Eddie,
That is a pretty good question, and one that I have spent quite a bit of time going over. Also discussing it with some of the senior members on the website, and time to time bringing it up in the moderator forums.
Since 1999 this website has gone through some milestones, changes in software, and membership visiting the forums. All of this has been driven by two things:
1) The expanding membership base.
2) The original members progressing through training and now are well into their first shore tour (aka ME)
The entire growth of the website has been based off of word of mouth, whether at the NROTC unit, in the pipeline (API), Fleet bubbas getting friends to visit the site, or the infamous google/yahoo search engine. I look at the server logs from time to time, and it is quite amazing to see some of the outlying sites that post links recommending AWs, from the ROTC units, to other aviation related forums. In addition, quite a few of the referrers are ppl clicking on links forwarded in email clients.
You have a couple core groups visiting this site:
- High school students trying to figure out where they want to go, and how to get there
- College/ROTC/USNA that want to get into Aviation, or already have their slot
- Enlisted personnel sharing gouge and resources on how to become an Officer
- Parents of those in training
- Spouses/girlfriends of those in training
- SNAs/SNFOs
- Winged Aviators
- Reservists/Retired Aviators
- Aviation enthusiasts
So, the website is basically growing, and the most telling trend, has been the increase in the number of Winged Aviators now regularly visiting the website (a dramatic increase over the last 18 monts). I think we have pretty much every single community covered, and the amount of discussion between the communities (wisecracks, give and take, and out an out discussion) is a GOOD thing to the growth of this online community.
The other segment, those that are in their Senior year of college, and just had service selection, dramatically impact the forum from DEC-JUNE. Every year we increase the forum page views during this period. Last year we went from DEC (~500K page views) to JUN (~2 MILLION page views), and then afterwards, a decline back to this DEC (around 1 MILLION page views).
- We have a core group, of around 2000 members that visit monthly, and around 4000 that visit every 2-3 months (recurring).
- I prune back registration every so often, but we experience around 10% growth on a monthly basis in new registered users.
Ok, so that is some basic background... or AW HISTORY 101... where is the website going?
It is my belief that we are going to continue to see an increase in base membership, and particularly a continual increase in the number of current and former Winged Naval Aviators.
The next question that needs to be asked, how are two distinct segments of the AW's community going to be satisfied, and continue posting/visiting? The goal of the site is still to promote a career as a Naval or Marine Corps Officer, in particular, that of becoming a Pilot or Naval Flight Officer. This website needs to continue to facilitate, and allow the college student (and to a lesser extent high school) to feel free to post and ask questions on how to make their goal a reality.
Second, and while not something I originally intended (or foresaw), a forum that those currentl and former aviators can post and discuss topics of interest.
Finally, something that was COMPLETELY off my radar when I switched the website to support forums, was the fast growth, and thriving online community (albeit most of it is under the private forums), of the Private Spouses Corner (for both girlfriends and spouses). That has turned out, largely in part to one of the wives that asked to start it and run it herself, to be quite a unique resource and chance for them to help out those girlfriends/wives new to the Navy. They too have gotten a few wives married to senior serving officers that have lended much of their experience they picked up over the years.
Bottom line: The website is here for everyone, and while I feel in needs to stay in certain bounds (and others that legally I have to maintain), I am always open to suggestion/criticism on how to make the website better.
Can't believe in a few more months, we are going to top 7 years up and online!
Regards,
John
Webmaster
www.Airwarriors.com
