Lutheran Communicators Gather

LUTHERAN COMMUNICATORS GATHER

Communication professionals from three Lutheran church bodies gathered
in Appleton, Wis., Sept. 11-14 to share ideas and stories at the 1997
Lutheran Communicator's Conference. Aid Association for Lutherans
(AAL), a fraternal benefits society based in Appleton, hosted the
event which brought together more than 90 writers, publishers, public
relations officers, video and radio producers from the staffs of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church - Missouri
Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and AAL. "We are in the
service industry; service is the name of the game," Jan White, a
design consultant, told the group. "We must use design as a
functional lubricant ... to sell useful ideas to the reader," White
said. Frank Carillo told the Lutherans, "We are living in the
'attention age,' an age where so much information abounds, where the
challenge is to get someone to look, listen and consider." Carillo is
president and managing director of Executive Communications Group.
Participants attended workshops on design and editing, writing and use
of the Internet. Their publications were critiqued by White. "The
gathering provides us with the opportunity to network with fellow
church communicators and share and continue education," said the Rev.
Eric C. Shafer, director of the ELCA's Department for Communication.
Other speakers included Peter Jacobi, journalism professor, Indiana
University, the Rev. Tony Campolo, author and sociologist, and
Jeffrey McMullen, president, The McMullen Group, Inc.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html