We got in 40 written evaluations from our recent Seed Exchange. Of those, 39 were rave reviews, but one was not. I also had a few emails and many verbal responses, all of those were 100% positive and glowing. So what response is rolling around in my head still this morning? Of course, it is that one negative review. Why can't I just be happy with a 99.9% satisfaction rating??!! What bugs me most about it is that I have no idea who wrote it or their agenda. They marked all the aspects of the event as "poor," then said they were "undecided" about attending next year. Why not just mark "no" for that? Weird!Then they wrote a long note about how the event needs to include information on how to do habitats for birds and butterflies in various light situations. Well, we did actually have free handouts on that and native seed catalogs plus a table of native seeds for trading. However, clearly "creating wildlife habitats" strays far from the focus and goals of a Seed Exchange. Again, an odd take on things.
And if the negative reviewer is reading this, please spare us all and do not attend next year or at least adjust your expectations as I can tell you right now we will not be having any of our speakers address that topic as the subject of their talks. If you want to find out more on this subject, I suggest you attend one of the numerous native plant societies, Audubon groups, or garden club meetings that specifically have talks on it.
That one negative person can really get your attention, huh? I'm the same way. Unfortunately, about the only way you could probably have made that person happy was to have a talk about "How you, Joan D. Winer, can create bird and butterfly habitats at your home at 124 Elm Street." Might not have been as fun for the the other 39 people if you had done that though. And Joan might still have been unhappy that you talked about her front yard and not her backyard too.
ReplyDeleteSit back and enjoy your victory. 39 people who were happy enough to fill out a review is spectacular.
jb
I know exactly the kind of respondent you're talking about. They have sour faces, know more than everyone else, and have such high standards that no one could ever satisfy them...but do they ever do anything for anyone else? Hell, no! You just never mind them. Your seed exchange went brilliantly, and you and everyone with a functioning brain who attended know it. Some people just aren't happy unless they're miserable--or making nice people miserable. That person sounds like that sort.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the perspective - so easy to get fixated on that one sour grouch and lose focus. I just saw I got several more positive email evaluations in my back-up email box so that brings the total to over 60+ positive-to-1 -- and that is about 50% of the attendees who have responded -- which is a pretty darn good rate by any survey measurement. I've now moved on to sorting my own seeds and figuring out which I'll give an early start too vs. the rest which I'll self-sow in spring.
ReplyDeleteIf the evaluations were 20:20 good:bad, you probably have a problem that needs solving before the next exchange. But the 39:1 approval shows someone else has the problem, which you shouldn't try to solve unless you have a psychiatry license. Suggestion: stick with the seeds. They have a future.
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