Website... FINALLY!

I finally got the new website up for Cambridge Drive Church.  Constructing a website is an interesting exercise.  I tend to be verbal rather than visual so I would write way too many words and have too few images... which is exactly the opposite of what a website should have.  And then, there is the huge question of what to include in a website.

One of the big questions was whether or not to include a "We Believe" page.  Many/most church pages have them and I have to admit that it is one of the first places I go when I'm looking at a church website.  We did include one but I was hesitant for a bunch of reasons.  Often churches include these statements as a litmus test for members and for staff.    In our Baptist tradition that is a little tricky.  Soul liberty made it difficult to tell someone else what he or she should or should not believe.  Freedom of the Bible militated against someone saying this is what the Bible officially says or does not say.  These two thoughts were the foundation of early Baptist discomfort with creeds.  At the same time, early Baptists did write confessions which were consensus documents that essentially said, these are the areas about which this group of Baptists in this time and place has some consensus.  A few years ago one of our adult studies had the classes write a confession.  My favorite one began, "All confessions of faith must be written in pencil."  That is to say that while there are certainly some pieces that will not change, others will and the confession must be held lightly.  I can't imagine there is much that I could write that every member of the church would agree with 100%.  Indeed, our church board went around a good bit regarding the content of that page.  I'm satisfied with it... but realize it is written in pencil and very well may change at some point.

The second page I visit on church websites is the staff page.  Again I was hesitant to include one and again we did.  I didn't want to communicate the idea that the church is the staff.  We have volunteers who spend more time working on the church property than some of the paid staff and a significant percentage of members who volunteer in a variety of community ministries.   Then there was a real question of who to include even among paid staff and what order to put them on the page.  We have direct church staff - who we included on the page - and we have a nursery school with additional staff - we included only the director.  We ended up putting the staff in alphabetical order mainly because I didn't know how else to order them.  Each staff member wrote their own short bio.  It meant a slightly different voice on each but made it so I didn't have to worry about including something not wanted or leaving something out.

Graphics are tricky.  I wanted a clean style that was easy to follow and caught the viewers eyes.  We ended up with some unhappiness about some of the images.  They are there now but can be easily changed.

We were gifted with a new logo from Bill Kole at Digital Media Associates.  Isn't it wonderful!

FWIW, we used WIX to host our site.  Their software is very easy to use, there are lots of reasonably good templates, and the cost was OK.

Check out the page and let me know what you think... www.cambridgedrivechurch.org

unsolicited advice re: musicians' websites

OK... nobody asked for my opinion but that has never stopped me before.  I'm speaking here as one who books a venue (Cambridge Drive Concerts), not a fan looking at musicians' websites.  Some of the needs are very different so take that into account. 

As a booker, when I go to an artist's website, there are a number of things I look for and I want to be able to find them relatively easily. 

First, I want to be able to hear the artist's music.  It is better yet if I can actually hear their live sound rather than a CD they're selling (which tells me next to nothing about what they sound like live) and even better yet if I can watch a quality video of a live performance. 

Next I want a good, useable bio.  If it includes recommendations or reviews, they are worth more to me if they are related to live performances than to a CD.  And if you have quotes from venues that are similar to mine, even better yet.  Te whole thing doesn't need to be press ready, but if it is, I appreciate that.  One performer sent me a press kit with three different length bios... I loved it.  I didn't end up using any of them verbatim but took pieces from two and put together something that fit our requirements and seemed to reflect the performer's personality.

I want to know where the musician is based.  I hear lots of music on the web, have a feeling the person would be a good match for our venue, make a contact, only to discover they're based in Maine and never travel outside of New England.  You wouldn't believe how many websites don't even give a clue as to where the musician is based.  It would have been so much easier if somewhere the website might have said, "New England based" or "I spend 50% of my time driving cross country and perform everywhere."  Maybe even a "I'm currently putting together a west coast tour for next fall..." 

Last, I want to be able to find a good high rez photo to use for my press materials.  I can't tell you how many artist's websites have zero useable photos for press releases.  Yes, I can send an e-mail and ask for one and wait for it to be sent, but it is soooo much easier when I can just go to the website and download it.  And of course, there are those times when I forget to ask until a day before the press release needs to go out and there just isn't time and I end up using something inadequate that I pulled off the web somewhere.  As likely as not, that photo doesn't get included in the announcements in the media and maybe we lose a few audience members.

Once I've booked an act, I need a few other pieces.  What do you need from me for sound, ie how many microphones, inputs, DI's?  Do you have any food allergies or requirements?  We like to feed folk.  Any pet allergies if we're putting you up?  Where are you coming from and going to?  That helps with our plans.  Send me a CD a few months before your date.  It isn't just for me (although I've gotten a few of my favorite CD's from performers).  I'll play it at shows as people arrive and during intermission and inform the audience... "You're listening to John Doe who is performing here next month."  The high rez photo becomes more important here.  I need one, one way or another and I have to have it more than a month out as press releases go out before the 1st of the prior month.  And most important, give me your cell phone number and get mine as soon as we solidify a date.  It isn't likely we'll need to call one another, but if you're stuck on the 101 outside of Ventura because of a mud slide an hour before our scheduled soundcheck, I need to know.

One more piece of advice.  I love to get e-mails from performers looking for someplace to play and have connected with some wonderful folk that way.  More often than not though,  the sender has done no research and they are not the right artist for us.  I get e-mails from hip hop artists, alternative rock bands, you name it... and it is a waste of time and bandwidth.   Find out who we are and what we do before you make a contact.  FWIW, I usually book about 6 months out and do the fall in a block and then the winter/spring in a block.  We present once a month on the first Friday.

One of these days I'll give some more unsolicited advice about performing.