Neil -- Interview...
Media kit material... potential questions...
Question: Neil, I visited your site, IndyChristian.com and see that you've been using the internet since 1999 to help "Connect Driven Christians in the Racing Capital of the World". What's up with that? And how's it going?
- Yeah we're in the 1% of all website which have been around that long. I started it to simply try to help people find and link to great Bible-believing churches' & ministries' websites. As I turns out, I was the primary beneficiary -- I got to know lots of great ministries as a result. And hopefully many of them have benefitted by learning more about other ministries in town.
"Accelerating Driven Christians in the Racing Capital of the World"
Question: It appears you re-formatted it as a 'blog' in 2003... Why?
- Well the first stage of most internet sites was to simply put a 'brochure' out online -- ie, put their best foot forward with the basic static information about who they are and what they wanted you to know about them. And HOPE that you would stay at their site... which is a lot like asking you to read a brochure thoroughly and re-read it often. On the other hand, a blog -- short for 'web log' -- is more of a conversational site, with fresh new posts daily... and where people can 'comment' about a particular article at the site. So we could see the future of the internet would be about low-cost, compelling content that would engage people at the grassroots level. Today, we refer to this type of internet site as being part of 'new media'.
Question: What do you mean when you say 'New Media'?
- Most people would simply say 'ONLINE', contrasting it with 'mainstream media'... newspapers, books, radio, and television (as we've know it). But today, just being online isn't enough. And just being more ACTIVE online isn't enough. People are getting their information in smaller & smaller identifiable chunks. We call some of these chunks... 'gadgets'.
Questions: Gadgets like iPods & iPhones?
- No, not that kind of gadgets. New Media 'gadgets' are small components of a webpage... say a gadget in our page at IndyChristian.com that looks & acts like a little tv set.
[show the image of IndyChristian.com... below... the 'TV' gadget is bottom-right.]
Question: Oh, so I'm guessing that led to this newest innovation... "Community TV"???
- Exactly. It takes a ton of money to put up a real TV tower and broadcast real TV programming to all our homes, right? But now, internet users can learn to produce LOW-COST content and potentially deliver to each of our homes via the net... from any neighborhood, if they want to. And that's exactly what some of our 'Indy Christian Geeks' have done... at the Unleavened Bread Cafe in the heart of Indy's inner city. We've launched our first 'neighborhood program' there and called it "Ask Anything Saturday TV".... to get to know each other, and learn from each other. And cross some of the boundaries that the devil has used to divide us for so many years.
Question: Wow. And this little tv-window in a webpage can accomplish all that?
- If we can learn from each other at the speed of Light... we can learn to work together. And this great new tool that God has given us in this day & time, can help effectively revolutionize the way we 'do church'.... now neighborhood by neighborhood. Rebuild our sense of 'community'. After all, when Jesus told us to 'love our neighbors as ourselves'... he really MIGHT have meant... 'neighbor'. And if 'Community TV' can help us connect and do that in Indy, every other city in the Blews.TV Network can do it too... and soon we'll have hundreds of city-channels working together for the cause of Christ.
Question: Ok, so how could any of our viewers today, see this 'Community TV' in action?
- Surf to IndyChristian.TV... (or IndyChristian.com -- it's the same website). Click the little TV on and enjoy. And you can change programs in a click or two. Watch 'em all. And we're adding content all the time. So have fun and consider getting involved.
Question: And since you say it's all about 'community', how could they get involved?
- The best way is to come down to the Unleavened Bread Cafe (30th x Central) some Saturday morning and watch productions going on. It's a ball. And sign up to help in some way. Come up with ideas, or learn to run a video-camera. But even without leaving the comfort of their home, people could send us links to their favorite INDIANAPOLIS video-clips to possibly add to our playlist. Or they could learn to add our little tv 'gadget' to their Facebook or MySpace page. Or churches could add our gadget to their websites.
Question: Yeah, what a great way to start working together that'd be. Thanks for being with us, Neil, and we wish you the best in this new-media venture to change lives & communities.
Roll credits & contact info...
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