Audience Survey Results
We received 138 responses to our on-line Audience Survey. 41% came from regular Humanities West attendees, 33% from occasional attendees, 12% from first or second time attendees, and 14% from people who have never been to a program.
The clear winner among the 14 programs proposed was Queen of the Adriatic: The Venetian Republic and Empire. The next four highest ranking programs were tightly clustered in the scoring:
- Uncovering the Past: The Rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum
- Henry VIII's London: The Birth of Modern England
- Toledo and the Triumph of Cultural Coexistence in Spain
- Isle of the Minotaur: Minoan Crete and the Dawn of European Civilization
In addition to these voting results, we received 98 suggestions for future programs from 46 different people, as well as 51 general comments about Humanities West. Many of the suggestions and comments were very thoughtful and interesting, and all of the inputs have been consolidated and distributed to the entire Board of Directors for their review.
We would like to thank all of those who participated in the Survey. If you have any feedback about either the process or the results, please enter your comments by clicking on the word "comments" just below this entry.
posted by Chuck Sieloff @ 8:49 AM
4 Comments:
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Timie to inject my theme again...
How disappointing that the potential of a humanities organization is wasted on historical travelogues--divertissements that distract us from engaging in a dialogue of ideas. We are faced with so many issues whose significance and meaning could be enhanced if we applied the humanistic disciplines which extend far beyond history.
I am hopeful that Geo Hammond will enlarge the scope of the group, to give it more relevance. If not, all the old folks now attending will soon be gone and there will be no one to attend.
Thanks for reinjecting your theme, Tom. As you know, it is one that resonates with me personally, so I'm happy to report that Humanities West is moving ahead on several fronts to provide the substantive dialogue of ideas you favor. Since the format of our three season programs is not well-suited to discussion, we have organized a Humanities member-led-forum at the Commonwealth Club. We have tested this idea already with one discussion session prior to our program on India, and we have another scheduled for April 30 to discuss our Napoleon program. We have now reserved time during our 2009-2010 season to have a lecture at the Commonwealth Club on the Thursday evening preceding each program, and a discussion about the ideas presented in the program on the following Thursday evening. In addition, we have organized several independent programs designed to provoke substantive discussions on topics in the humanities during 2009 and have reserved, starting in 2010, the first Monday evening of each month for exactly the kind of discussions of ideas you are suggesting. We are hoping that the subset of our regular Humanities West attendees who are, like you, eager to delve into the ideas themselves will either find these events rewarding or make them so by attending and contributing.
I'm very pleased to learn of these developments, George. I knew that when you were asked to lead the group that you would expand its scope and offerings.
As I mentioned last night, you will be picking up the torch I carried at the ComClub for several years until Greg Dalton decided to extinguish it. Called Let's Talk About It, I moderated a number of well received dinners at the club following certain author presentations that lent themselves to dialogue (filling out the cards just doesn't count as dialogue). Go here to view some of our gatherings: http://cultureplaces.com/wst_page2.html
Since staff won't stay late (or work Saturdays) to accommodate members, your approach to setting up a salon during the regular hours is more logistically acceptable. I would, however, urge you to find random openings in the Club schedule this year to hold roundtables (tempus fugit). Then next year, you can follow to the first Monday arrangement.
As for discussions around the weekend sessions, you put your finger on the problem last night. People have a strong tendency to evaluate actions and opinions using a 21st century western yardstick. After all, how else can we draw lessons for our times. But this is a classic fallacy (e.g., dismissing Jefferson because he owned slaves), which accounts for why I stand with the "history is bunk" crowd...
Onwards!
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