Blog Resources for First Impressions
As TTUMC leaders consider starting blogs, I’m pointing out sources of inspiration. Here are some First Impressions blogs.
“Guru” Blogs
Written by experts.
- Because People Matter
Who: Mark Waltz, a pastor at Granger Community Church. The guy who wrote the book on First Impressions.
Sample posts: - Church Relevance
Who: Kent Shaffer, a designer and marketer. This blog has a section on First Impressions.
Sample posts: - Church Marketing Sucks
Who: Brad Abare and Kevin D. Hendricks. This blog has a section on First Impressions.
Sample Posts:
Ministry Blogs
Written by people doing First Impressions.
- First Impressions…because people matter to God
Who: Bill Reichart, Pastor of “Doing Life Together” at Big Creek Church in North Atlanta. This is the First Impressions blog for Big Creek Church. See also: Provocative Church.
Sample Posts: Turkeys need not apply.
Hey, thanks for the shout out! Question, how is the process going in developing and your ongoing training of your First Impressions team?
Comment by Bill Reichart — May 9, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
We’ve made a huge improvement in how consistently welcoming we are. The ushers and the greeters have received some training. We’ve improved our signage (including clearly labeling the nursery and kids areas). We’ve started using full color in our bulletins, and we’ve made them less cluttered and with friendlier wording. We now have regular “Guest Gatherings” for newcomers and promote them every week. We’ve moved Coffee Connection from a constricted walkway to an area with indoor seating. We consistently follow up with letters for first time guests that include a gift card. We’ve spruced up the ladies bathroom and cleaned the walls of our lobby. We feel we’ve moved in the right direction, but we aren’t satisfied. In terms of making sure we greet guests, we feel we’ve had success. But it feels as though there is a lot more room to ramp up the “WOW” factor in everything we do (I’m sure you know what I mean). The man in charge of First Impressions, Don Haas, is about to delegate the oversight of ushers and greeters to another person so that he can concentrate more on his many other areas such as Coffee Connection.
I’ll let Don know that you’ve commented here so he can join the conversation.
How is First Impressions going with you?
Comment by Ed Jordan — May 10, 2007 @ 1:14 am
Our first impression team is going well, we have a clearly defined focus, team leaders in all facets of our team, greeters, info desk, parking lot and cafe.
I think our biggest challenge right now is ongoing training, since our FI team constantly has a influx of new people joining it all the time.
Comment by Bill Reichart — May 11, 2007 @ 8:42 pm