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As this week’s Fridea, I want to turn the corner toward… the Start of School! I figured if I could begin offering ideas this early, they might seamlessly fit into your new-semester plans, or even just help springboard you to even better thoughts!
(And as this yearly ritual begins, yes, those of you on the Quarter System can laugh at the rest of us and enjoy your extra month. But hopefully this can help you in September!)
I thought I’d round up some ideas from past posts here on the blog, link them here, and not post again ’til Monday. That way, if you want to dive in, you’ll have some time to do just that – pick and choose to your liking. (And I’ll be able to focus on moving into my new place; you can read briefly about that here.)
If you want even more, you can always look through the Categories list for categories that are most pertinent to your ministry. That’s the very best way to scratch where you itch!
But without further ado, some interesting ideas for the Start of School:
- The Map-Bringers: a unique way to serve and recruit wandering freshmen & transfers simultaneously
- Sowing for a Start-of-School Harvest: preparing students already in your college ministry for the upcoming season
- Catalyzing College Ministry Creativity via New Purposes: how a spin on your whys can lead to creativity
- Campus Ministries & Narrow Recruiting: a weird suggestion about targeting your efforts and/or targeting your offers
- Have You Read It Yet?: a reminder that one great way to kick off the new semester is by reading a free ebook about seeing college ministry in a new light…
- Thoughts on Recruitment: this is one big list of ideas on what I’d seen in Chicago during the yearlong trip!
- Barn-Building: an important strategic consideration
- College Ministry Priorities for the First Week: just what it says, in response to a timely question from a college minister
- SHOW Recruitment and TELL Recruitment: we need ‘em both, right?
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My time here in Rolla, Missouri, has been great but short. I had hoped to spend more chatting time with these guys and gals from across the state, but my trip yesterday was… adventurous. But God was good, His people were good, and I made it in time to eat dinner, hang out a little, and speak.
After my talk, we got to have a really healthy time of Q&A. But the funny thing was, that time started out with 2 or 3 questions back-to-back-to-back about which I had very little to “report” from my travels around the country.
Why?
Because these college ministers were asking about certain college ministry issues – what we might call “mid-major” issues – that affect hundreds of ministries but don’t get discussed, thought about, dealt with, creatively addressed, or debated nearly enough. Here are some of these “mid-major” issues that came up in that Q&A time or in one-on-one discussions last night:
- Dealing with commuter campuses (and I brought up the fact that the “flow” of students actually differs among these campuses, too)
- 2-year schools (with only freshmen and sophomores)
- 2-year schools (with only juniors and seniors – yes, these schools exist)
- Students transferring out of our schools
- Students transferring into our schools
- Grad student ministry (I was able to point to InterVarsity as one org that has built a developed niche ministry for these students)
- Working with high school students in our college ministries (like those getting dual credit)
- Transitioning freshmen into college ministries (This one comes up pretty regularly, but we have yet to see any approach actually take a lot of ground in this area)
- Integrating well into the Campus community (This is somewhat prevalent – and some, like RUF, have made this a pillar. But this still receives little discussion by most, it seems.)
And that’s just what came up tonight. All around the country, there are campus ministries facing “weird” issues like these – issues that plenty of other college ministries might be oblivious to. (The campus tribes are diverse. The campus tribes are diverse. The campus tribes are diverse.)
Of course, I recognize that there may be national organizations and/or local ministries that have dealt with these things strongly and wisely. I’d love to know what they’ve found! But where can we read about their successes? Where are such vital-but-less-prevalent issues discussed and even debated? The College Ministry Journal we all subscribe to? (There isn’t one, just in case you didn’t catch the sarcasm.)
This is one more big reason I believe in helping the entire field of college ministry lurch forward – so that some of this very important issues can be collaborated on and addressed more and more brilliantly. Giddy-up!
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Yesterday’s post (and the amazing comments) on college ministry web sites got me thinkin’. As we approach the beginning of the school year, one of our best opportunities for excellence is to bring “fresh eyes” to our ministry. Just like I did for my friend’s college ministry web site, we can ask for outside input about all sorts of ministry areas – both visible things (an Orientation booth, handouts, advertisements, web sites, etc.) and our plans for the new year.
So here are a few ideas for bringing fresh insight to what’s ahead:
1. Get students to take a look at our materials and/or plans, with complete freedom to offer suggestions, “edits,” and ideas.
This one’s obvious, but I bet we all do this way less often than we should.
2. Ask another college minister for the same kind of input.
3. Ask advice from different types of people.
Go beyond just asking the same old people (like fellow staff or student leaders) for help. Solicit evaluations from individuals or groups of people – and perhaps even different kinds of people (extroverts, introverts, sophomores, seniors, brainiacs, etc.). You might be surprised to find that your elements favor only certain types of students, and this will help you correct for that.
Note: If you do this in groups, make sure everyone is heard from, or split groups by type. Oftentimes, a group will produce the opinions of only the most outspoken members, meaning introverts (like me) don’t get heard. Boo!
4. Sleep on it.
It’s amazing how a few days or a few weeks can make even your own eyes “fresh eyes.” Don’t just spend a week on something and then be done with it; come back to it after some time has passed, review, evaluate, and tweak.
5. Observe your materials (or plans) from various real-life viewpoints.
One of the things we can easily fail to do (in all of life, AND in college ministry) is put ourselves in other people’s shoes. When you’re evaluating your ministry efforts, are you only looking through the lens of your personality? Or have you taken the time to imagine how those things will affect, impact, or appear to various types of students (or even individual students you know)?
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I had the neat opportunity recently to check out the College Ministry web site of a friend’s ministry. I’m a big believer in auditing our ministry elements – including our web sites – on a regular basis. So I figured my thoughts about his site might help you think through your own!
For the sake of discussion, we’ll call this ministry “Ignite.” This is roughly the way I delivered my thoughts to him, with some explanatory notes thrown in.
1. What exactly is “Ignite”?
- The web site uses the name for the whole ministry AND for the Large Group Meeting, which is confusing to the outsider (and especially the new college freshman).
- -There’s not a strong “basic info page”
Not everyone will want more info, but some students will. Especially on a web site, there’s no harm in providing a solid “full information page” – for both incoming students and their parents.
2. The graphics look weird on my screen
In this case, something meant to be cool actually made it look weird (to me, at least). One students’ “cool” is another students’ turn-off, so it doesn’t hurt to have several people look over your site. Further, make sure you check your site at least on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and iPhone. Yes, really. If you’re gonna make a site, you might as well make sure it looks solid and works well.
3. Proofreading needed
I only found one missing word on this particular site. But it’s always worth proofreading (or having others do it).
4. Great in showing how much the ministry has going on
I brought this up specifically because opportunities for involvement is a strong point of this ministry. Does your site emphasize strengths?
5. Podcasts not up-to-date
This ministry podcasts the weekly messages, but the last available one was from January. That’s trouble. I’ve seen a million out-of-date college ministry web sites, most often in their Calendar or on-site Announcements. Better not to have them. A savvy student will recognize something is wrong. A non-savvy student will subconsciously recognize something is wrong.
6. Good way of dealing with a light calendar
Instead of having one big, blank calendar for the Summertime version of this ministry, they wisely offered a synopsis of their summer events. That’s far better than students finding a lot of white space in an online calendar. The same can be true in the school year. If you don’t have enough activities to make an actual calendar look “full,” consider a list.
7. Use more to differentiate the ministry
I’m a big fan of helping students make their college ministry decisions, which includes helping them see a ministry’s DISTINCTIVES, not just the same “pros” that most campus ministries have. In this ministry’s case, these include the involvement of adult volunteers, lots of activities for students to participate in, and a strong emphasis on Bible teaching (among other things). We can emphasize distinctives of our college ministries without being overtly “competitive” in the way we talk about it. And I think we should.
8. As always, it’s better to be helpful than “cool”
In web sites, students may tire of your Flash graphics, difficulty finding what they need, etc. Remember to think about purposes for the web site before designing it; if it’s already designed, list your purposes, and then audit the site for each one. (With the advent of iPhones, some of our “coolness” isn’t as functional anymore!)
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I appreciate that many of you like to stay updated on my ministry! And like to help! So here goes, with helpful headings:
T-shirts wanted: help me share the glories!
As you
know, one of the coolest ways I get to share the glories of college ministry is via T-shirts! In fact, this year I’m wearing (and taking a picture of) a different shirt each day, often with some specific little reason for my “Campus Tribe of the Day” pics. (I just started Facebook album #2, because the first album is now full!)
I realized some of you might want to help me represent your awesome college(s). And it’s always very cool to get local “garb” from the many missionaries to the campus tribes. This isn’t just for fun – I truly consider it important.
So for those who might want to help in this weird way, I would love (and proudly wear) any size-Large T-donations you want to send! For decades to come, you’ll be helping me tell the story of God’s work among the campus tribes. And this year, you’ll also help me reach my goal of a different campus represented every single day.
If you’re interested in sending a shirt my way, just let me know. Of course, I can let you know if I already have a shirt from a particular school (though duplicates are never a problem!). And remember – I want to represent every college I can, so I love to get shirts from schools “off the beaten path,” 2-year schools, and other places where campus ministry is present OR needed!
site visits: use my experience!
All of a sudden, I’ve had several college ministries contact me about visiting! The goal would be helping evaluate their present works – and more importantly, discovering all their potential next steps! (These have been churches, but this can apply to any kind of college ministry.) As I’m putting together my Fall Calendar, I wanted to mention the opportunity here.
With everything I’ve seen around the U.S., I can examine a situation, help jump-start a new college ministry, or “fast-track” an existing ministry in an extremely unique and powerful way. In fact, I really feel like this may be a “sweet spot.” Exploring collegiate situations and generating ideas are two things I’ve done hundreds of times on my own; now I have the chance to do it for those who are helped by it.
So if you – or a ministry you know – might be interested, let’s talk. I want every college ministry to have the opportunity if they want it, so I keep things extremely affordable. And by hiring me, you’ll also be helping me continue to spend my time helping the field of college ministry thrive.
For a few more details on that AND other ways to hire me, click here.
speaking and collegiate weeking: travels!
This week, I have the marvelous opportunity to attend the training of some college ministers in Missouri, and I’ll be teaching a session and doing some major Q&A on Wednesday. It should be a blast! As always, I imagine at least one or two blog posts will come out of that time. (Have I mentioned that collegiate conferences are the best way to learn about our field?)
I do ask for your prayers for my time! Most of all, please pray that I’ll be helpful to those college ministers and glorifying to God.
In August, I’ll be attending Collegiate Week in Glorieta, New Mexico – a top-notch training event I’ve discussed before. In the past, this has been a phenomenal week with a lot of college ministers (and college students) from both campus-based and church-based contexts. It was also incredibly formative in my own college ministry growth. (This will be my ninth visit!) So I’m thrilled to get to go once more.
If any of you will be at either of those events, let’s be sure to connect! And otherwise, stay tuned for some learnings here at the blog!
moving into dallas dallas: new digs!
You may or may not know that I’ve been living rather outside of Dallas proper for the last couple of years, since returning from my yearlong road trip. Happily, I now have the opportunity to live IN Dallas. In several ways, this will make it a lot easier to connect and minister around here, and it will even help my accessibility and ministry opportunities in general.
Plus, I’ve also got the neat chance to serve an autistic friend where I’m living, so that opens up a whole new adventure. Good times indeed.
news to come?
If you’ve made it this far, you deserve one more tidbit: Please be in prayer for the possibilities to come! It’s been an interesting summer, and it looks like God’s directing me toward some next steps as I continue to give my life to help the field of college ministry. We’ll see what He wants to do…
As always, for the biggest “scoops” and latest info, you can always join the 600+ others in the Exploring College Ministry with Benson Facebook Group. Those guys are my heroes, and it’s so encouraging to know that so many of you are rooting for me… as I root for you!
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It’s been a fun week examining the many things we can learn from ONE cool advertising campaign. If you missed it, you can find all the entries in this week’s little exercise right here. (The intro post is at the bottom, since it came first.)
For now, some other ideas that we can glean for college ministry. If you’ve got anything to add or questions to ask – please do!
immediate response
Whether we malign it as “immediate gratification” or extol it as “staying current,” immediacy doesn’t simply carry a premium for Millennials; it’s expected. We’ll have to weigh how to work this into our ministry. But at the very least it seems like we can respond to world, local, and campus issues ASAP, before they become “old news.” Further, as college ministry blogger Matt McComas mentioned here on Monday, students “like real-time stuff cause it’s fun and feels good to watch something unfold before your eyes.”
fluid and opportunistic
The Old Spice crew took advantage of some timely opportunities in their two days of video responses. For one thing, lots of publicity came their way after they offered a “get well” video to Kevin Rose, who just happened to be sick… and just happens to be the founder of Digg.com, too. Likewise, some of the best video responses (in my opinion) came from parrying with Alyssa Milano, which only happened because Alyssa chose to play along. And of course, the whole event was built not on some predetermined script but on real people’s interaction with what was taking place.
This choice is obviously closely connected to the “Go with Opportunities” note on Thursday’s post, as well as the note Tuesday on Interactivity. But the emphasis here is on taking advantage of even the “micro-opportunities” that God might present. It’s worth asking ourselves, Are we just “running plays,” or are we responding to what’s happening within our college ministry and on our campus in a real-time way?
quick-moving
Of course, the length of these videos (rarely even a minute long) made them very attractive for viewing, both during and after the event. Think of it this way, and it becomes obvious: Students were probably far more likely to sit down and watch 30 minutes of these 45-second videos, than they would be to watch 15 minutes of one video. Right?
Sure, we can (and maybe should) bemoan our collegians’ short attention spans and preference for quick-moving presentations, but we’re probably not gonna “fix it.” A rapid pace can – sometimes – be worth aiming for.
soundbites
Also from the file of “it’s-annoying-but-true”: Our Millennials love soundbites. And certainly the soundbite has been the M.O. of this Old Spice Man from the beginning. “I’m on a horse.” “Smell like a man, man.” “Swan dive!” “Look at your man, now back at me.” Those were in the commercials, and the two days of videos offered plenty of additional one-sentence wonders.
While I’m not completely sure how we work this in (and I’m not sure we’d want to), I’ve got a few guesses. It seems like we could at least offer the occasional “sound bite synopsis” of teaching, of our ministry’s values, of an upcoming event… If nothing else, it can make things “catchy” and “sticky,” which of course might just make them more impactful, too.
strategic targeting
One last bit of marketing genius was involving individuals who could help spread the word. I’ve already mentioned Kevin Rose and Alyssa Milano. They both have big sway these days over the internets and other media. So do Ashton Kutcher, George Stephanopoulos, Ellen DeGeneres, Perez Hilton, the Huffington Post, Apolo Ohno, and on and on… and all got shout-outs from Old Spice Man (and in the case of George, political advice for President Obama). The MSNBC article describes this strategy quite well:
The decision to include Rose and the celebrities was no accident. The Wieden team purposefully selected not only persons with huge followings on social networks — followings that dwarfed Old Spice’s own — but specifically those with particular credibility and influence over the technorati and social media addicts. The social media kingpins told their followers, their followers told their friends, and the math compounded exponentially, fervently and quickly. Old Spice’s Twitter followers increased more than 1,000 percent. Nearly 600,000 people on Facebook gave its ads a thumbs-up “like it” vote. And, according to Advertising Age, the Old Spice commercials received more than 7 million online views this week alone … The cost of media: nothing.
When it comes to campus ministry, this is one worth weighing carefully. There’s a thinnish line between trying to reach those who can help you reach others, and attracting or favoring only certain types of people. (Clearly, Old Spice chose the former, by the way.) But I do know that many college ministries have noticed that certain individuals can help them reach more people; do with that what you will.
But more clear (and less controversial) is recognizing that this can help our own advertising activities: spreading the word about an upcoming teaching series, for example, or hyping an upcoming event. If we’re strategic about how (and through whom) we first get the word out, we have a better chance of that “word” moving much further.
As with all of these lists, we observe the tools and the wisdom involved… but our methods are determined by our purposes (and not the other way around).
So thanks for the wisdom this week, Old Spice Man. Monocle smile!
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I’m not exactly sure why it would take me 12 years to consider applying this form in the way I’ll explain today, when it was – in fact- basically the main form of college ministry I was involved in myself.
When I went to Texas A&M, I jumped in pretty quickly to a church that just happened to draw the largest number of students down there. Our enormous Sunday morning gatherings (800 or so) began with some very “collegiate” worship, followed by announcements. But then, except for the very rare Sundays when we stayed together, we split into probably two dozen different classes.
The classes were generally “set” for the semester (though the participants could move around if they felt like it). So over my time at A&M, I participated in a small group studying God’s Invitation, a larger Freshmen class, a large Bible-book class taught by an adult, and a class working through the book Experiencing God (that I actually co-taught with a gal). There was another one in there – possibly a men’s class? – but no more for me, since I graduated rather early.
This format certainly isn’t unheard-of among church-based college ministries. However, many church-based college ministries also have a(nother) Large Group Meeting during the week, with the standard single-teacher form. Ours didn’t (but that was likely because other ministries – including the five-thousand-student-drawing Breakaway – had midweek things).
But even though this is what I enjoyed there, until recently I’d never considered the possibility that any Large Group Meeting of a certain size could offer the same sort of “split form.” Following fellowship, worship, announcements, skits, videos, etc., any large-enough college ministry could offer not one single teaching time, but multiple topics and teachers. So that’s this week’s Fridea: the split-form large group meeting.
From the perspective of college ministry “norms,” this is definitely from funkytown. While it’s certainly possible that somebody out there uses this format, I don’t remember ever seeing it. (If you know a ministry that does, I’d love to hear about it.) But with my recent focus on letting our purposes for students govern our methods, as well as examining the college ministries here in Dallas (including the one I volunteer in), I’m suddenly quite intrigued by this idea.
Potential pros? This allows for and even pushes “self-discipleship” – making students discern the learning they need the most, at this time. It allows for more of your qualified leaders (either students or adults) to participate in a teaching role. It offers variety, which college students – and all the moreso Millennial college students – love.
Doesn’t this just replicate small groups? It could, and that’s no good. But these groups may actually offer variety the small groups don’t (in their teachers, or across lines of school year, gender, or maturity). If your small groups require pretty solid commitment, these probably wouldn’t – they’d still function as “front door” (assuming that’s the goal of your Large Group Meeting). And these splits wouldn’t necessarily be very small, anyway.
And while this takes away some opportunities to steer the entire group at once, you could – of course – only use Split Form in certain weeks of the school year.
So there you go. I feel like this is one of those Frideas that could get me laughed off the internets, or could revolutionize some ministries. It’s still one I’m pondering, so don’t judge me for thinking out loud!
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This is one of my favorites from last week. What’s yours?
Yesterday I described Old Spice’s recent internet campaign as “this month’s challenge to greater excellence” for us college ministers. One of my biggest hopes for college ministers is that we’d learn to, in a sense, “see the world through college ministry-colored lenses” – applying the wisdom we learn from everywhere to the specific, amazing call God has given us.
(That’s one of my driving hopes for the College Ministers Cohort at Catalyst, in fact – for us together to creatively apply what we learn at the conference. That’s one BIG reason to stay for our Saturday session!)
So I want to continue to view the Old Spice phenomenon through those very lenses. (If you’re unfamiliar with Old Spice’s surprising marketing move last week, my intro’s here. You can now see the whole series here.)
excellence
Through video after video, the Old Spice spots were excellent. Sure, aiming for “professionalism” at the cost of impact is a temptation for many, many college ministers. But going through with an activity (small or big) when it isn’t as truly excellent as it should be is also a big temptation. Too often we place action above planning and/or preparation, and that’s certainly ill-advised – whether it’s in designing a skit or creating a huge campus-wide event.
And lest we misunderstand: The concern over excellence isn’t simply for “marketing” or recruitment reasons. Excellence in our activities may connect with honoring God, hospitality, effectiveness, modeling, or all of the above.
bravery
As this article notes, “Old Spice’s parent company Procter & Gamble exhibited incredible bravery in allowing [the advertisers] to write marketing content in real time, with little to no supervision.” But not only did P&G take a gamble (get it?), the advertisers had to be brave to try a never-before-seen ploy!
Plenty of our impact comes from doing basic things well, every time. But some of our impact will only come… bravely.
go with opportunities
Of course, unless you’ve really been avoiding the TV, you know that last week’s Old Spice extravaganza was simply another iteration of some very popular commercials. When America first went crazy for the Old Spice Man after he was “on a horse,” the advertisers took advantage of the moment and doubled down on his popularity.
This can be applied in both lighthearted and more serious ways in our college ministries. But all the options come down to this question: Are we willing to adjust our calendars or even adjust our priorities when true opportunities present themselves?
fun
I can’t say it better than Matt McComas did the other day in the comments: “It was obvious [the Old Spice advertisers] were having fun with it…and that was attractive. It made me want to learn about the marketing company that was putting these shenanigans on. Seems like a fun culture to be a part of.”
(And it’s not surprising that this vital point would be brought up by a Campus Crusade guy; as I’ve noted before, they are very, very good at making campus ministry fun.)
personalization
Remember how, earlier this century, everybody began noticing that the Millennials are really excited about showcasing themselves? That’s still true, although it’s probably not quite as ego-driven as some curmudgeons believe. Still, our collegians do very much believe in the “power of one,” and they like it when they happen to be that “one” in the spotlight.
The Old Spice Man couldn’t answer nearly everybody who queried in those two days, but he took a nice stab at it. And it wasn’t only (or even mostly) celebs who received attention. So even those who didn’t get personal responses still felt included, because they were represented by the 180ish who did.
For college ministry, there are little applications of this (like recognizing birthdays and reading students’ blogs and status updates) and big applications – like asking ourselves, Does every member of our campus ministry feel like they’re well-represented by our ministry?
As you look through college ministry lenses at the Old Spice campaigns, what do you notice?
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I’m taking a quick break from looking at this month’s challenge to greater excellence (as delivered by Old Spice), but I’d love your thoughts on that. Hopefully THIS will be encouraging as you prepare for the upcoming school year!
Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox. (Prov. 14:4 ESV)
It’s a simple matter to have a clean manger, a clean barn, a clean life… just don’t buy any oxen. Or, if you prefer a plowed field and the resulting abundant crops, you can choose the messy oxen route. It’s your choice, but you can’t generally have both.
Good college ministry allows things to get a little messy.
But the temptations include
- Trying to organize the messiness out of our ministry.
- Forgetting to treat people differently, because streamlining is so much easier.
- Forgetting to treat each semester differently, because planning is so much easier.
- Refusing to accept anomalies on their own terms instead of “fitting them into the system” – be they individual volunteers, surprise opportunities, teachable moments, surprise disasters, or needs-of-the-hour.
- Freaking out about the messiness in the students we serve.
- Looking to build “perfect” “unity” among local college ministries by removing any hint of programmatic overlap or competition. (Often we – and even moreso college students – overreach in this pursuit!)
- Having undue confidence in our program “as is,” since smooth sailing and steady growth are the (undue) expectations for the foreseeable future.
- Getting depressed about all the roadblocks to building a strong, long-lasting college ministry.
- Dealing with our students as we assume they are or hope they are or believe “college students in general” to be, instead of as our particular students truly are.
The lack of tolerance and expectation of messiness in college ministry seems to lead to a surprising amount of difficulty, disillusionment, and even conflict between people or ministries.
Personally, I am an “all-my-ducks-in-a-row” kind of guy; I don’t like “messy.” Maybe more than many of you. And since I’m that way, I would love to believe that I could start a college ministry, run some classic “Good College Ministry Plays,” and then let that tidy package bring abundant crops year after year.
It doesn’t seem to happen like that.
Perhaps more than any other ministry area, Collegiate-Ministry-in-a-Box doesn’t work. Boy, I wish it did. But if I have to choose between a tidy feedbox and fruitful plowing, I’ll choose messy ox over clean box any day.
This post was expanded from something I posted in September 2008. But c’mon – were you really reading this blog way back then?
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