SharperIron

Our 2010 Writing Contest ended over a month ago. So some of you are probably wondering, when will the winners be announced? Well, this is not that announcement!

But it’s coming soon. Several excellent articles were submitted this year, and we’ve already posted a few of them. Our panel of volunteer judges is slowly narrowing the choices down to three winners. We should have the decision nailed down in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, our thanks to all of you who contributed pieces for the contest this year.

This year’s writing contest ends June 30 at midnight

You could win $125!
(Even if you can’t get your final version done by then, turn in a draft.)
More information about the contest here.

SharperIron is looking for volunteers to blog several events of importance to Fundamentalists this summer and fall.

The 2009-2010 SI Reader Survey ended a few months ago. Much of the data confirmed what we already pretty much knew. But there are some surprises, too. What follows includes a sampling of both the expected and the surprising. For those who would like to look at the results in detail, the attached files provide a summary as well as several “crosstab” reports which group results under various headings.

It’s that time again! SharperIron is inviting anyone with writing talent to submit an article for our 2nd annual Writing Contest. This year, we’ll be selecting up to three winning articles and awarding each a spot on the front page as well as $125. If you submit more than one article, you might even win more than once.

The 2009-2010 SharperIron Reader Survey closes at midnight Wednesday, February 10. If you haven’t yet taken the time to complete a survey, please do so today! Thanks!

If you haven’t yet completed the SharperIron Survey, there’s still time … but not very much!

Whether you’re a member, regular reader, or just a once in a while visitor, we’d like to know about you and hear your views about SI and key issues of interest to Fundamentalists. Take a few minutes now and tell us what you think. (The survey is anonymous.)

SharperIron now has a Facebook page.

If you enjoy Facebook, you can now visit the SI page to interact with other SI fans and easily share content with your Facebook friends. Stop in and say hello, and maybe become a fan. The page updates daily with links to new articles and (soon) Filings posts.

(Since a “page” is more easily updated than a “group,” we’re retiring the old SI “group.”)

If my calculations are correct (they often aren’t), I put on the SharperIron “Publisher” hat 19 months and two weeks ago (May 15, 2008). So I missed my opportunity to write some reflections on the one-year anniversary. Since we were preparing to move the site to Drupal about that time, things were hopping. Plan B was to write some retrospection at the year-and-a-half mark (“sesiquiannual reflections”?). That time “swine flu” got in the way. Plan C was to combine these thoughts with some Christmas greetings, but—well, that’s passed now too. So welcome to Plan D: “New Year’s greetings and reflections on 19 and a half months heading ShaperIron.”

Family times

“SharperIron” has gradually become a household word at our place. With the exception of my youngest (Joel, age 8), everyone in my family now has a pretty good idea of what SI is. They’ve watched me work on it quite a bit. To the degree they’ve been interested, they’ve provided feedback. My daughter (Jenna, age 11) has been vocal about how the site looks. My wife (Marilyn, age—um, 29) has shown interest but is not yet a regular reader. That would require a much larger quantity of content that is warmer, more personal and more devotional than what we currently provide (note to self: more content that is warmer, more personal and more devotional).

My son will really get interested the day we offer some kind of game. (I’m sure he’d be delighted to see an online real-time strategy game where armies of “Fundamentalists” throw Bibles at armies of “Neo-Evangelicals.”)

But life was mostly non-SI-related in ‘09. In January, we heard that my dad was having some worrisome symptoms: some peripheral vision problems, dizziness and disorientation. First, docs looked for an inner ear problem. Nothing helpful surfaced there. Another doctor said Dad had cataracts. Wrong again.

(Read the survey introduction.)

The ‘09-‘10 SI Reader Survey has been in progress for a few weeks now, and the results so far are quite interesting. The survey will continue for another month or so, but I’d like to share some results now in the hopes that first, many of you will find them interesting and second, many who have not yet taken the survey will take a few minutes to go to that.