The following is a summary of the results from the HI-TEC survey, which studies the material dissemination practices and new media use of several ATE Centers and Projects throughout the United States. Results were collected from representatives of ATE Centers and Project at the HI-TEC conference in San Francisco, CA from July 26-29.
Findings
Material dissemination is much less frequent than ideal new media standards
53.3% of all respondents disseminate their findings on a monthly or quarterly basis, and only 20% do so on a weekly or more frequent basis. New media norms typically dictate that content be disseminated at least once a week.
The objectives of Material dissemination are more export-oriented than engagement-oriented
In listing their top 3 objectives for Material dissemination, 83% of all responses fell under the Educate/Disseminate/Increase Awareness category, while 17% were related to Engagement/Networking/Building Relationships. New media is considered much more of an engagement platform.
The target audience of dissemination is primarily academia
100% of respondents listed academia as a core audience, while 40% listed industry as a target audience (7% listed government). Both academia and industry are areas in which dissemination could be widely and effectively expanded using new media platforms.
Email and E-newsletter are the most popular mediums for dissemination
86.7% of respondents said they frequently or very frequently use email for material dissemination, while 46.7% use an E-newsletter, and 42.9% use a blog.
Other than blogging, the use of new media tools-such as Twitter and Facebook-is low
While 42.9% of respondents use a blog frequently or very frequently, 57.1% never use a blog. A similar phenomenon was found with Twitter, where 50 % said they never use Twitter, while 35.7% said they use it frequently or more.
Volume and content of feedback are listed as the top criteria for effectiveness, yet respondents consider the most effective forms of dissemination to be low-engagement platforms
57% of all respondents listed feedback or engagement as their top criteria for effectiveness, yet consider their most effective forms of dissemination to be traditionally low engagement platforms. 27% of respondents listed email as one of their three most effective methods of distribution. Print (16%) and website (14%) were the next most frequently listed. High engagement platforms-such as Twitter and Facebook-were each listed by only 8% of respondents.
A vast majority of ATE Centers and Projects are looking for a moderate or high level of engagement and feedback, but they’re not receiving it
86.7% of participating centers are looking for a moderate or high level of engagement/feedback from their core audiences, yet 60% of respondents believe they do not receive a significant level of feedback.
Conclusions
According to the results of this survey, there is a disconnect between the purpose of material dissemination and the desired outcome. ATE Centers and Projects are disseminating information primarily to export their findings and educating their audiences, yet their criteria for evaluating the success of dissemination is creating engagement and receiving feedback from their core audiences.
This disconnect is further exacerbated by the fact the most popular methods used for dissemination-emails and E-newsletters- are low engagement platforms. Interestingly, 60% of respondents expressed interest in learning more about how high-engagement new media platforms can be used in material dissemination.
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