By Pepper Parr
October 23rd, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
We are being surveyed to death.
The city seems to have several surveys on the go at the same time. There are three they want you to respond to – soon.
These surveys aren’t all that short. Useful – but is there not a limit as to how many surveys can be put before the public?
The Sound of Music is asking for your views on what they do as a Festival and what they want to do. They need public input for the funding report they will put before council. They are too late to get anything from the public trough this year.
The musicians who didn’t make it to the big stages – they got some space on the streets of the city.
For those who do the SoM survey – their names will be entered into a draw for a full weekend VIP Pass to the free festival, June 18-21.
A closer look at some of the questions and a little condition at the end of the questionnaire gives rise to some concern.
Why is a survey respondent “consenting to receive email communications from the survey author’s organization based on the information collected.”
Who is the survey author’s organization?
We live in a time where personal information is both a valuable commodity and something we need to be vigilant about protecting.
In our communications with the Sound of Music and its board we have found them to be very adverse to being open and transparent with their dealings with media. In a phrase – we don’t trust them.
So when they ask you you: “Please provide us with a small amount of personal information. Your city and state is purely for data capture. We use your contact information to enter you into the VIP Package draw. You will not be added to our mailing list, or any receive any further marketing. This is simply to contact you should you win our VIP Package draw.”
And when they add: “By entering my personal information, I consent to receive email communications from the survey author’s organization based on the information collected.” my eyebrows arch.
Set out below is a part of the survey. You decide if you want to respond.
There is always a carrot dangled so that people will take the bait. So often things like this are just to build a database for marketing purposes. So many places…..”take a moment to fill out a survey and tell us how we did today and you will automatically be entered in a draw.”
Blah!!!