User:Cullen328/sandbox/Survey

What is your role in the Tea House?
 * I am one of the most active Teahouse hosts and my role is to assist newer editors by answering questions about how to edit Wikipedia.

How long have you been doing what you’re doing?
 * I have been editing Wikipedia for almost eight years and began Teahouse work shortly after the Teahouse project began.

What is currently being done to create a welcoming community for new members?
 * The Teahouse is just one of many things that welcomes new editors to Wikipedia. Welcome messages are placed on talk pages of new editors. We also have a Help Desk which can be used by any editor. We sponsor edit-a-thons and other outreach events. WikiProject Editor Retention exists to promote and coordinate and encourage these types of efforts across Wikipedia.

How do you think that you can improve what is being done?
 * I am always trying to improve the clarity and usefulness of the answers I give at the Teahouse and on my talk page. I edit Wikipedia in order to improve the encyclopedia, whether directly by creating and expanding articles, or indirectly by assisting less experienced editors.

How effective do you think the Tea House is in increasing user retention?
 * I believe that the Teahouse is useful with editor retention but my main goal is improving the encyclopedia. Improving editor retention is an important element of that but many people want to try to write a single Wikipedia article and then they move on. If we can assist them to write one useful encyclopedia article, then the encyclopedia is improved even if that editor moves on to another hobby. We should not want to retain chronic unproductive editors unless their behavior can be transformed, which is rare in my experience. Any editor who strives to become a long term, experienced, productive editor should be given all the friendly help that they need.

Does the Tea House currently have any major projects that its working on?
 * Just recently, the Teahouse shifted from top posting to bottom posting, and we are now discussing frequency of archiving. The Teahouse is not really a place for "projects". It is a place to provide friendly, helpful answers to the questions that new editors have.

Do you think the current system of just answering users’ questions is enough to generate a higher retention rate?
 * The Teahouse exists specifically to answer editor's questions and is not intended to be a broader editor retention project, as I see it. If the Teahouse contributes to that broader effort by doing its own job well, then that is another benefit.

How many welcome messages does the Tea House send in a week?
 * Invitations are sent out by User:HostBot, which is operated by Jtmorgan. He would be a better person to ask about this.

and how many of those users typically stay as editors?
 * Jtmorgan is also the best person to explain the latest research about the Teahouse and editor retention.