Tag: Grange Procedure

A Nudge and a Nag

By Walter Boomsma
207 343-1842
Communications Director

When teaching adult students, I remind them they are taking THEIR course, not MY course. Of course, that doesn’t prevent me from offering an occasional nudge or nag (they get to decide which it is) when they aren’t doing their part.

There’s a parallel with the MSG website. It’s YOUR site, not MINE. That means we have a shared responsibility for it. And it also means I get to offer an occasional nudge or nag. (You can decide which it is.) There might be two this month.

First, an ongoing challenge continues to exist with the online directory of Granges. I continue to receive far too many emails and phone calls from people who have tried using it, and it hasn’t worked–disconnected phone numbers, no replies from the email address listed, etc. For those unfamiliar with it, this directory lists active Granges, the address of the Grange Hall, and a contact person with a name, phone number, and–ideally–email address. This contact person does not need to be the master or secretary. It does need to be someone who is dependable and responsible.

The online directory is consistently the most visited page on the website. (The second most visited is the Program Books and Information Page.) For various reasons, people want to contact local Granges. We need to work together to make sure that can happen. Keeping the online directory accurate should be a priority for all of us. Please make sure the information listed is accurate. Send any corrections to the webmaster!

There are too many sad (and sometimes funny) stories I could share. I was recently contacted by someone who desperately wanted to participate in a Grange event in their area but couldn’t figure out who to contact for more information. Another example was from a group that had used the Grange Hall. They found a note requesting the group supply their contact information to the local Grange, but it didn’t say who to send it to!

We can do better.

This same nudge or nag applies to almost ALL information about your Grange! Please send information and news about your Grange and your events! I’ve tried to make it as easy as possible. You can use the “submitting information” tab on the site or send the information in an email. If you are sending information to your local newspapers, add webmaster@mainestategrange.org to the distribution list.

By the way, once your information is posted to the website, it’s easy-peasy to share it on Facebook. It doesn’t work the other way around!

We can do better.

Lastly, I’ve been nudging and nagging myself to continue the effort to repair and reconstruct the site. One problem with providing so much information is that it becomes a real challenge when much of it disappears! If you visit the Program Books and Information Page, any link with a smiley ☺ face after it should work. If you need something specific and can’t find it on the page, let me know, and I’ll try to find it for you.

Your patience and participation are appreciated!

► FACT: Your MSG website was viewed nearly 1900 times during November 2022–and 10% of those visits were to the online directory of Granges.

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.