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Skeptics In Mormonville

shanesmith0922

New Blood
Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
7
I have started a new group in Utah meant to promote positive skeptical activism in the state of Utah. My group is meant to fill in the obvious gap of skeptical activist groups in Utah. One of the upsides for non-local people however, is a bi-weekly podcast.
I am desperately looking for suggestions on how to improve the site and the podcast. I am also looking for local skeptics to get involved.
I have two post so far. the second happens to be an interview with local paranormal investigators! The coming-up third podcast will have a guest co-host who is an ex-FLDS member. It's bound to be an interesting conversation.

Please check out the group and podcast. Give me any suggestions you may have. So far I have not had any positive or negative feedback and it drives me crazy as a perfectionist.

https://sites.google.com/site/skepticinmormonville/
 
Hi Shanesmith. I know your sentiments buddy. I have morons er mormons next door, a more hypocritical family you will never meet. They have 6 children, not one of them has had a relationship that has endured for more than 2 years. All are separated, and one daughter has had four kids, all to different fathers.
 
Hi Shane,
I'm on my way to bed here but I thought I'd check this thread out for a reason that eludes me right now. Do you suppose an angel directed me to take a look?

Anyway, took a look at your site and watched one of your videos. Hmm, wonder if you want candid feedback or just some mindless pat on the back. I'll check with the angel that got me here. OK, she says candid. OK, here goes:

I liked it. I liked the aesthetic of the site and I thought you had a pleasing personality in your video. If I was a Mormon missionary I'd definitely let you interview me, sorry you didn't have more success with them. That might have been interesting.

As an aside, I've taken the tour in the Mormon church in Salt Lake, City. I thought it was rather pleasant. It's been awhile and alas I don't remember much about it. Overall, I enjoyed Salt Lake City. Based on a few conversations I had, it seems like it is much less religiously constrained than it had been at one point.

Anyway best of luck on your new venture and if I'm ever up your way again I'd like to stop by and say hi.
 
Thank you all for your interest!
Amb: That sort of hypocrisy is much more common then you would think.
LSSBB: I had no idea you could see it on mobile. I will see if there is some type of setting or something that would make it look better.
davefoc: Since this is my first time hosting a website, any sort of feedback would be helpful, however a mindless pat on the back may be good for ego, it is not helpful in any other way. Thank you very much for checking the site and obviously reading it. I hope others find it interesting as well.
Amb: No... no rubber underwear. Garments are usually cotton or polyester. silk for the more expensive ones. They look pretty silly though, if you ever get a chance to see them.
 
This week on Skeptics in Mormonville I am working with a local Psychic Medium to secure an interview. I am trying to convince her to do an "on the air" test with me, however she is already singing the same old tune, "your skepticism would disrupt the energy" or something like that. I will keep you posted!

Still looking for feedback on the site. so if you have a few min. check it out! tell me if it sucks, how I can make it better, or if I should just give up!
 
Never give up. We need lot's more like you my friend.

Have left a post in that blog.
 
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New episode is now up, however it is only 7 Min. of content. This is mainly because of all my attempts to interview mediums fell through at the last min. So I had to scramble to find something. And what I found wasn't enough!
If you see any content or news stories, or you would like to be a guest co-host let me know!
I am also looking for a good sign in/out phrase + new logo's + new into music. If anyone has any suggestions or would like to help it is much appreciated!
 
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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. :D

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.
 
RobRoy,

This type of review was exactly what I was fishing for, thank you. I have always had a problem with grammar. I blame the invention of spellchecker. I appreciate pointing out my errors.
To answer your questions:
The podcast and podcast archive are there for more backup purposes then anything. The podcast links to a page at PodBean, which is a free account and has a space limit I have not reached yet. When I do reach that limit, I will have to delete old podcast to make room for the new. This is why the Podcast Archive is needed.

With the Video gallery, yes it only has some of my older YouTube videos, and others that I liked. This is because of the overall lack of video's so far. Eventually There will be video's of discussions, test, and other related content as they are created.

I will start work on fixing the other items you have mentioned. Be sure to keep in touch as this type of help is exactly what I need.
Also, I have created a new Facebook group if you are interested. I can't post links yet but you can search Skeptics in Mormonville to find it.
 
Fixed.

Most errors pointed out by RobRoy have been fixed, However I am experiencing a bit of writers block when it comes to re-writing the introduction. If anyone has any suggestions on what the introduction should say I would be happy to hear them.
 
Most errors pointed out by RobRoy have been fixed, However I am experiencing a bit of writers block when it comes to re-writing the introduction. If anyone has any suggestions on what the introduction should say I would be happy to hear them.

Thanks, I’m very glad that you took my critique in the light it was intended.

I found one more (sorry) in your tag:

“The site for all things skepticism in Utah” should read “The site for all things skeptical in Utah.”

As for your request, I humbly submit the following. I have no ego when it comes to my writing (I do a little bit of this professionally) and without changing the voice or message you are trying to convey, I think this might work a bit better.

Welcome to Salt Lake City, Utah, home of the majestic Rocky Mountains, the Great Salt Lake, and dozens of beautiful lakes and forest. Salt Lake is also home to a majority of Mormons, is rampant with chiropractors, paranormal investigators, Homeopathy, and other practitioners of "woo".

So here we are.

A small community of skeptics bent on awakening Utah to skepticism and the scientific method. We attempt to test the claims and demand evidence from those who have failed to provide it. We also provide support to other skeptics who feel they are alone in this seemingly single-minded state.

We are: Skeptics in Mormonville.​
 
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