OK pondmeisters, here's a survey plan that I think we need to execute as a team. I've been thinkin' about how to best go about this, and this is where I'm at.
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The survey question is very simple: Why do you own a pond?
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This forum is based largely on owning and maintaining private fishin' holes. There is a base core of PB posters that eat, sleep, and drink the pond fishin' stuff. I wonder about the rest of the 3700-some other forum members. In my mind, the real common and binding thread is the pond itself. It just so happens that the most popular by-product is fish and fishing. This makes me wonder what the other pond uses are and who is using and enjoying them for those other reasons. Is it possible that, given a large enough sampling of the pondmeister cross-section, we might find pond-use applications that rival fishing? I say "let's find out".
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So, here is my plan. We will do this in 2 steps. The first step will be to gather a list of the many reasons that one owns a pond. I started to create this list on my own, but it quickly became apparent that I would never be able to anticipate all the potential reasons...so...I decided to enlist my PB brethren to create a list. This thread that you are reading will be where this list is created. This is step #1. We will allow this thread to accumulate forum input for about one week. Then, the "reasons to own a pond" input will be boiled down and itemized as a numbered list in preparation for step #2.
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Step #2 will be a second thread for official voting. We will gather every forum member's reasons for owning a pond. Each member will be allowed to choose only from the itemized list of reasons. We will request "the top 5 reasons for owning a pond" as a forum post from each member (to be listed in order of importance: first choice being most important). A post-vote will look something like this: 6, 14, 5, 9, 21. This thread #2 will be allowed to run for, well, as long as we want it to. Since the input will be well organized and numbered, a tally can be generated at any time.
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Some notes and afterthoughts...
From a purely scientific standpoint, this survey plan should run like clockwork...except...we're talking about a survey of the PondBoss forum. As the designated Devil's advocate, I anticipate a number of short-shifts and U-turns. Knowing this, I propose that along with the top 5 reasons in Step #2, we include "Other". This vote option, Other, will allow a vote for something that we completely missed during the "reason collection process" in Step #1. It should be designated on the ballot as "Other: voter, fill in this blank with your own reason". So, perhaps a post-vote will sometimes look like this: 6, 14, 5, 9, 21, other: skinny-dipping.
Another thought will be those with multiple ponds. They should be allowed to cast a post-vote for each of their ponds.
What about those in the planning stages or currently constructing? I want to be all-inclusive with the forum, so I believe these folks need to add their voices, too. Maybe with the caveat that the construction will occur within the next 3 years...?
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Alrighty then, there ya go. Sure, this might very well crash and burn; at least I tried. On the chance that we can collectively create a detailed snapshot of our common cross-section, I submit the first ideas for Reasons To Own a Pond:

private fishery
to increase land value
ornamental landscaping
waterfowl hunting
waterfowl preservation
fish hatchery
swimming hole
to study aquaculture
to water livestock
to irrigate crops
powered water sports (ie; skiing, wakeboard)

All the posts to follow in this thread will be for the sole purpose of collecting ideas on how to best collect and organize the information we seek. PLEASE DO NOT VOTE ON THIS THREAD.

Last edited by Brettski; 09/21/07 06:50 PM.