It happens quite frequently really. Someone will mention to our staff how they wish we would cover a certain topic or how they didn’t know about this or that after the event or experience has passed.
Sometimes we do miss an opportunity for coverage because the information got buried on someone’s desk or in an email inbox. Sometimes we simply aren’t aware because the information wasn’t shared with us.
But most often, we actually do have the content available across multiple platforms and are a bit confused when the “wish you would cover” comments surface.
Recently, at least three people from different churches across the state who are subscribers of TAB noted how they had never heard of the annual Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering for Alabama Baptist ministries sponsored by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
While TAB Media does not benefit from the Myers-Mallory offering, our staff helps promote the effort for our ministry partners and their work at the State Board of Missions.
SBOM also purchases ad space in this publication for several weeks each year and designs an ad to promote the effort and urge churches to participate (see page 10 for an example).
Their willingness to promote the offering through advertising in our publication in turn helps support our ministry efforts.
And SBOM’s communications team understands how sharing a promotional message several times with a consistent look and feel is important to give everyone a chance to notice it.
Our friend Billy Irvin at Faith Radio reminded me of the same thing recently as we talked about how to best share all we have to offer at TAB Media.
“Just keep telling your story,” he advised. “Think about how often pastors hear similar responses from church members who say they didn’t know about something after it has been promoted for several weeks. We just aren’t able to consume all the content coming at us.”
Billy’s right; we do suffer from information overload. Even for those who love reading and doing research, the massive amount of content instantly available to us is overwhelming.
Maybe that’s why we also suffer from a bit of amnesia from time to time.
For instance, when we finalized the Love Packages article on page 1, I recalled our coverage from years ago when the Decatur branch was run by the Edwin Hodges Ministry.
I also thought of the number of Bibles and Sunday School literature stacked on my shelves that could be shared. Why had I not already donated them?
My reaction to the front-page article serves as an excellent example of why we need to keep telling our stories. We do forget sometimes. We also overlook information important to us.
Our team at TAB Media wants to help Love Packages meet their 2,020 tons goal for 2020 and will be collecting Bibles and literature for the next few weeks to then take to Decatur to donate. You are welcome to drop donations by our office in Homewood.
TAB Media staff salutes our veterans; thank you for your service
Father, uncle, son, grandfather, nephew, brother, husband, cousin, other family members and close friends (male and female) — each of us on the TAB Media team is closely connected to a veteran of the United States military.
One of our staff members — Richard Maddox — served in the U.S. Navy (Submarine Service) from 1970 to 1974.
And a few days ago, another staff member was helping her grandson complete his paperwork for admission into the U.S. Army. He leaves for boot camp right after Christmas.
We all have varying levels of experience with someone who has or will be serving; and we all have tremendous respect for those who have served, are currently serving and will serve in the days to come. We are grateful for their service. We also want to personally thank all of you who served our country.
The sacrifice is not lost on us, and we are indebted to the role you played in keeping our country safe, as well as to provide the freedoms we enjoy as American citizens.
May we never take those sacrifices — past, present and future — for granted.
While November provides a day on the calendar for us to salute our veterans, hold parades and remember, we urge all who live in this land (that so many worldwide covet for themselves) to never forget those who have served.
They not only faced dangerous situations but also missed milestone moments at home and gave up creature comforts during their service.
So many carry the horrible past experiences of war with them each day, choosing to tuck the nightmarish memories down deep while continuing to function as strong and contributing citizens.
We recognize you graciously accepted the lifelong sentence of what you endured — saw up close and personal, felt in your heart, worked to comprehend in your mind and maybe even had to do — so the rest of us would be spared those difficult circumstances.
Thank you for your service, dear veterans. Know you are loved and appreciated.
Petty Officer Second Class Richard Maddox
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