Sound off on Uptown, ’Peg City
Readers’ surveys let you tell us about us… and about our city
John Kendle

Sound off on Uptown, ’Peg City
Readers’ surveys let you tell us about us… and about our city

If you’ve been flipping through the pages of Uptown to get to this column, then you may well have noticed that we’re asking for your input as 2007 begins.

This issue marks the launch of our annual Best of Winnipeg readers’ survey, which is once again looking to determine what Uptown readers think about the city we live, work and play in.

Last year we got over 1,000 responses to the survey — a phenomenal number given our circulation and the fact we are a weekly paper.

In 2007 we hope to attain that number of entries again. While we haven’t quite finalized our Top 3 prizes (which will be drawn at random when the survey ends in March), you can at least rest assured that the grand prize will indeed involve fun and games. And we’ll also have some top-notch entertainment prizes to offer.

You should also note that the full-page Best of Winnipeg ballot will not be running in every issue of the paper between now and March. Some weeks we will simply run reminders directing you to our website — www.uptownmag.com — where the ballot will be posted 24/7 for the duration of the survey.

Over two-thirds of respondents used the online ballot in 2006, and we expect that trend will continue in ’07. In a couple of years’ time, the entire Best of Winnipeg survey may well be conducted online, as is the case in many other North American cities

Also included in this issue of Uptown — and in the next three papers — is a readers’ survey of another type altogether.

With this exercise we are looking to you, our readers, for feedback on what you like about the paper and what you think of our regular columnists, regular features, and news and entertainment coverage. We’re also looking for suggestions on how Uptown can be improved and what we might want to do differently.

Introducing this kind of readers’ survey marks the beginning of a new approach for Uptown.

Over the next weeks and months we intend to make a few more tweaks, revisions and changes, all of which will be aimed at making Uptown a better paper for its readers and for the artistic, entertainment and newsmaking communities we try to serve.

We have already begun this process with today’s reorganization of the way Uptown is laid out. Our comprehensive What’s Up listings section has moved to the back of the paper in order to open up more space at the front for news and entertainment feature stories. We have added a regular locally created crossword puzzle to our Diversions page. Jim Sanders’ Connect the Dots column is now a weekly feature of our News and Views pages, and you should watch that space for more columns and columnists to come.

At Uptown, being Winnipeg’s ‘source for news and entertainment’ isn’t just a tagline — it’s a goal. We’d like you to help us achieve it by letting us know what you think about what we do and where we live.

We had a great year in 2006, and we aim to carry on that momentum.

So here’s to 2007… join us for the ride.