This is the kind of scam that is often atempted with yellow-pages ads. Business owners see those all the time. You'll get an official-looking invoice in the mail. Somewhere in a relatively obscured spot it DOES say it is a solicitation and NOT a bill, but you do have to be alert and aware.

Enlarge the photo at left (right-click then select VIEW IMAGE) and you'll see how official this stuff can look. Fortunately, the organization in this example knew enough to ask their tech person what the heck this "bill" was. It probably goes without saying that this "company" is easy to pin down as a fake, especially after a quick internet search.

Knowing who your suppliers are is always helpful. No matter the size of your congregation, make sure that someone knows where your domain name is registered, when you expect to receive billing, and from whom. Many domain registrar companies these days offer an automatic renewal option. I recommend using this kind of service when it is available to you. Forgetting or neglecting to renew a domain name usually results in losing that domain. It happened to my own church after the first volunteer who was in charge of the site neglected to renew. The organization had to settle for a less-than-obvious new domain name, re-do all printed materials that had the lost domain on it, and deal with a variety of other annoying side-effects. Protect your domain names!

Peace,

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Technology Coordinator
MidAmerica Region UUA

While attending workshops on web Content Management Systems this week, among the things I saw emphasized again and again was something called "content strategy." It brought me back to what Laura Massey of the West Plains (MO) UU Fellowship had said about content: "You need to carefully consider the content of the Web site. It’s content, not fancy graphics or special effects, that really makes a successful site."

So what does that mean? A panel of workshop presenters had these thoughts:

Always keep the GOAL in mind. First, look at what you're trying to accomplish, then develop your strategy. What's the difference between a plan and strategy? A plan takes place in a closed system. In other words, event A, then B then C occur, with no allowance for additional factors. Strategy allows for a dynamic system -- one that responds to changes in users' needs or new situations. EXAMPLE: When social networking (like Facebook and Twitter) arrived on the scene, there had to be a way to integrate those into the strategy. Content was now appearing in multiple venues and often needed to be in different forms.