Genealogy Chat

Ann in Glos--do you come in other finishes ? Arfermo.

Did I imagine it but didn't GR or perhaps GC as it was then post a message a few years back now asking for suggestions? Quite a few people responded I think.

As someone who undertakes online surveys on a regular basis for marketing companies I am surprised Genes are conducting such half baked research.

Considering they are now owned by the owners of 'Find my past' who have sent me email surveys on more than one occasion in the last 3 years and I have never had a full subscription to their site.

I have been a paid up member of Genes since 2004 and they have never asked me once what I think of this site,. but are happy of late to regularly send me emails encouraging me to build my tree. I f they bothered to look they would see that I have a tree of nearly 5,000 people on this site and am regularly adding to it.

Pauline


good idea


....... then we have to trust GR to read those suggestions!!


Oh .... that email I said I had sent in response to Alex?? TWICE it bounced back to me as

Message Undeliverable
Unknown Address
Blocked



so I've sent a copy through GR





we have lovely sunny weather here on the west coast!



sylvia

n

But I see the original sticky is now locked - they obviously don't want any further applications!

Methinks those that have said they have been accepted are posting in jest :-)

I have just responded to the email from Alex as follows. Of course, I can't now expect a reply until at least Monday!



Hi Alex

Thank you for your response

Members are actually posting on whether or not they have been accepted for the survey sessions. So far, they are all from one small sub-group of GR members ............ not a very satisfactory method of obtaining information, and not acceptable under any standards of market surveying!

One suggestion has been made:-

GR has an email address for every member of GR ........ so why not send a short questionnaire to each member, asking for feedback?

Then, contact a smaller number of those members who have responded and ask more detailed questions ..... selecting the names by ballot

Then set up survey groups in different parts of the UK ....... and invite more contributions from overseas members.


Best regards





sylvia

I sent mine to the research group address; I think a standard reply would have been received from the former.

Ann, Joy


In my email to GR, I did state that people living in other parts of the UK would be unable to attend ........ and were just as disenfanchised as those of us living overseas




Please email either GR or that research group address with your concerns .............. if we bombard them with complaints about their methods there might be a bit more of a response




sylvia

I live in the UK but could not get there for an evening meeting.


Also not easy for anyone not living in the UK.

It is not only those in the North who can't get there. If you notice the times it is difficult for anybody who doesn't want to be travelling late in the evening except those living very near to London. It certainly rules out those of us living in the West/Midlands, the train service from Gloucester is expensive and a long journey.

Here is the reply I got from GR today ....... as per usual!!!


Dear Sylvia

Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your feedback

Inevitably, we do receive a lot of feedback and suggestions from our members but please be assured that your email will be individually read by our Management team and that ALL member feedback is taken into account when deciding on future website development.

Thanks again for your views.

Best regards,


Alex S
Genes Support Team




doesn't say much does it??



sylvia

Have to agree on the distance issue. I'm up in the north west and I read that post. I'd have willingly got in touch with them until I saw it was centred in London. Getting there wouldn't be a problem (there is a Preston-Euston train) but the phrasing of the message sounded to me like, "If you're not in the London area, we won't consider you".

Good point on the "trained researchers" thing, too, Sylvia.

Chat Board
Topic £60 take part in our Market Research Study

we are currently organizing some market resear.....


General Board
Topic £60 take part in our Market Research Study

has your research taken you on an exiti.......

Hmmm which one shall I read

FannyByGaslight has a thread on this on TTF


............. she's posting names of people who say they have been accepted

The thread she is getting the information from is on Chat, headed London Ladies
www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.asp?wci=thread&tk=1230147

one person has posted that she herself was accepted ... then asked to provide 3 other names!



The sad thing is that many of the people who psot on General and/or Chat very rarely post on here ....... and many of the people who post on the research boards very rarely post on the other boards.




sylvia

Also a former Market Researcher ( and Mystery Shopper) I agree with you Elizabeth.

This sounds like a very amateurish exercise.

I'm writing as someone who used to be a market researcher, back in the days when it was all knocking on doors and walking the streets with a clipboard. To get a proper cross- section we would have quotas, of age, sex, occupation and other special requirements of the client - sometimes in order to get a perfect balance they would be "interlocking quotas", i.e. there had to be one of each type in each section of the quota. This is obviously well, managed in all the surveys done on line these days -they can close each section of the quota as it is filled (e.g. when they have the quota of men over sixty in managerial jobs.)

It should be possible to draw up a suitably balanced requirement to get a proper cross-section of genealogical researchers - including rural and distant areas and overseas, and send a questionnaire to all members of GR and keep it open untill they get a substantial and balanced feed back.

Even here in the UK it seems to be London centred - how many of us here in the north could get to Hammersmith for a short evening meeting?

Good thinkingI Sylvia. Like Joy, have already emailed the address given and added my thoughts......mainly about the lack of clear guidelines for usage and the fact that the fantastic volunteer researchers are the main reason for the 'success' of this site.

Naturally, I consider you to be one of those fantastic, volunteer researchers :))


Cx

well said sylvia i fully agree with you

please post gr response

although i expect it will say ( nothing )
sally w