John Cade

I had an interesting conversation today about the online strategy for the student ministry at LifeWay. Though it was merely the first of many conversations to come about developing this strategy, we established something extremely important: We have to be more social.

It doesn’t seem groundbreaking to say this in 2008, but as with any company the size of LifeWay (2000+ employees), things don’t/can’t move as fast as they do in smaller firms. Not to mention, my position has been vacant for quite some time now, so the content of the site has been managed by a few different people over the last several months. They have done an excellent job, but this situation likely caused a disconnect between LifeWay and the end user. Which brings up yet another point that we discussed: We have to build relationships.

Being social and building relationships are not the same thing; one is a result of the other. Anyone can attend a gathering, talk to people, get a few business cards and go home. It’s what they do with the information they have received after the gathering that matters. By creating an online presence that allows people to be on the same level as us, we are being social. It’s the follow-up interaction that builds relationships.

LifeWay is the largest producer of Christian media in the world. Using social media outlets and producing new media will garner a lot of attention from our audience (many areas of LifeWay are already doing this). I hope for the student ministry specifically that it will be a leap forward in creating a more comfortable arena for our potential customers to start a conversation with us - to ask questions, and say “Hey, John - We don’t feel like you are accomplishing X - can you take care of this?”. This brings up one of the most important challenges regarding our position in the marketplace that we discussed today: People think of the corporation, not the people inside of the corporation.

How does a company our size make the potential customer feel like they are face-to-face with us? How do we overcome any preconceived notions they have about dealing with a company that is so big? How do we convey that we are a ministry-based-business, not just another company trying to make a buck off of them?

These questions can only be answered through a process of trial and error - at least in relationship to our online presence. There is no right answer to overcoming relational obstacles like this. However, with intelligent risk taking and the use of new media, we can attempt to break any barriers that currently exist.

And that, my friends, is the essence of what I have walked in to as one of the newest employees of LifeWay. I will attempt to transform the online presence of the student ministry into something that lets our customers know this:

We want to know you; We want you to know us.

Where do we start?

I’m John. If you’re on the StudentZIP mailing list, you’ll be receiving newsletters from me weekly. I’ll be responsible for providing student leaders with the tools and information they need through our student site on LifeWay.com. If there’s anything I can do for you, or if you have suggestions about what online resources would benefit you the most, please let me know. You can reach me my emailing john.cade@lifeway.com. I promise, I will respond to every email I receive as fast as I can. Don’t hesitate, please. I’d love to hear from you.

You’ll have to forgive me - I broke my blog at some point over the last two weeks while trying to updgrade Wordpress, and I left my readers with the dreaded “php errors” for viewing.  Maybe after reading the list of what has been going on over the past few weeks, you’ll understand why I neglected to fix it.

• I moved into my new place in Green Hills two weeks ago.  Other than listening to extremely loud traffic while in bed at night (clarification:  the traffic is normal.  the windows are super thin), I absolutely love the place.  The lady who owns the house, and lives downstairs, is a great neighbor.  Thank God for that.  Also, it only takes me 10 minutes to get downtown during rush hour.  Couldn’t have selected a better location.
• During GMA Week, I attended a preview of the Music Builds Tour with Switchfoot at the Wildhorse Saloon.  For anyone who has never been to the Wildhorse, Jon Foreman said it best:  “This is a nice country bar.  That’s what this is.”   As always, Switchfoot was incredible.  I never miss an opportunity to see them live, and neither should you.
• Meredith and I also attended the Dove Awards at the Grand Ole Opry.  It was my first time in the Grand Ole Opry House, and it was definitely a unique experience.  Sitting through a live taping of that magnitude is a very surreal experience.  Even though I was actually present at the awards show, it felt as if I was watching it all through a monitor.  Everything ran like clockwork.  I was able to see Switchfoot play for the second time in one week.  They played “This is Home” which is going to be featured on the Prince Caspian soundtrack.   Do yourself a favor, and listen to it on their myspace page.
• May 1 and 2 were my first two days as an employee of LifeWay (actually, it was just orientation).  My official title is Internet Producer, and I will be working in Digital Media Publishing.  I was able to meet a lot of great people and get familiar with the 22 acres or so of land that the campus sits on.  Second only to the Tennessee state government, LifeWay is the largest property owner in downtown Nashville.  If you need any advice on surviving the hiring process with a large organization, feel free to shoot me a message.  After three entire months of conversations with one, I know a thing or two.
• Meredith and I will be married in exactly two weeks.  I can’t believe how close it is!

Please excuse the missing images and sound files throughout my older posts.  I’ll work on getting those back up withing the next few days.