Thanks to everyone who has sent me birthday wishes today.

The web makes these kinds of greetings much easier and I really appreciate you taking the time to write on my wall on facebook, tweet me a message or even send one of those old fashioned card things.

It made me think about how we keep in touch with people.  How nice it is to feel that someone cares.

I wonder if we do that enough in our church communities?

I hope so but today has reminded me how a short message can make such a big difference.

Thank you.

Thanks to all the people who came along to my two seminars at Deep Impact in Aviemore at the weekend.  It was good to meet some new people and some old friends.  Welcome to my blog if you’re visiting as a result of the sessions at the weekend!

Both sessions were recorded but they both were more conversational so I’m not sure how much sense the audio will make.

You can download the presentations as PDF files from my web tools page.  Let me know what you think!

I’m back on the road again this week, in two ways.

The first is in a literal sense… running.  10 years ago I ran a half marathon.  It turns out that residual fitness doesn’t last ten years!

The second road hitting is to Aviemore to lead a couple of seminars based around the Internet, both on Sunday morning.

My first seminar is about life online. (I didn’t pick the name!)

The second is

Child Protection: Young People and the Web

The internet is a new and uncharted country which, like most new places, has benefits and drawbacks. Like any other place it provides risks and opportunities for young people and adults alike. Join us to explore some of the risks and opportunities presented by the internet in safe and sensible ways.

Any thoughts on what you would want to hear about in either session?

Yesterday I spent the day with the nice people at Blue Horizon youth project in Aberdeen exploring the possibilities offered by the interweb.  I hope they had some fun along the way.

Most of the stuff we looked at is over on the web tools page.

Today I’m learning about VOLE.  Apparently that’s something to do with Virtual and Online Learning Environments…

I’ll let you know what that means as the day progresses.

This morning we have been looking at MOODLE.  We’re playing with forums, profiles, feedback, messages and stuff.  Good fun.

The afternoon was spent doing more of the same.  We each have our own little Moodle sandpit to build stuff.  It looks like an interesting tool but I’m yet to be convinced that it would be worth investing in the hosting costs for us yet.

Lunchtime was an unexpected surprise.  We went to the church next door to the London office.  Lumen URC has been completely renovated and is now a stunning space.

It has meeting rooms, a multi faith prayer space, a sanctuary, a cloistered courtyard and a soon to be open vegetarian cafe.  It is quite simply stunning.  If you are passing Tavistock Place in London then go and have a look at what a falling down 50s building can be transformed into.

Perhaps that was a bit of a metaphor for the the day?  Is VLE something that can transform learning in the church?  Will it help to engage people?  Will it bring new life to an old idea?

One of the reasons I like WordPress is the amazing range of free plugins.  These plugins let you do some very cool stuff on your site.  We’ve been playing with some for podcasting, image galleries and text formatting…

I’ve added some of my favourites on the URConnected page.

I’m at the URC’s Windermere Centre in, well, Windermere for the next couple of days to help people play around with their WordPress sites.

So, got any great tips for making the most of a WordPress site?  Share with the group… please.

I’ll blog a bit about what we’re up to and any hints and tips I come across on the URConnected page so keep checking there if you’re interested.