12 Innovative In-Person Event Strategies for Gathering Customer Feedback

"What are some creative ways you’ve used in-person events to gather feedback or insights from customers?"

Here is what 12 thought leaders had to say.

Mobile Game Lounge Boosts Cannabis Feedback

I've found cannabis consumers are incredibly open to sharing feedback when you create the right environment. One of our most successful approaches was our "Mobile Game Lounge" concept - we converted a branded Sprinter van with gaming consoles, parked outside dispensaries, and invited customers to play NBA 2K or Mario Kart while casually discussing their cannabis preferences. This relaxed setting yielded remarkably candid insights about product preferences that formal surveys never captured.

In-store tasting events (where legally permitted) have been goldmines for customer feedback. During a recent strain launch, we set up "terpene stations" where customers could smell different profiles while budtenders explained effects. We incorporated QR-coded feedback cards that rewarded participation with store credit. The completion rate hit 78% compared to our typical 15% for email surveys.

For deeper qualitative insights, our "VIP Preview Nights" gave loyal customers early access to new products in exchange for detailed feedback. The exclusivity factor motivated thorough responses, and the direct conversations revealed unexpected use cases we hadn't considered. This approach directly influenced our product development pipeline and messaging strategy.

The key is creating environments where providing feedback feels like a natural extension of an enjoyable experience rather than a chore. When customers don't realize they're participating in market research, they share their unfiltered thoughts - which is exactly what you need to drive meaningful innovation.

Stephen Gold, Business Owner, The Gold Standard

UGC Feedback Cards Inspire New Campaign

Handing out feedback cards at the end of UGC shoot days worked better than expected. People felt more relaxed after filming and shared honest opinions. One mom even wrote down product ideas that ended up shaping a whole new campaign. Short forms worked best--nothing fancy, just one or two open questions like "What did you like?" and "What felt off?"

Also set up a little "video booth" at a pop-up once. Offered a small gift if they'd record a quick clip about their experience. Those off-the-cuff answers were gold. It's one thing to send a survey--it's another to hear the tone in someone's voice when they say, "This felt easy" or "I didn't get why we had to do that step."

Natalia Lavrenenko, UGC manager/Marketing manager, Rathly

Transportation Services Uncover Unique Customer Insights

As the marketing lead at Limitless Limo, I've found that transportation services offer unique opportunities for gathering customer insights that many businesses miss. Our vehicles become moving focus groups where customers are relaxed and engaged for extended periods.

One of our most successful feedback initiatives has been our "Journey Journal" program during Kentucky Bourbon Trail tours. We place custom notebooks in our limos where guests document their experience throughout the day, resulting in remarkably candid commentary about both our service and what they value most in premium transportation.

We've also implemented what we call "Chauffeur Conversations" - structured but casual discussion prompts our drivers use during appropriate moments of longer rides to sporting events or concerts. These have revealed surprising insights about amenities customers actually use versus what they think they want when booking. For example, we learned most customers prefer improved mobile charging stations over more elaborate bar setups.

My favorite technique is our "Special Event Surveys with Incentives" where we offer discounts on future bookings in exchange for detailed feedback after major events like OSU games or concerts at Nationwide Arena. We specifically ask about pain points in their travel experience, which led us to develop our "Venue Fast Track" service that uses drivers' local knowledge to avoid traffic bottlenecks - now one of our most requested premium add-ons.

Allison Andrews, Director of Sales & Marketing, Limitless Limo

Fulfillment Speed Dating Reveals Merchant Priorities

At Fulfill.com, we've found in-person events to be goldmines for authentic customer feedback. Trade shows like IRCE and ShopTalk have been particularly valuable for us to connect with both 3PLs and merchants in a more relaxed setting than a typical Zoom call.

One approach that's worked exceptionally well is our "Fulfillment Speed Dating" sessions at industry conferences. We'll set up a casual environment where eCommerce businesses can rotate through quick conversations with multiple 3PL providers. This not only helps merchants find potential partners but gives us incredible insights into what questions merchants are asking and what criteria they prioritize. We observe these interactions in real-time, which is far more revealing than any survey could be.

We also host regional "Warehouse & Wine" networking events where we bring together local 3PLs and eCommerce brands. The informal setting over drinks creates an environment where people share challenges they might not mention in formal settings. I remember at one event in Chicago, a conversation about seasonal shipping challenges led to a completely new feature in our matching algorithm that accounts for geographic weather patterns.

Interactive demonstration stations at our booth spaces have also proven effective. Instead of traditional demos, we create scenarios where visitors can "play" with our matching platform and observe their natural navigation patterns. We'll intentionally leave out instructions to see what's intuitive and what's not.

Perhaps most valuable are the impromptu dinners we organize during multi-day events. Breaking bread together cuts through formal business conversations and reveals the human challenges behind the logistics problems we're trying to solve. Some of our most significant platform improvements have come from casual comments made over appetizers, not from formal feedback channels.

When you're in logistics, nothing replaces seeing the actual pain points in person rather than just reading about them in a survey response.

Joe Spisak, CEO, Fulfill.com

Industry Expos Offer Real-Time Product Feedback

In my experience, one of the most effective in-person events for gathering customer feedback has been our participation in major industry expos, like CES, where we launched the Robosen Elite Optimus Prime. At these events, we engage directly with tech enthusiasts and collectors, allowing us to observe how they interact with the product in real-time and collect immediate feedback on features and usability, which greatly informs future iterations.

Another approach is facilitating targeted workshops with stakeholders. When redesigning Channel Bakers' online presence, we conducted collaborative, in-person workshops that included live user testing. This allowed us to capture nuanced insights and solve pain points directly through visual and structural changes to their site architecture, effectively aligning it with user preferences.

For the SOM Aesthetics brand launch, we took advantage of participation in beauty expos, setting up aesthetically designed spaces to match the brand's identity. We observed potential customers’ reacrions to various brand elements in a real-world setting, gaining insights into how the visual identity resonated with demographics that value natural beauty and luxury, refining our branding communication strategies.

Tony Crisp, CEO & Co-Founder, CRISPx

Reaction Rooms Reveal True Customer Behavior

I've helped clients design "reaction rooms" where event participants experience product prototypes in controlled environments while we observe their natural behaviors. 

A colleague in consumer electronics set up living room mock-ups where attendees tested new smart home devices while cameras captured their expressions and attempts at device operation. These staged micro-environments revealed actual usage patterns vastly different from what customers self-reported in surveys. Creating these observation spaces requires minimal extra floor space but yields profound insights. 

My recommendation: design your next product demo area with discrete observation capabilities--watching how customers naturally interact tells you far more than what they claim during formal feedback sessions.

Michelle Garrison, Event Tech and AI Strategist, We & Goliath

Departure Lounge Chats Yield Honest Feedback

At LAXcar, we're constantly refining the guest experience, and some of our most valuable insights have come directly from the people we serve at events, not from surveys.

One of the creative ways we've done this is by establishing a Departure Lounge at large affairs such as weddings, galas, and conferences. We provide bottled water, mints, or phone chargers while guests are waiting for their ride, and chat with them like it's a normal conversation. Instead of formal queries, we watch for signs: "How was the wait time?" "Did you find the driver easily?" "Did you find the driver easily?" That sort of casual flow gives us brutally honest, highly actionable feedback, without the pressure of a post-event form.

We've also utilized ride-along team members in plain clothes at VIP events to witness transitions and interact with passengers as peers. It's not about scripted interviews - it's about recording authentic emotions in real time. This kind of human-centered insight allowed us to redesign our pickup signage system and add post-event follow-up that helped drive a 22% year-over-year increase in repeat bookings from our event clients over the past year. The ability to give feedback in real-time, in the same place as the experience, has changed the game.

Arsen Misakyan, CEO and Founder, LAXcar

Product Roast Event Unlocks Brutal Honesty

One of the most surprisingly effective ways I've gathered customer insight at in-person events? We hosted a "Product Roast."

Yup, we gave our users permission to roast the hell out of our product--live, unscripted, in front of our team. The setup was simple: we invited a mix of power users and casual users to a low-key launch event, handed them mics, and told them, "Nothing is off limits. Tell us what confused you, what annoyed you, what you secretly think sucks."

People lit up.

The energy totally shifted once we gave people permission to be brutally honest in a fun format. One user did a dramatic reenactment of how many taps it took to find her favorite content. Another mimed falling asleep during our onboarding flow. We were laughing, taking furious notes, and collecting the most actionable feedback we'd ever gotten--because people weren't trying to be polite.

What made this work was the vibe: we weren't asking for feedback in a vacuum. We made it social. We made it entertaining. And more importantly, we showed up with humility. That's what unlocked the gold. People will tell you the truth when they can tell you're ready to hear it.

Would totally recommend it to any founder or PM who's tired of sugarcoated surveys and one-word feedback forms.

Derek Pankaew, CEO & Founder, Listening.com

Community Mental Health Days Enhance Service

As the CEO of Bridges of the Mind Psychological Services, I've found in-person events crucial for understanding client needs more deeply. One of our most effective strategies has been organizing "Community Mental Health Days" at local schools and community centers. These events allow families to explore our services while providing immediate feedback on what they're seeking in psychological care, which has informed our service improvements and outreach strategies.

Additionally, we host interactive workshops focused on neurodevelopmental assessments where parents and educational professionals experience parts of the testing process firsthand. This setting encourages open dialogue and insights about what aspects they find helpful or confusing. We've used this feedback to streamline our assessment reports and make them more parent-friendly, enhancing overall client satisfaction. 

By incorporating these interactive elements into in-person events, we create an environment where feedback is naturally integrated into the experience, allowing us to continue refining our offerings to better serve our neurodiverse community.

Erika Frieze, Owner & CEO, Bridges of the Mind

Aerial Demos Provide Valuable Homeowner Insights

As the founder of Peak Builders & Roofers, I've found that aerial demonstration events create incredible feedback opportunities. We host "Roof Health Check" days where we bring our drones to community centers or HOA meetings, giving live demonstrations of our aerial inspection process and showing homeowners what we see when evaluating roofs.

These events yield amazing insights. While demonstrating our tech, we capture candid reactions about what visual information actually matters to property owners versus what we thought would matter. We finded homeowners were far more interested in seeing comparative imagery of their roof against properly maintained ones than the technical damage indicators we initially emphasized.

Our most successful feedback initiative has been our "Before & After Flight Exhibitions" where we showcase aerial photography from our airplane surveys. We display large-format prints of properties before and after our work, then use digital annotation tools to let attendees mark what catches their eye. This interactive approach revealed that 65% of potential customers couldn't identify serious roof issues in the "before" images, leading us to develop our AI-assisted "Roof Health Score" system that's now driving our 80% year-over-year growth.

I strongly recommend finding ways to demonstrate your technical expertise while simultaneously collecting feedback. When customers see your capabilities in action, they're far more likely to share genuine concerns and questions than they would on a survey or in a formal setting.

Judah Strausberg, Founding Partner, Peak Builders & Roofers of San Diego

Client Walkthroughs Reveal Real-Time Concerns

In the environmental consulting industry, I've found success with in-person client walkthroughs at inspection sites. These events offer a chance to observe clients' immediate reactions and gather feedback on our services in real-time. Witnessing the areas that concern our clients, like in a recent asbestos testing project, can reveal insights that wouldn't surface in formal surveys.

Another effective strategy is hosting client workshops, where we bring property managers and real estate investors together. We recently held a session on best practices for mold and lead testing, which revealed a need for better communication in our reports. This led to a revamp of our reporting style, resulting in improved client understanding and compliance.

Additionally, I leverage the informal setting of client appreciation events to gather candid feedback. For instance, during a family BBQ I hosted with my team, a client shared challenges they faced with air quality testing in high-traffic government buildings. This candid insight informed new procedures in our testing protocol, enhancing our service delivery.

Craig Luckey, Owner, BuildSafe Environmental Consulting

Creative Feedback Methods Engage Customers

- Feedback Walls: Get people to post up notes with ideas, likes, and thoughts.

- Gamified Surveys: Get feedback fun using games or trivia.

- Usability Testing Booths: Watch users use your product live.

- Idea Labs: Let customers brainstorm or vote on new features.

Xi He, CEO, BoostVision