I've been postponing posting the survey results. You know, waiting for a
clear day to come by when I have lots of leisure time to phrase things just
right. But this is the 10th anniversary we're talking about, not the 20th,
so let me give up the idea of doing this just right or it'll never happen.
First, here are the offical results, as returned by the survey tallier, Mo'
Maggie. (Or formerly Mo' Maggie, maybe Magic Maggie or something now...)
>From: Margaret Zick <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: 10th Anniversary Survey Results
>
>Hello Everyone!!
>
>Well, I finally got all the results together from the survey. Not everyone
>who sent in a survey reply voted on all questions, all together we had 220
>responses. I have decided that I should go to New Mexico as no one there
>wants to leave!! ;-) Seriously, Orlando was the overall favorite. The
>voting breaks down as follows:
>
>Orlando--85
>San Antonio--34
>New Orleans--16
>Branson--12
>
>Many of you sent in alternate locations. As you can imagine these varied as
>widely as ferret owners do. Some of the most frequently mentioned places
>were Dallas, St. Louis, Washington D.C. or Virginia, Seattle, Oklahoma
>City and anywhere in California.
>
>Some of you can only attend if the bash is held close to where you live,
>others promised to be there if it was within a 1000 miles of Planet Earth.
>Yes, that response came from our resident bigmouth er, uh, ferret guru Mo'
>Bob. So be warned, if you attend the bash you will have to put up with him.
>
>As for the timing, it was a closer race, but the last two weeks in January
>won out. Several people voted for the first two weeks in January.
>
>last 2 weeks of January--80
>first ten days of December--50
>first 10 days of Febuary--25
>
>Most everyone thought that regional gatherings were a great idea, some even
>suggesting they be timed with the big bash itself and have video
>conferencing for those not able to attend. Maybe some of our computer whizs
>could think up something here?
>
>The main suggestions for area on regional gatherings were splitting up the
>U.S. into 4 or 5 obvious regions. Not many suggested anything for our non
>U.S. readers. I think it would be great for others to have their own mini
>bashes. Maybe someone who likes DTP can put together a newsletter afterwards
>with pictures from all the meetings. And yes, I will be happy to volunteer.
>(See, that proves owning ferrets makes you insane!)
>
>Other ideas for the Anniversary bash include T-Shirts, pins, hats and a
>photo board for non-attendees to send in their pictures too.
>
>The question most answered on the survey was what to call the party. And if
>you can believe it, I didn't get duplications of names. And I have well
>over a 100 suggestions!! I am going to e-mail the name list to a few select
>members of the ferret community and have them pick out their top 10 or so
>and post those results on the FML. Then our family at large can decide on
>an official name. So if you get e-mail from me in the next week or so,
>watch out! Maybe we can come up with a suitable prize for the winning
>entry.
>
>hugs,
>
>Mo' Maggie and the Missouri Mustelid Mob (can we *finally* have the computer
>back now Mom?---the gang)
And now, a note from me:
The Orlando decision pleases me because I honestly believe it is one of the
most accessible and inexpensive locations anywhere, both in terms of air
fares and accomodations, but I really don't want to turn my back on all the
other possibilities. I'm hoping people will volunteer to host a few
meetings in their locations in the fall.
Ronnie DiComo and I also looked over the results and added in a couple of
votes that went directly to me, and also considered people's second choices
if they expressed any. This put Orlando even further into the lead, but it
made it clear that other areas should not be forgotten. We got very
respectable showings for many areas.
Anyhow, that's it for now. I'm sure there will be many more discussions to
follow, but figured I really had to get the results out as soon as possible.
Bill
[Posted in FML issue 1856]
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