Reality - 50 years on

For the past few days I have been in the state's New England area shooting a documentary and promotional DVD for the Will Graham Reality event. Will is the grandson of famous US evangelist Billy Graham and the son of Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the US Billy Graham organisation. (Pic: Will with his Colin Buchanan 'graffited' dressing room sign)
Like his grandfather, Will is a preacher and his message is pure Gospel. Local churches in the New England area have spent more than a year preparing for Reality and the numbers attending the events are certainly evidence of the work the churches have done.
Some observations. There continues to be strong memories of the 1959, 1968 and 1974 Australian Crusades by Will's grandfather, Billy. Most of the organisers that I met were either converted at one of the three Crusades or worked on local committees. This blogger is in the former category (1959).
The audiences (is that what they're called) so far have been a mixture of the over 60's - who remember the 1959 Crusade and Gen X and Gen Y who enjoy the contemporary music that Reality has organised. From country and western/children's entertainer Colin Buchanan through to 'Compliments of Gus' there's something for everyone. Tomorrow night's meeting in Tamworth is featuring the Tamworth Choral Society, so that will be harking back to Billy's day.
I've been surprised by the people I've met from my past. A young guy who used to be in the Baptist church in Griffith is now an accountant in Tamworth. He was kind enough to say I hadn't changed - must be 35 years since we last saw each other.
Another attender is Gary, whose father Ron was dramatically converted at the 1959 Crusade and was featured in the Remembering '59 documentary. He is here to see if Will's style will work in Bathurst where is a Baptist minister.
The legacy of the initial 1959 Billy Graham Crusade continues to impact Australia. It's not Billy, but churches are excited to have his grandson come and continue the ministry. Praise to God.

So, this is what getting an award feels like ...

Just back from the Christian Media Australia conference (CMA) on the Gold Coast and still getting over the shock (a nice shock) of being the recipient of the attached award.
CMA is the peak body of Christian media professionals in Australia and represents Christian radio, television and film. Phil Cooke was this year's guest speaker.
On the Thursday night they have an awards night and as I sat there and turned to the screen, I saw that the first image was that of this blogger. As the next images rolled across the screen with a suitably serious voice over and music I realised that the winner of the award for 'Outstanding Service to Christian Broadcasting in Australia' was me.
Wow!
As I watched the video some to an end I realised that I'd better think of something sensible to say when I got up to the stage to receive the award. I am told by my wife that I did make sense, so that was good.
It's a strange feeling to watch your life 'unfold' on the screen and to realise that you have spent thirty years in Christian broadcasting. It's gone so fast ....
Thank you to those who nominated me and those who have enabled me to continue to work in this industry. It was a great honour and I was truly humbled. To God be the Glory.

Has the E-Magazine finally come of age?

I've always shied away from publishing content on-line in the same way I'd publish the same content in print. Too often web sites just upload the pdf they send to their printer to their web site and think that web users will be happy to view this on their screen.
This is plain laziness as it fails to understand that an electronic version of their print piece is just not web friendly. You need to take the time to create a web friendly version using html.
However with the advent of the Kindle reader from Amazon and now the iPad, more and more publishers are revisiting this discussion.
fear.less magazine has just launched its first edition (http//fearlessstories.com) on line and on first viewing, its pretty good. First of all they've optimised the page size so it fits 'above the fold' on my browser and while it loads, you get some text to accompany the load icon which says "Saving Trees". Very cute. You 'turn the page' by clicking at the top right (or left) of each page.
The copy and layout looks like a magazine, but it works well on the browser screen and is easily readable. So - maybe I'll have to revise my thinking. Well done and thanks for being fear.less.

BTW, Jakob Nielsen's (the web's usability guru) weekly e-mail alert reported on a survey they undertook on the iPad. It didn't score very well - lots of usability problems.
Worth a read. iPad Usability.
"iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems."

Noah's Ark discovered? Again?

Quoted from http://is.gd/bPde2

"Excitement has been in the air this week over recently released news that the Biblical ark built by Noah was actually discovered high up (about 4,000 meters) on Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey.

The evangelical Chinese and Turkish exploration team brought back wood specimens taken from their find, originally excavated and documented on film in 2008 and 2009. The samples from the structure are said to be dated at 4,800 years old. (Photo: NoahsArkSearch.net/So. China Morning Post)

While the explorers warn they are not 100 percent certain that what they found is the true Noah's Ark as described in the Bible, they say they are "99 percent" sure. Scientists and archaeologists remain skeptical, however, due in part to the nature in which the news was released.

According to Dr. Aren M. Maeir, a professor at Israel's Bar Ilan University and director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project, this is similar to previous claims which have been proved to be unfounded. "Periodically, there are announcements, almost always by enthusiasts without real background in archaeology, about the discovery of Noah's ark somewhere in Turkey," Dr. Maeir told the Christian Post."

The Jesus Boat, Fundraising Seminar and more ...

Today I announced some advance information about a fundraising seminar I'm running with the guys from Masterworks in Seattle, US in Sydney and Melbourne. More details on my web site - click here. If you're a fundraiser in the non-profit sector, check it out.

Earlier in the year I spent two weeks in Cambodia on a church Mission trip. As well as being part of the team, I also shot a number of stories that came out of the trip. The last one is my favourite and its on my home page. Click here.
It's the story of how we delivered a special baby bottle for a cleft palate baby in the slums of Phnom Penh. Pictured is Linda, one of our team, who helped source the bottle in Sydney before we left.

When I was in Israel in the mid-80's filming a documentary series, I heard about the discovery of what is now known as the Jesus Boat. A first century timber fishing boat lost in the mud at the bottom of Lake Galilee. Here's the story on the Christianity Today web site. http://is.gd/bMjuR

Social Media - Twitter and Facebook the new favs at NRB

After a week in the US attending the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville, TN and 14 days in Cambodia prior to that, its good to be home. Nothing like getting on that Qantas aircraft at LA and being greeted in an Aussie accent by the crew. (The pic has nothing to do with the NRB, but it was in the mall next door.)

Social Media was king at the NRB. Everyone was Facebooking, tweeting and blogging. Over the four main days of the NRB, there were educational sessions that covered radio, television, some print and then internet and social media.

What is Social Media?
A group of internet based applications that build on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0 that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content. Over 70% of US adults now participate in social media. One out of four US churches have a social media presence. (like this blog)

Here's some stats from one of the sessions led by Nathan Tabor, CEO, TCVMedia.com.

• Social media is how people discover, read and share news and information in the 21st Century.
• It's not the next BIG thing - it is THE THING.
• Social media is redefining how people interact. 1 in 8 in 2008 decided to marry after meeting on line.
• There are 45 million updates a day on Facebook
• Twitter grew by 1328% in the last year

On Facebook, you can find your perfect audience. During the seminar, Nathan demonstrated how easy it was to target an ad to a particular demographic. This meant that Christian ministries who wanted to reach say, single, Christian college educated women aged between 21 and 39 who lived within 20 miles of Nashville could easily do so. (BTW, there are 330 people on Facebook who fit this demographic).

Social media gives you the chance to witness because its easy and free. However your social media strategy should complement your overall plan.

Lee Raney, President, Christian Web Network led another session called 'Prepare to Get Connected'. He commented that its not Facebook people are addicted to, its their friends.
He quoted Mark McCormack, founder of the IMG Management group who said; 'All things being equal, people will do business with their friends; all things being unequal, people will still do business with their friends.'

One session was a practical demonstration on how to get a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube page up and running inside an hour - all branded and looking the same for your ministry. This session was led by Ian Utile, of Take No Glory Ministries.

The other thing that impressed me was the quality of the music at the evening sessions. It ranged from the traditional Gospel sounds of the Gaither Vocal Band through to contemporary bands like Austin's Bridge and 1000 Generations. (Check out their web sites).

The integration of Social Media into any communication plan was key to continuing to connect with your audience, was my take home message. But a warning from many of the presenters was that you needed to make sure you updated and read your Facebook and Twitter postings every day. Your audience expects almost instant response.

Back to the den of vipers ....

I last attended the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in 1988 - so a lot has changed since then. Many of the high-profile ministries of the 80's have long gone, some remain and probably should have gone and there's a whole heap of new ones. The NRB runs in three main streams.

1. The exhibition hall downstairs, called by some the 'den of vipers';
2. The educational and information sessions run throughout each day where you can focus on three main streams, television, radio and the internet, and;
   
3. The NRB committee and official sessions of the organisation

Like most people, I went mainly for (1) and (2). The exhibition hall has stands promoting the whole range of Christian organisations from the far right to the right. Whilst some are known in Australia such as the Billy Graham organisation and Samaritan's Purse - the majority are not. The remarkable thing is that most of the ministries in the hall are over 30 and 40 years old - with the images of the founders and hosts needing to undergo more and more photoshopping as the years have gone by. There are younger Christian broadcasters around - but not many, it seems, make it to the NRB.
The educational sessions are well run. The stream I focused on was how best to use the internet and social media in Christian outreach. These guys are well ahead of what I have seen in Australia - and that's to be expected.
The quality of the music at the various events was outstanding. Given the profile of the conference, I can imagine only the best of the best are chosen. Great to see some younger bands also on stage, together with the Gospel quartets. (Yes, they still exist here).
Tonight Chuck Colson from Prison Fellowship is the keynote speaker at the closing banquet.
Great to see a heap of Australians here also - next year we reckon we should have an Australia stand. Wonder if we can get export funds to help put it together?