Church and advertising

CBC’s Terry O’Reilly marches you boldly where the angels of marketing fear to tread: he looks at the delicate, always-controversial relationship between faith and advertising. The program includes looking into the controversy surrounding recent bus ads, which read “There Probably Is No God. So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life.” And he explains why not all people of faith embrace the marketing tactics popular in some of today’s churches. Listen to the program and leave a comment on the blog.

How will you answer?

Just because you don’t do something doesn’t mean everyone else is the same. That’s the reaction I sometimes encounter when I talk about online activity. People assume everyone else uses the Internet just like them…which may mean not at all.

It makes for a lot of extra work for me: finding the statistics to build a case; citing examples; and assuring people that the Internet is not a fad but is here to stay and if you don’t ‘get with it’ you will find yourself left behind.

Especially in the church, there seems a skepticism among some about the whole Internet thing. This is easily explained by a lack of understanding among an older age group. I wonder if there was a similar reaction with telephone, radio and television?

Unfortunately, the stories people read about misuse of the Internet tend to colour their perception. Yes, there is pornography online. It’s also been on the news stands for years, but that doesn’t stop you from buying Good Housekeeping. Yes, there may be security issues buying something online, but handing our credit card to an 18-year-old server in a restaurant and losing site of it as she takes it out back to run through doesn’t bother us. Anyone can find any number of excuses to dismiss the Internet, but few hold water. Even senior residences have computer rooms for people to check their e-mail from children and grandchildren.

It’s a matter of the will. Either you want to take advantage of all the opportunities being online offers or you don’t. If Christians choose to ignore it, then I have a suspicion the Lord will one day ask “Why didn’t you use everything the Internet had to offer to share the good news of My Son?”

Did you know

We all know things are changing faster than we can keep up, especially in technology. Here's a YouTube video that puts things in perspective.

By the numbers

I came across some interesting statistics about social media. They are about six weeks old, which means the Twitter stats are out of date. Twitter has experienced 1320% growth in the last year and is growing. Here is the stats link.

BTW, if you want to follow me on Twitter my ID is IanAdnams. If you want to follow Lutheran Church–Canada it's LCCInfotweet.

Exercise...it's good for you!

I subscribe to a feed from mashable.com about social media . This morning it included this link which is about creating social media marketing plans.

Here's the exercise: how do you take this information and translate it into Christian outreach for your congregation or organization? Leave your comments and let's share some ideas.

So close and yet so far

The growth of online connectivity has provided new ways to work. For two years, my job was in Winnipeg but 50 percent of the time I lived in Edmonton, some 1200 km away. But using e-mail, a virtual private network (VPN) connection, MSN Messenger (with video) and call notification my home office was instantly part of the head office in Winnipeg. Most of the time, people contacting me were never aware of my exact location. It was virtually seamless. That was four years ago.

Last weekend, a Board of Directors committee member and staff representative attended the Winnipeg meeting by Skype. At one point it was a video Skype call where the staff member in Nicaragua and the committee members could see each other.
The ability to telecommute or work from a home office also has a downside. You miss the camaraderie and interaction with fellow staff members. This is even more pronounced for people who work for themselves.

Three friends of mine have solved this problem. One is in North Carolina, and two own a video production company in Dallas. A couple of times a month, they have “lunch on line.” They gather through Skype and spend the lunch hour discussing whatever comes to mind as if they were sitting across from each other at the lunch table, which they often did when they worked for the same organization. Their businesses are complementary and often serve similar clients. It’s a great opportunity to bounce ideas around and share concerns and challenges.

I’ve been invited to join the next lunch. So there will be four of us, who used to share a physical lunch table 15 years ago, meeting at a virtual lunch table. Friendship across the miles takes on a whole new dimension!

Ask and you may receive...but at least ask!

With e-mail almost as common as the cold, I am amazed that asking for an e-mail address has to be encouraged as a “think digital first” issue.

A church recently updated the way it keeps track of visitors. It designed and printed hundreds of cards asking visitors for a name, address and telephone number. And that was it! Someone at the design stage may have asked the question about adding an e-mail address and perhaps received the response: “People don’t like to give their email address.” That may be the case, but at least give them the option!

E-mail is one of the best and least threatening ways to keep engaging people. It’s less intrusive than a telephone call or personal visit and it gives a person control over the contact.

When I saw the card, my initial reaction was “someone didn’t think digital first.”