Why Post-Event Surveys Fall Short with MyOrbit Founder Ingrid Zapata Read

The real value of an event doesn’t live in the photos that prove you were there or the carefully curated dinner. It lives in what’s happening in the room while it’s unfolding. We hope that our guests leave having had fun, that they’ve made a connection or two, that it was worth their time. We send them a thank you note and request for feedback after the event is over and cross our fingers they take the time to tell us how we did.  However, the conversations, reactions, and moments that mattered are surprisingly difficult to capture, even more so after the event is over. 

That’s what makes this conversation with Ingrid Zapata Read so interesting. She’s built a tool that sits at the intersection between speakers and event hosts. Speakers can embed the tool in their presentation and understand what resonated in real time, instead of guessing once they leave the stage. For event hosts, it unlocks a more valuable way to see inside the experience as it’s happening. Understanding what’s landing, what’s not, and how the room is actually feeling means you can respond.Your event then isn’t just well planned, it’s shaped in real time to be even more valuable.

In this interview, we talk about why traditional feedback falls short and how capturing feedback and reactions live can extend the impact of an event far beyond the room.

—

Hello Ingrid! Please introduce yourself and MyOrbit.

I’m Ingrid Zapata Read, founder of Grow With Community and MyOrbit. I’ve spent the last decade helping brands and founders build and grow communities, online and in real life. MyOrbit is where that trust finally has somewhere to live. It helps service providers and founders capture what people are saying about their work in real time, not weeks later when the feeling is gone and the moment is forgotten.

What inspired you to build MyOrbit? Why did you feel it was missing in the events space?

Frustration. I kept watching event hosts pour their heart into building incredible experiences and then walking away with almost nothing to show for it. No data and no record of impact. Just a few photos and random DMs from attendees praising the experience. 

The magic was happening in the room, but the proof was not making it out.

There was no system for capturing trust while it was still alive and that felt like a massive missed opportunity. MyOrbit exists to fix that. Real-time feedback that doesn't just document the experience but actually works for you after, when you're pitching sponsors, marketing your next event, or helping future attendees understand exactly what they're signing up for.

Can you explain what real-time audience feedback during a talk actually looks like in practice?

It's simple. No friction, no app to download, and no long forms.

The host or speaker shares a link or QR code. Attendees tap in while they're still in the moment and share more about their experience. It takes seconds.

The key here is "while." While the energy is high and while the room is still buzzing. That's when you get the real stuff.

Most events rely on surveys after an event. What do those miss?

Everything that actually mattered.

By the time someone fills out a post-event survey, the feeling is gone. They've driven home, checked Slack, and put the kids to bed. They're not in that room anymore. So you get filtered answers, vague responses, and a response rate that'll make you question your life choices.

Real feedback lives in the moment. The emotions, the specific phrases, the raw reactions. That's the gold. And post-event surveys are basically asking people to recreate gold from memory.

How does MyOrbit let speakers drive the narrative for feedback instead of relying on just the event host to solicit it?

This one is a big shift that often gets overlooked.

Most speakers show up, deliver an incredible talk, and then cross their fingers hoping the host's generic survey captures something useful. Unfortunately, they usually don't because the questions aren't about their work.

MyOrbit lets speakers ask for exactly what they need so the feedback reflects their specific content and their goals, not a one-size-fits-all form.

What kinds of feedback can a speaker ask for during an event?

Simple and intentional. Vibe, value, would they recommend, space for a one-liner, and two custom questions you actually care about. That's it.

No essay prompts. No 20-question forms. Just the stuff that tells you something real and gives attendees enough room to say it in their own words. Those one-liners? That's your social proof. Those custom questions? That's your market research. All of it collected while people are still in the room and still feeling it.

What happens for a speaker when they understand audience reactions in real time?

Most speakers leave the stage and spend the rest of the event guessing how it went.

MyOrbit cuts that out. Right after you speak you can see exactly how many people engaged, what the overall sentiment was, what resonated and what didn't. Real data, in real time.

That's when it gets interesting. You use that to follow up fast, to share the right moment on social while people still care, to walk into that post-event conversation with confidence. You're not waiting on anyone to tell you how you did because you already know.

What can MyOrbit unlock for event organizers in feedback?

This is honestly where I get most excited because I think event hosts are sitting on something they don't fully realize yet.

Every event you run is a data engine. Real attendee voices, real reactions, real language about what mattered. MyOrbit gives you access to that in real time, not just at the end. You can see which speakers are resonating, which topics are hitting, where people are disengaging. You can finally see inside your own event.

And beyond the data, you're building something much more valuable. A library of authentic social proof that becomes the marketing for your next event. That's what you put in front of sponsors and what makes someone say yes to buying a ticket before they've ever been in the room.

How can event planners use feedback to adjust an event as it happens?

You don't have to wait until it's over to fix something. Most event hosts are operating blind. They're reading body language and hoping for the best. MyOrbit gives you an actual signal so you can respond in real time.

What is the sweet spot for speakers or event hosts in using MyOrbit?

If you have people in a room and you care about what they're experiencing, it works. We've seen it used at intimate dinners and conferences, virtual workshops and in-person roundtables. The size and format are flexible. What stays constant is the intention behind it.

Do you think this changes how we think about a successful event?

Absolutely. In an age where attention is the scarcest thing we have, being able to capture and display what's actually happening in your event in real time is game changing.

It's not just about the event anymore. It's about what that feedback does for you before, during, and after. Engagement in the room. Proof for your next presale. Content that sells the experience before someone ever steps foot in it. The hosts who tap into that are going to be in a completely different league.

—

Ingrid's work is a reminder that the meaningful gatherings deserve more than a memory. They deserve real, living proof that what you built in that room actually landed.

At Aligned Gatherings, that's exactly what we're here to support. Whether we're helping you design an intimate event from the ground up or crafting a strategy to help your event land, our work is rooted in the belief that when people feel genuinely seen and connected, something lasting is created.

Tools like MyOrbit make it possible to capture the warmth and the impact while it's still alive in the room, and carry it forward into everything you build next.

Thank you so much to Ingrid Zapata Read for this conversation. If you want to explore what MyOrbit can do for your events, you can find out more at inmyorbit.co