BarTalk Readers’ Survey kick-starts positive change
by Jesse Tarbotton and Dierk Ullrich

Preface
A Spanish proverb says that everything must change so that it remains as it is. For BarTalk it means to ensure that it remains relevant and useful for its primary audience, the more than 10,000 lawyers and interested law students in British Columbia who receive our publication six times a year free of charge. In this spirit, the BarTalk Editorial Committee is undertaking a thorough evaluation of the magazine’s content, design and delivery methods. An online reader survey kick-started the process this past February, seeking your views and feedback as an essential building block for future change.

A link to the nine-question survey was sent out on four successive occasions via the weekly CBABC News & Jobs e-mail to the CBA members in British Columbia. One hundred and forty seven respondents completed the survey and were entered in a prize draw for an iPod Nano. As announced in the June 2008 issue of BarTalk (p. 30), the winner was Georgeann Glover, Corporate Counsel with Associated Building Credits Ltd.

Survey Results
The survey results indicate that BarTalk is both highly rated and considered relevant to readers’ legal practices.

Ninety six per cent of survey respondents rate BarTalk as “Good” (32.65%), “Very Good” (50.34%) or “Excellent” (13.61%). No respondents rated BarTalk as “Poor.” 70.75% of survey respondent’s indicated that BarTalk was either “Very Relevant” or “Relevant” to their practice, 24% higher than any of the other legal publications rated (The Advocate 46.26%, The Lawyers Weekly 44.22%, The National 35.37%, Legal Matters-Business in Vancouver 22.45%, The Verdict 19.75%).

From the readers’ perspective, what sets BarTalk apart from other legal publications is its B.C. focus (42 responses) and its brevity (19 responses).

Most read items in BarTalk are The “Cover Story” (53.06%), “Practice Talk” (48.98%) and “Bar Moves” (48.3%).

These results mirror the 2007/2008 statistical information available for visits to the BarTalk online archive on the CBABC website www.cba.org/BC/bartalk/main/archive.aspx. The archive makes most BarTalk articles published between 1998 and today accessible to the general public.

Practice Advice columns where highly sought after online, including the articles “Standard Contract of Purchase & Sale” (2004 – 1843 views), ”What should your client agree to” (2002 – 1,263 views) and “Ten Common Sense Financial Tips” (2006 – 975).” Many online viewers downloaded various BarTalk cover stories including the article “Bill 33” that lead off the June 2007 issue and was viewed on 534 occasions.

Reader Suggestions for Improvement
Naturally, there is room for improvement. Our readers’ had a wealth of suggestions on how we could update the publication, such as improving the desktop publishing/format to make it more “exciting looking.” 12 respondents indicated that BarTalk’s design was their least favourite aspect of the publication with advertising inserts coming in second. In terms of substance, the survey invited participants to list topics or features they would like to see in future issues. With 26 responses, “Practice Tips” received the most requests. In addition, member profiles, CLE, technology issues and “Work Life Balance” are on our readers’ wish list. There were also more critical voices. One respondent commented: “BarTalk is too staid. Its content needs to be punchier with more material relevant to day to day practice. The same old boring articles by the same people do not cut it. It could be much better were it not so bound by its formulae. It should be more alive.”

Changes on the Way!
The survey results, independent feedback from our readers’ and contributors as well as the statistical information from the CBABC website have generated lively and productive discussions and produced the first changes to BarTalk. Beginning this issue, articles will generally be one page in length. The National News section, now located at the back of each issue, will be reduced in scope to make more room for B.C. topics. And the popular “BarMoves” section will receive more prominence. More changes can be expected over the coming months. At the request of the BarTalk Editorial Committee, CBABC staff will pursue the redesign of the magazine with the goal to present a new look by the end of the new fiscal year.

As previously stated statistics attest, the publication’s web based version enjoys significant popularity with readers. Enhancing the ease of which BarTalk can be accessed online will be high priority in the coming months.

We are committed to ensuring that this publication remains a useful and valuable tool for CBABC members. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve BarTalk, please contact the BarTalk Editor, Senior Editor or any of the Editorial Board.

This article was published in the August 2008 issue of BarTalk. © 2008 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.