The results are in, and things are changing at YouthREX…
The results of our newsletter survey are in… (drumroll please)
And wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We’re grateful for your responses and the opportunity to continuously learn and grow as an organization.
We were delightfully surprised by a few things:
- The high response rate. In fact, we got so many responses (260 to be exact), we doubled the number of giveaway prizes offered.
- How many of you love our newsletter just the way it is. We’re flattered!
“Thanks for the newsletter and the work of YouthREX. As a worker in a rural area your online certificates have been some of the best online opportunities available and the newsletter is where I heard about them first.” – Survey respondent
What didn’t surprise us, of course, is the high quality of feedback we received from you all.
Here’s a snapshot of what we heard, and how we’re changing things to better meet your needs through our monthly newsletter:
1. More case studies – of successes and failures. We will continue to bring you case studies and best practices through our research materials and webinars.
What we haven’t done yet, however, is feature failures… at least not explicitly. Early next year we’ll be compiling an inventory of lessons learned in Ontario’s youth sector. Stay tuned for a public call for submissions or let us know if your program or organization would like to be featured.
2. Resources, resources, resources. Many of you requested resources pertaining to specific topics. The good thing is we have over 1300(!) resources available on our Knowledge Hub, and (we hope) there’s something there for everyone.
You can filter for them by Area of Interest, Population Group, and even Content Type:
3. Opportunities to connect with other youth workers / people who are thinking about the same things. It’s a near universal request at the end of a webinar, event, conference—you name it—that there be a space or forum to ‘continue the conversation’ with peers. We also heard it from numerous survey respondents, and we agree.
That’s why we’re thrilled to be launching Virtual Café later this year, a forum dedicated to hosting and facilitating conversations pertaining to Ontario’s youth sector. Stay tuned to see youth workers and other experts leading ‘Ask Me Anything’ conversations, post-event debriefs, and more.
4. Talking about what we do better. Finally, when reviewing the survey results, we noticed we already offer a lot of what folks said they hoped to see from us. This was a lesson in itself.
And, not unlike your highschool boyfriend, it became clear that we need to work on our communication skills. 😉 Living our tagline ‘shared knowledge for better youth outcomes’ means that we continuously reflect on how that knowledge is shared.
That might mean more bite-sized videos instead of hours of webinars, a series of scrollable photos instead of a research summary, and interactive courses instead of a narrated slideshow.
To see some of these changes unfold over the next few months, you can follow our Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter.
Or, well, you can just subscribe / stay subscribed to our newsletter and we’ll keep you posted every month.
