wfn.org | ELCA Web Site Receives Record Number of Hits During 1999 Assembly

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 3, 1999

ELCA WEB SITE RECEIVES RECORD NUMBER OF HITS DURING 1999 ASSEMBLY
99-220-LS

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Web site of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) logged more than 94,000 "hits" Aug. 19 during the 1999
ELCA Churchwide Assembly, a record number for one day, said Dr. Paul D.
Edison-Swift, director for resource information and networks, ELCA
Department for Communication.  The assembly approved "full communion"
agreements with The Episcopal Church and Moravian Church in America Aug.
19 in Denver.
     The daily average number of Web site hits during the assembly was
45,000, more than four times the daily accesses during the 1997 assembly
in Philadelphia.  This August, the site averaged 7,000 to 16,000 hits
per day, Edison-Swift said.
     The number of people who use the Web site is measured as visits.
In July the ELCA Web site had 116,000 visits; in August there were
166,000, he said.
     "The Web expands the audience," Edison-Swift said, adding that
information is at the convenience of the person visiting the site.
     Live audio "streams" were a first for the ELCA churchwide
assembly.
     The initial contract was for 100 audio streams, the capacity for
100 simultaneous listeners, but demand was so high that an additional
100 streams were added.  All 200 lines were in use during the debate on
full communion with the Episcopal Church, said Edison-Swift.
     This year's assembly was also the first to have live photos of the
assembly, updated every 15 seconds, Edison-Swift said.
     Voting members at the assembly used the Web site to prepare for
the event as well as interpret results after the assembly.
     The ELCA's Web guest book has been "overflowing" with positive
feedback about the Web coverage of the assembly, said  Edison-Swift.
     "The Web site for the 1999 assembly was well planned and easy to
use.  I felt like I was there," said Krystal McGaw, Bethania Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Solvang, Calif.
     "The site was a blessing to our church. Those who could not attend
were kept informed in a way that is unprecedented," said the Rev. P. Wes
Poole, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Seminole, Fla.
     Edison-Swift said more visitors from other denominations may be a
possible reason for the increased visits to the ELCA site.
     "It was a thrill to view and hear the floor debate live via the
Internet," said Holly Hansen, The Cathedral Church of St. Paul,
Springfield, Ill.  "To see the representatives of my beloved church and
yours singing together was such a treat," she said.  Hansen is an
Episcopalian.
     The ELCA Web address is www.elca.org.
     Web-casting of the assembly was made possible through a grant from
Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits organization based in
Minneapolis.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html