Conference lead capture for event organizers

The opening keynote ends, 900 people stand up at once, and your session feedback survey is a link in an app half of them never downloaded. Conference lead capture has more moving parts than at a single talk: a main stage, eight breakout rooms, sponsors who want contacts, and an organizer who needs to know which sessions worked. This page covers how organizers use one QR code or keyword per moment, text-based polls and feedback, and a results page on the big screen, so each part of the event reports on its own.

Why don't the usual event tools get answers?

The conference app is the default, and it's fine for the agenda. It's weaker for the things organizers most want from attendees in the room. A feedback survey buried three taps deep gets opened by the people who were going to give feedback anyway. An emailed survey after the event arrives when everyone is back at their desks. Paper evaluation forms on chairs pile up in recycling bins, and somebody types up the rest.

Polls on the main stage have their own problem. A poll that lives on a web page asks people to open a URL and type a code, which depends on the venue Wi-Fi holding up with 900 people on it.

Texting skips those steps. People already know how to reply to a text, and a QR code on screen opens their texting app with the message filled in.

One code for the event, or one per session?

One per session, for most events. QR codes are free and unlimited on every plan, and each flow has a single trigger, so a code per breakout room gives you a separate report per room with no extra question. Put it on the room's title slide and the door sign.

Keep a keyword or two for the moments when people can't scan: the main stage, where the back rows are 60 meters from the screen, or the livestream. One keyword is included and each extra one is $10/month, so most organizers use a few for the big moments and QR codes for everything else. Because a QR code and a keyword can each start a copy of the same flow, you can run both for the keynote and see how each one did.

How do you set up a conference in Textiful?

1. Main stage poll. Start from "Poll the audience." Write the question and options, then decide whether people can change their vote. Close it by hand when the speaker is ready, or at a set time. Results freeze when it closes.
2. Project the results. The public results page updates in real time and shows counts and percentages, never names. Pick the dark theme for a dim ballroom, add a countdown, and turn on the winner banner with confetti if the moment calls for it. How to show live poll results on screen covers the projector side.
3. Session feedback. Add each session with its start and end time under session feedback, then start from "Collect session feedback." With "Whichever is running," one keyword covers the whole agenda: each rating goes to the session on at that moment. Ratings are 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, with an optional comment. Add an email step if you want to follow up with people who rated low.
4. Slides by request. For sessions where speakers agree to share, add a "Send my slide deck" flow and upload the file once to Handouts.
5. Send contacts onward. Add attendees to Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, or HubSpot, "Tag the contact" with the session name, or use Zapier or a webhook for your registration system. See integrations.
6. Give your team access. Invite session chairs as view-only so they can watch results without editing anything.

What do attendees get for texting in?

At a conference the offer is often the content itself: the slides from a session they liked, the recording when it's ready, a summary of the main-stage poll results. A poll is its own reward for many people, because they want to see where the room landed. Feedback is the hardest ask. It helps to say at the start of the session that feedback goes back to the speaker, and to keep it to the rating and one comment.

For sponsor activations, the "Run a giveaway" template collects a name and email and enters each phone number once. Draw the winners on the giveaway live page in front of the room. Check your own rules on drawings with your counsel.

How short should each flow be?

Short. Across Textiful flows over 90 days in 2026, flows with one question were completed 89.5% of the time, two questions 83.1%, and three questions 85.0%. Four-question flows came in at 66.0%, on a small sample of 247 starts. At an event where people are walking to the next room, a rating, a comment, and an email is about as long as you want to go.

Before and after

	The usual approach	With Textiful
Session feedback	App survey or emailed form after the event	One keyword for the agenda, rating and comment by text, a report per session
Main stage polls	A URL and a code on Wi-Fi	Reply by text, results on screen within about a second
Which sessions landed	Comparing survey totals afterward	Average rating and comments for each session
Speaker slides	Emailed in bulk days later	Sent when the attendee asks, from the room
Team access	Shared logins	Owner, admin, member, and view-only roles

Who this is for, and who should skip it

This fits organizers of conferences, summits, association meetings, and multi-track events in the US, especially those who want feedback and polls from the room without another app. It also fits event teams who hand session chairs a view-only login and want each room to report separately.

It's not the tool for fully international attendee bases, or for events that need anonymous voting tied to verified member identities. Large events should look at the higher-volume plans on pricing; every plan has every feature, and extra conversations are added automatically so a busy keynote isn't cut off.

Try it at your next event → Start a free trial