Hello, hello, hello!
Last week we updated you all on where we are with the site and asked for some community feedback to help guide us as Umbra enters its second year. We are happy to announce that the Umbra community did not disappoint! We received some excellent responses and wanted to share some of the suggestions and notes with you.
What would you like to see introduced to Umbra in the future?
The overwhelming response to this question was a request that we return to holding monthly events. Prior months leading up to the current pandemic situation, event participation was low. This could have been due to a number of factors (low interest in the events presented, busy lives outside of the site for our members, lack of incentive, etc.). In an effort to offer new opportunities for engagement to our lovely members, we will be reworking our current event structure to give you a greater variety of activities. These events will include games, contests, writing events, quizzes, etc. We will also be offering awards based on performance and effort, and giving our winners/participants greater community recognition.
How do you believe Umbra could be improved for current and future members?
Responses to this question were a little more varied, but the outstanding commentary was in regards to a greater staff presence. I will openly admit that due to personal issues I've been dealing with for the past six months, including dealing with a heavy depressive episode, I have been distant. I will take the opportunity to apologize to the community as my mental health issues should not detract from your ability to feel welcome on site.
Nyco and I maintain a relatively hands-off approach when it comes to managing Umbra. We are more than happy to make ourselves available and help anyone who requests assistance, but we are also introverted goblins who spend a lot of time muttering to ourselves in our dark little caves. While this may work well for the portion of our community who prefer to be left to their own devices, this style of management may be less appealing for writers who thrive in an environment where staff are consistently engaging without being prompted.
We want to create a happy writing space for everyone no matter their personality type, so we have begun the process of restructuring our staffing to a) provide more assistance and opportunity for communication for those of you who would like it and b) ensure there is at least one staff member available at all times for someone to contact if needed (this won't always be possible as each of our volunteer staff members maintains a busy outside life even during quarantine, but we will be doing the best we can to be consistent for the community). We will be adding another individual to staff as well, giving the community seven potential points of contact.
Conclusive Things
Overall, responses were positive and extremely helpful. We wanted to thank you for providing us with such useful feedback. You all are what makes running this site worth every ounce of effort we have and will put into this community, and we are endlessly grateful you're on this weird little journey with us.
On a final note, I wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be undergoing the process of upgrading the site within the coming months. While this may present a bit of a readjustment period for everyone, an upgrade will give us the opportunity to install newer and better add ons for the site to enrich your writing experience. Further information will be given as I develop a detailed upgrade schedule.
And… that's it! I got nothing else! If you made it this far, you are a god/dess among mortals and never let anyone tell you any different.
If you have any questions or further comments, feel free to post below. The survey is also still open for anyone who'd like the opportunity to anonymously voice their thoughts: Clicky click!
xoxo supernovas,
Nev
Last week we updated you all on where we are with the site and asked for some community feedback to help guide us as Umbra enters its second year. We are happy to announce that the Umbra community did not disappoint! We received some excellent responses and wanted to share some of the suggestions and notes with you.
What would you like to see introduced to Umbra in the future?
The overwhelming response to this question was a request that we return to holding monthly events. Prior months leading up to the current pandemic situation, event participation was low. This could have been due to a number of factors (low interest in the events presented, busy lives outside of the site for our members, lack of incentive, etc.). In an effort to offer new opportunities for engagement to our lovely members, we will be reworking our current event structure to give you a greater variety of activities. These events will include games, contests, writing events, quizzes, etc. We will also be offering awards based on performance and effort, and giving our winners/participants greater community recognition.
How do you believe Umbra could be improved for current and future members?
Responses to this question were a little more varied, but the outstanding commentary was in regards to a greater staff presence. I will openly admit that due to personal issues I've been dealing with for the past six months, including dealing with a heavy depressive episode, I have been distant. I will take the opportunity to apologize to the community as my mental health issues should not detract from your ability to feel welcome on site.
Nyco and I maintain a relatively hands-off approach when it comes to managing Umbra. We are more than happy to make ourselves available and help anyone who requests assistance, but we are also introverted goblins who spend a lot of time muttering to ourselves in our dark little caves. While this may work well for the portion of our community who prefer to be left to their own devices, this style of management may be less appealing for writers who thrive in an environment where staff are consistently engaging without being prompted.
We want to create a happy writing space for everyone no matter their personality type, so we have begun the process of restructuring our staffing to a) provide more assistance and opportunity for communication for those of you who would like it and b) ensure there is at least one staff member available at all times for someone to contact if needed (this won't always be possible as each of our volunteer staff members maintains a busy outside life even during quarantine, but we will be doing the best we can to be consistent for the community). We will be adding another individual to staff as well, giving the community seven potential points of contact.
Conclusive Things
Overall, responses were positive and extremely helpful. We wanted to thank you for providing us with such useful feedback. You all are what makes running this site worth every ounce of effort we have and will put into this community, and we are endlessly grateful you're on this weird little journey with us.
On a final note, I wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be undergoing the process of upgrading the site within the coming months. While this may present a bit of a readjustment period for everyone, an upgrade will give us the opportunity to install newer and better add ons for the site to enrich your writing experience. Further information will be given as I develop a detailed upgrade schedule.
And… that's it! I got nothing else! If you made it this far, you are a god/dess among mortals and never let anyone tell you any different.
If you have any questions or further comments, feel free to post below. The survey is also still open for anyone who'd like the opportunity to anonymously voice their thoughts: Clicky click!
xoxo supernovas,
Nev
