Episode 047 – Nov 26 2008

This week the focus of the WELSTech podcast is Content Management Systems.  Martin and Sallie are joined by WELS.net webmaster, Julie Duran, and we take a look at WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.

The discussion:

The tidbits:

The featured artist:

  • We close with music of WELS artist, Michael Schroeder (michaelschroeder.com) – O Come, O Come Emmanuel from his CD titled The Reason For the Season (37:35)

Get involved:

Episode 046 – Nov 19 2008

This week the WELSTech discussion centers around using your web site for event promotion.  Brian Shaffer joins Martin and Sallie to announce enhancements to the FinalWeb system.

The discussion:

  • Event promotion – Martin and Sallie share ideas for taking your congregation or school web site to the next level by moving beyond the basics – location & service times – to focus on the events that are happening, utilizing your web “channel” as an important component in your overall communication plan.

The interview:

  • Brian ShafferNew features on FinalWeb (18:14) –  Brian Shaffer, of FinalWeb.com, joins Martin and Sallie to announce some exciting enhancements to the FinalWeb system including higher storage capacity, calendar enhancements, and a custom tool for building templates.

The tidbits:

The featured artist:

  • We close with music of WELS artist, Mike Westendorf (www.mikewestendorf.com) – Climb The Mountain from his CD with the same title (48:26)

Get involved:

Episode 045 – Nov 12 2008

This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie are celebrating National Distance Learning Week.  They also interview WELS member and businessman John Simonson on web marketing techniques.

The discussion:

  • Check out Martin’s completed deck project
  • National Distance Learning Week – Distance education is growing in popularity, and with today’s Web 2.0 tools, the barriers to creating your own distance learning initiative are virtually gone.  Martin and Sallie discuss the components of a distance learning offering and share tips for starting your own objective-based online learning.  We also showcase WELS’ many online learning resources for Bible study, ministry support and more.

The interview:

  • John SimonsonSearch Engine Optimization (14:56) –  WELS member John Simonson from Good Shepherd in West Bend, WI is a business owner of a web development company, WebStream Dynamics.  John joins Martin and Sallie to share his knowledge on marketing web sites and search engine optimization, and we look at applications of these techniques for church web sites.

The tidbits:

  • Picks of the week (31:35)
  • Of interest (37:29)
    • Live streaming of the Western Regional Choral Festival concert
      • November 16 @ 2 p.m. CST from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School in New Ulm, MN
  • Community feedback (39:18)
    • The WELSTech facebook group has 94 members! Will you be member 100?
    • Ryan Rosenthal from Faith in Fond du Lac, WI shared a link to LibriVox.org.  The goal of the site is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.
  • Coming up on WELSTech (42:53)
    • Episode 046 – We’ll take a look at “Event Driven Marketing” as you prepare your web site for the Advent and Christmas season.  The interview will be with Brian Shaffer of FinalWeb.net, and he’ll share new features being implemented for their web hosting customers.

The featured artist:

  • This week we close with the music of In His Service featuring WELS musicians Dr. Patricia Backhaus and Valerie Floeter (www.adagioconcepts.com) – Gabriel’s Message from their CD titled In His Time (45:03)

Get involved:

Episode 044 – Nov 5 2008

This week on WELSTech Martin and Sallie are joined by Gail Potratz, our semi-regular classroom technology correspondent, and we hear about Gail’s recent adventure in podcasting at the Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference.

The discussion:

  • Gail PotratzPodcasting teachers – Gail Potratz, Technology Coordinator for Emanuel in New London, WI, joins Martin and Sallie to share her experience leading a breakout session on podcasting at the Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers’ Conference last week.  The session goals were to learn about the uses of Audacity, free, open-source audio editing software, as well as share ideas for using technology in the classroom.  We hear ideas from many of the participants as they make their podcasting debut!

The tidbits:

  • Picks of the week (30:01)
  • WELS.net feature (42:51)
  • Community feedback (43:47)
    • Following up on last week’s comment from Kevin Smith at Christ in Zumbrota, MN, we heard from Jenifer with ProCare Software who offered to help out with a future podcast episode
    • Perry Lund, an elder and Sunday school teacher from Grace in Oskaloosa, IA, shared info on how he uses his iPhone for ministry
    • Join the conversation on the WELSTech listserve
  • Coming up on WELSTech (46:50)
    • Episode 045 – We celebrate National Distance Learning Week and talk with WELS Internet entrepreneur John Simonson about marketing tips for congregational web sites
    • In December – We’ll be discussing Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

The featured artist:

  • We close with music of WELS artist, Kevin Loersch – Abide With Me from his CD titled Abide with Me (48:55)

Get involved: