Set up as a network to encourage and grow younger Christian leaders, the podcasts were part of a communication strategy trying to link experienced leaders with those just starting out on the road to Christian leadership.

The quality of the podcasts were always good and the interviews provided some really useful information, so why are they stopping after almost two years.

David Couchman who presented the podcasts wrote the following on his blog…

In the future, the main way the Slipstream resources will be delivered will be through the e-letter. Users identified email as their preferred way to receive information. This will be more frequent, shorter, and will not have a regular schedule, but will be sent out when there is something specific to say – a new resource, an upcoming event etc.

Read the full post here

A few thoughts

1. We can often get caught up in schedules and loose the plot of what we are trying to do. If you plan to release something once a month you have to produce something once a month, regardless of whether you have good quality content or not. I don’t think this was a problem for Slipstream, they had lots of good stories – including interviews that I recorded with Andrew Hamilton and Eric Bryant that never made the cut.
2. You have to use appropriate media for what you are trying to share. It’s far quicker for me to read an e-mail than it is for me to listen to a podcast. Much of what was shared through Slipstream could have been conveyed faster in writing than by listening to the audio.
3. Finally, does the technology limit the audience? I reckon more people can be reached by e-mail than by podcast. I listen to podcasts because I have an iPod and use iTunes on my home computer. If it wasn’t for my attachment to the Mac I probably wouldn’t bother. In other words, a podcast may be convenient for me but not necessarily for everyone. I reckon the e-mail route will give access to a wider audience.

What do you think?

Already it does a great job of attracting crowds of visitors over the winter to skate on its ice rink, but now they’ve launched a pop-up bar sponsored by Bombay Sapphire (a brand of Gin).

Pop-up bars are simply that, bars that pop-up for a moment and then shut down, maybe never to reopen. This one, the Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar, I heard about through Twitter, which is no surprise looking at Somerset House’s website, which makes the most of all the social media it can. Being randomly contacted in this way, but a bar with a locked profile made the thing slightly mysterious, just right for rousing my curiosity. Fortunately there’s lots of supporting materials, pictures on the website, a Facebook group, to add some substance to the initial contact.

So, there’s a new bar in London, the Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar, complete with fantastic views of the Thames and right in the heart of the city. It’ll work wonderfully as word spreads and as long as we get a few warmer evenings. The only challenge to this venue is going to be the lack of a roof and my dislike of Gin. I do hope they serve a decent pint.

Just Cards sells greetings cards, many of which are produced in Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa, with a percentage of the profits being reinvested in these communities as well as giving to your selected charity. Wycliffe is now working in partnership with Just Cards so when you make a purchase from them you can also give 10% of what you spend back to us.

Obviously, the biggest part of the year for buying cards is Christmas, but, they also produce cards for other events. Take a look at their online store and see if there’s something for you.

Of course, if you could encourage your friends to do the same thing that would be really appreciated.

If you’re in the mood for a little bargain hunting you’ll find during your purchase procedure that you can make a donation to charity. This means that 10% of what you pay can be donated to the charity of your choice, obviously that will be Wycliffe UK.

If you’re in a selling mood there’s the option to do exactly the same thing and donate some of your profits to charity too.

Well worth doing as all the little bits help us a lot.

Currently, if you search around, you’ll find that not only do we run a website, but we also have a blog, Twitter feed and some individual people and Wycliffe related groups appear on Facebook.

The question that needs answering at the moment though is, why? What are we looking to achieve with all these communications tools? Are we using the right medium for the messages we are trying to convey? Are we missing something? Where do we go from here?

It would be good to hear from anyone who connects with Wycliffe in any of these ways. Why you use them and what you like about, the blog, Twitter, etc, etc…?

Or to hear about what you think we should be doing and why?

Thanks