2009 Membership Survey

2009 Membership Survey Results

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 Demographics (continued)...........................................................................................6 Message Boards..........................................................................................................6 Chat .............................................................................................................................7 Events ..........................................................................................................................7 Guilds...........................................................................................................................8 Additional Community Features...................................................................................8 Philanthropy.................................................................................................................9 Administration ..............................................................................................................9 Membership Administration........................................................................................10 Executive Administration............................................................................................10

TarValon.Net 2009 Membership Survey Results

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; and 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

TarValon.Net

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%).

Rank Age

1820 13.6%

2529 26.5%

3539 8.2%

4549 2.2%

Education Level

Location

Belgium 0.7%

Bosnia and 0.4%

Herzegovina

Canada 6.5% Most Common Provinces: Ontario & British Columbia

Germany 1.8%

Italy 0.4%

New Zealand 1.1%

Serbia 0.4%

South Africa 1.4%

Switzerland 0.4%

United States 63.7% Most Common State: California

Demographics

Employment Industry

Message Boards • 72% use the Message Boards Daily Most Frequently Used Forums Least Frequently Used Forums (Top 10) (Top 5) 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 10.Ask the White Tower House

Chat 75% said they visit TarValon.Net’s official Chat channels 48% said Chat was Important to Membership

How Often do you Visit Chat? How Adequately Moderated is Chat?

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? What Would Increase Attendance?

Guilds

35% said Guilds were important to Membership 33% said they would join more than 1 Guild if possible

Guild Membership

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…

How Often do you Use…

Philanthropy 43% said they have donated to TarValon.Net; 41% have done so more than 3 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…

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

Membership Administration

70% said they were Very Comfortable approaching their Membership Administrator

67% ranked their Membership Administrator as Very Competent

Comfort Level Performance Level

Executive Administration

32% said they were Very Comfortable approaching Executive Administrators

32% said the Executive Administrators Exceed Expectations

Comfort Level Performance Level