Feedback is an essential nutrient to our emotional well-being because humans, as a group, all embody some degree of insecurity. This is especially true in activities where inconsistent variables provide challenges unique to every attempt of an activity. Landing on an aircraft carrier is a good example. Another activity on the spectrum is every post of JetWhine.
Certainly our creative challenges are not as life threatening as those faced by an aviator who’s just called the ball on final to the boat—especially at night in rain roiled seas—but this aviator is one up on us because every trap is evaluated by a critical audience. And in the ready room there are no questions of how those aviators performed because the flight is not over until the evaluators itemize what they did well, what needed improvement, and—supremely important—how they could improve.
Feedback is not a required component of the creative process of publication. And looking at it over the past 30 years or so, it seems to be going the way of paper charts in a pilot’s flight bag. As JetWhine Publisher Rob Mark and I were discussing this reality and brainstorming solutions, I suggested that our best option was also the simplest: Just ask the readers.
So, how are we doing?
Because we all are drowning in media and information, answering such an open-ended question can be daunting. Unsure of where to begin, many of you will likely take time to think about it, until something more pressing and concrete takes its place. So here are some specific questions you can answer by clicking the comment button on this post, or you can share them with a wider audience on JetWhine’s Facebook page.
What story first comes to mind when you think of your favorite JetWhine post, and why was it so meaningful?
And which one did you absolutely detest, and why did you hate it? Did it offer an opinion you disagree with, or did it speak to something in which you have absolutely no interest?
If we missed the concentric circles that define your aviation interests, what are those subjects or topics?
Finally, because we don’t want to consume too much of your time, what is your primary JetWhine access, the blog itself, an email subscription that delivers new stories to your inbox, or the Facebook page?
And because we’re curious, do you share the JetWhine stories that you like or detest with others who don’t subscribe but might agree (or disagree) with your evaluation of our performance?
We appreciate your time and attention in this matter because, like an aviator trapping at night, our desire is to be better on our future attempts. — Scott Spangler, Editor