And, Our Survey Said...

In November, Thinking Out Loud In Sturbridge turned one year old. During that month I conducted a survey in order to determine if I was on the right track regarding my readership. I needed to know if I could improve anything, add anything, or leave things be. Input is always appreciated, otherwise I would think I was just writing for the wind.

Below are the results of that survey.

For the question as to how you would rate Thinking Out Loud, 7.1% rated it as adequate, 14.% rated it as good, 28.6 % felt it was well written, and 21.4% thought it was "freakin' fantastic". No one thought it was a waste of bandwidth, thank goodness. Well, for those 7.1 % that felt it as only adequate, I promise to do more in the coming year to correct that.

64.3% of you enjoyed the articles concerning the history of Sturbridge, and the same percentage enjoyed the articles about improving our Town. Those subjects will continue, and hopefully, with more frequency.

The answers to which particular blog was the most enjoyable was varied as my reading audience. Everything from history to Red Squirrels to the Ghost Story ranked high. Well, I guess there will be more history, humor, and fiction in 2009.

Of the features most enjoyed, 70% enjoyed announcements of meeting and events in town. 60% appreciated the links to other sites. Of course they will continue. Please feel free to submit any other sites to me.

The photographs at the top of the page were rated good by 21.4%, and excellent by 78.6%. Thank you. I will continue to post local photos, and please feel free to submit your own as well.

Half of the readers that took the survey forwarded a particular posting on to another person. I appreciate that. If you find something written that you feel would be enjoyed by another, click on the little envelope icon at the bottom of the post. Sharing the blog is a great idea, and truly appreciated.

And, finally, 100% of you that took the survey chose that you would continue to read Thinking Out Loud in Sturbridge in the upcoming year.

Whew.

There will be changes in the future on the blog. Can't be same 'ol, same 'ol. In the upcoming year I want to write more about Central Massachusetts, and more about the individuals here in town. It was suggested in the survey to have more photographs of people on the blog. That is something I will work on, and do where appropriate. There will be other things that I look forward to doing as well.

In the end, I want to keep the purpose of this place as it was originally intended, a place for me to unscrew my head, and let things just fall out onto the table for others to play with. No pretensions, no political agenda, no enemies list, just thoughts.

Thank you to all that participated in the survey. Your input, and comments mean a great deal.