To the US Trager® Community and beyond,
This letter is to inform you about the website we’ve created, the origins and ideas that informed its direction, how we intend to remedy current shortcomings, and our longer term vision. Following that is a FAQ based on feedback we’ve received.
WHY A NEW WEBSITE?
We felt an imperative to represent Trager as a pioneering modality (that happened to be created ahead of its time). This site would be our flagship, our digital business card.
A CUTTING EDGE WEBSITE?
Yes. Mobile friendly, multimedia, agile, and designed to function in concert with future social media campaigns. The library of streaming educational and informational videos, articles, member information, and more continues to expand.
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
A. Simplicity. Do not add anything to the website unless it’s simple and necessary for the target audiences.
B. Updated Presentation. Move the expression of Trager into the 21st century. Our previous look and feel has often smacked of the 1980’s.
C. Act Boldly. Present Trager’s far reaching potentials for medicine, somatic education, personal integration and beyond.
D. Update our Language. Use current, potent words to describe Trager and its effects. Our previous language choices, as with other aspects of our presentation have often felt dated.
OUR PRIMARY TARGETS FOR THE WEBSITE
A. Our members.
B. The public--potential and current clients.
C. Potential students of The Trager Approach.
OUR ASSUMPTIONS
A. *The best and most efficient way to grow Trager is through new practitioners. One new Practitioner creates an exponential amount of exposure through interactions with colleagues and clients, and personal reference is the most compelling advertisement, Thus, we must be attractive to potential students of the Trager Approach.
B. We need a credible, aesthetically pleasing landing site for the public--and clients.
C. We need to serve our members efficiently through this website.
D. The website needs the agility to grow, develop, change and incorporate social media.
E. The new consumer and potential student are more sophisticated than generations past. The promise of good feelings and well being isn’t enough. Potential students and clients must also know why it works, how it works, and what makes it special, in language current to their lives, their generations, and their aspirations.
F. Trying to meet all needs equally, even when reasonable, leads to an overly voluminous and mediocre site. An intelligently tiered approach is essential.
G. This website is not just for us, it’s for the next generations of clients and potential practitioners. It should speak to them and their ways of life and culture as well as ours.
VISIONS FOR GROWTH:
A. Members: More streaming educational content, more articles, more resources for promoting Trager including elevator speeches, marketing material, videos, enhanced descriptions, updated contact info, digitally available content, etc.
B. The Public: More in-depth descriptions of Trager and video and written testimonials.
C. Potential students: Online learning, better educational descriptions, downloadable information.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Language issues:
Q: Why don’t we call it Psychophysical Integration on the website, that is Milton’s term.
A: We do utilize psychophysical integration throughout the website. In fact, we have downloadable logos for members with that phrase. We don’t use it on the main page because we have about three seconds to grab people’s attention and for some it can be a confusing or dated term. We honor Milton by using it elsewhere in the website and by keeping it simple.
Q: Why use Neuroplasticity, Mindfulness, and Fascial Reorganization, they seem esoteric?
A: We admit straying from familiar descriptive phrases of enjoyable states of mind and body. And there is something lovely in them. Here is the thinking process.
We didn’t want to limit the applicability and appeal of Trager; it’s as good for tremors as for personal growth, it runs the spectrum from a clinical approach akin of bodywork, a modality for inner peace, or a multifaceted approach to movement and learning. We wanted to highlight these three characteristics of Trager with three headings that are broad, inclusive, and cutting edge. Most all good things Trager are subsumed within these headings and thus, as themes, they can be modified and expanded in infinite directions--and we can loop in the many wonderful interoceptive phrases that describe our work.
Second, while we want to appeal to everyone, we made a *hierarchical choice that appealing to clients and more so to potential students by using terms recognized to be on the cutting edge of health and healing is our best chance for growth of future generations.
Q: Why are some of the descriptions so barren?
A: We want to fill them in. That belongs to phase two of the website which we’re undertaking now. This includes bio’s, About Trager, educational descriptions, testimonials, streaming content, and more.
Q: Why isn’t there a service mark symbol on the word Trager, does that disregard our rules?
A: There is the use of the service mark symbol throughout the site. The only places it’s omitted are on headings. Unlike written documents, that is now standard practice on the web. Almost no company that has a service mark uses it in their headings. Go check: apple, samsung, nike, the list goes on and on. There is now a different grammatical custom for the web. Trager International is currently researching this important question in greater detail.
Q: Should we feature more Trager For Daily Life.
A: That’s a good question. It can be suggested for future priorities.
Q: We could use more testimonials.
A: We agree. Written and video.
Q: How come the current videos represent so few instructors and practitioners.
A: Because our other choice was to use stock footage from national geographic! We understand the impression this gives, and it’s not our bias at work. The reality is that we were very lucky to have any video at all. We were very behind the times and we took what we had to get the website live. We have every interest and intention of fully representing the rich spectrum of voices in our teacher and practitioner community as we cull together additional video.
Q: How about adding maps to the find a practitioner page.
A: We looked into it and while it’s cost prohibitive at this point, we can seek solutions for the future.
Q: Where are all the articles?
A: There are more on the site now, take a look!
Q: What’s the process for continued feedback.
A: We are open to feedback THAT INCLUDES PROPOSED SOLUTIONS in the form of alternative written material for the website committee to consider. Please send to Renae Davies at exec@tragerus.org to forward to the website team.
Q: Are you accepting donations earmarked specifically for expanding the reach and quality of the website.
A: Gratefully, we are. The site is proof that we overproduce on a limited budget. This has been a labor of love with extensive hours of unpaid time from volunteers and from our paid web designer, Fernando Rojas and you can rest assured your donation will be used strategically and completely for the website.
Please send donations via the PayPal button on the website or contact Renae directly and note the purpose as for the website.
Joe Rodin, Richard Mack, Fernando Rojas, and Advisors