It’s crazy to think that ISC is just around the corner. For those of you that will be attending, we are so very excited for you and your teams. There will be many different classes for you to participate in but we want to make sure that you are aware of those focused on Arena.  For those of you that are not clients, as well as those that are, we will be providing a couple of webinars prior to ISC. Our hope is that what these webinars will help you better prepare for the conference and give you a chance to understand how we serve through innovative software. Please come and sit in on some of these Webinars. We plan on this being the best ISC we have ever had. Alexander Graham Bell said, “before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” So if anything we just want you to be prepared before you come to this exciting conference.  

The first one I will do is on March 22nd. Hope to see you on the Webinar. 

Updates are everything in the software world, and without quality updates and timely information your awesome software product could be yesterday’s wasted effort. From time to time, users of Arena “need” to be informed. How do you keep up with the latest trends, newest Arena modules, and how can you vote on someone’s great idea if you have never seen it? Well, I thought I would share one the ways I keep up with the constant flow of information that comes from the Community - I subscribe to the Arena Community forums and read them in my e-mail client.

I use Microsoft Outlook as my e-mail client, but you could do the same thing in Google Gmail or any email client that provides rules or filtering.  

Start by going into the Community website and subscribe to your choice of forums:

1. Log on to community.arenachms.com.

2. Go to your settings by clicking your username in the top right-hand corner. Click the Email Tab and choose the type of emails you wish to receive.

3. Click the “Forums” tab.  On the far right hand side of the navigation bar you will see a “Forum Subscriptions” hyperlink. Click the link and check “Subscribe” on all of the forums that you would like to monitor.

4. Scroll down to the bottom and click the “Save” button.

In your e-mail client, create rules to filter e-mail from the Community:

5.  In Microsoft Outlook, right-click a message in your Inbox from the Community and select “Create rule…”. In Gmail, check on the message and click on “Create a filter”.

6. Configure the conditions and actions to fit your needs… redirect to subfolders, forward to other users,  mark with a label, etc.

Encourage everyone in your ministry team to subscribe to the forums in their areas of interest.  Share these e-mail filtering tips to keep them informed with minimal effort. It’s a great way to help them see what other churches are discussing, creating, and voting for.

Hopefully this is something that will help you stay up to speed with this ever growing product. It certainly helps me!  


Chris Rivers

Glad you asked. Originally we had scheduled the release of version 2009.100 for the week of July 13th. Between the time we announced that date and now, we've had communication with one of our 3rd party vendors which is causing us to delay the release. As most of you know, we use an ESRI web service to display the maps used in the Groups area of Arena. Just recently ESRI alerted us to the fact that they are changing the process and access to that web service and their intention to discontinue the current method altogether. After a few late nights with lots of caffeine our developers have completed our portion of the rewrite. We’re now waiting on ESRI to complete the setup and deployment of the new hosted solution.

So what does that mean for the release?

Unfortunately, we are forced to move the date back until August 3rd to coincide with their new service. This date gives us adequate time for thorough testing and will produce a solid release (including documentation!).

I realize this is not welcome news and we do not like being unable to fulfill our responsibility to you for an on-time release. But in this situation we feel it is in the best interest of you, our client, that we delay the release until we can ensure a smooth and complete release.

Thank you for your understanding and as always please let us know your thoughts.

Mark

The Arena documentation is in the process of a complete overhaul and will come in two stages.  The first stage involves making sure that the current documents include the features and enhancements from the 2008.3 and 2009.1 versions of Arena.  With this new release we have also changed our documentation strategy. You will notice a difference in the documents coming out with the 2009.1 version which in include a new look in comparison to the older sections.  One example is the section about Background Checks.  Please check it out and give us feedback.

Our goal is to have all documents rewritten in preparation for the 2009.2 release .  Our philosophy is that the Administrator's Guide will be one complete Arena document, and the parts that relate to the end user will be separated into the End User's Manual.  The Reference Guide will be included in the Administrator's Guide as an appendix, and can also be separated into it's own document. 

The Training department is responsible for Arena documentation and we welcome your feedback!

Shelby Systems' event team just published a press release about the recent Shelby Systems user conference held in Dallas.

"In the opening session Anthony Coppedge, church media consultant and passionate "Technology Evangelist,” set the tone of Building Community with his presentation on “The Reason Your Church Must Twitter.” The presentation was based on his recently released book of the same name..."

Read the full press release in the Shelby Systems press room.

Our friends at WebMedley are sharing a blog series on how to build a template in Arena:

“When beginning your first template, there are a few requirements that we'll need to get out of the way. If you're a developer level Arena client, then the first thing you'll need is the Arena SDK from the Arena Community site.  While this is not a requirement in the sense that you "can't build a template without it", you should use the SDK as it allows you to make mistakes without the whole world seeing it on your production server.  I doubt your tech folks are going to let you go "commando" on a live server anyway, but I'll save you an awkward conversation.  Use the SDK.

If you're not a developer level client, you can still modify the .ascx and .ascx.cs files..."  Read the rest.

MAY 29 2009, CORDOVA, TN –  Shelby Systems, Inc. has become the first church software provider to be approved for the National Association of Church Business Administration’s (NACBA) National Registered Continuing Education Provider (NRCEP) Program. “The program is a premier, comprehensive, continuing education program related to administration in the local church. It is designed to enhance the ongoing professional development of NACBA members and other ministry professionals, through the offering of quality learning experiences,” said Phill Martin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at NACBA.

As the first Registered Continuing Education Provider, all Shelby Systems’ workshops and the majority of classes at the International Shelby Conference have been approved by NACBA for Continuing Education Units (CEU). CEUs are required certification or renewal of certification as a Fellow in Church Business Administration (FCBA).

The addition of CEU credits is an enhancement to Shelby Systems’ continuing education program, a program offering Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for those renewing their CPA.

Shelby Systems, located in Cordova, Tennessee, provides management software designed for faith-based organizations such as churches, denominational headquarters, and other non-profit groups. The company currently serves over 9,000 customers in more than 40 countries.

Marketing Contact:
Rebecca H. Greer, MarCom Manager
800.877.0222

Training and Education Contact:
Bill Ballou, Training Manager
800.654.1605