Adventist Communicator

New FCC Requirements for Wireless Microphones

Heidi — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:18:54 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has new requirements for churches, businesses, and other organizations that use wireless microphones in the 700 MHz band (698-806 MHz). Your church, ministry, or organization needs to stop using wireless microphones in the 700 MHz band by June 12, 2010, to avoid any fines.

Christianity Today has an article explaining more about this new FCC regulation and possible solutions for churches. View the article here.

>>>Please pay attention to this issue. Everyone needs to comply with this new rule.

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Strategic Planning

Heidi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:38:57 +0000

However big or small your organization is, a strategic communication plan gives structure and purpose to your organizational communication.

Strategic plans can be anywhere from a handful of pages to hundreds of pages.

A basic strategic plan consists of the following elements:

1. Background - a review of the organization and what the organization is all about

2. Situation Analysis - identifies the most important issues to address right now (as frequently revealed through a SWOT analysis)

3. Goals - defines what big-picture results of what you’d like to achieve

4. Audience Analysis - identifies the major and minor audiences your organization interacts with and specifies who you need to currently talk to

5. Strategies - outlines the general direction needed to meet the plan’s goals

6. Objectives - states measurable steps to achieve strategic goals

7. Tactics - lists specific methods (traditional media, print media, social media, etc.) to achieve objectives and examines costs

8. Measurement and Evaluation - provides an outline of how success will be defined (in relation to goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics)

Additionally, a strategic plan can include primary or secondary research (literature review, focus group(s), survey(s), etc.) as part of the background section or as a stand-alone section.

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Digital Publishing

Heidi — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:26:32 +0000

Digital publishing is a cool tool in the integrated marketing communication toolbox.

One digital publishing provider is Issuu (www.issuu.com). Issuu is the leading publishing platform for delivering an exceptional reading experience for magazines, books, catalogs, reports, and more.

The beauty of the printed page translates to this online representation of the publication. Issuu provides a dynamic library fully enabled for sharing.

The best part for organizations with limited budgets? Issuu is FREE (although there is a paid option)!

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Blogging Strategy

Heidi — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:10:11 +0000

Ever wonder if you should quit your blog in favor of Twitter and social networking? According to Clay McDaniel in an article for MarketingProfs, both Twitter and classic, corporate blogs are needed to engage the community (read: target audience).

McDaniel suggests a two-part blogging strategy: 1) create and maintain a fresh and engaging corporate blog and 2) monitor third-party blogs to respond to conversations about your brand taking place across the web. Blogs should be relevant and discoverable with “timely, punchy, [and] informative posts.”

“Your goal [with a blog] is not to obtain momentary awareness but to maintain relevancy over the long term for your target audience,” McDaniel says.

Check out McDaniel’s five tips for using blogs to engage customers and build your brand.

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Developing Good Web Content

Heidi — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:54:41 +0000

Everyone knows content is fundamental to a website, says Jeffrey Macintyre in “Content-tious Strategy,” an article published by www.alistapart.com.

Webmasters often get distracted by visual site design and layout or search engine optimization (to help bring more people to your web site through carefully chosen keywords). While these components are important, quality content is another key factor to develop.

But how do you develop good content? Check out Jennifer Krynin’s advice in an About.com article titled 10 tips for good web writing.

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On-Demand Magazine Publishing

Heidi — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:17:23 +0000

Ever wanted to publish a magazine? Now you have an opportunity.

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MagCloud using HP Indigo Technology provides on-demand “vanity” magazine printing (see www.magcloud.com). Printing costs are 20 cents per page plus shipping, and all you need to do is upload your PDF file. Magazines are printed in vibrant full color on 80lb paper and saddle-stitched. Students at University of California, Berkeley, used this service to cheaply and easily produce a fashion magazine and were featured in a New York Times story. What other applications do you see for on-demand magazine printing (i.e. in the religious communication and education context)?

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If you decide to try out this service, please leave a blog comment and let me know how it works and what you think.

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Crisis Response Example

Heidi — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:59:34 +0000

For those of us who attended the crisis communication workshop in Denver, we talked about how to present a crisis statement to the media. Our presenter shared several video examples with us of well-done and not-so-well-done statements. Here is a very recent and very current example of a very well-done media crisis statement.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Snapshots from Denver

Heidi — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:27:20 +0000


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A Day of Connecting
Heidi — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:14:17 +0000
When I completed my registration this afternoon, I was the 105th person to register. I’m told that 166 people are registered for this year’s Society of Adventist Communicators convention. A very popular part of this convention is the tours on Thursday, and 120 people participated in today’s tours to Focus on the Family, Porter Adventist Hospital, news stations, newspapers, and PR agencies. While the tours were out-and-about, another group of people assembled for the Fundamentals of Journalism class for the certification program.
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With a class titled “Fundamentals of Journalism,” it might sound like a bonehead journalism course. It was anything but a basic journalism class! We took a look at the complexity of communication and unpacked S-E-M-D-R or Source-Encode-Message-Decode-Receiver. Most of our dialogue centered on encoding and decoding the messages we produce. We as communicators encode our messages by (effectively) putting thoughts into words. Those encoded messages are then decoded by our intended audience through four filters: education, income, hobbies, and worldview. Our afternoon session covered excellence in communication in how we ethically frame stories.
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For today’s lunch break, we split up into unofficial groups and went out for lunch. It was great to connect with other young professionals (I believe we were all 20-somethings) and compare notes about the challenges and rewards of our jobs. In some ways it was a “collective head banging session.” It was nice to know that we weren’t alone in our frustrations and breakthroughs. Of course, there was plenty of laughter and light moments. Interacting with colleagues like this, sharing ideas, discussing solutions, figuring out new technologies and how this-or-that works: this is one of the primary reasons I come to the Society’s annual convention.
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Tonight introduced a new convention feature. We had a Communication Showcase where six individuals (including myself) shared communication projects from the last year or so. It is essentially a time of inspiration and understanding the creative process behind various projects.
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The biggest decision out of the business meeting tonight was the decision to begin a paid membership program for the Society of Adventist Communicators. Membership will have some great perks including members-only web access to an online learning center, a membership directory, professional development resources and more. The initial fee? Just $25 a year for an individual. You’ll see more about this in the near future.
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If you’re not here in Denver this year, you’re missing out! It’s already been a great experience connecting with colleagues. Make sure you mark your calendar for October 15-18, 2009. We’ll be convening for our 20th annual convention in San Diego, California. - Heidi
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Welcome to Denver (Now Get Lost)
Heidi — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:04:03 +0000
Whenever I travel, my “marketing eyes” are on high alert watching signs, brands, advertising, people, you name it. The same was true tonight when I flew into Denver. My positive first impression of the Denver Airport took me through the concourse with moving walkways and past colorful advertising posters and standard airport retailers while following good directional signs and reading interesting “Did You Know about Denver” displays while waiting for the train. Even the train ride from terminal C to the main terminal was a positively branded experience complete with the Mayor of Denver’s official welcome.
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And then my positive experience broke down. The signs were confusing to me as I (an experienced traveler) tried to find my actual baggage claim area (first) and then where to find the hotel shuttle (second). After several minutes of wandering and even asking directions, making a couple phone calls, plus remembering George’s helpful hints, I finally found my way to the shuttle pick-up location.
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Did you have a similar experience at the airport? And have you ever wondered: How often do guests in our churches, schools, ministry centers, or administrative offices have a similar experience? Talk back to me! - Heidi
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