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In part 2 of our series documenting the redevelopment of my church’s website I described the preliminary vision document I wrote for the site.  Having written out a rough description of how I envisioned our new website would look and function, the next step was to work with important groups in the church in order to have their input into the design and to help them get on board with the project.  This is a vital part of the process that is often overlooked and dotted with pitfalls.
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The exciting prospect of possibly leading the redevelopment of my church’s website put me in an interesting position.  On the one hand, after 11 years of helping churches develop websites I had some very strong ideas about what our church website could be, how it could help people connect, and what functionality it should have.  On the other hand, I had not been given the authority to lead the redevelopment and in fact it had not been decided if the church wanted to redesign the site.

So, the next step was to develop and cast the initial vision for a new website.

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There’s an old saying that goes, “You don’t know a man unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.�  Well, recently I had the opportunity to try on a pair of shoes I don’t normally wear: your shoes – that is the shoes of an OurChurch.Com client.

I am leading the effort to have the website of my own church, Cypress Meadows Community Church in Clearwater, FL, redesigned.  After almost 11 year years of helping churches to create and maintain websites, I hope my insight and experience will help us develop an exceptional website to help advance the ministries of my church.  Plus, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see things from a new perspective, that of an OCC client.  So, I’ve asked the OCC staff to treat me like any other client (probably easier said than done since I’m also their boss).  Not only will I be able to provide valuable feedback to our sales and design staff, but I’m also going to blog about the experience for the month or more so you get an idea of the design process from start to finish – working with the OCC staff, working with staff at my church, design decisions, and so forth.

I’m really excited about sharing this experience with you and I hope you find it interesting and insightful.
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School websites have two primary goals.  The first is to act as an on-line brochure for prospective students and parents, providing them with as much information as possible to help them decide if your school may be right for them.  The second goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication between students, parents, teachers, and administrators.  Here’s a list of 12 things every school website should include in order to reach those two goals.
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Today, tomorrow and Saturday most of OurChurch.Com’s staff is participating in the Willow Creek Association Leadership Summit.  (Don’t worry, we still have support staff available.)  I’m going to be blogging live from the Summit on my personal blog.  Whether you’re participating in the summit or not, you’re welcome to read notes, post comments, and join in the discussion about leadership issues at:

 http://www.LiveIntentionally.org

 

Last week we started our series of education-related blog articles with my interview of Judy Steinbrueck (my mother) who has been managing a website for her second grade class for the last 5 years. This week, I’m keeping it in the family again by interviewing Melissa Steinbrueck, who is the wife of my brother and OCC’s Director of Marketing Services, Kurt.

Melissa has been teaching at Family of Christ Christian School in Tampa, FL for 2 years and finds herself in the challenging position of being responsible for managing a website for the entire school.
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As a part of Back to School Month here at OurChurch.Com, I thought it would be helpful to bring you some thoughts from people who have experience with school and class websites.  The first person that came to mind is my favorite teacher of all time.  She’s been teaching second grade at Immanuel Lutheran School in Brandon, Florida for 20 years (30 years teaching overall) and has managed a website for her class for several years.  So, I gave her a call, and fortunately my mother, Judy Steinbrueck, came through for me and agreed to an interview.

I think you’ll find the interview insightful.  If nothing else, the little nugget about how she has gotten her parents to read the online newsletter each week is gold.  That alone is worth the read, and the principle can be applied to other, non-education websites.
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