Digital Eesti Elu has arrived!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Eesti Elu survey throughout 2019. We appreciate all the feedback we received from our readers about how the newspaper has been serving the community, what they like to read and how best to move forward with the publication to support its sustainability for many years to come. The results of the survey and a lot of teamwork have led us to an exciting announcement – Eesti Elu is releasing its digital publication!

We are taking this time to introduce the new platform to all our readers and hear your thoughts about it. The remaining issues in 2019 will be published free for everyone to read online on Eesti Elu website (www.eestielu.ca) via Issuu digital platform. Please enjoy the colourful digital news papers, familiarize yourself with the platform and kindly share your feedback on how it is working for you on our website.

The survey was conducted from February 22 until September 30, 2019. We collected a total of 525 responses, 31 on paper and 494 via online survey. The survey was shared in the EE printed issue, via email, EE website and Facebook page. The survey was offered in both Estonian and English. 48% of respondents are current subscribers, 76% of them have been loyal subscribers for more than 10 years. 71% of all respondents had read EE within the last two months.

The majority of responses came from Ontario (79%), followed by other Canadian provinces (10%). We had 23 participants from the U.S. and 16 from Estonia. 80% of survey respondents are aged 45 years or older, 47% are retirees. 46% of respondents are employed (either part or full time) and 2% are students.

The main reasons for subscribing are following: read news about Estonian activities in Canada, read news about Estonian Canadians, including memorial notices and read news about Estonia.

19% of respondents have subscribed in the past but have stopped for such reasons as: prefer to read online, not having the time to read the paper, financial reasons, or having access to family member’s paper.

Subscription rates are highest among respondents aged 45+; 57% of them are paying readers. 11% of respondents aged 44 and under are currently EE subscribers.

60% of respondents currently visit the EE website and Facebook page and 52% of responses state they are aware that Eesti Elu and Estonian World Review are two separate publications.

The most popular areas of content that over 70% of all respondents are interested in are the following: news of local Esto nian activities in Canada, coverage of Estonian cultural events in Canada, news about Estonian Canadians, news about Estonia, community events calendar and Estonian film/music/ theatre/literature. The lowest interest is in sports, church announcements and crosswords – all under 40%. If an electronic version of Eesti Elu content was offered, the respondents would prefer the following: 1. 57.5% – A weekly pdf-version of the newspaper-identical to the paper copy or Estonian Life full web edition 2. 31.90% – Continue reading the printed newspaper.

The younger generation prefers Estonian Life full web edition, while respondents 45 and up prefer the PDF version.

While 91% of responses sent in Estonian state they are happy with the Estonian-English content balance, 37% of respondents in English would like to see more English content.

We heard your thoughts and have found an online platform, Issuu, that offers a solution to publish a digital PDF newspaper enhanced with multimedia and links. All digital Eesti Elu issues will be in colour and easy to navigate on screens. Eesti Elu will be readable on all devices – laptops, tablets and mobile. A free Issuu iOS/ Android mobile app is also available for the best mobile reading experience. It will be easy to share the preview of our PDF newspaper via email and social media.

We are excited to bring you a colourful and interactive Eesti Elu starting October 26! The online version will include everything that you would read from the paper copy and a new issue will be available every Saturday morning. Issuu platform will also be archiving all weekly publications, giving you the option to buy a past issue or do research online.

All October-December 2019 Eesti Elu issues can be found at www.eestielu.ca. To access all features that Issuu platform offers, a one-time registration is required at www.issuu.com/ signup. You will have a personal username and password to access Eesti Elu current and past issues, save your favourite papers and much more. The registration will also allow you to become a subscriber of the digital EE for 2020. Single digital copies, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual and annual online subscriptions will be sold at www .issuu.com/estonianlife.

The sales and renewals of paper subscriptions will continue through the Eesti Elu office as before. For the year of 2020, all paper subscribers will receive a complimentary digital copy starting in January.

Important! Whether you are a current subscriber renewing for 2020 or a new subscriber – please send us your name and email address to digi@eestielu.ca. Your email address will only be used for sending you an access to our digital newspaper when your subscription starts and for our accounting records (option to receive your invoices digitally)

We are excited to show you a new sustainable way to read Estonian Life in addition to our loved printed newspaper. Releasing a digital publication will make it more accessible for people across the country and abroad, while cutting printing and postage costs and making our footprint a bit greener.

Happy reading and we are looking forward to hearing your thoughts on digital Eesti Elu!

Should you have any further questions or require more information, please do not hesitate to email us at digi@eestielu.ca or call Elis at 416-925-9405.