This last year of the DVD project has been one in which tremendous strides were made. The film is complete and we are delighted to finally share this milestone with our membership. A huge thank-you goes out to TLS member Kim Becker, her colleagues at Sisca Directs, and the DVD Committee for a job well done on phase one of this project.

To keep our environmental footprint both small and green, streaming video of the DVD is now available via a new destination on our beautiful web site. As you'll see in the next news item, the DVD committee is not the only facet of TLS that has been diligently working to improve member benefits. The website committee has created a new 'members only' area on the web site to facilitate easy access to the DVD as well as streamlining many other things you've come to enjoy in our web presence.

Image and donor credits will be made available as PDF downloads via the DVD update page of the web site. This will allow interested viewers to see who contributed to the DVD and provide a place where additional information on the featured labyrinths can be accessed. Please visit the DVD page for those options which are coming soon.

If you are eagerly awaiting your own hard copy of the DVD, please note that phases three and four of the DVD project have begun: manufacture and packaging. Once these phases are complete, information on how to order a copy of the DVD will be advertised in this e-newsletter. So stay tuned!

Finally, a deep debt of gratitude goes out to all of the members who offered support and encouragement along the way. We hope everyone enjoys the DVD and uses it to excite interest in labyrinths world-wide!

The TLS DVD Project Committee:

Hallie Sawyers, TLS Education Outreach Chair
Lisa Moriarty, TLS President
Kimberly Lowelle Saward, TLS Past President
David Gallagher, TLS Executive Director
Jeff Saward, TLS WWLL Administrator
Katja Marquart, TLS Publications Chair

The Members Only Site includes:

• A streaming video version of our new DVD, Labyrinths for Our Time - Places of Refuge in a Hectic World;
• Access to the Member Directory;
• Access to the forum (You will still need to use a forum login in addition to logging into the Members Only site.);
• The Member Handbook to print, read as individual pages, or download as a PDF;
• There is a ‘Contact Us’ form created to make it easy for members to volunteer or contact someone to take care of other membership-related issues.

Gain access by clicking on the Member Login or forum link at the top of any website page.

The forum has now been updated to the latest version, which is easier to use. There are two new topics: Sacred Geometry and Labyrinths in Churches. With the introduction of the 'Members Only' portion of our website, the forum will now go behind the login, and only members will be able to gain access. Because of this heightened security, members can now register themselves for the forum without administrator intervention.

Although nonmembers may no longer see the forum, they will still have unlimited access to our Facebook pages and can also Contact Us for any questions they may have. Links to our two Facebook sites are now on the website's splash page to facilitate this process.

Other updates include:

• The World Labyrinth Day™ page has been created, and press releases are now available for download;
• The Splash page has been updated with 'World Labyrinth Day^TM' and 'Research' buttons;
• Customized Regional Reps templates are in place so that Kimberly Saward, our Regional Rep Coordinator, can send out mailings to the regional reps;
• The Gathering Pages are up to date for the 2010 Gathering and we are preparing for online registration to be available sometime in April.

There are many more improvements in the works, so stay tuned and check the TLS website often!
 

In September, 2009, Christiana Brinton, TLS member and PR person for the 2009 Gathering, created a virtual radio show called, Labyrinths In the News, in the LIFE category on BlogTalkRadio to help spread the word about the 2009 TLS Gathering. It was so well received that she decided to continue the show as a free PR/Marketing service to the labyrinth community. She is actively looking for new guests to interview on her 45-minute show, which airs every Monday at 3:30 PST.

During the first 30 minutes, Christiana interviews a "Labyrinth Luminary" about relevant labyrinth work, passion, or ministry, and then opens the discussion up to additional callers. Listeners who wish to join the discussion can call in on the phone number assigned specifically to her show, (347) 850-8743. Guests can use their episode as a marketing tool. They get to plug their labyrinth work, websites, and upcoming events. Guests can return multiple times if they have something new to share. So far she has interviewed Lisa Moriarty, Robert Ferre, Jim Buchanan, Ronald Esquivel, Lea Goode-Harris, Eve Hogan, Sonam Targee, Ansula Press, and many others. Upcoming topics include an interivew with World Labyrinth Day^TM Coordinator Stephanie Blackton, scheduled to air on March 8th, and an interview on March 15th with TLS Executive Director, David Gallagher.

All episodes are archived and available to listen to and download in .mp3 format for 90 days after the live program.

This is a wonderful service for the labyrinth community, both listeners and guests. Visit the program at BlogTalkRadio, and if you are interested in being a guest on Labyrinths In the News, please contact Christiana Brinton. She will send prospective guests an info sheet that explains her procedures. On the Friday preceding the episode, she sends her guest a script of initial questions she will be asking on the program. This gives the guests guidelines and an opportunity to make suggestions before the program.

As Christiana says on the air every Monday, “It is my intention to enlighten labyrinth neophytes and support labyrinth veterans with guests who provide a depth of information and personal experience not available through other sources.” She looks forward to connecting with more TLS members on her program.