January
2010 Click the Cover Above to View the Whole Magazine
Cover Story
2010 Is the Year of the Webinar
Steve Hewitt Some of you have probably already seen the term Webinar, or have participated in one in 2009. However, if you have not thought about using Webinars for your own church or ministry, this is the year to give it some consideration. Webinars are the virtual way to have an online meeting, event or presentation. The term Webinar comes from "Web Seminar" and provides a presenter or multiple presenters the opportunity to share information with a larger audience who view and listen to the presentation via the Internet.
Editorial
2010 Is Going to be a GREAT Year!
Steve Hewitt I always like the start of a new year, and this one is looking great. We have some exciting things planned to expand our ministry here at Christian Computing, and while some things are scheduled for later this year, and are too far out for me to talk about them yet (sorry), in the very near future three cool things will be happening!
The Mobility Revolution
Beyond the Phone
Russ McGuire In previous columns, I’ve talked about the “normal” ways in which we experience mobility in our lives – using a cellphone, and using mobile broadband (3G or 4G). We can think of these uses as simple substitutes for the old way of doing things.
Ministry Communication
Timeless Design and Communication Principles Reminders
Yvon Prehn A new year and a new decade will no doubt bring new technologies to the world of church communications. As we share the message of the gospel, there are certain timeless design and communication principles we do well to remember if we want to communicate effectively no matter what tools the Lord gives us to use. Read on for a brief review of some of them:
Tech Talk
Cool Utilities 9
Dr. J. D. “Doc” Watson In this installment of our on-going series, I share with you three little programs that I think will be helpful: the best little duplicate file finder I’ve ever seen, a slick little file splitter for those huge files you need to chop up for e-mailing, and another excellent and easy to use backup program. Best of all, everything is free!
Higher Power with Kevin
WORDsearch 9
Kevin Purcell Late last year, WORDsearch released version 9. It was a busy time as we saw upgrades from Logos and QuickVerse, too. But of the three, I think WORDsearch might have the best upgrade. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best overall program. I reviewed Logos in November (http://bit.ly/8XABbL) and QuickVerse in December (http://bit.ly/7IBYdQ). What makes WORDsearch 9 the best upgrade is its stability, some really great new features, and unlike Logos they did it without removing any of the best features of the previous version.
Article
Church Website Search Engine Optimization, a Church SEO Primer.
Drew Goodmanson Search Engine Optimization. SEO is that high-tech sounding buzzword that gets bandied about the technology-savvy church water cooler. It's one of those words your church website communication staff have probably been thinking about; but probably has not gotten around to doing too much about. SEO is sometimes heard alongside other cool-sounding but semi-sensical terms such as Web 2.0, social media, mobile web, cloud computing, viral marketing, analytics, usability, and even tweeting.
Nick at Church
TechnoTools for Ministry
Nick B. Nicholaou Right off, it’s important for you to know that my firm doesn’t sell or distribute any hardware or software. We don’t benefit from the purchase decisions our clients make, and so the recommendations I’m about to share with you are truly objective.
Have you moved up to Win7 yet? Do you want to? Should you? What do you need to know, and what should you avoid! Join us for this informative Webinar with Nick Nicholaou (Ministry Business Services), Jason Powell (IT Director at Granger Community Church) and Steve Hewitt (Editor-in-Chief Christian Computing Magazine).
Title:
Win7 - Get It or Forget It!
Date:
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Time:
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CST
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer
ACS Technologies
Effectively Integrating the Church Web Site and Church Management System
ACS Technologies One of the newer movements among churches is to combine the data in the church management system (ChMS) with information on the church Web site to provide a more personal experience to site visitors.
By creating login areas on the site that tie in to the ChMS database, churches can begin to cater specific information to individual people without additional setup. This article, excerpted from the ACS Technologies ministry guide Developing An Effective Web Strategy, offers suggestions for creative ways to effectively integrate the church Web site and ChMS.
Big Ministry/Small Resources
Big Minstry, Small Budget
Bradley Miller New Year’s resolutions . . . I guess I have gotten to the point that it doesn't exactly mean much to have my big "to-do" list ready for January 1. Most people have that "I'm really gonna . . . " list blown away by January 12th or so. For 2010 I'm am really diving in deep in what I want to accomplish personally, spiritually, and in volunteering in my local church. I have some goals I want to accomplish and in coming up with ideas for what this article should be about, I thought maybe sharing some insight on things that have been tried might help some fellow CCMag readers.
