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Churches have a safety net against
fraud
Pastoral Pondering:
Never losing sight of the true reason for the season
An
on-line way to reach
out and discuss |
Barclay Press in Newberg creates Conversation Cafe,
a Web site promoting dialogue on religion |
By Schellene Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Conversation Cafe sounds like a place to go, spend time with friends and
discuss topics that pique the interest of all in attendance over a cup of coffee.
And except for the coffee that’s just what it is.
This April the publisher of Barclay Press in Newberg created a Web site he
hopes will bring people in the community and nationally closer together by allowing them a
chance to discuss religious subjects on their minds.
“We see (the site) as one of our tools for communication as a
publisher,” said Dan McCracken. “Traditionally we have used print media, but as
technology changes the Internet has become an excellent vehicle for communication that in
the past would have been done by print.”
Conversation Cafe is a part of the Barclay Press Internet site that was begun
primarily to sell the Christian literature the company publishes. The “cafe” is
an aspect of the site that allows the audience to interact with writers in a meaningful
way, McCracken said.
“The site has a very intentional mix of commerce and content,” he
said.
The cafe has articles similar to those a person would read in a magazine.
More dynamic than the articles is the daily journal, on which every weekday a writer posts
a reflective journal entry. The writer changes every two weeks, McCracken said.
The publisher said he found the challenge of creating the site was in knowing
how to adapt to changing cultural and sociological patterns.
“Personally, from my own background in print media, I have certain kind of
mental ruts as far as how communication should take place,” he said. “This is
just a kind of a different mode of communication.
“Younger people have different ways of assimilating information.
We’re not just trying to duplicate what we would have done in print, we want to take
advantage of new dynamics.”
McCracken said it’s interesting to him that the most visited area of the
site is the writers section. This section includes a first person biography with
information about the writers, who are both book and article authors.
“Our writers are the backbone of what we do as a publisher, he said.
“We value their role and are pleased to see people are going to that section of the
site.”
On Jan. 5 the site will launch a book discussion session akin to an on-line
readers group. Each month the group will feature a different book; some were published by
Barclay, others are from other publishers.
“People will be able to post comments and questions about the book and
the author will be involved in on-line answers, questions and comment,” McCracken
said.
To check out the site or to participate in the cafe, log on to the Web site
at www.barclaypress.com. |
|
From Dec. 27,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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