In 1970, Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter:

“So go on with your organization for distribution of my books through press and other modern media and Krishna will certainly be pleased upon you. We can use everything—television, radio, movies, or whatever there may be—to tell about Krishna….” 

In this spirit, on April 21^st, a group of dedicated devotees led by Gopal Bhatta das, Pancharatna dasa launched the ISKCONOnline.com project. As they explain, “ISKCON Online’s primary purpose is to create an association of interested devotees who will improve the quality, relevance and relatability of ISKCON’s presence on the Internet.”

Obviously, the Internet was not born when Srila Prabhupada wrote he letter above, but today it is the greatest of “modern media” Srila Prabhupada speaks of.  Today – 

• Nearly 3 billion people are online
• Over 75% of people in developed countries are online
• Nearly 2 billion people are using social media
• Facebook alone has 1.3 billion users 

According to the ISKCONOnline organizers, “the Internet world has become an integral part of our lives, yet in ISKCON we are just beginning to use the power of this new medium to spread Krishna consciousness. And, in some cases, our Internet presence is more negative than positive. 

That’s why we’ve started ISKCON Online, a new project to significantly expand and enhance the quality, scope and effectiveness of advancing the Krishna consciousness movement using the Internet. 

With participation from all corners of the world we are creating a vibrant network that empowers devotees with the creativity and technology needed to transform ISKCON’s presence and utilization of the Internet. 

By sharing state-of-the-art information, techniques and tools, learning from each other’s experience and combining together into service teams we will powerfully use the Internet to serve ISKCON’s mission, especially in outreach and systematic spiritual education.” 

The web site features articles culled from all over the online world on topics such as: 

1) Marketing principles

2) Content marketing

3) Spiritual marketing

4) Social media

5) Website design

6) Marketing tools

7) CRM and SEO

8) Analytics. 

The organizers are asking devotees from all over the world to help build this network by participating and sharing this message with others.

There is no obligation in joining the ISKCON Online network, but there are many benefits:

• Regular communications of hand-picked news, articles and resources from the professional internet development world that are directly relevant to ISKCON on the internet
• Linking devotees with relevant skills and talents with service opportunities
• Creating productive teams to work on projects that benefit all of ISKCON.

  * * * 

Anyone interested, please go to ISKCON Online’s home page at www.iskcononline.com and join in one of two ways:  sign-up for the newsletter to stay in touch with updates to the website and its projects, or; join the network if you would like to actively participate with all aspects of the ISKCON Online experience.

If you are interested in understanding in detail the ISKCON Online project, including its overall mission, vision and key elements of its strategy please take some time to read the strategic overview at www.iskcononline.com/ ISKCON-Online.pdf