Registration form template

What a registration form needs

A registration form has to do two things at once: get somebody signed up with as little friction as possible, and collect the handful of facts you genuinely cannot run the event without.

Those facts are usually smaller than organisers think. Name, contact, which session, how many people, dietary and accessibility needs, and agreement to the terms. Everything else can be asked later, by email, of the people who have already committed.

Ask about accessibility as an open question

A dropdown of accessibility options will always be incomplete, and an incomplete list tells somebody their requirement was not worth listing. An open box is better here, even though open boxes are usually worse.

Ask it of everybody rather than behind a yes/no gate. People under-report needs when they have to declare themselves as having one first.

Put the cancellation policy on the form

The moment somebody registers is the only moment you have their full attention on the terms. A cancellation policy linked from a confirmation email has not been read; one acknowledged on the form has at least been seen.

Ask for the name they want used

The name on a badge, a list read aloud, or a certificate is not always the name on the booking. A separate optional line, "the name you would like on your badge", takes one field and prevents the version of this that is genuinely upsetting to somebody.

One list, not four

Registrations that arrive by email, phone, a paper form at the door and a spreadsheet somebody keeps separately are four lists that will disagree with each other by the day of the event.

A single link produces a single list. If you already have a registration form as a PDF, upload it and it becomes that link with the questions intact.