You spoke, LISM is changing (2 of 2) Life In Student Ministry

You spoke, LISM is changing (2 of 2)

Topic / Blogging

blog, evaluation

Good listening Yesterday I shared some of the bigger highlights from the LISM reader survey and asked a couple questions about some potential changes coming up, specifically about LIVE YM Talk. I’d love to hear your feedback about it!

Responses to general feedback

There were a couple open-ended questions in the survey where you guys could write anything you wanted. I read through every comment (there were hundreds!) and wanted to responde to a couple themes that popped up.

Thank you for your encouragement!
First of all, thank you so very much for all the encouraging notes! Reading your comments was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in a very long time! I’m blow away by all the support you guys extend to me and LISM. It was an incredible shot in the arm to really strive to serve the body of Christ the best way I can.

“You’re one of us”
When I asked why you subscribe to LISM, a lot of you mentioned it was because you appreciate content from someone who isn’t an “expert,” but is just someone who is serving in a church full-time like you are.

Now that I’m not serving in a church vocationally, I wonder what that means. I’m thinking, “Hmm, if it takes my wife and I two years to find a church that the Lord is leading us toward, what happens to LISM in the meantime? Or what if God leads us to serve in youth ministry outside a local church context?”

“LISM is interactive”
Thank you for that notion, but honestly, I don’t think it’s interactive enough. Obviously MinistryQuestions.com has some interaction built-in and blog posts have a comments section, but I’m trying to explore ways to go beyond that. The subtitle of LISM, “Conversations among youth workers,” is something I’m passionate about pushing forward.

I’m thinking about possibly ending LIVE YM Talk, but I really do value the actual real conversations that take place there among youth workers. I have a couple ideas about potential “LIVE YM Talk 2.0” ideas that would make it less restrictive and more interactive, but we’ll have to see how some of those ideas pan out. I’m not even sure the technology to make it happen is out there.

QUESTION: What are your ideas for how LISM can become more interactive on a broader scale?

“I can’t find stuff on your site!”
Hmm… all the comments about the site’s navigation are helpful, thanks! If you read something a long time ago and want to go back and find it, it can certainly be a bit difficult to find again. Or, if you want to know everything I’ve written on a certain topic, my posts may not be in the category you’re browsing or tagged the way you think it might. That’s great feedback!

I talked with the guy who designed the LISM website. To build a new navigation system is going to be a bit time consuming and costly for both of us right now, we’ll have to put that project on hold, but your feedback was definitely helpful. Thank you!

Most populated LISM reader cities
And just in the way of kicks, the survey software I used tracked your geographic location based on IP address. The most highly populated LISM reader base is in Knoxville and Oklahoma City. Just an interesting tidbit for ya. *shrugs*

The 5 YouthMinistry360 Bible study giveaways

As promised, I am giving away over $200 worth of Bible study lesson plans from YouthMinistry360.com to 5 random people as a thank-you for completing the survey. Five random people will receive one of the following:

Those 5 winners will be contacted via email later today. I’d publish your names here, except I didn’t ask for names in order to keep the survey more anonymous.

Thanks again to everyone who participated! I’m looking forward to a great 2011 here on Life In Student Ministry!

Posted on February 3, 2011