For all of you absolutely dying to know the results of my "Raven survey,"
here are some interesting facts and quite debatable interpretations.

Of the 69 responses, 66 were on the first day of the test, 3 on the second,
and none on the third. In fact, 49 responded by noon on Monday, within four
hours. This suggests that Raven has an immediate impact which fades almost
immediately, just like, well, sex.

Forty-four responses were from faculty (despite it being exam week), 21
from staff,  and only four from administrators (two department heads and
two directors).

The last figure is interesting. Are our administrators ignoring campus
issues on Raven? Perhaps, but more likely is their unwilingness to admit
reading a possibly contrary message.  Similarly, heads of important
committees and faculty leaders, and not many members of key committees read
the message, or declined to admit as much even with a $50 prize incentive.

Now for the big question we all wanted to know.  Does a response of 69
during the least favorable time of the year and during SOT fatigue indicate
efficacy or futility of communicating via Raven?  Since the mailing list is
859, 69 was a pretty small percentage, but given the conditions, perhaps
predictable. A control would be a short, one line message early in fall
semester, but one of you will have to design that one. I have to conclude
that Raven is not very reliable, so important and official campus
announcements need to be made via snail mail. But you can draw your own
conclusions.

Raven is much better at selling things. Out of curiosity, I asked Paul
Benson about his successful sale of an oak computer desk. Within one hour
Paul received eight phone calls and four emails. No more oak desk!

One could say that those who responded to my survey represent a group who
keep up with issues at this institution. However, both Sally Young and Tom
Bibler wondered if reading long Raven messages meant that they "did not
have a life." I guess not, Sally and Tom, but I should have had a prize for
the funniest response. I suspect that there are a lot of you out there
(YES, YOU!) who have a secret life on Raven.

COMING SOON IN THE FALL!  A test of the UTC grapevine! Rumours! Big prizes!

Richard Rice
History