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1.
The
2012 Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat is scheduled to take place from Thursday,
May 17, 2012 to Sunday, May 20, 2012. How likely is it that you will attend
the 2012 Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat in Upstate New York?

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Highly Likely

 

43.6%

 

17

 

Likely

 

12.8%

 

5

 

Not Sure

 

25.6%

 

10

 

Not Likely

 

5.1%

 

2

 

Definitely Not

 

0.0%

 

0

 

Other (please specify)

 

12.8%

 

5

 

 

 

2.
Most
of the retreats have involved door prizes, contests and or give-aways of fiber-related items. How important to whether
you attend are these prizes give-aways?

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Of no importance whatsoever, get rid
of them.

 

2.6%

 

1

 

Of little importance. It wouldn’t
matter if you had them or not.

 

17.9%

 

7

 

I like them, but they wouldn’t
influence whether I attended or not.

 

53.8%

 

21

 

Somewhat important. I like getting
to go home with fiber.

 

23.1%

 

9

 

Very important. I would consider
not attending the retreat if they weren’t a part of it.

 

0.0%

 

0

 

Critical. A “must have”
feature of the retreat.

 

0.0%

 

0

 

Other (please specify)

 

2.6%

 

1

 

 

 

 

3.
How
important to you is the retreat center where we hold the event?

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Not at all important. I’d attend
no matter where it was held.

 

17.9%

 

7

 

Not very important. I’m just comfortable
with it since I’ve been there before.

 

10.3%

 

4

 

Somewhat important. If it wasn’t
at Easton Mountain, the venue would have to have similarities.

 

33.3%

 

13

 

Important. I consider Easton
Mountain an important aspect of my attendance.

 

20.5%

 

8

 

Other (please specify)

 

15.4%

 

6

 

 


 

4.
If
the retreat center is at least somewhat important to you, select the aspects
of the retreat center that are important in choosing that option (select all
that apply).

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Geographic Location – It’s near where
I live or easy to get to for me.

 

42.4%

 

14

 

Close to an airport.

 

24.2%

 

8

 

Transportation is available from
airport or train station.

 

42.4%

 

14

 

The food is good.

 

75.8%

 

25

 

The lodging rooms sleeping
arrangements.

 

42.4%

 

14

 

The gathering spaces.

 

69.7%

 

23

 

The staff at Easton Mountain.

 

30.3%

 

10

 

It’s situated in a beautiful area
with a pond and a mountain.

 

45.5%

 

15

 

The casual atmosphere of the
retreat center.

 

72.7%

 

24

 

The fact that it’s mostly gay.

 

48.5%

 

16

 

Local attractions (yarn stores,
sheep farms, ice cream places, etc.).

 

36.4%

 

12

 

Hot tub availability.

 

18.2%

 

6

 

Sauna availability.

 

18.2%

 

6

 

Massage Therapist availability.

 

6.1%

 

2

 

Other (please specify)

 

15.2%

 

5

 

 

 

4.
As
part of the registration process and putting a deposit on your spot at the
retreat, would you be interested in contributing to a scholarship fund?

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Yes

 

66.7%

 

26

 

No

 

10.3%

 

4

 

Other (please specify)

 

23.1%

 

9

 

 

5.
As
part of the registration down-payment process, would you be interested in
contributing to a fund to help support future events (for example to be used
for the down-payment for future retreats, or to buffer profits or losses for
each year). The purpose of the fund would be to ensure that the MSKR
organization could be taken on by anyone, without worry about being able to
financially handle some of the upfront costs?

 

Response
Percent

 

Response
Count

 

Yes

 

64.1%

 

25

 

No

 

23.1%

 

9

 

Other (please specify

 

12.8%

 

5

 

 

 


 

 

 

7.
Are
there any other issues that you’d like to make sure we know are important to
you about future planning of the MSKR?

 

 

Help make it easy as possible for newbies to get integrated.

 

I just love it, and just wish I
could afford to attend all the others around the country and abroad.

 

think moving to a new location
might be good….add a new outlook, refreshing, new faces

 

ADA accessible,

 

I think if it’s going to be a
retreat, it needs to be away from the hustle and bustle of life. I can’t
imagine holding one in NYC, for example.

 

Once you begin collecting monies
in advance for scholarship funds and upfront costs, it seems to me that it
becomes necessary to establish administrative machinery to oversee it’s care use. That means elections (where, when, how
often, in-absentia, in-person, majority, plurality, who gets to vote?) for a
consultative body (how many members, who is eligible?) such as a Board of
Directors or Executive Committee (with formally agreed upon rules and by-laws
written by whom, agreed upon by whom?), with bank account, Treasurer’s
reports and periodic meetings. Accusations of mismanagement or pilfering are
inevitable. I’m not sure that being male and knowing how to knit is a
powerful enough unifying principle to prevent an organization like that from
falling going to pieces when the challenge of differing opinions presents
itself. I would not enjoy seeing the men ‘s retreats
turn into something like that. (Although I understand the harsh reality that it might be unavoidable in order to have Retreats
continue into the future.)

 

same time each year is good: permanently on my calendar, nice
time of year @ Easton, all year I know it’s out there. THANKS Joe for all
that you do!

 

Yes. The event is important enough
to me that it was confirmed in my agenda before I left Easton last year.
Thanks for your care and commitment to this event