i’m a huge fan of ted. if i had the money i would so geek out at their conference. so it is with no real surprise that there is something shared that might in fact aid one of my passions, the church & specifically the umc.
in a lunch conversation i had with larry hollon on tuesday (thanks larry for the time) he had asked my thoughts on some of the things i might address in rethink church & the agencies approach to using social media. one of the things that i suggested was the release of control of materials. creative commons is the new framework we move in, not exclusive copyright. so i found interesting some similar themes & possibly an answer in tim berners-lee ted talk on how he developed the internet (no, it wasn’t al gore) and his newest ‘play project’ of linked data.
things that jumped out at me quickly were when he mentioned “you’ve payed for this” in regards to the data that the government has. because we have payed for them with tax payer money. within the united methodist church, we have apportionment’s that pay for the agencies to do a large amount of their work. in essence, we are owners of that information. we should have access to it.
but there is a control mentality that if you give it away you loose 1. your ability to make money (which isn’t the role of umcom or the other agencies) 2. that people will re-purpose your stuff (ala. a mashup or sound clip it for their own thing)… both of which, are navigatable (i don’t think i just made up that word). many of our biggest companies give their braintrust away for free and they’ve parlayed it into a living and the most loyal of customers. why assume that someone re-purposing your stuff is innately bad? i go with the assumption there are more creative people out there than i. as a youth pastor i keep trying to groom them that way as well. they do things i would never have imagined re-purposing my ideas for the betterment of the ministry.
so what do i suggest with this?
- get over your control issues. that might start with just naming them. (as a personal shot, why are we asking people to take down meaningful & helpful videos on youtube)
- put people in charge of sharing your braintrust. put together the linked data setup with your information and let others come in and put in their part.
- allow them full access so that they can know their people better & serve more fully
- open up resources for them to re-purpose graphics, videos, logos, etc to reach a demographic that you are trying to reach, but painfully not.
Interesting post. These thoughts are on the young clergy table as we start to organize a support network. It feels great to go about it with open hands. If someone has an idea, great, we go with it. It’s difficult for the power-control tendencies in us. But we completely trust that an organic movement of the Spirit will empower all people to tell the story of faith in their own way.
It comes from the people at the table truly believing others have better ideas about how this will happen.
Interesting post. These thoughts are on the young clergy table as we start to organize a support network. It feels great to go about it with open hands. If someone has an idea, great, we go with it. It’s difficult for the power-control tendencies in us. But we completely trust that an organic movement of the Spirit will empower all people to tell the story of faith in their own way.
It comes from the people at the table truly believing others have better ideas about how this will happen.
i really resonate with your post. i really appreciate when larger congregations like COR, NorthPoint, etc. share their ideas and resources (sometimes for free, sometimes not) so that others can take and adapt the idea or resource for their own context.
I think this allows for good ideas to become better (kind of like the whole open-source movement).
i really resonate with your post. i really appreciate when larger congregations like COR, NorthPoint, etc. share their ideas and resources (sometimes for free, sometimes not) so that others can take and adapt the idea or resource for their own context.
I think this allows for good ideas to become better (kind of like the whole open-source movement).
I wonder… is part of it a generational thing? Boomers and those of the “older” generation were taught to be skeptical of “free” things. If it’s free, it must not be worth much. But those of the Gen X, Y, etc. have come to expect access to quality, free things. I think of the news as an example. News reporters and newspapers are folding because people don’t expect to pay for the new anymore. You’re right, much of the issue is control – when you give your stuff away, you lose control. I have certainly experienced that my interactions with the general agencies. But is part of it that those currently in control think giving their stuff away will make it seem less valuable?
I wonder… is part of it a generational thing? Boomers and those of the “older” generation were taught to be skeptical of “free” things. If it’s free, it must not be worth much. But those of the Gen X, Y, etc. have come to expect access to quality, free things. I think of the news as an example. News reporters and newspapers are folding because people don’t expect to pay for the new anymore. You’re right, much of the issue is control – when you give your stuff away, you lose control. I have certainly experienced that my interactions with the general agencies. But is part of it that those currently in control think giving their stuff away will make it seem less valuable?
you and your generational theory rachel always raiding my party.. i hadn’t thought about it but the free, not worth anything, connection might actually be worth some look.
chris, open source is a good ethos in adopting some of this idea.
you and your generational theory rachel always raiding my party.. i hadn’t thought about it but the free, not worth anything, connection might actually be worth some look.
chris, open source is a good ethos in adopting some of this idea.