Rest Easy, from Sept. to Feb. the Blog is Principally Seen by SLI Members; About March 1 the Visitors Return

Concerns have been raised about the affect of discussing subjects that some SLI members consider "dirty laundry" which ought not to be in the public eye. From a study of our reader trends, it appears that when our SLI programs wrap up on Labor Day weekend, our Visitors, for the most part, go on sabbatical through the year-end holidays and the New Year's first eight weeks of winter. That is right about the time that our advertising begins for the new season's programming.

To a certain extent SLI members follow that pattern also which is not to be thinking about summer plans while the shopping centers are doing back-to-school sales, Halloween sales, Thanksgiving specials, and the Christmas sales pushes which sort of wrap up with the Valentine Holiday of February 14th. It is in these closing weeks of winter that our readership picks up, almost as though people are looking for the summer already and thinking about it helps those last weeks of winter to move a little more quickly.

That's what caused me to do this chart to summarize the Blog's readership year.

This pattern is probably a good thing because every community needs the opportunity to have news and discussions around subjects unique to the community so as to improve it on the utilitarian side of things as opposed to the programmatic. This naturally forming pattern gives SLI a built-in "community time."

So if ever there was a time for the community to discuss community issues, it is best done in the September through February time slot which I refer to as our "Community Time." If ever there was a time to shower, shave, and put on our finest as we greet guests and put our best foot forward, that would be the March through August time period which I am referring to the days of "Program Promotion." Program Building is sort of always going on, so I placed it in the center of everything else we do.

The last point to be made is that many people want to know more and more about the ins-and-outs of an organization and, most importantly, how they go about handling upset. White-washing or covering up the defects of a community is somewhat unreal and people sense it. Particularly as guests to the Institute notice For Sale signs and consider the possibility of Life on the grounds, they want to know there is a reasonable and effective process in place for dealing with possible controversy or disagreement.