BarTalk April 1999
Volume 11, Number 2

1998 BarTalk survey gives direction for 1999

by Caroline Nevin

Last December, for the first time in many years, we surveyed CBA members to get your feedback on BarTalk. In my 18-month tenure as editor, I have had the pleasure of speaking with many of you about this publication. I have received some great ideas for stories and guest columns, as have members of the Editorial Board, and we have heard surprisingly few negative comments. But informal conversations and an occasional letter or email are not sufficient data from which to plan improvements to BarTalk. Thus, we will be surveying readers on a bi-annual basis from now on.

BarTalk has developed over the years into a great publication, and with the help and guidance of an enthusiastic Editorial Board I have sought to keep BarTalk relevant and interesting to read. However, it is impossible to tell whether that’s being achieved when you are sitting in an office in Vancouver. To those who completed our survey, I say thank you. You have given us the information we need to plan for change, and to ensure that the things you like best about BarTalk stay untouched.

More than 93 per cent of survey respondents rate BarTalk as relevant or very relevant. Almost 87 per cent consider it a good, very good or excellent publication. Overall format, writing style and mix of content were each scored as very good or good by more than 70 per cent of respondents.

Over the next few issues, we will gradually be introducing some new items and changing formats for a few of our traditional columns. For example, Section Talk now includes more information about what is going on in selected Section meetings throughout BC. We have a new “photo page”, to help remind us all that lawyers do, indeed, have fun. The “lawyer in the community” format has been changed in response to its lower ranking in importance by survey participants. And classified advertising is now available as a member service, allowing you to advertise will searches, employment opportunities and other items—reaching all lawyers in BC at a reduced cost for our members, and offsetting the total cost of producing BarTalk.

We are committed to ensuring that this publication remains a useful and valuable tool for CBA members. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve BarTalk, please contact me or any of the Editorial Board: Barbara R. Bluman, Margaret V. Ostrowski (Chair), David Roberts, QC, Peter Warner, QC, and Josiah Wood, QC.

Percentage of respondents who rated a column either “very informative/worthwhile” or “informative/worthwhile”

Percentage of respondents who rated program and activity reports either “very important” or “important”

This article was published in the April 1999 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.