For the first time, WELS is offering its FinalWeb training sessions in an online format. FinalWeb, the synod's Web hosting partner, is used by more than 500 WELS organizations. The three-day training session covers how to develop, design, and maintain a Web site, and the new online format allows all of that to happen in a virtual classroom.

The interactive, online training allows 10 people to see each other via video conference, to share screens, and to chat using Google Hangouts. The first of these training sessions was held July 10–12, and the second is being offered July 17–19. In addition, one-day sessions were held on July 9 and 16 to help train teachers how to maintain classroom Web sites.

Mr. Martin Spriggs, chief technology officer for WELS, explains, “The idea was to get everybody together in a virtual environment where they could see and hear the trainer, watch the trainer’s screen, ask questions, and show their screens so the trainer could help them through exercises. We sent them printed materials so they could have that with them and wouldn’t need to look at the screen as well.”

Rev. John Meyer, pastor at Trinity, Belle Plaine, Minn., attended the first of the training sessions. He notes, “My schedule is quite active so my congregation needs me to make wise use of my time. The online training allowed me the chance to learn what was needed to manage our Web site while not losing time to a long commute.”

Attendees from the West Coast such as Mr. Chris Hintz, principal and teacher at Emmaus, Phoenix, Ariz., appreciate the cost savings that the online training provided. He says, “Living in Arizona, it would be very expensive to travel to Milwaukee for this conference.”

The new format seems to be working well according to both Spriggs and the attendees of the first session. As Meyer says, “We are online for so many things in our daily lives; tech training online is a perfect pairing. Everything is live and in real time. I recommend the online training as an efficient way to receive the benefits of face-to-face training without the necessities of travel.”

Any WELS or Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregation can use FinalWeb. To learn more, visit www.wels.net/shopwels/finalweb.