Articles Index/Message From The President
Posted 10/14/99
In 1997, the Board decided to establish a Norfolk site on the Internet to provide a reliable source of information about our breed. In mid-December of that year, the ANTA site was a reality.
Back then we couldn't predict where the effort would take us or how popular it would become. We suspected, just as only three of our ten Board members were "on-line", that the Norfolk community was only beginning to embrace the information highway.
What a difference eighteen months have made. Now, 80% of the Board and the newsletter editor are on-line! And there are several Internet discussion groups devoted substantially to Norfolks.
June 2nd of this year we moved our web site to a different web-hosting company, which happens to provide elaborate statistics for visits to our site. I have found the information truly amazing and thought you might be interested as well.
It turns out that, while the opening, or "home", page is the most viewed page on the site, the majority of visitors apparently "bookmark" things of interest and visit without going through the main page. At our former host, our visit counter recorded only entries through the home page, so it was a big surprise to discover that total visits are exceeding 4000 per month! And in June alone, visitors came from 31 countries in addition to the USA. I would estimate that there are probably fewer than 3000 Norfolks alive in the US at any given time, so this amount of activity is truly astounding. I think that it is safe to conclude that the ANTA web site is having an impact.
As ANTA's primary purpose on the Internet is to provide information and education, it is gratifying to find that the second most visited page is our Articles Index. This suggests that visitors are making an effort to use the wealth of information we offer. This corresponds with my feeling that the real strength of our web site is that it provides access to back articles from the inception of ANTIC.
The next five favorites are the index pages to Norfolk photos. Which brings me to a request. We constantly need photos for both ANTIC and the web site. So, if you take pictures of your Norfolk or at a Norfolk event, please consider making an extra set and sending one to newsletter editor Sheila Foran. It would be helpful if you could put pertinent information on the backs of the pictures. We are looking especially for newsworthy and cute Norfolk shots. (Please remember that there are copyright considerations for submissions that you did not originate yourself.)
I would also ask that you write to let us know of subjects you would like to see addressed in future articles. Some topics virtually cry out to be addressed, but often it is tough coming up with ideas for articles our readers will find interesting. If you have a particular question or would like to hear a particular person's views, let us know. Of course, if you would like to write an article and submit it, that would be appreciated also.
Ed Plummer
ANTIC, September, 1999
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