Financial Expert Hosts "Town Hall for Hope" More than one million people recently participated in the largest syndicated webcast to date, when nationally syndicated talk show host Dave Ramsey broadcast the "Town Hall for Hope" live from LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma City. The discussion of the economy and the importance of hope was heard on the radio, seen on cable's Fox Business Network, and webcast to more than 6,000 locations nationwide. During the webcast, Dave commented: "Activity is going to be your answer. You’ve got to get up, take action and get moving! Failure is not bad. Failure has got to be an option, because if you think it's chasing you, you'll run towards excellence!" Western States Growing Fastest U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicate that Utah and Texas grew the most during the most recently mapped year, July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008. The only two states that declined in population were Rhode Island and Michigan. In general, Northeastern states are not growing as fast as other parts of the country, but theyhave been on the increase since 2005. The South added the most people during the period, 1.4 million. However Western states, with a 1.4% increase, saw the fastest growth rate. One state that has reversed its course of growth is Florida. A few years ago more than 250,000 people per year were moving to that state. But for 2007-2008, the state's 0.7% increase was below the nation's 0.9% overall increase. According to the estimates, the United States had a net gain of just over 2.7 million people from July 2007 to July 2008. Churches Decrease Radio, Expand Internet Many churches are cutting back on their radio broadcasting time to tap into endless opportunities the Internet offers. Churches seeking to expand their reach are taking advantage of what they already have an abundance of--content. Sermons and other teachings and presentations can be recorded and posted to a church’s website. Web tools and sites are making it easier for ministries to manage their materials at a fraction of what it would cost for a radio broadcast. The Internet allows even small ministries to reach international audiences. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, 19% of all Internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it later. This is up from 12% in August 2006, while 17% said they downloaded a podcast in a typical day. Many churches expect those numbers only to increase as more people use broadband Internet, download more mp3s and buy mobile devices with increased online capabilities. Some ministries that are already posting audio online are planning to expand to stay on par with technology trends. Nearly 6.9 million iPhones were sold during the last financial quarter, compared to 1.1 million just a year ago, which has more ministries targeting mobile technology.