August 2006 Page 6

> WHAT IS THE VALUE OF THE ARTS TO JOPLIN'S ECONOMIC HEALTH?
Being, as I have long been, an unabashed if not a vociferous champion of regionalism, in early July this year I found myself registering for an online forum sponsored by the Joplin Globe newspaper, entitled HEY MARTHA!, being flown around cyber space by something called "Groupee". Essentially, it is a more or less typical dialogue forum for internet talkers having opinions about everything involving local headlines and international news du jour, and it appears to be something made available to the smaller town news audiences throughout America.

On July 17th I posted a poll for voting and discussion, using the title shown above that begins this submittal to Arthobs. Ten days later there had been 79 recorded "views" of the poll, and 3 responses, two of which were my own. Now, on August 9th, there have been 216 "views" and 4 responses, 3 of which are mine. Things are definitely looking up!

What this means, probably, is that the poll is viewed (though not taken) by an average of 10 people daily! It is unlikely that anyone would view the poll twice, seemingly. But even if so, 10 people caring enough to click on that thread, per day, in this region, represents a significant interest in the topic. I am encouraged.