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.
- Our Directory of Granges–Think about it! People are looking for Granges! Can they find yours?
- Program Books and Information–Since we’ve been posting annual reports and next year’s program books, this is not a surprise.
- 2022 State Convention Information–Again, no surprise since the convention takes place this week.
- 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.
- 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.