So, what have we learned from this exercise?
1) EN is equally-loved by Young Riders as well as riders who enjoy their birthday cakes with fire extinguishers on hand. But apparently the site must be rated PG-13 by the MPAA, as our youngest readers are 15. Good to know.
2) EN is represented by 26 states in the union, 3 Canadian provinces (shouldn’t y’all be playing hockey?), and 2 loyal readers abroad in the UK and Australia. I will also use this moment to mention that my blessed state of Kentucky was the most-represented state…proving that the Big Blue Nation will take over the world (muahahaha). The mathematical scientist in me will comment that only a limited number of our actual readers participated in the survey, so it is quite likely that some other state is more popular; but, I can only skew the numbers which I was given, so that’s what I’ll do.
3) We have a wide range of readers here, from all levels and facets of the sport. I LOVE that this site can speak equally to the Beginner Novice adult amateur, to the Advanced rider, to the event organizer, and the Pony Club Mom…as well as refugees from other disciplines, too. (We see you h/j riders! Take yer boots off and stay awhile!). We all share the love of this sport, and want to see it succeed… no matter our differences, this is our one common goal. That, and laughing hysterically whenever possible.
4) As my inner mathematical scientist alluded to earlier, it is possible our census results reflect a particular segment of our reader population: the die-hard fan. The majority of responders have been following this site for over four months, since it first began with Fair Hill 2009. John can confirm that the site has seen tremendous growth in the last month or two– and while plenty of those people commented, too, a lot of them are still the silent-type. We hope to change that… we hope every reader becomes completely addicted and inspired to assist us in world domination. (Sorry John, I didn’t mean to give away our master plan, it just kinda slipped out). Seriously, though, your loyalty is humbling and we appreciate it.
5) Your site suggestions were great! It is wonderful to hear what you like, and how we can improve. Nearly half simply said, “Keep up the good work!” which I promise we will. Other popular topics were the Training Sessions, Grooming Tips, and Videos/Photos. Many of you suggested profiling lower-level riders, or up-and-coming riders, and that is a fantastic idea. If you would like to be featured, or know someone who should be, please email [email protected]. Riders should be competing at Training level or below.
And if I may, I would like to make a desperate, hopeful, pleading request of our readers: please keep commenting! We have a few dedicated souls (Retread, Subk, and lse) who often leave a little note on a few posts, and we appreciate it very much. Tell us if you liked something, if you hated it, if we were wrong, or if it made any sense at all. We don’t delete “negative” comments, and we try to respond to most of them. Clearly, readers like a lot of what we do…but we had no idea just how much until the comments poured in from the Census. We don’t just want to inflate our egos–John’s is large enough, thankyouverymuch– we want to shape the site to reflect the whole “Eventing Nation,” and we can’t do that without your voices, too.
Thanks again for reading, and Go Eventing!
