Sony launches the new PS3 Slim

Remember when the first PS3 dropped?  $600 bucks right? Well now Sony has a new and improved PS3 version called by some PS3 Slim… and the price… $300 bucks.

The Sony Playstation 3 was unveiled in August 2009 and in September 2009, became the top selling video game console for that month. (CNET.com)

There isn’t too much difference between the PS3 “Fat” and the PS3 “Slim”.  What you are not able to do with the “Slim” is install another OS on it and play PS2 games.  In addition, it doesn’t have an infrared port and online gaming, media, and commerce options are still lagging in comparison to X-box Live.

However, even though there aren’t any new features for the “Slim”, you get a 120 GB hard drive, smaller/lighter console, and all of the other features that the “Fat” has (Blu-ray, Wi-Fi, usb ports, etc.) but at a lower price.

For a more detailed review of this product check click here.

strategically market your ministry website – web analytics

Having a web site is key in today’s world. If you tell someone you have a ministry or a business, one of the first things they will ask is “Do you have a web site?” If you don’t have a web site, it could be beneficial for you get one. It is possible to have an awesome web site on a small budget. If you would like more information on how to do this, please feel free to contact us here.

For those of you that do have web sites, you may ask yourself, “Is my site effective?” “Are people visiting my site?” There are several things you can do to determine the effectiveness of your site, however in this article, I’m only going to introduce one of the ways – Web Analytics.

According to Wikepedia.com, Web Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. In other words, it is recording the activities of visitors to your web site (and possibly gathering information such as browser type, geographical location, etc.), and using this data to improve the online experience of your visitors and/or communicate more effectively with your online audience. For example, suppose you have a big event coming up, and on your web site, you have a page in which you showcase a featured video. You may discover through Web Analytics that your featured video page is very popular, and therefore it may be a good idea to promote your event using that page.

On a different note, you may discover that although your ministry is located in Florida, a huge number of vistors are from California. This may prompt the initial steps to possibly grow your ministry in that area. Do you see how important and useful Web Analytics can be? (It can also be very encouraging to see an regular increase in visitors to your site!)

There are several tools out there that will allow you to perform analytics on your site, but the one that I like the most and implement for Examples Ministries is Google Analytics. It is very robust, easy to use, understand, and is capable of growing with your ministry – and the best part about it is that it is FREE. For more information about this product, go to http://google.com/analytics.

Again, if you have any questions or need help getting started with this tool, please don’t hesitate to contact us by clicking here. We are more than willing to assist you as you seek ways to make your site have more impact.

the power of text messaging

Did you know that on average, 13 – 17 year olds in the US send 1,742 text messages each month? That’s about 57 text messages per day. I personally know people that will respond to a text faster than an email or a phone call. Voicemail? Forget about it. You might as well consider that a waist of your breath. And sending a letter? What’s a letter?

My point is, the use of TEXT Messaging is growing exponentially and it is phenomenal at communicating with people. In fact, some popular social networking sites allow individuals to send and receive posts via text messaging, which can be pretty handy in promoting that youth event…

Speaking of which, below are some tools that may be useful in maximizing text messaging (taken from http://youthministryideas.net)

Simply TXT: Send individual or group text messages to your students, parents, or volunteers. Simply TXT lets you build groups and send messages whenever you like–you can even schedule them in advance–and the pricing is pretty reasonable.

Poll Everywhere: Create polls and free response questions your students respond to via text message. Results are updated live and can be displayed right on the screen. Pricing is also very reasonable with a free option for audiences under 30 people.

Twitter: Self described, “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” People have used Twitter to send text messages to their whole youth group without paying a dime. Here’s how: Set up a Twitter account for the youth group, tell students about it, and show them how to sign up for “mobile updates.” Every post you make to your Twitter will go as a text message to the entire group!

Hope you find this info useful in getting you started in the right direction to better connecting with your youth.

Thanks to the following…

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/category/mobile

http://youthministryideas.net

http://simplyyouthministry.com/txt.html

http://www.polleverywhere.com

http://twitter.com

Eddie Mason III