Email from 1st Presidency

[zaneclark]

I just received my first newsletter from the First Presidency…. It was beautifully presented with links to videos and photos. It stated that they will eventually send this to everyone with an LDS Account, which will amount to 10’s of thousands around the world. My question is, couldn’t this same technology be used to upgrade the Send a Message feature in LCR? I have been trying unsuccessfully to help our stake clerk send a message to the stake members. It will only load about a third of the names in the address panel and nothing we can do seems to work. And this is going to far fewer than the successful email from SL I am obviously not technically savvy, so could someone explain why SL can do this and we can’t on the local level?

[aebrown]

... couldn’t this same technology be used to upgrade the Send a Message feature in LCR? I have been trying unsuccessfully to help our stake clerk send a message to the stake members. It will only load about a third of the names in the address panel and nothing we can do seems to work. And this is going to far fewer than the successful email from SL I am obviously not technically savvy, so could someone explain why SL can do this and we can’t on the local level?

There's a big difference between what you see on a web page (called "front end") and the actual sending of the message (which happens on the "back end"). The part of the system you are having problems with is the selection of names, which involves selecting groups of members, and this process will be affected by members' privacy settings. The front end is also where you compose your message. Neither the selection of names nor the composition of the message has anything at all to do with how the message is sent.

Once the list of recipients has been determined and the message is composed, then it's entirely possible that the same technology could be used to send the message. I don't know how that system works; it may even be the case that the same back end system is already being used.

The bottom line is that the area where you are feeling pain with the Send a Message feature is not relevant to how the Church sends an email broadcast. Note also that we have been told that the Send a Message feature hasn't been worked on for quite a while. In any case, any potential improvements would require development resources to be prioritized and allocated to that work.

[mfmohlma]

...it may even be the case that the same back end system is already being used.

I doubt it. If you look carefully at the email and its embedded links, they are using a commercial marketing company for sending this email. I don't see the same sort of links in emails that I send using "Send a Message".

[aebrown]

...it may even be the case that the same back end system is already being used.

I doubt it. If you look carefully at the email and its embedded links, they are using a commercial marketing company for sending this email. I don't see the same sort of links in emails that I send using "Send a Message".

I haven't yet received the new newsletter email, so that was pure speculation.

[johnshaw]

It is a third party which means my email is known by a mass-marketer.... I wish they'd sent from an internal system, but I get why they want the stats, etc...

[mevans]

It is a third party which means my email is known by a mass-marketer.... I wish they'd sent from an internal system, but I get why they want the stats, etc...

I think they're doing it the right way: use a company with expertise in mass mailing, instead of trying to build a home-grown system. There are a lot of matters to consider (software, hardware, replies to the "no reply" email address, getting IP addresses marked as a spammer, etc.). I would imagine they've looked at security and have appropriate non-disclosure contracts in place.

I took a look at the company they're using (at least on my email -- who knows, maybe they're experimenting with different providers?) ClickDimensions.com. It's odd, because they seem to be touting Microsoft Dynamics CRM integration. I don't know if the church uses Microsoft Dynamics for anything. Or maybe all the church membership is now managed in a CRM

I've meant to play around with the unsubscribe link to see if it's directly connected to the newsletter checkbox at ldsaccount.lds.org, or if they're doing something else.