2009 Membership Survey

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2009 Membership Survey Results

There is a PDF Version available

TarValon.net

June 2010 Compiled by Kiana A'Jadein Edited by Dralyn Montsier, Meilen Gevedon, and Ubahsur Kindellaer

Property of TarValon.Net

2009 Membership Survey Results

Table of Contents

The Results Are In 3
TarValon.Net Supports members 3
Areas of Improvement 4
Final Thoughts 4
Demographics 5
Message Boards 6
Chat 7
Events 7
Guilds 8
Additional Community Features 8
Philanthropy 9
Administration 9
Membership Administration 10
Executive Administration 10

The Results Are In

Earlier this year, we asked you to participate in the TarValon.Net 2009 Membership Survey. Survey results provide valuable insight for consideration and action by our Administrators. Overall, the feedback is quite favorable, but all areas were investigated for the opportunity to improve existing programs or initiate changes.

This report provides a summary of the 2009 Membership Survey results for you. To begin, details about the survey process are outlined below.

The survey is open to all levels of membership annually by the Department of Administration;

The purpose of the survey is to gauge member’s opinions on TarValon.Net;

Participants were asked a series of questions about various aspects of the website;

Where appropriate, members were asked to rate the department, the benefit, or the Administrator;

The survey was open for responses from January 25 – February 9, 2010;

Nearly 300 members participated from over 20 countries.

TarValon.Net Supports Members

According to survey results, TarValon.Net performs well toward providing a cultural environment that supports members. Members often chose Strongly Agree or Agree (or similar verbiage) for these areas:

  • Members are comfortable with the Executive Administration and believe the performance of Executive Administrators to meet or exceed expectations. Of all respondents, over 230 chose either Very Comfortable or Somewhat Comfortable for each member of Executive Administration. Officers received over 230 notes of Exceed or Meeting Expectations; Department Directors averaged 155 of the same.
  • Members are comfortable with the Membership Administration and believe the performance of Membership Administrators to meet or exceed expectations; Over 230 respondents voted in both aspects.
  • Members believe the position application process to be fair; 244 respondents voted that it was either very or somewhat fair.

Members are confident that donated funds are used appropriately, with 180 responding as Very Fair and Fair.

Areas of Improvement

Your responses told use that there are also areas of improvement. Members often chose Disagree, Strongly Disagree, or Neutral (or similar verbiage) for these areas:

  • Members rated the importance of several community features as they were structured including Guilds and TarValon.Net email;
  • Nearly all respondents (275) do not use TarValon.Net email;
  • Nearly all respondents (279) were not members of Guilds at the time of the survey.
  • Members believe the current position application process to be difficult with over 200 respondents voting as Neutral, Somewhat Difficult, or Very Difficult.
  • Members were not familiar with the Administration Structure, with nearly all (260) voting as Somewhat Unfamiliar or Very Unfamiliar.

In addition to the Membership Survey, TarValon.Net makes an effort to take a “pulse” of the organization throughout the year in the form of committees, meetings, performance evaluations, and other vehicles.

Final Thoughts

We are proud of the community and business of TarValon.Net, which is why we value your feedback on areas of opportunity and improvement. The data from the survey was provided to Department Directors and discussed at the annual Administrative Meeting. We realize that community members make continued success possible, and we appreciate your time and insight. We encourage more members at every level to participate in the future so your voice is heard and so TarValon.Net continues growing stronger. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the survey and its uses, please contact the Director of Administration at administration@tarvalon.net. We encourage community members to engage their community administration as well for feedback throughout the year and not just through the survey.

The Department of Administration

Demographics

The average length of participant membership is 4.1 years.

Most participants found TarValon.Net through a Search Engine (37%), although Friends and Family scored a close second (23.5%).

Age
Range Percentage
<18 4.3
18-20 13.6
21-24 20.4
25-29 25.5
30-34 18.6
35-39 8.2
40-45 2.5
45-49 2.2
>50 3.6
Education Level
Grade School 1.4%
High School 14.3%
Trade School 3.2%
Some College 33.0%
Associates 4.7%
Bachelor 24.0%
Masters 12.2%
Doctoral 2.5%
Other 3.2%
Location
Australia 1.4%
Belgium 0.7%
Belize 0.4%
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.4%
Bulgaria 0.7%
Finland 1.1%
Canada*1 6.5%
Germany 1.8%
Ireland 0.7%
Italy 0.4%
Netherlands 1.1%
New Zealand 1.1%
Norway 6.1%
Serbia 0.4%
Slovakia 0.4%
South Africa 1.4%
Sweden 3.2%
Switzerland 0.4%
United Kingdom 7.6%
United States*2 63.7%

*1 Most Common Provinces: Ontario & British Columbia

*2 Most Common State: California

Demographics

Employment Industry
ART

Arts: Performing & Visual

3.3%
LEG

Legal

1.8%
BFO

Business & Financial Operations

5.8%
MIL

Military/Government

2.9%
CRI

Computer-Related Industry

6.9%
OTH

Other

25.7%
ETL

Education, Training, & Library

8.3%
SAL

Sales

2.5%
FSR

Food & Service- Related

6.2%
SRI

Science-Related Industry

2.5%
HEA

Healthcare

7.2%
STU

Student

26.8%

Message Boards

  • 72% use the Message Boards Daily
Most Frequently Used Forums Least Frequently Used Forums
(Top 10) (Top 10)
1. Ajah/Company Sitting Room 1. Current Events
2. General 2. Games, Quizzes & Humor
3. Mundane World 3. Technology & Media
4. Ajah/Company Chambers 4. The Classroom
5. The Olde Warder & Hen 5. The Olde Warder & Hen
6. Site Announcements 6. City Hall
7. Senior Members 7. Wheel of Time Discussions
8. Current Events 8. The Apartments
9. The Hallways/The Gatehouse 9. Introductions
10.Aes Sedai Parlor/Gaidin Club House 10.Ask the White Tower

Chat

  • 75% said they visit TarValon.Net’s official Chat channels
  • 48% said Chat was Important to Membership
How Often do you Visit Chat?
No answer 30%
Daily 18%
Weekly 29%
Monthly 18%
Rarely 3%
How Adequately Moderated is Chat?
No answer 17%
No Opinion 24%
Average 51%
Not enough 7%
Too Much 1%

Events

  • 57% said they have attended an Official Event; 88% plan to attend in the future
  • 71% said Events were Important to Membership
What Influences your Attendance?
No answer 43%
Cost 33%
Duration 1%
Friends/Family Attending 12%
Location 44%
Other 3%
What Would Increase Attendance?
No answer 14%
Longer Duration 14%
Shorter Duration 2%
Private Location 10%
Tourist Location 31%
Other 29%

Guilds

  • 35% said Guilds were important to Membership
  • 33% said they would join more than one Guild if possible
Guild Membership
Guild Percentage
Artisan 8%
Martial 4%
Gleeman 14%
Professor 12%
Healer 7%
Tailor 14%
Innkeeper 8%
No Guild 33%

Additional Community Features

  • More members use the Library (78%) than any other Community Feature (including Events, Chat, Guilds, Email, Ajah/Company sites, and the Tar Valon Times)
  • Members prefer to access the Tar Valon Times via email (51%) and/or the forums (46%) than by any other method
Do You Use…
Resource Yes No No Answer
TV.net email 60 38 2
Library 78 21 1
Ajah/Company Sites 62 37 1
TV Times 58 46 1
How Often do you Use…
Resource Daily Weekly Monthly Rarely Never
TV.net email 9 6 6 27 58
Library 1 12 34 30 21
Ajah/Company Sites 1 4 17 41 38

Philanthropy

  • 43% said they have donated to TarValon.Net; 41% have done so more than three times
  • The greatest reason for not donating was due to personal Budgets (65%)
  • 61% feel confident their donations are being used appropriately
Have/Would you Donate to…
Resource Member Aid Scholarship Fund Feast Of Lights Charity Operating Cost Unspecified
Have 12 2 15 11 9
Would 39 42 58 43 33
Have and Would 1 2 15 12 4
No Answer 36 54 54 33 54

Administration

  • 62% said they had applied for a Position
  • 58% said the Application Process was Easy
  • 46% said the Application Process was Fair
Familiarity with Administration Structure
Familiarity Percentage
No Answer 43%
Completely Familiar 42
Somewhat Familiar 7
Somewhat Unfamiliar 43%
Completely Unfamiliar 1%

Membership Administration

  • 70% said they were Very Comfortable approaching their Membership Administrator
  • 67% ranked their Membership Administrator as Very Competent
Comfort Level
Very Comfortable 69 %
Somewhat Comfortable 15%
Neutral 7%
Somewhat Uncomfortable 5%
Very Uncomfortable 0%
No Answer 11%
Performance Level
Very Competent 67 %
Somewhat Competent 15%
Neutral 10%
Somewhat Incompetent 4%
Very Incompetent 0%
No Answer 4%

Executive Administration

  • 32% said they were Very Comfortable approaching Executive Administrators
  • 32% said the Executive Administrators Exceed Expectations
Comfort Level
Very Comfortable 67%
Somewhat Comfortable 15%
Neutral 10%
Somewhat Uncomfortable 4%
Very Uncomfortable 0%
No Answer 4%
Performance Level
Exceeds Expectations 32%
Meets Expectations 28%
No Answer 38%
Needs Improvement 2%