gavoweb

spiritual | cultural | technological life

Technology

a good day : its what i like

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this morning started with a bit of a chaotic drive through nashville rush hour. not something i have had to deal with for a few years now. but, in the end, i spent my morning hours with jay, chatting a new book project and all points updates on each others lives.

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now i’m sitting in alektor cafe, chilling out, reading a bit, eating some good foods, and just breathing in prayer. this, is the kind of morning i miss having not living as close to downtown as i used to. it may sound shallow or an excuse, but having physical, pilgrimage sites, to feel rejuvenated really does make a difference.

church technology : the confusion of getting it done

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its mindbending.. church and technology.

my wife used to work in graphic design, she started up her own business and grew it out to the point of needing to hire employees. knowing she was going to eventually become a manager, she went to the families established business. dad wanted to her onboard too, so it worked out well. my mom-in-law is a travel agent, she’s been doing that for quite a few years. both get frustrated with an aspect of their work where people feel like they know the ins and outs of their work so much that they will use them for work, but not give them fair treatment because the individual has some idea how they can do it themselves. the truth is, they are experts for reasons, they know their trade, the basic stuff & the fine nuance.

its with that family history in mind that i know the church struggles with technology, especially internet technology. so many folks have now created content on the net, worked on computers, navigated a network, etc that everyone is, in some way, an expert in bringing technology to the church. problem is, that is a recipe for disaster. once i sat in on a church website team that argued over which animated cross and flame gif file was to be on the homepage (my answer was, neither!). so how does one get the people needed to help implement needed tech tools into the church?

greg at churchvideoideas has some thought worth heeding.

The problem with IT/media ministries is that most people that like
technology are quiet people. They see things so clearly that they
believe that if someone wanted their help, they’d ask. This isn’t about
ego, it is about how they see the world and the church – it just makes
logical sense to them. What they don’t realize is that you have to let
people know about your passions and interests.

thoughts on a postcard : marketing in ministry

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last week i sent out my very first graphically enhanced postcard. our church has had this ‘no color’ policy for some time. not sure why, but i was faithful to that till i just couldn’t take it anymore. i now just do it when it is needed. since we were doing a big kickoff for our remodeled youth program and reimagined focus. so we sent out postcards to all the youth. i had some of the leaders pick out our graphic, i told them it needed to be simple, clean and conveying an image they felt would speak to what we were getting into. i liked their choice, which worked out well for me. so with my first snazzy postcard attempt i was intrigued to read thoughts from the ministry marketing coach.

People Don’t Pay Much Attention to Your Postcards, Sorry!

..even the slickest advertisement, from even the best advertising agency
comes up against all the other clutter of competing messages in the
mailbox also clamoring for the attention of the people they want to
reach. What you need is a strategy for overcoming the clutter.

..

Frequency in advertising is the number of
times an advertisement is repeated to the same audience. Most
advertisers, especially religious advertisers, give up long before the
person they want to reach has been “reached” with the message.

..

This same thing happens when you are making evangelistic contacts or
following up on the people who visit your church. Just because guests
come a few times in a row doesn’t mean your follow-up work is done. How
long did it take you to understand what it means to follow Jesus?
Sadly, too many churches give up on people long before they should.

i don’t really have a frequency plan for sending out more of a postcard campaign. i just thought i’d use some stationary the wifey bought for me to write individual letters to people. maybe that will help

a great answer : google relationship

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i am really looking forward to this years barcamp. last years was excellent, and i was bummed to miss podcamp. barcamp folks interviewed one of the presenters as their presentation title is getting a bit of traffic. it is titled ‘how to make google your bitch‘ which i find hilarious. especially for those seo folks. the dialog is even better.

How long have you been making Google your Bitch? (Also, how does this make Google feel?)

Jon Henshaw: “The truth of the matter is that Google has been making
me their bitch much longer than I’ve been making them mine. So any
chance I can love them back the way they’ve loved me, I do it! As for
how Google feels about it…I think of our relationship as passive
aggressive. We would get counseling, but I can’t find a good counselor
who will work with a super gigantic mega corporation and a delusional
search engine optimizer.”