1. Technology and Formation: Tools for Mission in the Diocese
August 25, 2012
St. Margaret of ScotlanD
Garland Pollard
Director of communications
Diocese of Southwest Florida

2. Backdrop: The Gallup Ugh Chart Less and Less Confidence in Church
Common Sense media

3. Goal of Communication: Winning souls for Christ
Reaching out to new families, bringing new families into church
Creating a more effective church and Diocese by communicating better among ourselves
Using technology to create a place where kids can escape from technology
Common Sense media

4. Backdrop: CommonSense Media Survey
Facebook and social media as tool, not the end product
Confidence that we can cut the cord occasionally
Church as respite from social media

5. More isolation for some teens?

6. Teens: Tired of Technology? Maybe, maybe not.
Stats from Common Sense show ‘other’ side of technology
Industry group nervous about increasing dependence on new social media
Facebook fatigue?

7. Pew Research Center’s American Life Project
799 surveyed April 19 and July 14, 2011, asked about online behaviors
37% of internet users ages participate in video chats with Skype, Googletalk or iChat.
Girls are more likely than boys to have such chats.
27% of internet-using teens record and upload video
13% of internet-using teens stream video live
Social media users are much more likely than those who do not use social media to engage in all three video behaviors studied.
Shooting, sharing, streaming and chatting – social media using teens are the most enthusiastic users of many online video capabilities

8. Communication Issue to Start Our Discussion: Baseball, Night of Joy, Rock the Universe
Scheduled on same night, put family ministry vs. youth vs. men’s ministry
How can Episcopal kids once there connect?
How to get the word out about shared resources, i.e. chaperones?

9. How do we communicate to youth, parents
Either, all of the above, starting with plain !

10. How do we communicate to youth, parents
Either, more likely all of the below:
Text message
Telephone call
blast
Facebook blast, Facebook post
Twitter text or open Twitter message
In person
In the parish Sunday bulletin
Parish bulletin board, card coffee hour
By website

11. Questions Raised
How much do we need to connect? How much do we NOT need to connect?
What resources can we share (chaperones, curriculum, dvds, mission trips) and how can we best communicate that to each other for mutual benefit?
How to connect? In person, online, web, online bulletin board, text, Facebook, Twitter?
Who do we need to connects? Kids to parents, kids to kids, parish kids to outside kids.
Need for more connection that just public “news” on Diocese website

12. First Question: Who are we reaching
1. Internal audiences, the “inside business” of formation, ministry
Parish leadership, clergy, youth ministers
Diocese, other parishes, vendors, national church
Parents of youth who are very active in programs
2. Internal External
Parents of small children in parish
Youth and young adults, teens in parish
3. External
Friends of parishioners
Outside audiences of potential new families, attendees

13. Diocese Website, www.episcopalswfl.org
Year old
Official events once scheduled and vetted
Some opportunity for comment and social media
Very good at distributing news through RSS feeds and connections to parishes
Login process means not accessible to all

14. Main site: RSS Feed to Daily Email Blast
See online reporting capability
SEE EXAMPLE PAROCHIAL REPORT

15. Tools: RSS Feed on Constant Contact
Automatic feed
No retyping
Uses website as base but sends out as
See online reporting capability
SEE EXAMPLE PAROCHIAL REPORT

16. Tools: RSS Feed on Twitter
First post on website triggers Twitter post
Posts quickly
Saves time
Uses website as base but sends out as new link
See online reporting capability
SEE EXAMPLE PAROCHIAL REPORT

17. Micro Site for Special Event, Niche Group
Can be adapted to audiences (ie. youth leaders)
Requires user registration
Wordpress is adaptable
Not being on main Diocese site gives greater editorial freedom, casual-ness

18. Micro Site on Yearly Youth Program

19. Benefits of approach Custom Design, really a brochure
Youth can update the site easily
Requires participation to work
Parents loved it, but teens saw images on Facebook

20. Camp DaySpring, Participants as Content Creators
Easy upload for photos
College age enjoyed putting it together
Required participation to work

21. Micro-Site Around a Mission

22. Usfchapelcenter.org On Wordpress Hub for info at USF for mission
Designed to be up for years, with content building over time, incrementally
Duplicates some content from Diocese site, displays Diocese feed

23. Tools we have at Diocese for Marketing
Paid Vimeo Account (we can post video created by parishes)
Digital Faith pages, sites on Episcopalswfl.org
Ability to create, host a micro-site on our domain, ie youth.dioceseswfl.org
Ability to create new separate web pages hosted by us (cost of buying URL $10 yearly)
Color copiers that duplex, print 11X17
Latest versions of InDesign, Photoshop

24. Other reminders Put us on your email blast lists
Submit items for Diocese website and calendar by logging into Digital Faith
Submit items for Diocese by easy form on our website
Message us on social media to re-message
Call if critical message
Post on your site, us to send to Facebook, etc

25. Questions/Comments How Can We Get the Word out Better?
How Can We BETTER Communicate Among ourselves?
What Specific Tools Do We Need at ThE DIOCESE to MAKE THIS HAPPEN?
What Should The Parish Role BE in the Process?

26. Links Sources Internal www.commonsensemedia.org www.gallup.com
2012.dioceseswfl.org/
usfchapelcenter.org