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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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News from the AYA The goal of our class of 1962 website quite simply is to increase classmate communication and camaraderie. Although still something of an experiment, it seems to be working. Topics in the past year have ranged from Vietnam to vitamins, from male health issues to baseball, from supply-side economics to gay marriage, and from mountain climbing to retirement. Sixty-somethings, it turns out, are fascinating (at least for this former journalist and corporate communications maven). Many classmates are in important stages of transition and are willing to share their experience and views with amazing candor. Of course, we still report classmate news and class events in this magazine. The website does some of that as well but is open to just about any other subject. We post new material monthly and alert classmates by e-mail. Our e-mail list has almost doubled in two years and now stands at just under 600. The site is structured as an electronic magazine, topped by a single lead article. About three months out of four, classmates write these features, on topics either offered by them or requested by me acting as a sort of managing editor. In the fourth month I conduct an interview with a better-known classmate. Recent photos are included. Participation has been enthusiastic. So far, more than 50 classmates have written for the website. Other regular sections are Obituaries (handled brilliantly by classmate Bob Oliver); Breaking News, which concerns classmate authors, actors, media references, award winners, etc.; and our posting of the Alumni Notes. There are also a few semi-regular classmate columnists, as well as Poetry Post (original poetry); Through the Lens (photography); classmate websites of the month; polls and surveys; and an only occasionally active message board. We are using the site to provide information on and promote our two scheduled 2005 Mini Reunions, the first in Washington, D.C., in April, and the second in Hong Kong in October. In cooperation with the AYA, the Hong Kong reunion is the first time that Mini participants have been able to register online. Everything on the site, except for access to names and addresses, is open -- there are no IDs or passwords. We think this is important. Most of the traffic is from classmates, but a feature on the Middle East showed up in a Beirut newspaper. Internet search engines pick up most of our feature articles. About 250 to 300 classmates visit the site at least once a month and that number has been trending slowly higher. In other words, we have a steady and loyal readership. In December we conducted our second annual survey to see what readers like and don't like and how their web practices may be changing. About 80 percent of the more than 100 responses to the 2004 poll were favorable on content and ease of navigation. The average visitor spends about ten minutes on the site. This is quite similar to newspaper and magazine reader habits, although about half the poll respondents said they were spending more time each visit than they had a year earlier. Not surprisingly, respondents said that their favorite sections were the ones that run most prominently and often -- the lead features and breaking news. Poetry and photography don't fare as well, but we plan to continue with these artistic sections as long as classmates are interested in contributing. As for the feature pieces, 60 percent said they preferred personal experiences, 33 percent opted for current news issues, and the remaining 7 percent wanted Yale nostalgia. A clear trend paralleling national data is that almost 85 percent said they now connect by broadband from home or work rather than dial-up service. With slow loading less of an issue, we will be able to post more visuals and graphics. Why not take a look? The site is open to everyone: http://www.yale62.org. |
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