Editor’s Comments: Looking at You

We know what you’re thinking.

At least, we know quite a bit more than we did a few months ago, because you’ve told us. As we do periodically, this summer we conducted a reader survey to find out more about Stormwater‘s readers. We want to know where you are, what you’re working on, what information you need now–and how you’re faring in the current economy. We use the information to plan upcoming articles and issues and to improve the magazine, the Web site, and the digital edition–the content as well as the ease of reading and navigating the printed and online versions.

What have we learned? You’re an experienced and educated group. On average, you have 14½ years of experience in the stormwater industry, and 32% of you are registered professional engineers.

Forty-seven percent of you work in government at the municipal, county, state, or federal level. Thirty-four percent of you are in engineering fields, with another 18% in construction or building-related areas.

Given the trying economic times we find ourselves in, some very encouraging news is that most (about 60%) of you expect next year’s budget to stay the same or increase.

More than the readers of any of Forester Media’s other publications, Stormwater‘s readers have embraced the digital edition of the magazine. More than 3,600 of you have asked to reduce your paper consumption and chosen to receive only the digital version, and another 7,400 are evaluating that option while receiving both the printed and the digital editions of each issue.

And you spend quite a bit of time with the magazine–the vast majority of you read at least three of the last four issues, spending nearly an hour per issue. Most printed copies of the magazine get passed along to more than one other reader. And most of you apparently like what you’re reading; 79.5% of survey respondents rated Stormwater better or much better compared to publications that cover similar topics. We’re glad to hear it–and we’ve spent some serious time studying the overall survey results and your individual comments to try to provide more of what you’re asking for.

Thanks to all of you who received the survey and responded. We’d like to keep the dialog going, though, so if you have further suggestions for upcoming articles, or comments on any aspect of the magazine, feel free, as always, to share them with me at [email protected].