BCA electronic newsletter
December 2, 1999

Welcome to the first BCA E-Letter!

Is the printed word dead? Has cyberspace taken over for good? Where's the familiar printed newsletter I loved so well?

Your beloved printed newsletter is being re-engineered (for the better, we techies might say -- at the risk of being tarred and feathered) to become an electronic newsletter. This new method of distributing information via email and the BCA website will hopefully fit into the new "wired" lifestyles that we seem to be living.

But don't fret. The great stuff you've come to expect from the BCA Newsletter is still here. It'll still be your way of catching up with all the goings-on and keeping up with "who works where." And most of all, I hope the new format will encourage more interaction between members. For example, I hope to see you tech-types sharing tips with one another in the Tech Tips sections. And for you wordsmiths, there's a new section just for you -- Word Games. In it, feel free to discuss the whys and why nots of determining publication style and keeping up with new usage rules.

So, dig in -- and most of all, enjoy the new BCA E-Letter!

Sean Taylor
BCA Newsletter Editor

The Quick Look:
1. Top Ten Reasons to Attend RCC 2000
2. Millennial Survey of Member Attitudes, Opinions and Needs by BCA President Mark Wingfield
3. Meet the 1999-2000 BCA Committees
4. BCA Newsbytes
5. Increase Your (Buzz)Word Power
6. Tech Tips
7. Word Games

1. Top Ten Reasons to Attend RCC 2000

The Religious Communication Congress will be here before you know it. Start making plans now so you won't miss an exciting minute of interacting and sharing with religious communicators from a variety of religious experiences. The Congress will be held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown from March 29-April 1, 2000. For more information, contact Keith Beene at bca.office@att.net.

10. Receive spiritual, emotional and creative enrichment.
9. Participate in international interfaith forums.
8. Gain insights and new approaches to communication challenges.
7. Share your faith stories and hear those of other participants.
6. Examine new technologies and trends in communication.
5. Broaden your communion and faith horizons by meeting communicators
from around the globe.
4. Opportunities to network, brainstorm and share with old friends.
3. Hear presentations from award-winning communicators who have achieved
national or international acclaim.
2. Choose from a hundred tracked workshops exploring the five petals
(You know: written, spoken, electronic, cyberspace, artistic).

And the top reason...
1. Experience a once-in-a-decade, global gathering where the focus is on
stories of faith in a changing world.

2. Executive Summary
Baptist Communicators Association
Millennial Survey of Member Attitudes, Opinions and Needs
By Mark Wingfield
BCA President

Nearly 50 percent of BCA members responded to the recent survey instrument sent in the mail. Thanks to all who took the time to complete the survey. Your input has painted a helpful portrait of the membership's opinions on a wide variety of topics.

This input already has been helpful to the BCA executive committee in making plans for the future. One of the most immediate evidences of this is the BCA website currently under construction. This is a direct result of the need expressed through the survey.

I need to express a special word of thanks to David Clanton, a former BCA president who now works with me at the Baptist Standard and was the brains behind the technical end of this survey. He gave time and energy to make this happen quickly and efficiently.

Now, here's a summary of what the survey said:

Length of BCA membership. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of our group has been in the association for less than five years. The next largest group (23 percent) has been members five to 10 years, followed by 20 percent who have been members 20 years or more and 13 percent falling in each the two remaining categories, 11-15 years and 16-20 years.

Recruitment. By far the most common paths by which individuals become BCA members are encouragement by supervisors (35 percent) and enlistment by a coworker (29 percent). Only 13 percent sought out the organization on their own, and only 10 percent were enlisted by a friend other than a coworker.

Work in Baptist communications. The majority of our members have considerable experience in Baptist communications, although the majority (64 percent) also have worked in secular or non-Baptist communications positions. Only 15 percent have worked in Baptist communication less than five years, while 26 percent have worked in the field five to 10 years, 16 percent have done so 11-15 years, 15 percent have logged 16 to 20 years, and 28 percent have been around 20 years or more.

Nature of members' work. Our members carry a wide array of job responsibilities, many wearing multiple hats. The largest single group (36 percent) could be classified as public relations generalists. The next largest group wears the label of editor and writer (28 percent), although when you add in the 13 percent who are writers only and the 9 percent who are editors only, the total contingency of those who deal with writing and editing reaches 50 percent. Other job classifications of members include administrators (14 percent), photographers (7 percent), graphic artists (7 percent), marketing (6 percent), webmasters (5 percent), videographers (3 percent), development officers (2 percent) and video/still image technicians (1 percent).

Employers. State Baptist conventions and national agencies share the title as the top employers of BCA members, each accounting for 22 percent. The next largest employers are state Baptist newspapers (14 percent) and colleges/universities (13 percent). Other employers include state convention agencies (5 percent), seminaries (4 percent), child care agencies (4 percent), independent communications firms (3 percent), national conventions (2 percent) and local churches (1 percent). Another 2 percentof those responding were self-employed, 3 percent were retired and 5 percent worked for other types of employers.

Staff colleagues. The majority (41 percent) of BCA members work in small shops with three or fewer communications professionals, although 29 percent work in large shops, with six or more communications professionals.

Age. The range of BCA members' ages forms a nearly perfect Bell curve, with the peak (34 percent) falling in the 36-45 age range. The next largest group is the 46-55 range (23 percent), followed on the opposite side by the 26-35 range (16 percent). Another 9 percent are 56-65, and 7 percent are 20-25.

Gender. Males account for 55 percent of our members, while females account for 37 percent. What about the remaining 8 percent? They apparently had trouble answering this question, leaving it blank.

Education. We're a well-educated group, with more than half holding undergraduate degrees, one-fourth holding seminary master's degrees and a little less than one-fourth holding non-seminary master's degrees. About 9 percent have earned doctorates.

Salary. The largest single cluster of BCA members' salaries (29 percent) falls in the range of $40,000 to $49,000. The next largest cluster (19 percent) falls in the range of $30,000 to $39,000, followed by 14 percent in the $60,000 to $69,000 range, 12 percent in the $20,000 to $29,000 range, 9 percent in the $50,000 to $59,000 range, 6 percent in the range below $20,000, 4 percent in the range of $70,000 to $79,000, 4 percent in the range of $90,000 to $99,000, 3 percent in the range above $100,000 and 1 percent in the range of $80,000 to $89,000. Put in another perspective, 66 percent of BCA members earn less than $50,000 annually, while only 12 percent earn more than $70,000 annually.

Salary cross-tabbed by job. Among general public relations practitioners, the largest cluster of salaries falls between $30,000 and $69,000, with the $40,000 range being the most dominant (28 percent) and the $30,000 range next most common (21 percent). Among writers, editors and writer/editors, the largest single cluster (33 percent) also falls in the $40,000 range, followed by 23 percent in the $30,000 range and 19 percent in the $60,000 range. Similar patterns are seen in virtually every other job category, although the categories of videographer and video/still image technician skew somewhat lower. We received no salary data from members who work in development.

Benefits. Virtually all members (90 percent) said their employer provides some sort of health insurance. This group is nearly evenly divided in thirds between employers that pay the full premium for health insurance for the employee only, employers that pay the full premium for the employee and family and employers that require employees to pay part of the premium to cover the employee and family. Three-fourths said their employers provide contributions to an annuity or 401(k). Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) receive dental insurance as a benefit. About 20 percent get vision insurance as a benefit. About 15 percent have use of an automobile provided by their employer, while 22 have a company cell phone and 25 percent are eligible for tuition discounts and waivers. 

Benefits of membership. When asked to rank six potential benefits of BCA membership, one issue rose clearly to the top: networking/building friendships. More than half (51 percent) ranked this as the No. 1 benefit, and another 17 percent ranked it as No. 2. No other benefit came close to this amount of consensus, particularly as a first or second choice. The annual workshop drew the next-highest response, followed by the newsletter and awards competition. Both the scholarship program and placement registry received affirmation as important benefits, although they mainly were listed in fourth, fifth or sixth place.

Newsletter content. Members sent a strong message that they want practical content in the newsletter, with 70 percent saying "how-to tips" have been the most helpful thing in the newsletter in the past. The same category ranked similarly high on the list of what members want to see in future newsletters. Other content drawing the most interest in the newsletter included technical topics, organizational news, website reviews, member profiles and notices of non-BCA conferences. An interpretation of this data, mixed with other findings of the survey, indicates members strongly desire for BCA to be a resource for practical continuing education.

Website. Sixty percent of members said they definitely think BCA should have its own website, and 33 percent said they weren't sure. Only 7 percent said BCA doesn't need a website. During the September executive committee meeting, your officers interpreted this as a strong indication of openness to and desire for a website, so plans were made to create a site right away. This action was further spurred by very supportive marginal notes written by a number of people responding to the survey. You told us your preferred content for the website, ranked in order, would be links to other helpful sites, job openings/needs, workshop registration, how-to tips, newsletter content, products to buy and classified ads. Several marginal notes strongly suggested using the website as a forum for members to exchange information and ask for help on technical topics.

Workshop attendance. The vast majority of members responding to the survey (85 percent) said they have attended at least one BCA workshop in the last 10 years, and more than half (51 percent) said they have attended three or more in the decade. The pattern that emerged indicates BCA members usually aren't able to attend every workshop but attend at least every second or third year. Scheduling conflicts is the No. 1 reason members don't attend the workshop, a reason cited by 33 percent. Another 19 percent said lack of funds prevents them from attending the workshop, although when interpreted along with responses to other workshop questions, it becomes clear the barrier is not so much one of being price sensitive as it is having funds for workshop attendance at all. No one said they skipped the workshop because the registration fee was too expensive. In fact, members said they would be willing to pay $50 to $100 more for enhanced workshop content. A disappointing program one year does impact attendance the next year, members said, with 14 percent citing that as the primary factor they skipped a workshop.

Workshop timing and content. Members overwhelmingly said March or April are the best months for a workshop, although 19 percent said the date doesn't really matter. The most preferred location for workshops (55 percent) is hotels or conference centers in cities, with resort locations coming in second at 36 percent. Responses about what workshop content has been most helpful in the past largely mirror member attitudes about newsletter content, with free time for networking ranking first. The other most strongly affirmed workshop content in the past was breakout sessions, plenary session speakers, field trips to communication shops and opportunities for individual evaluation. The annual awards banquet ranked last among the list of helpful content, although several members took pains to write marginal notes explaining that although the banquet may not be the most helpful content it remained one of their favorite parts of the workshop.

Future workshop content. The survey proposed 12 possible areas of enhanced workshop content and asked members to indicate whether such content would make them more or less likely to attend the workshop. The No. 1 thing members said would make them more likely to attend is intensive special interest seminars in small groups with high-profile leaders. Following close behind were nationally known keynote speakers drawn from outside the Southern Baptist Convention, field trips to other communications shops, cross-training workshops and training in specific software applications such as Quark, PageMaker, Word and Photoshop. Members sent a clear message that they don't want more preaching at workshops but might be open to non-preaching worship experiences. They also said they're not especially turned on by well-known Baptists as keynote speakers and definitely don't want to hear fellow BCA members as keynoters.

Focused training events. Members expressed strong interest (63 percent) in BCA offering focused training events apart from the annual workshop. Several marginal notes indicated that members often are forced to choose between non-BCA training conferences and the BCA workshop. Unless BCA becomes more competitive in meeting continuing education needs, members will increasingly drift to other conferences, several warned. When asked what types of focus training events members desire, responses came back in this order: creativity-enhancing workshops, software training, writing workshops, website development workshops, public relations planning helps and photo workshops. Items drawing interest, but on a lesser tier than the others, include strategic planning training, leadership development, management skill training, time management, crisis management training, video production workshops and fund-raising workshops.

Awards competition. The vast majority (84 percent) of BCA members have entered something in the annual awards competition, and nearly three-fourths (74 percent) have won something in the competition. Members gave the awards competition high marks for fairness, while acknowledging creating the appearance of fairness is sometimes difficult. Half the membership (50 percent) said the awards competition is "as fair as it can be," and another 39 percent said the competition is "usually fair but sometimes falls short." Marginal notes indicated some members still are suspicious of a particular year when they said there was an appearance of a conflict of interest. Only 4 percent of members said they think the competition is "basically unfair." For those years members didn't enter anything in the competition, the primary reason cited was lack of time to prepare entries, followed by a feeling of not having produced anything worth entering. Only 5 percent said they didn't enter because they didn't think they would be treated fairly. The No. 1 thing members would do to improve the awards competition is to provide greater feedback from judges. Several members wrote marginal notes thanking last year's judges for providing such feedback in greater detail than previous years. 

Value of membership. BCA members said they see value in belonging to the organization, although only 13 percent cited membership as a "great value" for doing their job better. Yet 69 percent said BCA provides a "moderate value" or "some value" to doing their job better. Many members expanded on this area in answers they gave to an open-ended question, "What single action could BCA take that would significantly improve its value to you professionally?" The most common theme given in answer to this question was to make workshops beefier and provide additional training opportunities.

If you have specific questions about the survey results or would like to know more detailed breakdowns on certain questions, please e-mail Mark Wingfield at markwing@baptiststandard.com.

Welcome to New Members (Since January 1999)

Steve Achord, Staff writer at Webster Conference Center
Susan Aymond, Public Relations Director at Louisiana Baptist Convention
Carolyn Curtis, Editor of On Mission/Manager of Publications Unit at NAMB
Michael Ebert, Chief of Publishing at NAMB
J.K. Edwards, Audio Visual Assistant at South Carolina Baptist Convention
Ed Ernstring, Editor of Northwest Baptist Witness
Summer Perkins, Communications Assistant at Florida Baptist Family Ministries
Jason Ranton, Journalism Professor at Baylor University
Katie Shull, Graphic Designer at LifeWay Christian Resources
Jason Skinner, News Writer at The Alabama Baptist
Tara Springfield, Marketing Specialist at New Hope Publishers
Kevin Trowbridge, Director of Marketing at Union University

5. Increase Your (Buzz)Word Power

When your job is communication, you don't want to get behind on new terminology, especially those terms based on the advances in technology. Granted, many of them start out as jokes circulated around the Internet, but quite a few make the jump into regular usage. Just so you can stay up to date, here are some new ones you might not be familiar with:

404 (adjective) -- clueless, from the Internet message "404 Not Found"

alpha geek (noun) -- the most technologically knowledgeable person in a workgroup

blamestorming (noun) -- the act of discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed

digerati (noun) -- the elite power-brokers and trend-setters of the digital age

generica (noun) -- features of the American landscape that are the same wherever you go, such as fast food joints, strip malls, subdivisions, etc.

mouse potato (noun) -- someone whose use of computers is limited to what he or she does at work

troll (verb) -- to seek something specific on the Internet, as opposed to surfing (browsing randomly) 

voice jail (noun) -- slang for the place you find yourself trapped and unable to reach a live, speaking person on the phone

6. Tech Tips

Want to make bulleted items in Quark line up underneath the first word instead of wrapping back to the left edge of the column? Just line your cursor up with the first letter and press the APPLE KEY and the BACKSLASH KEY.

Share your tech tips with other BCA members. Email them to staylor@namb.net and I'll include them in upcoming issues of the BCA E-Letter.

7. Word Games

Okay all you wordsmiths, how do you treat this word: On-line or Online? Why?

To submit information to be included in the BCA E-Letter, contact Sean Taylor by email at staylor@namb.net or call 770-410-6289.