Shane –
I checked out your site, because I’m originally from Utah (born in Bountiful) and I’m always up for anything related with the Beehive State. Let me preface my comments by saying that in no way am I attempting to be derogatory about you or your site. My criticism can be taken or left regardless. I conduct document reviews for a living, and I have no real ego in any of the suggestions or observations that I’ve made. I really am just trying to help out a fellow Utahn.
So I read your landing page introduction and right off the bat found a couple of typos and a tone I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about.
Just for readability, I’d put a hard return between each of your paragraphs. Also, you should always cap proper names of cities, even if you’re not using the whole name like: “Salt Lake”. Finally (and I will admit to being pedantic here), your first paragraph should really just be one sentence. Breaking it into two creates a fragment of the second sentence, which is better expressed by replacing the period between them with a comma.
In regards to tone, saying “On the downside” immediately puts me in a bad mood. While I was born in Utah, I was not then, nor have I ever been a member of the LDS church. Still, Mormonism and Utah go hand-in-hand. The unique history of the state and its heritage are something that wouldn’t exist at all if it hadn’t been for the Mormons. Couple that with one of the more unique religions in the U.S., one that sprang from the mind of a single individual and has grown to 14 million members over the past 160+ years. Whatever you think of the faith itself (and I probably have a similar opinion), it has been responsible for some fascinating history and no few current events.
Having been a Utahn for most of my life, I find the idea that the entire state is “closed minded” to be painting with a rather broad brush. The state has the highest concentration of Mormons in the U.S., at something like 55%, but that means that the other 45% are not LDS. I’m all for your concept of exploring external ideas, and while Utah is certainly one of the red-er Red States, you make it sound like there are no dissenting views whatsoever. I grew up in one of the more insular suburban areas of the Salt Lake Valley, and I certainly wasn’t alone in my liberal attitudes. This objection is certainly anecdotal, but given that you offer “Links You May Want To Know About” (which is a rather clumsy title) which includes a number of Utah-specific, LDS Church-counter philosophies, this certainly suggests there is more to Utah and Utahns than just great scenery, snow, and a dominant Mormon point of view.
That said, I like the navigation of your site, and the graphics are fun. The blog is nice, but it seems overly dominated by the “Easy Comments.” This might just be because your blog posts are so short (no crime there at all).
What’s the difference between your “Skeptics in Mormonville Podcast” and your Podcast Archive? Admittedly, I didn’t listen to them all, but this seemed redundant to me.
I liked the “What We Are About” except for the self-depreciating and somewhat conciliatory tone at times. While it is tricky to nail down skepticism overall, I think you should still make this sound as confident and straight-forward as the rest of the site. This detracts (minor) from the overall impact of the rest of the site, where your tone is more, “Damn the Moronis, let’s put it to the test!”
The same can be said of you “Our Gatherings” page. This actually sounds more like a couple of college kids doing something on a lark, rather than a serious attempt at sounding the depths of Mormon mysticism through a skeptical filter. This is especially true where your next link, the “Events Calendar” has actual meetings and, well, events posted. I’m assuming that the events on the “Events Calendar” are outside of your group, whereas the “Our Gatherings” are intended to be specific to Skeptics in Mormonville. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with co-opting those other events, and putting your current weight (large or small) behind them.
The “Photo Gallery” is nice, but sparse. I liked the captions explaining each picture, but some I wanted more information about (like the “Sulpher Sugar Pills”). Graphics are an excellent opportunity to increase interest and traffic.
The “Video Galery” (misspelled) is interesting, but I’m not certain what it has to do directly with your group. Without any introductory or explanatory text, these seem to be more your favorite Youtube videos than anything specific to the SIM.
The “About Us” link is good, the information short, sweet and to the point. You might consider adding photos of each of you, since you don’t seem shy about providing other information. It’s not necessary, but it’s always nice.
The aforementioned “Links You May Want To Know About” is a clumsy title. I’d just go with “Related Links” or “Links”. Also, why aren’t your links live? At the very least, I’d make the addresses hot, but even better, I’d suggest embedding them in their names of the groups, and then give a brief overview of each.
Finally, it appears that you’ve left some artifacts in from the template you used to create the site. There is a “Template tips” with a couple of article links that I’d suggest removing.
All that said, I think this is a great site and a great idea. I’ve bookmarked your site, and I look forward to seeing more podcasts, interviews and the changes that come with any online venture. If I can help out at all, I’d be more than happy to contribute my meager services to your worthy cause.