Hi everyone,
I just sent around our first State of the Alliance newsletter, and while writing it I felt a bit overwhelmed by all the different services, forums, and offerings we make available. Which to choose from? Perhaps it's because I'm so busy (although more and more of us are in the Age of Information), but when I surf somewhere and they give me thirty choices, I bookmark the page and move on until I have time to sort through everything. Which may be never....
Do any of you share this concern? Wondering what you think about this. Is it better to offer thirty things with more perpetually in the making, or six or seven we can really stand behind and do well?
Replies
Great ideas. Wanted to add one more thing that would go far toward scratching the itch of my concern: four or five or six of these on the front page, each clickable:
- What's depth psychology?
- Enter a conversation
- Work on a dream
- Watch a video
etc.
I just found this thread and am finding it very resonant and timely. I have been feeling this overwhelm in so many areas of life. I resonate with Craig's concern here. I think this is one of the greatest dilemmas of our age and naturally, it appears here as it does everywhere else in the social media world.
That said, I wonder how we can organize these diverse and important subjects that are being examined. My sense is that perhaps introducing something like a quarterly theme may be one way we can organize. The theme could be constructed out of actual issues that are emerging in the world around us and decided upon in tune with the seasons. For example, a winter's theme would be more attuned to diving into the depths of psyche, while a summer's theme might involve more action oriented themes. Then, Spring and Fall would honor the changes and shifts. Do Continuing education core classes fall into something like ecology, dreams, myth and depth psychology? Four is a good number to work all of this around and DEEP has already established that as a container.
However, I have some concerns about the establishing of a predetermined core curriculum with electives as secondary. I wonder if we can keep these fluid to reflect the changes that are emerging on a global level.
These are just some thoughts that arose for me in reading this thread. I appreciate this discussion as it already begins to weave something together just in the focus on it. Thank you Craig for bringing it up and thank you all.
I look forward to seeing you all on Friday.
Craig, to gain some clarity, can you list a few of the perceived offerings that you are talking about here? On my end, I only assign "offerings" as events that come and go, and not necessarily all of the content on the website, which is there permanently and presumably adds value because of its archival nature.
While that may not be technically accurate, right now we are offering the bookclub and the deep meet and greet, and I'm not sure what else people are perceiving to be offerings, so having all of your fresh eyes will be very valuable to help me understand.
Hi Bonnie,
I mean "stuff to do and participate in." Book club, DMG, Dinner and Depth, podcast interviews, forums...Pulling down the Explore tab reveals a dozen right there. All that we offer.
The idea seems to be that the more we offer, the more people will participate. I LOVE what we offer--where else can you do all this??--but my inner introvert keeps whispering things like: too many options, what to do next, which to do first, overstimulation... And yet I'd hate to see any of it go away. Perhaps it's just the organization, which you're already working on. Additionally, I second Michael's and Dorene's point about core vs "elective" (or whatever the name). Main events versus other things for people to see and do.
Thanks--very helpful. It's spurred a number of thoughts for me. First, as our vision is morphing and crystalizing due to all the work and attention from the board and committees, it occurs to me that since the beginning I have envisioned the Alliance as a "one stop shop"--a portal, if you will, and a "hub for all things depth psychology'--literally a term that has been spelled out on our home page until just this week.
With this, my focus for the past five years has been on creating content, and attempting to entice people to sign up on the site so we could gain a mailing list. Now, of course, with five years of content and the initiative to first and foremost simplify the Home Page, all of that content needs to be re-organized (organized) into manageable chunks that won't overwhelm people. For now, all I've done is moved all those links/pages that used to be on the top UNDER our four new areas of DEEP focus: Dialogue, Explore, Experience, Pollinate.
I will say that once we ingrate the new WordPress home page and nav system, we will be able to have the menu sub tabs have sub tabs....so under Explore, as you mention, Craig, one sub-tab called "Multimedia" will be able to encompass the Video Library, the Podcasts, and the Recordings of Past Events (Like Dinner & Depth), for example.
One more thought: as we develop the Business and Marketing Plans, I perceive that our growth will become less about creating more content to entice people and more about developing strategic partnerships with other orgs who have mailing lists and can become affiliates or promoters for our content and programs. As the Outreach committee gains strategic partnerships with churches, universities, Jungian societies, and others, I envision each of them having their own membership page where they can promote their own dialogue or events which would bring people to the Alliance site, as well promoting our stuff to their lists. This is a great thread, by the way. Welcome more thoughts on all of this!
This is a problem indeed. I work with a group that offers six core classes on their main page (perhaps in conjunction with D.E.E.P.---E.R. to make it six) =}. They then offer a separate page every quarter with a smorgasbord of "electives" appealing to a broader spectrum. The newbie can enter as an initiate, typically choosing from the basic six. The old timers can find their pet issues and go deeper with likeminded petters.
I like this idea of participants being able to distinguish between what is core and what is elective, and Dorene's point about knowing what people most value. The more complex the entity, the more the need for a clear differentiation between primary offerings and add-ons.
I DO share this concern that people who may visit the site do what you do--bookmark for later and move on. We may also lose depth folks who have made an interior shift to a serene, more introspective life. They, too, may be overwhelmed at how much is happening, so much to take in. (The simplifying revisions to the site that Bonnie is making may mitigate that issue.)
I also am concerned that having so many offers is a drain on resources, without knowing that they create any tangible member satisfaction. We still don't know which of our offers is really valued, and we don't yet have a repeatable way of calculating value. What criteria should we use to assess the viability of future programs (revenue, resource drain, how does it contribute to our mission, does it duplicate another offer in some fundamental way that splits the audience, etc.) and whether we should keep or drop current offers. Which offers will be our "bread and butter" from a mission and revenue standpoint? Regarding customer satisfaction, there is a quantifiable trajectory to producing satisfaction in a customer. When satisfaction is on the upswing, giving MORE translates to increased satisfaction. At some point, however, more does not produce more satisfaction. It is just MORE. It's, then, just a drain on money, staff, time. All stuff we need to think about as we evolve.