There were a total of 14 responses to our 2011 survey, and I’d like to share and comment on the results here. If you would like to respond to any of these, please leave a comment in the forum topic, or please feel free to contact me at japc at kisekinohana dot net. Based on the results, I admit I’m a little confused by some responses, and I will explain why as I address each item. Please understand that I am not dismissing your feedback, just responding/commenting to it. Thanks for leaving feedback, I will try to improve based on the feedback I received, but I will need members to help. A copy of these results will be available at the next meeting.
What JAPC Resources do you access on a regular basis?
The forum was the clear leader here, followed by the mailing list/newsletter. The Website and Facebook came in last, as the RSS feed got little to no votes.
I find it curious that members claim to access to forum on a regular basis, but participate very little in the discussions there.
In order of preference, please let me know what your preferred JAPC resource is for info and group communication.
The JAPC FORUMS was the most preferred.
- 2nd: Mailing List/Newsletter
- 3rd: Web Site
- 4th: Facebook Page
- 5th: RSS Feed
So what will I do? I will post more info and discussion items to the forum, and keep communicating via the mailing list/newsletter. The Web site has a blog (which is the RSS feed) that I update with events and group info, if you want just those things. I’ll let the Facebook Page just auto update with posts from the forum and the blog, and generally leave it alone.
How important is online networking with JAPC members via our FORUM to you?
Apparently it’s MOST important.
Curious, again, considering the amount of activity on the forum, and the fact that only a few people really post or reply.
How important is online networking with JAPC members via our FACEBOOK PAGE to you?
Apparently not so much. Least Important.
How do you feel about JAPC on Google+?
Not Interested was the largest response.
What discussions to you like to participate in?
Anime/Manga was the leading choice here, followed by Events, Club Meetings, and Real Life.
This is interesting, again based on forum participation, this isn’t what I thought. People seem to log in and view a lot, but not participate via replys or post new topics.
If you want to discuss, you have to post and reply in the forum to convince me this is true. If I am the only one posting, then it’s not going to be fun for anyone! If there is something you want to talk about, post about it, and let the discussion begin. Again, that requires members to read forum posts and reply to them as well. If you want more activity, you have to help create it, don’t leave it all up to me!
In order to meet new people, you have to come to meetings or meetup at an event. It’s a good idea to introduce yourself and communicate with the group online, that way they get to know you, and have a better chance of friendship IRL. I do my best to inform the group of new anime, but I see little in the way of conversation about new anime when it’s posted about. Again, I don’t see a lot of chi-chat and sharing of fandom going on in the forum either, so the more you post, the more we get to know you, are are more likely to make friends.
What more would you like to see from JAPC?
Overall members want more meetings. Members also want more social gatherings, more theme oriented days, and more anime news.
Meetings are decided by the monthly meeting date polls. If you don’t vote and indicate to me that you wish to meet more than one day a month, then what can I do?. As of late, the polls have indicated a clear result every month of one date. Also, you have to realize that we host these meetings in members apartments, and we all have limited availability because we all have other responsibilities other than this anime club. We pick the best date based on the most people that will be able to participate. We have asked for others interest in hosting, but have received little response. At present, we have 3 hosts. What it comes down to is the more you show interest, the more chance there will be that more things will happen.
Members indicated they want more social gatherings, theme oriented days, and more anime news. Well, time to make some suggestions, and start planning!
As for more social gatherings; In my eyes, there have been a lot of opportunity for social meetings via posts in our Local Events forum. There have been conventions, movie screenings, concerts, and festivals none of which generate much of a response. It seems like no one wants to meet up, or just are not interested. Help me out here, because I don’t get it. Just remember, I cannot be everywhere all the time, thus members need to step up and arrange meet-ups if they want them. If you want to arrange a meetup with the group members at an event, please feel free to arrange one via the forums!
In the past, theme days didn’t go over well. There was little interest, and very few people showed up for them. We can try it again though, but we will need some suggestions on themes you all would be interested in. So, feel free to suggest!
What kind of activities would you be interested in?
Video Game days was the most popular response, so look for one in the future. Here were the other suggestions:
- Our own Rifftrax-style commentaries, recorded for posterity.
- guest speakers(who),
- contests
- MiniCons,
- Marathons,
- host a Anime 101 workshop/discussion, where we educate other people the variety of anime, fandom, what is cosplaying, and video gaming.
- Discussions on stories would be fun. While we do have comments while the anime is on, would be fun to try to just talk on topic about the anime, that way we get a better idea on what people like.
So, with those in mind, please do tell me what you think.
How do you feel about these types of group activity?
Members are somewhat interested in more forum discussion.
Members are not interested in more Facebook discussion.
Member are very Interested in more offline discussion/meet-ups.
I get you guys want to meet up more. Now members, help me make that happen by helping me arrange meetups and making more suggestions for places to meet.
What is the primary reasons that you do not come to Anime meetings?
The primary reason is schedule conflict. Followed by “Other”. Spoilers was mentioned once. There were a few people that answered “I don’t feel like I fit in because of my age” and a few if you that said that meetings were difficult to get to via public transit.
Again, JAPC is run by members for members. Members host in their homes on their spare time, based on dates indicated by monthly polls. Pretty simple. If you don’t indicate availability, how do we know when you are able to participate in activities? Yes, for real.
As for feeling like you don’t fit in, well, all I can say is I’m sorry, and I hope that you find a group you are comfortable with some day. I try my best to accommodate everyone, as this group is very diverse in age range.
I have to disagree that meetings are difficult to get to via public transit. For example, if a meeting is a my place(Jen) there are several buses and the brown line. We all make it a point to have meetings within reached of public transportation, as this group is city focused. I simply think that folks don’t want to travel unless it’s convenient to them. On the flip side, there are folks that travel a very long distance to our meetings(some trips in excess of 2 hours!), and we haven’t hear them complain one bit, and they come to meetings when they can.
If you were President of JAPC, what would you do differently/how would you run this club?
Over all, you are satisfied with the way I’m running this group. However there were some other suggestions that are open for discussion:
- Watching anime is nice, but members don’t have much incentive to return. Perhaps more goal-oriented activities? Also picking a specific date of the month to meet instead of switching so often.
- More interaction among members, like discussing about their hobbies, getting to know each other.
- meet at like a park
- I would probably add more officers and delegate more, because it would be a lot of work.
So, what do we mean by more goal orientated activities and do you have in mind? I would think meeting with other members and socializing would be enough to return, right? Again, our meeting dates are decided by monthly polls, and we pick the date that receives the most votes where the most members can participate.
Again, feel free to start any discussion topic you wish, including stuff not about anime. I have no problem discussing other stuff, and other hobbies.
Officers to delegate more? Sounds good to me, just implementing it would be a challenge. I have people to help me currently, but due to their schedules, they cannot seem to help as much as I need. I do feel that I have to do all the work myself at times, and can feel quite overwhelmed. So any little help by members is appreciated(welcoming new members, starting topics, following up from meetings and conversations we have at meetings, making suggestions.) Maybe we should consider having more officers and discuss further.
How can we improve? What can we change? What do you want to stay the same?
There was a strong indication of more time allocated to anime discussion at meetings. I want to make this happen.
There was also a comment of “you could meet at better places….“: If you’d like to suggest a better place to meetup, then you are more than welcome to. Again, we are limited right now to hosting in members homes because we cannot find another space.
Here is one that concerns me:
“when the whole “”purge”” thing started. and i had to ask for permission to gain access to the club forum, i really didn’t like it. im not to good at keeping up to date with stuff, i dont get out much. i got really discouraged about going again.
i know its needed to keep the get together safe. but 3 months fly by, and i just didn’t feel like asking for permission again and again.”
We are trying to work on a good system to avoid having to do the cleanup of this list. I have tried to keep track of members as meetings, and it was a big issue, and didn’t work out too well. We have gathered some suggestions, and we need to look over our options. On a suggestion from a member, we may try out a clipboard and sign-in sheet. Another suggestion would also be for members to check in after the meeting on the meeting forum topic. That would help us remember who’s who and if you came to a meeting.
However this is the response that I’d like to discuss most:
I like most things the way they are. I wish people would show more interest in events beyond meetings, but I don’t know what could be done. I tried suggesting some things and got frustrated with the response.
Again this goes back to members showing interest in those events other than meetings. We don’t want members feeling this way. This is the main reason I stopped suggesting things to do, because of the lack of response. I know that I have mentioned this before, but the more you put into this group, as with any social circle, the more you will get out of it. We are not talking about money, or substantial goods here; we are talking about participation in the forum discussions, meetings, and other events posted.
If there is a meetup that you would like to plan, or suggest, please feel free!
Again, thanks to everyone who filled out the survey, and I welcome you to discuss the results. There is really no way that I can have a anonymous discussion here, so I’m hoping this doesn’t scare you off, and you won’t be targeted or blacklisted for commenting here.
I will attempt to change the things that are within reason/ability of me to change, but change does not happen overnight. I will need members to cooperate and help shape JAPC to something you want, meaning help with the changes, and aid in their success. After all, I cannot run this club without you. (well I could, but it wouldn’t be any fun without you!)
Looking forward to a great 2012! Thanks everyone!
