Thoughts on NACC 2007--Part 2

As promised here's some information from my workshop on Blogging, Enewsletters, and Pod casting from the NACC.

I know blogging, but I didn't know much about executing pod casting and Enewsletters, so I did a lot of research. I included all of my research in the handout for my workshop. I broke my workshop into 3 parts: Why? What? How?

Here's the first part of the handout for my workshop.

Please note: All sources are credited.

Why?

To Reach A Billion People . . . That Would Be Cool!

Philip Rosedale didn't create Second Life to be a game or a toy. He thinks he is remaking the Internet — taking it on a giant leap forward, much like the invention of the Mosaic browser or World Wide Web. "What would feel like success?" Rosedale says, pausing to think about it. He is in the funky, ragged cafeteria of the company he founded, Linden Lab, which built and runs the groundbreaking, buzz-generating online virtual world called Second Life. Half-eaten Costco-size bags of chips and bowls of fruit lie on bare tables. Rosedale is wearing jeans and an orange sweater, hair gelled and spiked. With his classic good looks and wide-eyed enthusiasm, Rosedale seems like a cross between Brad Pitt and Bill Nye the Science Guy. "Not money," he finally says. "But I will look back and say, did we do as much as we could to reach as many people as possible? Can we reach a billion people? That would be cool!"
--The king of alter egos is surprisingly humble guy, Posted 2/4/2007, By Kevin Maney, USA TODAY

In 1990 British researcher Tim Berners-Lee wrote a computer program called “World Wide Web.” Little did he or anyone else know the revolutionary ways this experimental project would shape daily life some 17 years later. Today, the Internet is no longer just a research center; it’s where people live—communicating with family and friends, shopping, dating, banking, even attending school.
So how does this watershed technology translate for you and your church—and outreach? Think about this: Your church Web site isn’t just another place for information, but a connecting point for the community. Your sermon isn’t just 30 minutes of exposition for your congregation, but a podcast potentially reaching thou-sands. And your daily conversations don’t just happen over coffee with friends, but on your blog as you dialog with people you’ve never met—and may never meet.
-- A Pastor's Guide to Digital Outreach by Andrea Bailey, Source:
http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/JF07ftrPastorsGuide.asp

According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm:
December 1995—16 million users representing .4% of the World Population
June, 2007—1.1 billion users representing 17.2 % of the World Population

I believe that any strategy we develop in our churches to work towards reaching a billion people for Christ must include a dynamic presence on and use of the Internet.