So what about the secular media?

With the uproar around the middle east proposals, you can be sure there will be some national media attention. The election of the Moderator also evokes some attention.

Recognize that most newspapers are on a 24 hour news cycle with a deadline around midnight. Only the most important news will hold the presses (baseball scores, national disasters). The United Church of Canada is neither a national disaster nor making earth-shattering decisions. Don't expect to see much on the front page.

With GC being in BC and decisions not being made after 5:00 PM PDT or 8:00 PM EDT, you can expect (maybe) to see an important story on the front page of the National Post, Globe & Mail and Toronto Star the following morning. But compare it with GC news for accuracy. The national newspapers have midnight EDT deadlines. If a story doesn't make it, it will wait for 24 hours and be printed the following day.

TV is much more immediate, but don't look for much on The National. Timing, again, unless it is an important, breaking story like GC geting caught in a forest fire.

Thanks DKS -- great to have your experience / wisdom here.

Thanks DKS. And as you might expect, the web is playing a bigger role than ever in getting the news out about GC40. Much (maybe all?) of the Council will be available via live streaming video. There will also be several people using Twitter to offer news as it happens from the floor of General Council. Facebook and Flickr will also offer portals for the GC experience.

By the way, a discussion thread will be started on WonderCafe in the General Council 40 forum for each GC news story - hopefully as they are posted.

As somebody who isn't going to GC, I am really looking forward to seeing how the spread of news and information from GC works out with all the new technology and gadgets we have!

You can find out more about how to follow GC news on-line here:

http://gc40.united-church.ca/site/follow

Here's the official Twitter stream for General Council 40:

http://twitter.com/uccgc40

Great. (rolls eyes). Once again the church has forgotten 60% of the United Church that is on dialup. I'm on vacation and on dialup at 42.5Kbps. This web site, for example, takes forever (on the order of minutes) to load. It's not optimized for dialup.

Twitter? Um...hit with a DDOS attack today.

Flickr? Again, useless for those of us on dialup.

Streaming video? Again, useless on dialup.

Facebook? Not since my daughter was stalked by a criminal on Facebook, last year.

We have been blinded by the technology and forgotten the content. This is about getting accurate information out to the church. It's not even noticed by the rest of the world. The GC experience is unique and can not be shared through an online experince. I have been on bpoth sides; multiple times at GC as a commissioner and in providing information. We came close, especially in 1988, but it took huge amounts of time and effort. BTW, I hope you have a honkin' big pipe to the server. Every GC the church has underestimated demand for bandwidth, causing no end of problems.

BTW, I don't want web content. I want information. Text. Plain ASCII text. It's efficient and says exactly the same thing, without all the fluff.

Well... one could use a text based brower - say, Lynx.

Took me less than a minute to log on to wondercafe, find this thread, and upload this post. (54k modem, clean line)

Or you could go to http://gc40.united-church.ca/site/subscribe and subscribe to an RSS feed or an email update.

Lots of options, DKS. At least three of which are quite fast on dial-up. Then there are the "traditional" ways of getting the info - waiting until it comes out on dead trees.

I remember watching the Anglican General Synode as it debated celebrating same-sex unions - streamed live. While it wasn't the same as being there - the General Synode Experience, it made a huge difference seeing the faces, and hearing the voices of the people speaking. I was as knowledgeable about what happened on the floor as someone who had attended. Quite different from my experience going home as a Commissioner from General Council in 1988, where people had heard about our vote on MMHS, but hadn't heard any of the debate or discussion.

It also strikes me as kind of early to suggest that the tech is overshadowing the content... since we won't actually see any content until the meeting starts.

There is nothing wrong with using a variety of media to get the message out - some which will be useful to people on dial-up, some of which will be useful to people on DSL, some of which will be useful to people who don't want to turn on a computer.

Christ's peace - r

Thanks DKS and RichardBott,

I wasn't suggesting that these on-line methods replace the traditional reporting. I think they can compliment it. There will still be the newsroom you describe so well DKS.

BTW, Twitter is back up. It's pretty minimal as far as tech requirements. I bet you could get it on your set up.

Peace,

Aaron

Sorry, Richard. You don't get it. Why should I have to change a damned thing? That's not user friendly. It should not matter what browser I use; Chrome, IE8, whatever. Curiously, this site and the GC40 web site load continue to extremely slowly, no matter what browser I use (IE8, Firefox or Chrome).

There is no option for text news on the feedburner feed, BTW. It simply says that I will be informed when the GC40 web site is updated. Not good.

As for your reference to 1988, you were not a part of Ecunet, obviously. David Lochhead and his group were doing an incredible job of reporting the flavour of GC, including the discussion, All in plain text and at 2400 baud. We had the best information possible. In fact, I put an answering machine on our second phone line and read the texts of that material into a 3 minute voice tape answering machine. People would call the church and hear it. The phone rang continuiously for 12 hours a day.

We capped it by having the full and complete text of the MMHS resolution in the pews of every church in the presbytery the Sunday following and even before the commissioners arrived home. No one was talking about speculation or runour. It was the accurate information in a timely manner. That is what is about, not trying to emulate an experience that can't be duplicated.

Hi, DKS -

You're right. People shouldn't have to use anything more than the basic tools at hand to access the information.

I think, in '88, I was the only UCCr in my home town who was accessing the net on a regular basis, and definitely the only person who was on Ecunet. We were stuck using that wonderful - but not at all close to verbatum - technology of long-distance telephone, to get information back to folks in the congregation. I'm sure you would have heard it long before me, but I don't remember anyone complaining that some people were able to access better information because they had a technological advantage that most other people in the church didn't.

Let's take a look at what is offered on the subscription page:

When I followed the "All: Subscribe by E-mail" link (because I, too, prefer to get my information in plain text - makes it quicker for me to skim), it set up a feed to my email account where I am told I will get "all news stories, video stories, daily summaries, and site update information delivered to your inbox."

It's more than site update info - its the stories and summaries themselves. Isn't that what you're suggesting is missing?

However, for those people in the church for whom Web 2.0 is their 'mode' - like those who are used to getting their news updates on Twitter, those who watch 'television' as streamed video on YouTube, those who connect with their friends across the country using Facebook - the tech folks at General Council have found ways of using these tools to share what's going on.

It's not an attempt to "duplicate the experience". It's an attempt to pass on the information in the ways that that audience is used to hearing and seeing it.

What's the problem with extending what we've done in the past, for those who are able to access it? Isn't that exactly what David L. and his team did in '88?

Christ's peace - r

O SNAP!

No, Richard, we arer NOT "extending the experience". We are bastardizing it with a huge amount of unnecessary and inappropiate frippery.

Again, I AM ON A DIALUP CONNECTION AT THE COTTAGE. ( at this moment I am at home on DSL and doing laundry).  DIALUP IS SLOW. IT CANNOT HANDLE ANYTHING MORE THAN PLAIN TEXT. YET THAT IS NOT AN OPTION. WHY NOT?????

YES! I AM SHOUTING OUT OF FRUSTRATION!!!

FACT. 40% of United Church congregations and clergy ARE ON DIALUP!!! (sources from GCO and CRTC used in Toronto Conference Restructuring Communication Study last spring)

FACT. THE CHURCH IS THE PRIMARY AUDIENCE FOR GC INFO!!!

FACT. The email alerts use HTML and refer to the GC40 Web page.

THIS WILL NOT WORK ON A DIALUP CONNECTION, ESPECIALLY IF THE WEB SITE IS HIT HARD, AS IT HAS BEEN AT EVERY PAST GC!!! DIALUP REQUESTS, BECAUSE OF THEIR NATURE, HAVE A LOWER PRIORITY THAN DSL.

FACT. HTML is 10x the size of a plain text message. Plain DOS text is efficient, elegant and absolutely virus proof. HTML is not. HTML slows down any download on a dialup connection.

I predict that unless appropiate bandwidth (ready and standby) is available, there will be a serious problem with access to the GC40 web page at some point in the next week.

I predict that people on dialup will have difficulty obtaining the information they are looking for.

This is NOT the way to practice incusivity and hospitality. Why do we not learn from our previous experiences?

I hear DKS' pain, but including the "frippery" is part of practicing inclusiveness and hospitality. I get much of my news from websites, newsfeeds, etc. so if you want me to know what is happening and want me to get that from a UCC perspective instead of some media outlet's interpretation, you need to get your info out that way. Ditto social networking, which I mostly avoid save for forums like WC that are fairly specific but which are a major means of communication for a growing number of people. The solution, then, is not to abandon the "frippery", but to acknowledge that there are those who cannot (i.e. those with low-bandwidth connections) or do not use it. Text-based emails of GC stories that do not rely on links to a website for their content would be one way. A low-graphics, high-text website or feed would be another. I don't know how or if the UCC is supporting these folks, but if they are not providing the info in a format usable by people like DKS, then he is right to be upset.

Mendalla

Ok, DKS, I bow to your superior frustration.

The church has forgotten you, and all those people who must use dial-up.

GC40 is wrong to use a variety of tools - from paper to DSL - to share the information with a varity of audiences, especially having forgotten to use plain text as an option. (Which I'm quite surprised that feedburner doesn't automatically do.)

Only those of us in the "elete" will be the ones who benefit.

Christ's peace - r

 Richard, there is nothing wrong with using a variety of tools.

THERE IS A HUGE THING WRONG WITH INTENTIONALLY 

CREATING A DIGITAL DIVIDE.

We have done so, in the interests of useless "gee whiz" coolness. That is morally and ethically wrong.  I can not believe we have forgotten these lessons. 

 A caution. There is a 12-18 hour delay in the news feed using Feedburner. Material postedat 11:22 AM PDT yesterday (Aug. 7) on the web page was sent to me by Feedburner at 6:18 AM today (Aug.8).  So much for timeliness.  Google Alerts might be more effective. 

Hi DKS,

I understand what you are saying and I always think there are ways to improve the communication efforts of the church. But I don't think it's fair to say that the church is intentionally creating a digital divide here.

It's true video and sites with more complex coding are becoming a bigger part of how people use the web, but United Church websites are still relatively simple and not dependent on flash or video for example. And compared to a great number of other sites on the web they hardly offer any "useless 'gee whiz' coolness". 

Stats Canada found that 88% of Canadians who accessed the Internet in 2007 used broadband connections, including 7 out of 10 rural households. I would say it's likely these broadband rates have increased in the past year and a half. You can find the report here: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/080612/dq080612b-eng.htm.

Even with this high degree of broadband Internet access, I would agree with you that it would be wrong if the United Church made this the only way it offers information about the proceedings of General Council 40. Not everybody uses the Internet to get their information. However, this use of web-based communications is an addition to all the traditional ways United Church news has been available in the past. There will still be press releases, reports in Infopac and the Observer, etc. All the helpful information you offered in your first two posts is still true. It's just that there are now new ways to get this news out which may be more accessible to a variety of audiences.

You may be feeling a digital divide at your cottage, but I think if you are able to participate to this degree on WonderCafe, then you should have even less trouble accessing the UCC or GC40 sites.

 I strongly beg to differ. Your use of the general statistic is fallacious in the matter of broadand penetation. I have been involved in the creation of United Church computer mediated community for over twenty years. I was co-author of the Toronto Conference Communications Strategy as TC restructured this year and struggled with complex communication issues. The arguing of the general in the case of the specific leads to an erroneous conclusion. There is better data available. 

You also betray an urban arrogance and bias with respect to digital access. As I said, the best evidence we could find from both the GCO (our own data) and the CRTC was that about 40% of United Church congregations are using dialup and have no access to broadband. This is supported by my own study of the former Grey Presbytery, as well as anecdotal information from non-urban presbyteries in Toronto Conference, where rual broadband initiatives have stalled because the technology provider has gone into receivership. This has left the county holding the bag. Bell and Rogers have also slowed down their urban improvement plans. 

In addition, the prohibitive cost of rural broadband has a significant chilling effect on upgrading rural access. 3G sticks, for example, are expensive, with data plans putting them out of reach (even if it is available). Cellular signals are also marginal in rural areas. many rue the day analog CDMA was shut down, as the higher power receivers did make cell phone service available. No longer in some rural areas. Satellite broadband starts at $650 for installation and costs $100/mo.  

The United Church inadvertently (intentionally?) and arrogantly created a digital divide with respect to GC40. That is morally and ethically wrong. The United Church and those making those decisions (some of those folks have been doing digital community almost as long as I have) should have known bettter. There are a lot of us out here in the pews who know a few things about digital access, digital community and the church. But no one raised the flag. No one asked.

It's not about twitter or digital video or blogging or even Wondercafe. GC is about getting accurate information out to the church in a timely manner.

The How is any way it works. And the church forgot the most important digital way. Plain text.

If you want to see how it should work, see www.wfn.org . The United Church was a founder of WFN and is a part of the advisory board (is Juliet Huntly still at 3250?) . But I see that none of our press releases about GC40 have been sent to WFN. I wonder why? 

O SNAP! BURN!

My tongue is planted firmly in my cheek, some folk are never happy. Leave the cottage and go back to the city and get some decent hook-up.. Some of us are not fortunate enough to spend the summer at the cottage and so we have to contend with high - speed. ( wiping my tears away for you. DKS.)

*The Squirrel is now convinced that crazyheart doesn't know what "hook up" means in modern slang.

 I do go back home. I have laundry to do. It's only 30 minutes away. But the cottage comes with a preaching job at a small United Church by the beach on Lake Huron on Sunday. The phone is a rotary dial. Fortunately it has a jack. Otherwise I'd have to create a connection with clips. 

And it's raining, now. 

 I have teenagers. I know what "hook up" means. 

 After spending a rainy afternoon on line, I have found that Google Chrome does a passable job at reading web sites on dialup. Much better than Firefox or MSIE. 

 And we're off. The first stories are posted on the GGC40 web site. Nothing from Feedburner. 

Hi, DKS -

Yep - I understand that they know that, and are working on it.

Christ's peace - r

For those on dial-up, you may want to try using the "RSS" subscription option instead of e-mail.  This should provide a lighter-weight option, as the RSS is a simpler feed with less to download than the full HTML e-mail.  You can get passable free RSS-reading applications online - Thunderbird and SharpReader are two I use personally with good success.  You still won't get the full information (we're still looking into getting FeedBurner to allow this), but you can a least get the intros and headlines in a lighter form.

As for the weight on the pages... if you are using Firefox as a browser and have serious concerns about the weight of the images, etc. on the pages (which we have made efforts to minimize), you can always disable CSS and images from loading entirely.  Firefox has built-in tools for this or you can get the Web Developer Toolbar that makes turning on and off these items every easy.  All UCC GCO websites are designed to be accessible with or without all the "bells and whistles" referenced above, including no images, CSS (used for page layout), or Flash.

Thanks all for your ongoing feedback, and rest assured we hear your concerns and are looking into possible ways to rectify some of them.  Please understand also that we are committed to serving our vast audience through the tools they use to access information on a daily basis.

 Bill, Can I suggest a much more simple alternative? Send plain text feeds to Worldwide Faith news (www.wfn.org). It's free. The United Church was a founding partner of WFN,  Juliet Huntley and Mary Frances Denis are on the Advisory Committee and there is no need to download ANOTHER piece of software. WFN was designed for text downloading to third world readers on dialup. It is intended to help bridge the Digital Divide. Google Chrome, without Adobe Flash plug-in loaded, is a reasonable way to load the GC40 web site.  

The Feedburner e-mail arrived (according to the time stamp) at 6:30 this morning, with the stories posted last night. 

 Still no plain text feed... 

The Live Feed is awesome.

Useless on dialup.