27 Aug Dealing with Your Local Newspaper

Steve Dennie, Communications Director
Last Thursday I attended a Communications Roundtable in Indianapolis. It’s a bi-monthly group of people who do communications for large churches. The sponsor is Fishhook, a really wonderful Christian communications/branding firm in Indy.

The topic for this meeting was “Media Relations.” We had several speakers, including a religion reporter for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Here are some of their comments and suggestions:

• Newspapers are in a time of change. They are trying to do more (like adding websites) with fewer people.
• If you want them to cover an event, give two weeks of lead time.
• Be understanding if they can’t cover your church event. Newspaper people aren’t able to get out as much as in the past.
• Newspapers are reducing the size of their printed papers, and writing shorter, more tightly-written stories.
• Understand that editors and reporters get scores of phone calls, emails, and voice messages while working on strict deadlines. It’s easy for things to slip through the cracks.
• Leave short voice messages, and identify yourself and your church clearly.
• They like photo features.
• They are always looking for digital material, such as video and photos, that they can use on the web.
• They appreciate when you suggest stories and story angles.
• They prefer stories about people, rather than about institutions.
• Understand that their main responsibility is to their readers. They are looking for the angle that will make the story most interesting to the bulk of their readers.
• Develop a relationship with reporters and editors. Don’t just pitch them information to get free publicity. Relationships will serve you much better in the long run.
• Don’t bombard them with information about every little church event. We get excited about what’s happening in our church and want to throw it all out to the public. But before long, they’ll just begin ignoring your submissions. Be strategic in suggesting stories. Once a quarter is good.
• A good story angle: how something your church does ties into trends, topics, and issues of interest to the entire community.
• Help the reporter by providing people who can talk about the issue or event, and suggest visuals (like photos).
• What reporters see as fair and objective may not seem that way to you. Trust their judgment. They’re not out to get you. They’re just ordinary people who probably attend a church near you.

31 Jul Digital Real Estate

Greg Atkinson wrote a good blog item called “Digital Real Estate.” He admonishes churches and pastors to be proactive in reserving names for themselves on key social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve written about the need for churches to reserve a domain name for themselves, even if they don’t intend to use it right away. Domain names are very cheap real estate. If you find a name you like, I suggest reserving it for 10 years or longer. At NetworkSolutions.com, you can do that for $180, a 48% discount from the one-year rate. Network Solutions is good about bugging you when it’s time to renew. Unfortunately, every year one or two UB churches forget to renew their domain name, and must start over with web and email addresses.

But some real estate is free. We’ve reserved several Twitter accounts which we don’t currently plan to use (ubyouth, ubwomen). I just wanted to get possession of the names. Likewise for Facebook (as Greg Atkinson points out). If blogging interests you, get a Blogger.com account in your name.

Just focus on the most popular sites. You might want to get a Gmail account in your church’s or your personal name, or Flickr. Keep on the lookout, and make sure you write down the login name and password, especially if you don’t plan to use it right away.

27 Jul Book: Less Clutter, Less Noise

You’ve read multiple books on church growth, discipleship, evangelism, and leadership. I’ll bet you haven’t read one about local church communications…because there aren’t too many. Since this is a communication-intensive world, let me recommend “Less Clutter, Less Noise,” by Kem Meyer.

Kem is Communications Director at Granger Community Church near South Bend, Ind. That’s a fast-growing, highly innovative church focused tightly on reaching lost people. I attended a seminar there, attended a service another time, and I read blogs by Kem and a few other Granger staff. It’s valuable being exposed regularly to people who aren’t merely doing church, but are passionate about reaching the lost.

That emphasis comes through in “Less Clutter, Less Noise.” As Kem deals with communication strategy and technique (and she loves the cutting edge), it all comes from an outreach-oriented heart. That’s the context in which Kem operates. I’ve heard her speak in three different conferences now, and she has consistently conveyed the same attitude–an attitude toward everything we do in communications, and an attitude toward the people we’re trying to reach.

Her main premise is something like this: people are looking for something that’ll make a difference in their lives, but they’re so bombarded with information and choices that they can easily miss the church’s message. We need to break through the clutter–not add to it. She deals with a number of issues, always with short (1-3 page) pieces. “Less Clutter, Less Noise” reads more like a blog than a book (which I’m guessing was intentional).

You’ll find parts that don’t apply to you (as I did). But you’ll discover some important perspectives on  “church growth” that you won’t find elsewhere.
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06 May Twitter for UBs

We have clambered board the Twitter bandwagon. Our Twitter feed provides little snippets of news, plus automatic notifications when anything is posted to the Bishopblog or to the UB News page. You’ll find it at:

http://www.twitter.com/unitedbrethren.

Frankly, I don’t expect a lot of people to use the Twitter feed, mainly because not all that many UBs are using Twitter, period. We’re far from critical mass. I’ve come across less than 30 UBs with Twitter accounts, and many of them aren’t actively using Twitter. It’s not exactly a necessary communications accessory.

But, this was easy to implement and will involve little work on my part. And Twitter is mushrooming in popularity. So, there it is. Use it if you want.

11 Apr Useful Web Applications

Tony Morgan, the “Chief Strategic Officer” at a booming megachurch in South Carolina, is one of the premier bloggers in the evangelical world. He’s especially popular among the cutting-edge crowd. Really an interesting guy.

He just posted “25 Free Web Apps That Make Life Easier.” Increasingly, things are moving to the web. Instead of using a program you install on your computer, you go to a website and accomplish the same thing, whether it’s managing a calendar, writing Word documents, or managing your finances.

I was aware of, and use some of, the web apps that Tony mentions. But others were new to me. Depending on your level of geekiness, you may be interested in checking out his list.

What web apps would you add to the list? Mention them in the comments.

16 Feb Guard Your Domain Name

A domain name is a very cheap piece of cyber real estate. Your church can register a domain for $20 or less per year. This domain can then become the hub for all of your church’s internet communications–your website, your email, a blog, etc. If people know your domain name, they can find you.

However, every year, one or two United Brethren churches lose their domain name.

• Maybe nobody in the church office understood what the renewal notices were about.
• Maybe renewal notices were going to somebody who no longer attends, but who originally registered the account.
• Maybe they just procrastinated too long.
• Or maybe they just forgot.

Many companies eagerly pounce on lapsed domain names. They like snapping up something with established traffic flow. As a result, the church loses their domain name, which has a variety of ramifications:

• The church website address no longer works.
• Email addresses which used that domain no longer work.
• Business cards, letterhead, and any other printed materials which mentioned those email addresses or the website URL must be reprinted.
• The church must find a new domain name, which will probably be less satisfactory than the previous one.
• People who type in the name of the previous domain name will be taken to something totally unrelated to the church–perhaps a porn site.

So, some suggestions:

1. Make sure you know where the domain is registered.
2. Try to get the domain directly under the church’s control, rather than in the account of a parishioner.
3. Make sure your contact information with the registrar is current, so you receive notices when it’s about to expire.

12 Feb I See You, You See Me

Technology has its frustrations, but also its amazing sides.

This morning, the Global Ministries staff held a meeting with David Kline in Macau. Four of them gathered around Darlene Burkett’s iMac, and using iChat’s video features, they discussed some financial issues. It was smooth, and free. Here in Huntington, it was 9:30 Thursday morning, but for David, it was 10:30 Thursday night.

David, seeing me enter the scene with my camera, apologized for not combing his hair.

Pictured (l-r): Mabel Mundy (accounting clerk), Darlene Burkett, Jeff Bleijerveld, Donna Hollopeter is out of the photo, on the left. (Sorry, Donna.)

03 Oct Tool? or Toy? (Part 2)

Steve Dennie, Communications Director
I bought one of the early Palm Pilots, back around 1997. I envisioned it being a good tool. But it didn’t fit the way I work. It became something cool that I showed people. Not something that made me more effective. For many people, a Palm Pilot is a great tool. For me, it became a toy.

A tool, on the other hand:

• Will enhance your ministry.
• Will solve a problem.
• Can be cool and fun to show people, but that’s a bonus.

02 Oct Tool? or Toy? (Part 1)

Steve Dennie, Communications Director
Every time your mouth waters over some new gadget or software or social media site, ask yourself, “Is it a tool or a toy?” That’s the question posed in the excellent book The Blogging Church, by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch.

Tech-savvy people (like me) love new technology and usually believe more technology can only bring good things. But toys can merely waste church money and consume the pastor’s (and volunteers’) time.

How can you tell if it’s a toy?

• You use the word “cool” to describe it.
• You spend more time playing with it than using it.
• You want it because other people have it.
• You love to show it to other people.
• You hear, “We should get a….” You’d like to have it, but can’t articulate a compelling ministry need for it.

19 Sep Notes from MinistryCOM, Day 1

I’m in Oklahoma City attending the MinistryCOM conference–my third year. It’s designed for local church communications specialists, most of whom come from megachurches. Some churches come with an entire staff of 4-5 people who work only in communications (graphics, video, internet, etc.). Then there are a few folks like me.

Today, I met two persons who do fulltime communications work in churches of less than 1000 attendees. First time I’ve seen that. (I’m not aware of any UB church with a person working fulltime solely in communications. Doesn’t mean there aren’t any. But if they exist, they should definitely attend MinistryCOM.)

Just finished lunch with three people from Houston. The one couple said they planned to attend MinistryCOM before the hurricane, but the hurricane made it even more attractive, because they’re expected to be without electricity for another 3-4 weeks. Bummer for them.

The opening speaker was Mike Foster, founder of XXXChurch.com Some notes from his session:

• Spend your life in the ocean, not in the tank. Be in the wild. Experience new things. Get out among nonChristians.
• The average age of videogame players is 33. (I would have guessed much younger.)
• Our guardian angels are bored. We’re playing it safe, not taking chances.
• Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s easy and fun to dream. What’s valuable is a well-executed idea.