Category: Publicity Posts

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

Where did everything go?

It seems ironic that I wrote last month on the topic of building the website, and this month I am reporting the disappearance of some parts! Technology has not been kind recently.

At the risk of causing some MEGO (my eyes are glazing over), I’ll share some background. The site has had some issues since it was hacked this summer. While the site structure is not too complex, we are burdened a bit by the sheer size. We’ve had posts on the site all the way back to 2010, when it was first created. And many of those posts included images (pictures).

For those technically inclined, we had a recent “conflict” between the site theme and the site itself. In short, nearly every image disappeared from the site as a result. By the way, images include documents such as program books.

The good news is that I have maintained a file of those images separate from the site. The bad news is the only way to solve the problem is to replace the images one at a time. With over 3,000 posts and pages, you can well imagine this is not an easy task.

I’ve made the Program Books and Information Page a priority and have focused on the most recent posts.

The more good news is that the mess has created an opportunity to prioritize and “clean up” things. It’s going to take some time, but eventually, we’ll have a streamlined site. I could bore you with how much smoother things become–for example, backups will take less time. In practical terms, we’ll lose posts and images from the distant past. (The site is over a decade old!)

This means some of the older posts will disappear. And those that remain will show broken links where images are involved. Your patience and understanding are appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, do let me know.

The top priority will be posting new information: your events and news. Please submit!

► FACT: Your MSG website was viewed nearly 2700 times during October 2022–and over 40 posts were placed on the site.

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

If You Build It…

The opening of this month’s column is a reference to the quote, “If you build it, they will come. I planned to observe that it came from the movie, “Field of Dreams.” Something in my brain said, “You might want to check that.” Well, it turns out that it is from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. It stems from God’s conversation with Noah regarding building the ark. God said to Noah, “If you build it, they will come,” referring to the animals.

I’m using it in part because I just build a page on the website called “Historical Resources.” I also did some restructuring so we have a section regarding “Our History and Heritage.” There are at least two reasons for doing this.

First, I love efficiency. As Communications Director and Webmaster, I receive a number of questions and requests about Grange’s history and heritage. The questions come from the media, historical societies, genealogists, and other researchers. Now I can send a link of resources instead of including a list in my email replies.

The second is far more important. “If you build it, they will come.” Whether it’s an ark, baseball stadium, webpage or Grange Hall, it’s really about creating value. We might more accurately say, “If you build it and it has value, they will come.” God was telling Noah to focus on building the ark and not worry about chasing down animals. “If you build it, they will come.” God knew it would have value.

The fact included in this month’s column is worthy of note. “Your MSG website was viewed nearly 2200 times during September 2022–the highest number for a month so far this year.” We are building; they are coming.

Why are they coming–what do they value? We might draw some conclusions by looking at the most frequently visited pages and posts for the last 30 days. These are the top five.

1. Our Directory of Granges–Think about it! People are looking for Granges! Can they find yours?
2. Program Books and Information–Since we’ve been posting annual reports and next year’s program books, this is not a surprise.
3. 2022 State Convention Information–Again, no surprise since the convention takes place this week.
4. Conferences and Dates–Hmmm, people are looking for Granges. Since we list events taking place at local Granges, there just might be a correlation here.
5. Our Site–Frankly, this one surprised me. It’s a page describing how the site is structured, some navigation tips, and policies.

These are the pages that website visitors found most valuable. Notice they are “information-rich,” and the most valued page or post is exclusively about local (Subordinate/Community) Granges. Our website visitors are telling us something, and we need to listen. That should be exciting and encouraging. But it also means we should keep building and providing value.

The Directory of Granges is at the top of the list for visitors, and it should be at the top of our list as well. The only way this stays accurate and has value means local Granges must participate in keeping it that way–especially the person to contact for more information. Too often, I receive emails from people who are trying to contact a specific Grange. “I’ve called and left several messages, and no one is returning my call…” or “The number listed doesn’t work.” Please make sure your listing is complete, and the contact person is someone who can be contacted and will respond!

The Conferences and Dates page is free statewide advertising for local Grange events! Please make sure you are submitting your Grange events to the website! The more that is happening around the state, the more value the Grange offers. You can submit your event from the website or by emailing the information to the webmaster. Don’t forget, once it’s posted on the website, it’s easy to share that post on social media!

Specifically

► FACT: Your MSG website was viewed nearly 2200 times during September 2022–the highest number for a month so far this year.

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

Looking and Acting

Over forty years ago, a good friend of mine launched his own consulting business. One of the first things Jack did was purchase a late model Lincoln Town Car he couldn’t afford. Even more years ago, I had a potentially boring college class on Friday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Professor Peters started each lecture by leading the class in a chant, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.

I’m happy to report that Jack had, by all counts, a very successful consulting career. I also never fell asleep in that Friday afternoon class. We usually ended up standing up, jumping up and down as the chant became a cheer.

How we look and how we act communicates not only to others but also to our subconscious self. Jack wanted others to see his success. (There were times he’d get a friend to drive him to a meeting while he sat in the back seat.) But he also wanted to feel successful. Professor Peters wanted us to get “wound up” before he started his lecture. But he also knew he’d catch our enthusiasm and present more energetically.

These dynamics apply to organizations as well as individuals. We might do well to consider how we are looking and how we are acting as an organization. I recently received an email from a website visitor who will be in Maine in October. He hopes to attend some Grange suppers even though he’s not a member. His question made me take a look at what was going on. I realized I didn’t see much! Our Maine State Grange website calendar was looking empty. It didn’t look like we were doing much.

So I put out the call, encouraging Granges to submit their events. Several responded enthusiastically. Their enthusiasm wasn’t an act. Our future visitor emailed this morning—he’s checking the website every day “to see what is happening.”  So I guess it looks like we’re doing things!

I’ve recently added to the website calendar (which is also reproduced in the Bulletin) so it lists events and important dates through September 2023. We ought to start filling it up! As directors complete their program books for next year, I’ll add dates and deadlines based on those. But we need to go beyond that.

Before the pandemic, we limited the calendar to regional (including Pomona) and statewide events in an effort to keep things manageable. However, we “opened it up” to further support local Grange programming and activities and show off those Granges that are alive and well. We could say, “looking and acting well!”

We seem to be gaining several benefits from the calendar’s expansion. One is that some are thinking more “long-range” and planning ahead. The calendar makes it possible to avoid schedule conflicts. Two, the site is being viewed and accessed more, both by members and non-members. The Conferences and Dates Page is among the top ten posts and pages visited.

It’s easy to submit events to the calendar using the “submit” button on the website. The calendar listing keeps things very basic: the event’s name, date and time, location, and a source for additional information. These short listings can be supplemented with a detailed post about 4-6 weeks before the event itself. Some are using flyers for the event for this. Just send your event flyer as an attachment to an email addressed to webmaster@mainestategrange.org.

Pomona Officers: Even though Pomona Meetings aren’t usually “special events” of interest to the public, we’d like to have them listed on the calendar. Please follow the same criteria: date and time, location, and a source for additional information.

Some years ago, Valley Grange had a special event—I honestly don’t remember what it was, but I’ll never forget a visitor from a Grange about an hour away. She asked me, “Where are all your members?” (We had some obvious “empty chairs.”) She was quite surprised that we didn’t have more, explaining, “With all the things you do, I thought you had at least a hundred members.” I’m not so sure her perception was a bad thing. Desperation isn’t pretty. We need to be cautious about “looking desperate.” People may stay away simply because they fear what getting involved might mean!

Enthusiasm is contagious. Maybe we should add to the ritual. During our meetings, after the Steward assures “all present are correct,” we could challenge that with a little Professor Peters activity. “All present are properly credentialed. Let’s check our level of enthusiasm. Repeat after me, ‘Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic…’”

Changing the way we look and act may change the way we look and act. That’s more than a play on words. There’s a degree of “fake it until you make it” involved. Those Friday afternoon college classes did not begin enthusiastically. So we faked it and at some point (which Professor Peters seemed to recognize intuitively), we were no longer faking. We didn’t just look and act enthusiastic, we were enthusiastic.

► FACT: Your MSG website was viewed nearly 2100 times during August 2022