Digital Presence
Website
University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s website at extension.umaine.edu – a combination of over 60 interconnected websites consisting of nearly 12,000 published pages – received over 3.3 million pageviews from visitors in the 12 months between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Visitors searched for and found information on a wide variety of topics, including plant propagation in Maine, small business management, growing highbush cranberries, Tussock moth caterpillars, and how to tap maple trees and make maple syrup. A wide variety of interactive web forms allowed users to request assistance, presentations, newsletters, and updates; report volunteer hours; make donations; and respond to surveys. Nearly 55,500 web visits were referred from social media.
Social Media
More than 57,556 followers followed or subscribed to UMaine Extension’s 61 county and program-specific social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok. We hosted or co-hosted 118 Facebook Events that reached 243,248 users. Nearly 750 educational videos were available to visitors on our 14 YouTube playlists; many were also embedded in our web pages. Extension’s YouTube videos were the most watched on the University of Maine Channel, which received nearly 1.15 million views and 47,000+ hours of watch time. Top videos included Tick Removal, How to Prune a Blueberry Bush, Lobster Cooking and Eating, How Do I Prune Raspberries, and How a Prune a Lilac Bush.
Publications
More than 700 research-based publications on a broad range of topics were available for free download at extension.umaine.edu/publications. Popular fact sheets, such as Best Ways to Wash Fruits and Vegetables, Storage Conditions: Fruits and Vegetables, Facts on Fiddleheads, Guide to First-Time Horse Ownership, Maple Syrup Quality Control Manual, Growing Highbush Blueberries, and Recipe to Market: How to Start a Specialty Food Business in Maine received tens of thousands of pageviews each.
New publications in 2023 included How to Test Your Own Wild Blueberry Soil pH, Getting Geared Up for Maple Sugaring: Supplies and Equipment Needed for 1 to 50 Taps, Getting Geared Up for Maple Sugaring: Supplies and Equipment Needed for 50 to 500 Taps, Management of Volunteer Potatoes in Maine, Irrigation Resources for Maine Farmers, along with several new publications about forage grasses and legumes (Kentucky Bluegrass, Timothy Grass, Orchardgrass, Smooth Bromegrass, Reed Canary Grass, and Tall Fescue) that will be combined to create the Maine Forage Handbook.
Online Registration, Brightspace, and MailChimp
Nearly 2,478 customers registered for workshops, events, webinars, and more through our online Centralized Database Management System (CDMS) registration system.
724 customers registered for in person, on demand and virtual events through our online Salesforce registration system.
620 participants took Extension courses online via Brightspace. Classes included Master Gardener Volunteer training, Maine Gardener Training, Growing Hemp 2023, Boots-2-Bushels, FDA Food Sanitation, Maine Horticulture Apprenticeship, Growing Small Fruit on Your Farm, Business Planning for Producers, AQUEous in Indigenous Aquaculture, Soil Science for Gardeners, Extension Reporting System Training, EFNEP Orientation, Introductory Volunteer Management, Pollinator-Friendly Gardening, and Extension Civil Rights Training.
More than 12,494 subscribers received over 77,000 e-notifications via MailChimp.