    
11. What is your desired start and end time of the event?
    
    
12. What is your main goal for this event?
    
    
13. How will you measure the events’ success (ticket sales/ profit/online reviews/ social media engagement?)
    
    
14. What is your total budget or budget per person?
    
    
15. Do you plan to purchase event insurance?
    
    
16. Will you need sponsors?
    
    
17. Do you have any concerns or potential challenges in mind for this event? Are there any other events taking place that might be competing with yours?
    
    
18. What food options would you like to offer guests?
    
    
19. What other dietary options will you need to offer (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free)?
    
    
20. What beverage options would you like to offer guests?
    
    
21. What types of vendors will you need for the event?
    
    - Photographer
    - Videographer
    - Caterer
    - Baker
    - Attire
    - Band
    - DJ
    - Transportation
    - MC
    - Photobooth
    - Lighting
    - Accommodations
    - Bartender
    - Rentals - tables, chairs, chair covers
    - Invitations
    - Decor
    - Salon/Spa
    - Florist
    - Other (please list) 

Questions about client preferences 

Ask these questions to narrow down what’s most important to the client and where their preferences lie. 

22. What are your top 3 must-haves for your event?
    
    
23. What are 3 things you definitely do not want for your event?
    
    
24. Do you have a theme in mind?
    
    
25. Do you have a colour palette in mind for your theme?
    
    
26. Have you collected any visual aids like a mood board / Pinterest collection to guide the event that you can share with me?
    
    
27. How would you like guests to feel as soon as they arrive?
    
    
28. How would you describe the atmosphere you’re looking to create?
    
    
29. What impression would you like guests to leave with? 

Questions about extra support needed

Ask this question to find out what other tasks your client needs your assistance with.

30. Do you need my assistance with:
    
    - Sourcing vendors?
    - Finding sponsors?
    - Coordinating travel + accommodation for guests?
    - Marketing your event?
    - Finding volunteers?
    - Developing a menu?
    - Gathering post-event feedback?
    - Anything else? (Please specify) 

What’s the best way to create an event survey? 

You can create and send out your event survey using a few different tools. We’ll explore some pros and cons here. 

Use online forms like Google Forms, Gravity Forms

Google Forms and Gravity Forms are two online forms tools you can explore to develop your event planning questionnaire. They are easy to use but two things to keep in mind are that:

1. Clients have to finish forms in one go

Ideally, you want to make life as easy as possible for your client. And when they use online forms like these, they have to submit all their answers in one go. They can’t save their work and come back to the form later when they have more time. If your client has to deal with inconveniences like this, it will only mean that there will be delays in getting content back from them.

2. You need to use email to follow up on form completion   

The downside of using online forms like Google Forms or Gravity Forms is that it’s still on you to do the manual work of following up with your client over email to remind them to complete your survey. This can be a huge time suck!

Use a purpose-built tool like Content Snare

When you use a tool like Content Snare intended to collect this kind of information, you avoid these two headaches.

1. Clients can fill out the questionnaire in chunks 

When your client gets their questionnaire through Content Snare, they can answer as much of it as they want to, and come back to it later. Easy peasy. With an auto-save feature built into the forms, all information is saved and your clients can complete the form over multiple sessions, picking up where they left off last.

2. You don’t need to use email to follow up 

Content Snare cuts out the need for you to send email reminders. You can choose how often you want the platform to send your clients reminders then sit back and let it do the work for you. Content Snare will remind your clients to complete the questionnaire till all the information is complete and received.

We hope the questions and tools in this post have given you some helpful guidance on how to put together an event planning questionnaire to improve your pre-event discovery. 

Are there any other questions you think are worth asking in an event survey? Let us know in the comments!

Save time with our event planning questionnaire template

Content Snare is here to help you plan your next event. Sign up to access our event planning questionnaire template and save yourself lots of time prepping your own.

Start your trial here

What Size are Most State Park Picnic Tables?

While no industry is generally standardized across the board, there are some key benefits to standardization. In the case of procurement – standardized sizing can make a lot of sense. As a purchaser of outdoor furniture and amenities for public facing or commercial outdoor spaces, size standardization can help showcase other more important value metrics as a result of the market already putting a standard size out there. Park Managers, buyers and purchasing agents for outdoor furniture including picnic tables get to focus on what really matters, like relative value and the ability of the product to serve the needs of all parties involved because of this sizing similarity. 

Most State Park picnic tables are substantially similar in sizing. In fact, most picnic tables in general are substantially similar in sizing. Basically the range of sizing is tight for this style of park furniture. A lot of manufacturers offer 4 foot rectangular picnic tables and 6 foot rectangular picnic tables and 8 foot picnic tables. Similarly, you will find “standardized” sizing in other formats of picnic tables that bridges across manufacturers. 

In this article, we’d like to talk about how sizing can positively impact the purchasing process, and ultimately the value of the outdoor furniture placed in a park, to the end-user. Furthermore, because it’s hard to measure things that aren’t fully tangible, like end-user satisfaction and utilization of outdoor furniture, this article is also about how we – Premier Polysteel, can help you as a park manager or other buying specialist of furniture. 

Let’s talk about standardized sizing in the picnic table market

Picnic tables as a marketplace seem to be ubiquitous at a single glance. Many look the same, are built the same, offer the same benefits, and are made by commodity producers. But great outdoor furniture is not simply a commodity product. The best outdoor furniture – furniture capable of long lives, in highly trafficked areas, with good looks and a human centric design is anything but a commodity. 

Sure this is a great place to plug our product, after all, we’ve been a beloved brand for decades and offer a best in class product. But let’s talk about standardized sizing and why it can help you as a purchasing agent of outdoor furniture for a recreational space make a better overall selection. 

The sizing is basically standardized within a relatively tight range because people like to associate in that way, in a public space. The seating surface length, and the table length on rectangular picnic tables gives enough space for everyone to feel comfortable generally, while still allowing good human interaction. 

For round picnic tables, the closer spacing between users de-prioritizes the tabletop surface in favor of a more communal feel. These two styles are able to serve as the two majority pillars in the marketplace for picnic tables. 

Which sizes of picnic tables are most popular and why?

You’ll generally find that a 6 foot long rectangular picnic table is pretty “standard”. This allows users to get enough room for studying (picnic tables on a University campus for instance), eating (in a food service or park setting), or playing a board game (picnic tables placed in a relaxed community park, perhaps). The benefit here is the extra space a tabletop can give and the room for 3-4 people on each side of the picnic table, depending on the user. It’s inclusive, but still public space. You may find 8 foot picnic tables in larger park areas or where longer stays are expected by users. 

For round tables, you get the benefit of the tighter interaction distances, which can help to create more intimate scenarios, where conversation, or group activities can flourish. Most round picnic tables have a similar sizing scheme as well. Round picnic tables have better ingress and egress generally for tight spaces, and take up less room overall when laid out in a larger space. The walkways are enhanced with the small caveat of less surface area on the tabletop on a per user basis relative to other designs. 

You can see both styles in many different scenarios, with larger rectangular tables being more popular in larger open areas, and round picnic tables being more popular where food services are more prevalent, and smaller group sizes on average, are utilizing the area. 

How can different sizes of state park picnic tables help you accomplish different goals in your park or recreational areas?

As you can see above, these types of options, even just when choosing from two standard market offerings (e.g. 6 or 8 foot picnic tables), allow for a lot of customization and flexibility in designing a space. 

When you add to the mix, square picnic tables for small, more intimate groups of users, and accessible table designs that allow for broader inclusivity and better overall use case breadth, you can easily get great results with just a few changes or additions to your park-like setting. 

Larger rectangular tables are great for when you have people using the tabletop for larger items like textbooks or food trays, or placing food for groups. 

Small rectangular table tops allow for easier conversation and still give enough distance that strangers can be comfortable in a first time conversation without being too close. Even in a post COVID world, people want to chat, and meet each other and have human interactions in safe, fun spaces. 

Accessibility compliant picnic tables allow for better overall site planning and help to create memorable spaces for all visitors, as well as prioritize more space between furniture, and more room to utilize the table or bench. 

What factors matter significantly when selecting the right park furniture, including park benches?

Sizing and design are important from a footprint and customer use case perspective, but these aren’t the only attributes about a picnic table or a park bench, or other outdoor furniture that makes it valuable over the long term – here are some concepts to get familiar with as a buyer of commercial quality outdoor furniture and amenities. 

• Longevity of the products

• Durability stability and balance

• Good looks and easy integration into many styles/backdrops

• Overall cost of ownership

• Usefulness of the overall design

• A proven warranty

The value proposition of Premier Polysteel state park picnic tables and other outdoor park furniture

Longevity of the products

Rust proof, weatherproof, temperature agnostic, coated in polyvinyl, and not subject to UV deterioration, mold, mildew, or pests – you get a product that can be cleaned as often as is needed, without ever wearing out. Our products look good for decades and perform as promised because they are built out of the right materials and have the right designs. 

Durability, stability and balance

We build from premium steel, with optimally placed supports and quality construction techniques. Our fabrication and welding teams are based in the USA, and offer impeccable quality of work. We have mounts and supports that can maintain placement for many years, and our products are suitable for any user. As for strength and balance: we have placed a car on top of one of our picnic tables – how is that for a test of construction quality?

Good looks and easy integration into many styles

Twelve colors, simple lines, solid design philosophies and easily integrated into any setting – this is why Premier Polysteel outdoor furniture products are so popular – from the outside looking in – they work. When you also factor in the other details – they work better.

Overall cost of ownership

Our maintenance requirements are lower than all competition in the space; our prices are competitive, and we back our products relentlessly for quality. Less deterioration and maintenance means better total cost of ownership. 

Usefulness of the overall design

A picnic table should be more than just a tabletop and a bench. We build little details into our proven products. Things like easy water drainage, simple maintenance, umbrella holes and cohesive collections of other complementary furniture.  

A proven warranty

We offer a 20 year limited warranty, standard, on our picnic tables and our other manufactured outdoor furniture. We know our products can outlast that warranty, but we offer it to improve our customers’ peace of mind. 

We would love to work with you. Please visit our shop to see our products in the outdoor furniture space. If you have questions or need something specific, our customer representatives are very experienced in working with park managers, and can help you build a picture perfect, properly outfitted park.