Survey Says...

I've crunched some numbers, as they say, and wanted to give you a little summary of the 2 surveys, before I write up a new one refining our Sweet Retreat 2011 plans! Click on the map to see the whole thing. The red dots on the map are everyone's location that is a current member (on the list as of today, May 20th), except for Kylie, Vee and Rachel, obviously. The ones with green circles around them are members that indicated they want to attend a retreat, and left their name, or other clues that they filled out the survey. Not everyone left their name.

22 (twenty-two!!!) indicated that they are interested in a retreat. The top two months are August and September, and the majority indicated that 3 days and 2 nights (a weekend, basically) is the perfect length, but if it turns out to be longer 100% said they are fine with staying for just part of the retreat.

Destination desires are a little more spread out, and will definitely need to be refined. If memory serves, California got a lot of votes, but since we were there last October, in fairness to vast majority of us weighing down the North America from the midwest eastward, my executive decision is to leave it off the list for the next round of voting.

The beach was the #1 pick with 77% of you voting for it. Urban areas got 50% of the vote (this was a multiple pick question), so urban beach, anyone? Actually, that isn't that hard to accomplish with lots of fun cities located on beaches. Too bad the Mississippi River is wreaking such havoc, or New Orleans could be fun. St. Augustine was a suggestion worth looking into.

Everyone wanted a kitchen, or said it didn't matter, so I think a kitchen it is! That will point us to a rental house or condo most likely.

Look for another question about the kiddos on the next survey.

And the all important, but hardest question of all... how much can you spend. 20 of you answered this question. Here is the breakdown:
$151-300, 20%, (4 of you)
$301-400, 30% (6)
$401-500, 15% (3)
$501-600, 5% (1)
$601-800, 10% (2)
and a whopping 20% (4) said they would pay whatever it costs, you just aren't going to miss this event!

Now, how do we interpret this kind of information? I have a couple of ide150as, and will try to formulate questions around them. If you have any suggestions for questions in the budget area, please comment here! I'm no statistician. It's no secret that we have different financial obligations, and different economic realities. If I can afford to pay more than person "A", I don't have a problem with that. What about anyone else? If you can't afford to pay as much, would you feel bad if you couldn't contribute as much? These are kind of rhetorical at this point, but my idea is that just as a mathematical example...

Taking the upper limit of each category (except obviously those that will pay whatever it takes), and the # of people in said category, we get $6300. Of course, there are travel expenses, so let's divide this in half. That gives us $3150 for accommodations and food, and other group stuff. Do y'all see where I'm going with this? Basically, put your money in the collective pot, and we'll go from there is the idea.

OK, that's it for now. Look for the next survey to help us refine the 3 most critical things we need to know: WHEN to go, WHERE to go, and HOW MUCH will it cost.

Can't wait to meet you alll! It's become my mission in life!
~Elle, Jenna Belle Designs.

P.S. The old surveys are closed now.