Thursday, May 27, 2010

Viruses, viral, and va va voom


On August 5, 6 & 7, the Jesus Army are hosting their annual youth event, RAW (Real & Wild), at Cofton Park, Birmingham.

As part of promoting the event and motivating all Jesus Army youth types to invite all their mates, we've started releasing a series of home-spun promo videos. Have a look at some of them here.

We've been calling them RAW virals, 'viral' being one of those neologisms that the web has spawned in recent years. Wikipedia defines viral marketing like this:

marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages.


Well, thanks Wiki. And there was me thinking viruses were nasty semi-living thingums that give you colds - or worse. (Having had a spate of people in our Christian community going down with a nasty chest virus, I find it hard to feel positive about anything viral.)

But, putting it simply, something is viral if it spreads. So we want these little vids to spread about from friend to friend - because we want as many people to get together at RAW as possible.

Because RAW's going to be a powerful event. It's about Jesus. It is, as the name suggests, a raw call to radical Jesus following.

So spread it. Get all your mates and get there.

realandwild.com

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Everything I do... makes me laugh out loud

Saw this on a friend's Facebook wall and it made me chuckle.

A couple asked for their wedding cake to be inscribed with 1 John 4:18 which reads: 'There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.' Unfortunately the bakery misread the instruction, and presented a cake with the words from John 4:18: 'For you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.'

Wonder if it's true? It reminds me of a couple in the 90s, at the time of the Kevin Costner Robin Hood film (with its famous Bryan Adams theme song, 'Everything I do I do it for you'). They asked for 'the Robin Hood theme' to be played as the bride walked down the aisle.

The bride approached, the church hushed - and suddenly the gaudy sounds of 'Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen' blared out.

Does it say something very damning about my personality that I find that so very, very funny?