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Food Court Wars - Take No Prisoners

Our local mall food court has 2 Chinese places. One Sbarro's. One Subway. One Chick-Fil-A. Two Chinese places.

One has been there for years, and when the 2nd moved in a couple of years ago, they put up a sign that said, 'Don't let the imitation fool you.' Classic.

Today, I noticed the 'imitation' fought back. Their newest sign highlights their 'new original Bourbon Chicken,' which the 1st place apparently started selling AFTER the 2nd group moved in.

The new sign reads, 'Don't eat it from the imposters.'

Gunshots will eventually ensure, I'm sure.

YouVersion.com: I'm Sold

I posted yesterday about YouVersion.com. Had lunch today w/ Bobby Gruenewald who blogged about it yesterday on the Life Church blog. I was really interested to get more detail on the project.

(I was also interested in trying the fried green beans he ordered, but he didn't offer, and I didn't want to risk a fork in my hand by reaching across the table to grab one.)

Short version: What I thought it was going to be and what it's actually going to be were miles apart. I thought it would be really cool. Um, it's not. It's aaaamazing. Incredibly ambitious. Freakish.

Bobby will say much more about it in the coming weeks, and I won't attempt to steal any thunder. My take? It's the most creative and broadly useful Scripture-based web tool I've ever seen.

Consider this: The iPod wasn't new technology. But the iPod reshaped existing technology and pushed the envelope of the MP3 market in a profound way. The iPhone appears to do the same thing with cell phones.

Looks like YouVersion is doing the same thing. No new technology per se, but it is using existing technologies in a way that will dramatically re-form how Scripture-centric projects utilize the web.

He answered the questions I raised in my blog post very clearly, and I was thrilled to hear the level of thought that's going into the process. In particular, I was curious how it compared to eBible.com, and as we'll see in the coming months, it's just not the same sort of thing.

But our conversation raised a more serious concern--that I'll spend an inordinate amount of time on the site.

As I re-read this, I realize I sound like a total fanboy. Hey, the LifeChurch.tv name still drives me nuts. :) But I gotta tell ya . . . They're hitting the ball out of the stadium on this one.

Bottom line: I'm completely sold.

Hero Worship: Why Jay Is a Complete Child

Reached an in-principle agreement with a new podcast host yesterday. Won't name names since we don't have all the legal stuff squared away, but I looooove this gentleman.

To say that he's been instrumental in shaping my views on leadership would be a dramatic understatement. So I'm thrilled that we get to work with him if for no other reason than because we get to work with one of my idols.

Quick side note: A couple of months ago, our newest awesome team member Gabe called to say, 'Hey, we have a call set up with 'Bob.' Are you familiar with him?'

My response: 'Tell ya what, bud. I'm hanging up now because I don't like being lied to. You call me back when you can start telling the truth.' Click.

So yesterday 'Bob' said, 'I think we should start by working through my book 'X.''

'X' was the first book I read by him, and it's horribly dog-eared and highlighted.

My response was (and this is the part where I demonstrate that I can be a complete child), 'If you had told me 10 or 12 years ago when I first read that book that I would get a chance to dialogue with the author, I probably would have peed my pants right then and there.'

Thankfully, 'Bob' laughed, but I looked over at Gabe to see him shaking his head in shame.

I love being a child. :)

YouVersion.com: A New eBible?

Life Church announced the upcoming launch of YouVersion.com today. From visiting the site and reading the blog post, it appears that it will be similar to eBible.com with more substantial community features (the ability to upload digital files, for instance).

I'm interested in this for several reasons:

1. Virtually everything Life Church does is done really, really well. I expect this to be no different. I'm sure it will be a blowout service.

2. Launching any kind of social network is intensely difficult from the standpoint of generating a sufficient user base to get real traction. Life Church has a significant built-in potential user base simply because of the size of their church. I'm sure that will go a long way to getting traction--not to mention other ministry leaders who pay close attention to what Life Church does.

I have no doubt of their capacity to make it happen, but I'm sure they recognize the enormity of the task.

3. Given the parallels with eBible and the fact that eBible has an open API, I'm curious as to why they didn't simply piggyback on what eBible has already built. I'm sure there are good reasons. I'm just curious as to what they are.

4. This sort of project raises some incredibly interesting questions about the intersection of church and business.

Consider this: Suppose YouVersion has 100,000 users within a year or so. That's not just a cool service. That's a pretty valuable asset.

Of course, churches have owned assets for years in the way of real estate. But if a church owns real estate, it doesn't necessarily have to do anything for that asset to appreciate. Not so with a web property. Software upgrades, maintenance, etc. are all labor intensive--they require expenditure of financial and human resources.

But this is a service--a real ministry. Nothing wrong with devoting time and money to development and upkeep. A huge percentage of the user base will likely not give anything back to Life Church.

Unless it sells.

Of course, I have no idea whether or not Life Church would ever have any desire to sell YouVersion if it exploded and had massive traffic. Knowing their strong disposition toward giving stuff away, I would be surprised if they did.

But suppose it did sell (or suppose it was monetized through ads or sponsorships). Shareholders wouldn't benefit because there are none. But stakeholders would. Additional staff could be added. New facilities could be built. New web properties could be developed. Heck, it could fund Life Church Labs--a division of the church staff devoted to building new web properties. (I like the sound of Life Church Labs, by the way. That's catchy.)

Here's my takewaway: This feels like a business embedded in a church. Even if that's a million miles from the intentions of Life Church, it's a VERY short putt for other churches to get there.

The implications range from 'that just feels weird' to 'will the IRS be okay with that?'

Am I being overly sensitive? Am I out to lunch? I have mixed feelings--great idea; scary idea. Can anybody help me see this more clearly?

Terrible Customer Service: A Tale of Woe from Vacation Bible School

Took my 5 year old Matthew to Vacation Bible School this morning at a church here in Oklahoma City.

This was his second VBS at the church. Last year we had a little hiccup since his pre-registration had somehow been lost. No biggie. Just re-registered him, and all was well.

When we walked in, I searched the classes for his name and found zero matches. Hmm . . . Maybe the babysitter had not pre-registered him . . . Ran into her in the hall a minute later. Nope. She pre-registered him along with her two kids, but somehow the pre-registration had been lost again.

Hey, no big deal. I'll wade through all the people, fill out another card, and the world will be right.

However . . .

When I turned in Matthew's card, the lady at the registration desk told me there was no room for him. His age group was full and there was nothing she could do.

End of story.

Go home.

See you next year.

Really?? Just . . . sorry? Can't do anything for you? Next please? Really????

Now, the good news is that Matthew was fine. No big deal to him. He had been to two VBSs the last two weeks; so he was probably already at his limit.

But this experience REALLY got me thinking about 'customer service' in the church.

A few observations:

The Good News . . .

1. The lady that 'helped' me was really friendly. Like genuinely friendly. Not fake friendly. I'm sure she's a wonderful person. She was a good pick to be at the registration table at least from an attitude standpoint.

2. Can't think of anything else, but (1) really was very true.

The Bad News . . .

1. The church was unprepared for walk-up registrations. This is going to happen from time to time. You can't bat 1.000. Not even close. Getting overwhelmed will (hopefully!) happen at times. That's excusable and should probably be celebrated even.

But not having a backup plan? That's a bad thing.

2. She offered no alternative other than an apology. No room at the inn? No possible way to accommodate us? Then keep the registration card and mail Matthew a gift certificate to Toys'R'Us or Chic-Fil-A as a concrete way of saying 'We goofed!'

3. She viewed the situation through her eyes, not mine. She explained that there was no room 'because of the construction.' 'THE construction.' What construction? I don't know anything about any construction. I'm a visitor. I've been in your church once before today.

If I can be a bit picky . . . She said this in a way that said, 'The construction thing gets me off the hook. It's not my fault.'

But here's the thing . . . I don't care about construction. I care that my 5 year old was looking forward to going to your VBS, and now he's not being allowed to. I'm sure this an inconvenience to you to have to tell people this bad news, but I can assure you it's more of an inconvenience to us.

What I wish she had said is something like, 'I know this is probably a disappointment and it's definitely an inconvenience. We simply didn't plan well. This is totally our fault. But here's the deal: We're going to make Matthew glad this happened.'

I don't really care what that solution looks like. Doesn't even have to cost the church money. But help us understand that YOU understand that problems arose that you care about fixing.

To her defense, it's a very special person who can disregard the pain that's being experienced personally over a snafu and pay attention to the person on the other side of the table, but that's precisely the kind of person the church should have sitting in that chair.

4. VBS tends to be a high visitor, high unchurched participation event. Turns out I was in fact a visitor. Given that I was wearing a U2 concert tshirt, jeans, and flip flops, I probably didn't look like the most churched human being in the world. So the likelihood that you're potentially hacking off a visitor and/or an unchurched person is really, really high.

Word of advice: Handle with care. Lots of it. She didn't. She wasn't rude. She was very friendly. She just wasn't interested in making my problem her problem. But that's precisely what good customer service does.

So what might they have done differently?

Couple of thoughts:

1. Have a staff person at the registration table--or at least have someone who can and will fix problems when problems arise. It would have thrilled my soul if someone had stepped in to say, 'I'm Winston Wolfe. I solve problems.'

2. Remind EVERYONE that VBS is a high-visitor, high-unchurched kind of event. Then assume that everyone you don't recognize is both.

3. Make sure there is a reporting system for problems so that if Winston Wolfe isn't within 30 minutes away (he'll be there in 10), there's a way to fix the problem later.

I'm not upset by the situation. Believe me, I've been personally and solely responsible for much, much worse. But a little bit of planning and foresight would have made this a complete non-issue. I wish that had been the case! :)

Why the New iPod Will Fail

Found this on Digg. It's a forum going back to late 2001 when Apple announced the release of the original 5GB iPod.

A few great comments:

"All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field™ is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."

"It is far from revolutionary. I for one am disappointed and think that apple is making a mistake by trying to get into this market."

"Without a future. This Christmas you will see mp3 players be commoditized. Meaning that the players from Korea will be way less expensive tha iPod. The real money is in DRM and distribution (ala Real Musicnet). If Apple were smart they would be focusing on high gross revenue from services rather than a playback device."

"are they going to make it accessible to PC along with Itunes 2 ?
This would be a sweet revenge from apple:
PC people bying apple products ......
Then it would be a Breakthrough in the digital era.....
I hope so ...."

The interesting thing about the iPod (looking back) is that it wasn't the first on the scene for MP3 players. But it was the first device that made 'normal' people want to get in on the act.

That's the trick in technology, isn't it? Not just making technology accessible to the masses, but making the masses want to be a part.

Subscribe to Wired Parish. You'll feel better about yourself.

Internship Opportunities

We are currently accepting resumes for paid summer internships at Wired Parish. We are particularly looking for people in the following areas:

* Web Marketing (SEO/PPC/Blogging/etc.)
* Audio Production
* Project Management

Just so you know, you have to line up with all three of the Wired Parish Rules: Show Initiative, Demonstrate Creative Problem Solving, and Be Fun.

If you are interested and if you are going to be in the Oklahoma City area for the summer, please email your resume to The Jay.

Getting the Word Out: An Offer

If you have a blog or website and you want to work some wiredparish.com mojo, we'd love your help.

We're searching for bloggers who would like to post sample wiredparish episodes on their sidebars or in a blog post.

You pick a host you'd like to feature on your site, we give you a link and a graphic (and pick up the bandwidth bill), and you look like a hero as well as a person with refined theological sensibilities. :)

If you'd like to get on that train, send me an email, and we'll make it happen. There may even be a free month or two of wiredparish.com in it for you . . .

why charge?

i've gotten a couple of emails over the last month or so along the lines of 'why do you charge for wiredparish.com? shouldn't this just be free?'

actually, i expected more than this; so maybe our reasons are generally intuitive to people. but it's probably worth laying out the reasons since i take them to be compelling.

1. your subscription supports our hosts' ministries. at the end of the day, we want our hosts' ministries to thrive. we believe in them and want to support their work for the kingdom of god. a large, large percentage of our revenue is dedicated to supporting our hosts. and we like that!

2. we don't want to be captive to an ad revenue model. if you make money on advertising, you're somewhat at the mercy of advertisers in terms of the messages you're sending. if company x want to advertise with us, but we're not really fired up about what company x does or stands for, we have a tough choice to make.

it's much simpler for us ethically to generate revenue from subscriptions than have to constantly evaluate if the messages of our advertisers is consistent with our views. that's not to say that we won't advertise something we really believe in, but we want that to be a choice, not something we're constrained to do because of our revenue model.

3. our profits support non-profit ministries. i haven't said this before because we weren't ready to say who we were supporting. we have 3 or 4 ministries that we're deciding between now, and i'll let you know when we've decided who to support. but the bottom line is that we are serious about supporting non-profit ministries. it's the right thing to do.

4. this is REALLY good stuff. can i say that? we're very grateful that the production and content quality of our 'casts are as good as they are. our 'casts are NOT recycled versions of last sunday's sermon (with the sounds of a baby crying the sanctuary) or last week's radio broadcast.

there's absolutely nothing wrong with many of the free 'casts out there, but we're doing something different. we're delivering (at the moment) nearly 20 extremely well-produced 'casts a week for $1.25/week from some of the most insightful and profound voices around. AND we're supporting our hosts' ministries. AND we're delivering profits to other ministries. AND i'm about to talk myself into raising the price! :)

keep it lively,

jay