Ian Macmillan Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 The statistics on 'views' of the Links threads on the site suggest that there is a fairly healthy degree of interest in them. What is not clear is the degree of use made of the links provided. To try and get some feel for this: Do users/visitors click on: a. 1 or 2 links? b. Most links? c. All links? I encourage as many users as possible to respond, especially those who are not regular posters or who have still to post at all. Additional comment on aspects of this would be welcome. For example, are your choices based on geography, companies/dancers concerned, or other influences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I click on any links relating to the companies that I follow, anything written by Clement Crisp, anything that has an interesting quote. It probably averages at 3 or 4 a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumdetrois Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I tend only to view the listings related to UK news items and reviews, though occasionally do go to a link for a US dance company or similar . I think the Daily Links are an incredibly useful tool for people like, and I would miss this facility if it went, but I appreciate that it involves a huge amount of work behind the scenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 It's so unpredictable with me that it's difficult to say. I probably vary from "all" down to "zero" on occasions, depending on a) how busy I am with work; whether my broadband is actually working properly (!); c) what companies/choreographers/dancers/critics/works are involved. Taking today's links as an example, I'd say that most of them are of interest to me, although I haven't actually had time to read more than one of them so far because I've been busy with other things. Obviously, ballet companies and dancers that I follow are of interest, but then so are some of the quirky pieces. And it's not only the big companies: I like keeping an eye on e.g. Sarasota Ballet, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I prefer UK company reviews and in particular the mainstream ones, CG, BRB, ENB, NB, Rambert etc, next would be visiting big companies like the Bolshoi and Mariinsky, usually ones that I have recently attended or intend to. Of course I am interested in following those companies at home, also the POB, ABT and RDB in particular, but if we have to cut down then the UK companies would be the most important for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Williams Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Ian, I’m not sure if this is the right place for the following comment, but hopefully nobody will mind! I'm happy with the way the links are being preserved by both you and John M – very grateful thanks indeed to you both. I believe that whatever else has to go in this new slimmed-down Ballet.co, the links should stay in whatever form possible - they were the first thing readers turned to in the old Ballet.co and - as you can see from the comments – they still are. The demise of our unique database is sad but understandable; however the majority of ballet.co’s readers simply wanted quick and easy access to relevant print and online reviews, comments and articles, which is exactly what the old links provided and hopefully still can provide. You’ll have to forgive me if this is already under consideration, but I wonder if in the new structure a named links ‘co-ordinator’ could be appointed, someone to whom we could all send whatever links we were able to find. The co-ordinator could then, um….co-ordinate them and present them each day (if possible) with a comment acknowledging the contributors. This would have two benefits: it save one person a lot of search time, and it would probably mean a larger and more comprehensive set of links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 c) what companies/choreographers/dancers/critics/works are involved. I've since realised that the publication and its degree of "seriousness" is also of interest: I've learned over the years that there are certain publications out of which I won't get a lot of useful information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I tend to go to the doing dance section as that is where I can gather advice and information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Ann: Further to your post #6, thanks for your Thanks. Briefly, John and I have been exploring ways of doing Links in a session of some 30 minutes maximum and, if the site continues, finding an answer there could help ensure that they would remain in the longer term, and others might be happy to take a turn in doing them. So we're not at the stage of appointing a Coordinator just yet but, if all goes well, no doubt somebody would need to look after that side of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Given time, I check these links daily, if not I work backwards. I usually read all those links involving UK based or visiting companies, or their dancers when guesting abroad. Also, choreographers, whose work I know, when they are working abroad eg new Scarlett in Miami, new Wheeldon in NY. The "out of the ordinary" can attract my attention. I appreciate these links immensely, for pointing me to articles I'd miss, & being a huge timesaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 I suspect we've got as much from this question as we're going to get, and my thanks to those who replied. However, what seems clear is that there is an appetite for this service - the current thread has something over 1200 views in the past 7 days, for example - and JohnM and I are exploring ways of continuing to provide one, but at a personal cost of considerably less than 3 hours per day, which had pretty much become the norm. In essence, it's likely that all we will do is point at links found from a more restricted search than hitherto, but the detail of presentation is probably not yet final. And if things continue into the longer term, I'm sure we'll be looking for one or two others to share the load! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjuli_Bai Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Sometimes on a busy day I check the links by reading the e-mail prompt rather than actually on the board - so I don't know if that counts in your statistical summary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidW Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I try to check the e-mail links in my morning coffee break although I haven't been too good recently at keeping this up! I tend to click on 2 or 3 links and mainly read about NY companies - I lived in NYC for two years and like to keep up with ABT and NYCB. I tend to wait to read RB reviews until after seeing the pieces myself - I like to form my own opinions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELee Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 These links are a new discovery for me. I thoroughly enjoy the speed that they take me to articles and I have read about aspects I wouldn't have considered previously. I read 2 or 3 per day if possible whether the titles initially appeal or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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