Késsinnimek - Roots - Racines

Comments and Opinions from our Authors

presented by     Norm Léveillée

The following valued comments and opions were sent to me by our authors:

Louise Dubrule wrote:

Norm, thank you so much for letting me do this article. I got choked up reading it again, but you do realize that tears are what allow the soul to see rainbows.
As for the magazine, you have to do what you need to do for yourself, your sanity, and your family. I can understand how this publication seems to have a life of its own, and you have come to a point in life when you don't need all the extra work. A labor of love? Absolutely, but a great deal of time and attention too. It has been said that all good things come to an end...but mercy!...we will miss your marvelous creation and your attention to detail. You have my blessings whatever you decide, as well as my deep gratitude for your unfailing kindness.

Suzanne Boivin Sommerville wrote:

Good morning, Norm.

Having fewer readers does not necessarily mean less appreciation. I understand membership in genealogical societies that publish in paper versions is also down in numbers.
I would be sad to see the magazine fold, but it is your work that produces the web version of the articles submitted.
The decision is yours, Norm.
Suzanne

Jim Carten wrote:

Well your decision does not surprise me, actually. You had a project and a goal and you conceived the Roots thing, you watched it grow and were the recipient of the pleasures of sharing and helping others and now you probably have reached a point where you see no place for improvement in the present context.. In life at a certain moment we know when it is time to turn the page. Tell you a story......
Many years ago I began cross-country skiing. I knew absolutely nothing about it. Over the years I experimented and learned and then I began entering races locally. After that I became a memeber of the Québec Chapter of the Canadian Masters. We raced all over the place here, witihng a three hour drive. Finally I got to a point where I was training regularly and skiing with the best...racing against two former Olympians. I never did anything spectacular, but still was racing against them. My partner on skis became a Canadian Gold Medalist, Bronze Medal at Lake Placid in the Masters World Cup. I raced in the World Cup too here at Mt-Ste-Anne. The point is that once I finished the Cup races, that I no longer had any goals, as this was the ultimate. The flame died, the coals were still warm and I raced for maybe five years after and finally hung it up. I had attained and surpassed my goal of being a decent skier. I turned the page.

Jim wrote a second note:

Mornin'

Read with interest the comments on your proposed retirement.

True that the E-zine has digressed from the Blessed Kateri days, from Madame Sommerville's writings on the Montours, onto what I would believe to be, a larger view on Roots, but in that the Métis have been sort of moved over.
To me Roots is a combination of history and culture. Genealogy is a by-product, however if genealogy is your thing, you will certainly need history and culture otherwise your documents will be names, dates and places which is rather bland for a reader.
I write on Québec, Québec customs that I know and have read and studied and also the history which comes attached to it. I do tend to go off topic occasionally but in my mind, which functions in a tongue-in-cheek, off-the-wall fashion most days, there is a lien.

Then there is a thing called ''allegiance''. You are very proud of your project, very open-minded vis-à-vis the writers, you never looked own on those who contributed something which was not entire relevant to the basic theme. This shows me a person who is thoughtful and respectful and through this I have continued to contribute by my allegiance to you, Norm, who gave me a chance to write and share. It also gave me the pleasure to learn more than you might expect. Bear with me here. I am of German-Irish-English ancestry, born and raised in Ct., been in Québec since 1963 speak French as my daily language but I consider myself a Québécois much more than an American. Now I knew nothing about Franco-Americans except that the two Lemieux sisters in grade school could speak another language and that their father Arthur was in charge of the French Club in Bridgeport. So through your group, and Lucie's, I found out what became of the People who left here to move to the States, stuff I should have learned as kid as Bridgeport had a fairly large Franco-American community.

Et là-là, je vais déjeuner et je vais sacrer mon camp dans bois avec mon chum et on va bûcher ce matin!

Bonne journée et un GROS merci............Jim

Bill Brennan wrote:

I know how hard you work Norm; I hope you have a multitude of readers.

Lucie Leblanc Consentino wrote:

Hi Norm,

Here is one woman's opinion -

I've been there twice with my own newsletter. At first people are very enthusiastic and interested in submitting articles but with time they realize it can become tedious so unless it is their main interest in life they sort of drift off to other projects and it can become more and more difficult for them to submit articles on time.
The other thing is that since I have had a newsletter I know how much time is involved in putting the final product together online - I reached a point that it was taking up more time running down articles and putting it together rather than spending that time working on my own web site or helping other people with their research.
Since you have mentioned this before, perhaps it is time for you to move on to other things that might be more satisfying to you. Everything has a life and we have to sort of know when one is over so that we can move on to whatever else is calling us.
Meanwhile, know that I am most grateful to the contributions you have made through your monthly e-zine and commend you for the quality you have maintained throughout.
If you think it is time to move on, I encourage you to do so and I support whatever future endeavors you undertake.
I thank you for your warm friendship!

Lucie
Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
AFC RootsWeb Administrator
Acadian-French-Canadian Mailing List
ACADIAN-FRENCH-CANADIAN-L-request@rootsweb.com
Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home
www.acadian-home.org/frames.html

From Father William Lonc, S.J.

Norm, Greetings from Toronto. I think you have done a heroic job over the past few years with the magazine, but keeping up a monthly is a lot of work and the readership is surely a small but select audience. Perhaps one could try a semi-annual for a year or so.

Cheers

Father Bill Lonc, S.J.

Joan Vermette wrote:

Tell me, is this a steady decline in hits? Over what period of time?
And of course, there's no application on any web server to tell you how much your material MEANS to the person who hits it. My intuition says that interest in these things wane and wax, and you'll never know how traffic might pick up in the future. I don't know how much work keeping K-R-R is for you, but I vote "stay with it." It would be a shame to see another resource on Franco-American culture go down the tubes.

Marie Rundquist wrote:

Hi, Norm,

Before you give up completely on your loyal core readers -- and lose hope of regaining the readership you have lost, I'd like to ask you to consider a few recommendations that I offer in response to your request. I'm a relative newcomer to your site (having followed it in depth only since June of this year) -- and I do find that you have a wide range of topics -- and in fact some of your topics may in fact be a little too diverse for your core readership. If your core readership is interested in topics related to family history and genealogy, then family history and genealogy -- and nothing else - should remain your site's core focus. Serial publications; e.g., newspapers, magazines, specialized periodicals, suffer a similar fate as you have described-- that of declining numbers of visitors, translating to a loss of following, when the original purpose of the publication becomes diluted by off-topic articles -- and the site loses its originality and focus -- and so, it's readership. A website, in this regard, is no different from any serialized publication, that experiences updates and changes, which would draw or repel its readers. Thus, you need to examine the scope of articles on your site, distinguishing contributions that adhere to your core mission from the "outliers," which would be the articles that cover topics having little or no bearing on the subjects of genealogy and family history. Find out what percentage of your current base of articles speak to your core mission, versus those articles that divert from the standard topics (and are therefore, out of scope) - and there you may find the percentage of readers you have lost!

I recommend that you establish a solid charter and then insist that contributors adhere to it -- as site editor and steward of your collection; e.g., accepting only topics related to family history and the pursuit of genealogies; then, perhaps you would earn back your loyal readership. With a charter that enables people to share their family histories -- and learn from each other about methods and sources without the distraction of out-of-scope articles and topics, I think you may have a way back to the core readership you may have lost.
You should publish your charter as well for comment (and later adoption) by readers and contributors. You will find that people are excellent at self-policing their own behaviors (and checking others) when they know what the boundaries are. With a published charter, your readers will also feel confident that the time they spend visiting your site is worthwhile -- that they will not have to wade through topics unrelated to their passion -- the study of family histories and genealogy.

You have too many excellent contributions that I've seen in your archives to risk your readership (I've referenced some of your articles to find information about my own family history) -- and watering down a highly credible collection such as yours with the addition of miscellaneous and out-of-scope articles does not benefit your site -- or your core readership. I would also insist that all articles are published in French and in English -- your dual-language focus is one of your site's strong suits -- that your site appeals to French and English-speaking readers -- and the dual translations of your materials distinguishes you from other sites of similar focus -- and enables your articles to reach a broader audience. So, if people wish to share their stories and ideas-- they must find a way to do so in two languages!
Please feel free to respond to anything I've said in my comments -- if you would like to discuss anything I've stated here in further detail, that would be fine. You're welcome to publish anything I've stated, in whole or in part. I'm very interested in your continuing.

Thanks again.
Marie Rundquist

Juliana L'Heureux wrote:

Hi Normand,

I think this would take some serious thought because during Google searches, your articles come up higher in the search engines than many others when I'm trying to find particular subjects related to Franco-Americans.
You will miss it. Perhaps you can add a blog component to your newsletter?
It may be about your energy level rather than the hits per month.
You do an excellent job creating a class e-magazine.

Juliana@MaineWriter.com
Juliana L'Heureux

Diane Szabo wrote:

Gosh, Norm, this is a hard one to answer. When I initially subscribed, I found many useful facts (names, dates, places); many of which I used to improve my family file.
Now, however, it seems to me that most of the articles don't cover family ties but, rather, more general topics, which, while somewhat interesting, don't help me with data for my Pare file.
Based on that alone, I would say it would be ok for you to remove this from your "things-to-do" list. I know how proud you are of past accomplishments with the newsletter - as well you should be. For me, it's now ok for you to take a rest from the newsletter.

Just my opinion - hope it helps.
Diane

Jerry Collins wrote:

Norm,

Sorry to learn that your readership is down. The magazine is excellent and well-done, and thee is always something to learn. I'd wonder why readership id down? I'd be inclined
1.) To survey those who make "hits" with a few genreric questions: Why did they make a "hit"? What were they seeking? What would they like to see? How can the service be improved? Etc.
2.) Make connecting links with other related web sites.
3.) Jazz up the home page design a bit. It's very professional, but, perhaps, a tad sedate, scholarly appearing. But this may not be in accord with how others see it, and it would be good to get other views.
4.) Verbal, direct contact with others who operate similar web sites for advice consultation, problem-solving, etc.

Just a few thoughts. Good luck!
Jerry Collins

Denise Larson wrote:

Dear Norm,

As a reader and contributor to KRR, I would miss its eclectic collection of French-Canadian-American history, wisdom, and experience. As a site that welcomes both the plain and the profound, it appeals to a broader audience and encourages wider participation than an academic forum would reach or accept. On the other side of the coin, however, KRR does not have a distinct focus other than a common "Francadian" heritage.

Perhaps "hits" are down because of the broadness of the mission of KRR. If the time and effort needed to maintain the site are not factors in the question of closing, then a reevaluation of the mission statement of KRR might be in order. Should KRR be expanded to include a forum for discussion? Should contributing authors be sought out? Should genealogy queries and readers' replies be added? Should major Maine sites such as maine.gov, heritage sites, and selected genealogy sites be solicited to carry links to KRR?

You've probably already asked yourself these questions, Norm, but they are the questions I would ask myself. I came to a similar fork in the road when I had to decide whether or not to leave a daily newspaper after five demanding years. I did leave and haven't regretted the decision once to this day. When you're heart's not in it, "closing is the brave thing to do," to quote a popular film, "You've Got Mail," in which business at a small bookstore dwindles when a chain store moves into the neighborhood.

So, Norm, my 2 cents worth is to follow your heart.
All the best,
Denise

Jacques Dunant a écrit:

Salut, Norm.
Oui, C'est o.k. Merci, beau travail.

 

Index of Articles

Késsinnimek - Roots - Racines
Copyright © 2003 & 2004 & 2005 & 2006 & 2007 Norm Léveillée
© Tous droits réservés
Created 1 Feb 2003