The annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) are now over, and after flying all night, I am happily back home with my family. Like all the other members of the Accordance team, I’m exhausted after a busy week of demonstrating Accordance to hundreds of scholars, students, and pastors. Yet we’re also exhilarated by all the kind words we received and excitement we saw.
This year, more than any other I can remember, we had numerous people thanking us for the work we’re doing and the software we’ve created. I had several people tell me personally that Accordance has “changed their lives,” revolutionized their studies, and enabled them to do things previous generations of scholars would have found impossible. I demonstrated to students and profs who got very excited when they saw that Accordance could greatly simplify their research or jazz up their classroom presentations.
The most enjoyable demos I did were the ones where people came up with specific questions. For example, they might tell us the subject of their dissertation and then ask, “Can Accordance help me do that?” We’d then show them the specific features they might use and the kinds of search results they could generate. Most of the staff in our booth are not natural born salesmen (least of all myself), but when you show people that Accordance can scratch their particular itch, there’s no need for slick sales pitches. Yes, it’s cliché to say this, but Accordance quite literally sells itself.
The most poignant example of this came when someone asked if Accordance could help with a project he had been working on for years. I showed what Accordance could do and his eyes absolutely lit up. He left telling me I was a “godsend.” Later that evening, he e-mailed me to explain that he is terminally ill, and that he now has hope that he will be able to finish his project in the time he has left.
This man’s story reminded me that each one of you has a story to tell and goals you hope to accomplish. Inasmuch as Accordance can help you achieve those goals, it really does have the potential to be life-changing. It’s an awesome responsibility, and one we take very seriously. That’s why we continually strive to make Accordance the fastest, most reliable, and most powerful Bible study solution available.