LI COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY 2011 INITIAL REPORT · PDF file · 2013-07-10LI COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY 2011 . INITIAL REPORT TO MEMBERS . ... fortnightly News and Events email and Talking

LI COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY 2011 INITIAL REPORT TO MEMBERS

Landscape Institute communications survey 2011 – initial report


CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS 3. ‘LANDSCAPE’ JOURNAL 4. LI NEWS AND EVENTS EMAIL AND WEBSITE 5. LI WEBSITE

6. TALKING LANDSCAPE

7. PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS

1. INTRODUCTION

All LI members were invited to complete an online survey on the Institute’s print and digital communications, which ran for two weeks in November 2011. The survey was promoted through the fortnightly News and Events email and Talking Landscape. 1110 people clicked on the survey link, 875 started the survey and 712 people completed, representing a response rate of 12% of current LI members in total.

The survey comprised a mix of multiple-choice quantitative questions and open-ended qualitative questions seeking feedback on the Institute’s main corporate communications (ie the journal ‘Landscape’, the fortnightly news and events email, the main LI website and Talking Landscape) as well as LI communications more generally. This paper gives an initial summary of the quantitative responses, with comparisons to 2010 survey results where possible. A full report summarising the qualitative feedback and outlining proposed actions by the LI will follow.


2. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

2.1 ‘Landscape’ journal

Over three quarters of participants are satisfied with the relevance and the design of the journal, just under three quarters find it intellectually stimulating, and two-thirds find the journal of practical use at work – all higher than 2010.

2.2 LI News and Events email and website

The fortnightly LI News and Events email received a virtually identical response to results in the 2010 survey. Satisfaction levels with its usefulness, relevance, and design continued to be high (70, 80 and 75 percent respectively).

2.3 LI website

A quarter of respondents report visiting the site once a week or more, with 60 percent visiting every week or two, a slight increase from 2010. Satisfaction with the usefulness and the ease of use of the site has improved, with 71 percent agreeing that it is easy to locate information and 83 percent agreeing that it is a good information source. News and Jobs continue to be the most visited sections, as in 2010.

2.4 Talking Landscape

Usage of Talking Landscape has declined since 2010. Just under half of respondents are registered on the site, but the proportion using the site every couple of weeks or more has dropped from 36 to 30 percent, and those who never post or comment after joining have increased from 44 to 55 percent.

3. ‘LANDSCAPE’ JOURNAL

3.1 Relevance

79% find the journal relevant to their working lives – up from 77% in 2010. 18% do not find it relevant – down from 22% in 2010.

3.2 Interest

73% agree that the journal regularly has content that they find intellectually stimulating – up from 70% in 2010. 23% disagreed, down from 29% in 2010.

3.3 Usefulness

66% agree that the journal regularly has content that is of practical use – up from 61% in 2010. 31% do not find the journal content of practical use , down from 38% in 2010


3.4 Communication method

78% agree the journal is a good way for the LI to communicate with members – up from 75% in 2010. 18% think it is not a good way, down from 23% in 2010.

3.5 Design

76% like the design - up from 72% in 2010. 21% do not like the design, down from 25% in 2010.

3.6 Format and frequency


Additional questions on frequency, number of pages and different formats were included in this year’s survey that did not feature in the 2010 survey, so comparisons with previous years are not included.

In terms of format, 70% of respondents would like the journal to be available in both print and digital format, with 16% in favour of a digital-only publication, and 10% preferring print only. 4% were in favour of the journal being discontinued altogether. Of those that expressed a preference for digital formats, three-quarters would choose to read it on a laptop or PC, the rest preferring other devices such as Kindle, iPad, smartphone etc.

Over half of respondents want the journal to keep the same number of pages and to be published either quarterly or bimonthly, with a quarterly publication retaining the same number of pages coming out as the most popular option. Just under a third would like a quarterly or bimonthly publication with an increased number of pages. 13% are in favour of a merger with another publication.


4. LI NEWS AND EVENTS EMAIL AND WEBSITE

4.1 Relevance

81% agree that LI News and Events is relevant to their working lives – no change from 2010. 14% feel that it is not relevant, down from 16% in 2010.

4.2 Interest

38% spend 10 minutes or more reading the fortnightly news – up from 31% in 2010. 58% spend less than 10 minutes reading – down from 66% in 2010. 34% read more than half or all stories (no comparison with 2010 – question not asked).

4.3 Usefulness

70% agree that the fortnightly news regularly has content that is of practical use – up from 69% in 2010. 25% feel it does not regularly have useful content – down from 27% in 2010.


4.4 Communication method

91% agree that LI News and Events is a good way for the Landscape Institute to communicate with members – no change from 2010. 6% do not feel that it is a good way for the LI to communicate – no change from 2010.

4.5 Design

75% agree that they like the design of the website – no change from 2010. 15% do not like the design - no change from 2010.


5. LI WEBSITE

5.1 Frequency of visits

60% visit the site every 1-2 weeks - up from 58% in 2010. 39% visit less often or never – down from 41% in 2010.

5.2 Sections visited

News, Jobs, and Events were the most visited sections in 2011. (Comparison with 2010 figures is not included due to changes to the website structure).

5.3 Navigation

71% find it easy to locate information on the website, up from 67% in 2010. 26% do not find it easy, down from 30% in 2010


5.4 Information source

83% rate the website a good source of information, up from 82% in 2010. 12% feel it is not a good source, down from 14% in 2010.


6. TALKING LANDSCAPE Comparisons with last year’s survey have not been made, as the very small number of responses to questions about Talking Landscape in 2010 could not be taken as a necessarily representative sample. 6.1 Access

55% usually access it at work and 37% at home.

6.2 Reason for joining

The top three reasons for joining Talking Landscape were given as access to the Knowledge Forum, networking / keeping in touch with people, and news.

The Knowledge Forum, other forums and news were the features most used after joining.

6.3 Frequency of visits and use 10% of respondents visit the site once a week, 20% visit once a fortnight, 56% visit occasionally and 12% never visit. 55% of respondents said they never posted or commented, and 39% posted or commented occasionally.


7. PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS 7.1 Summary

• Age breakdown

30% of respondents were aged 26-34, 22% were 35-44 and 22% were 45-54.

• Gender breakdown 54% female, 46% male

• Job title

63% describe themselves as Landscape Architects. Other professional titles accounted for up to 5% each. Students made up 9% of respondents.

The demographic make-up of respondents is virtually unchanged from 2010, except for a large increase in the proportion of students completing this year’s survey, up from 5% of respondents in 2010.

7.2 Media use Multiple choice and free text questions asked about print and online resources used in connection with landscape work. Periodicals Of national daily newspapers, The Guardian was by far the mostly widely read, followed by The Times and The Independent – all unchanged from 2010. For trade news, the most popular publications were Building Design, Horticulture Week and Architects Journal; Topos, Landscape Architecture (the ALSA journal) and Green Places were the most popular landscape-related magazines. Again this was unchanged from 2010.



Websites The most frequently mentioned sites used in connection with work were for informational and reference purposes, eg Planning Portal, manufacturers’ and suppliers’ sites, mapping, government agencies, local authorities, and resources for wildlife and ecology. The second main category was websites of print publications such as BD, AJ and Topos. Some blogs and social networking sites were mentioned, Landezine and Land8 most commonly. Social media About a fifth of respondents use LinkedIn, and there were several recommendations that the LI should make use of this site. Twitter is popular with a much smaller section of members, and facebook is barely used at all for professional purposes. Email bulletins AJ and Planning Portal bulletins were rated as the most useful/interesting. CIRIA, Horticulture Week, Planning, RTPI bulletins and World Architecture News were all mentioned by a few.

Lesley Malone Landscape Institute

May 2012

Documents

LI COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY 2011 INITIAL REPORT · PDF file · 2013-07-10LI COMMUNICATIONS SURVEY 2011 . INITIAL REPORT TO MEMBERS . ... fortnightly News and Events email and Talking