KevMcCord

Picking The Next Tech Project

If you find yourself in the rare position of having to decide which technology project to do next at your church, pick the one that's most likely to work (technically) and succeed (missionally).  Look for the project that has:

1. High Excitement From the Pastor/Executive Team
2. High Excitement from the Ministry Team
3. Positively impacts the largest number of people at your church
4. Negatively impacts the smallest number of people on your staff
5. Has the clearest set of requirements
6. Has the lowest degree of complexity 

The trick is the last two criteria.  You (Tech Guru) may not be able to control the first four things, but you can impact the last two!

1. You are in a position to clarify requirements.  This means getting to the bottom line things the new technology must do.
2. You are in a position to decrease complexity.  This means finding working models your church can afford and copying one of them.

Chances are...

1. You're smart enough to improve on something someone else is doing or to make it fit your church.
2. You lack the time, experience, and resources to re-invent the wheel

Then again, do you really get to pick the next project?

Church Technology Projects

How we do it:

• Pastor is going to announce "such and such" to the whole church in three months so we need to go research (no time), buy (no money) implement (no long term plan) something because a gazillion people are going to go online and do this the day we launch it (also the day it will be announced).

How we should do it:

• We've had some pretty good results with this new technology we put out there quietly last month.  It was pretty obvious we needed it last year when we decided we weren't ready to automate that thing pastor wanted us to do.  Good thing pastor asked the elders for a budget and gave us enough permission to get a simplified version of our ultimate goal online.   Turns out we didn't need for it to [insert flashy feature here]. Pastor is ready to promote it to the church as part of next month's teaching series and we're sure it will work.

There are churches that do it right most of the time.  There are churches that talk about doing it right next time.

It's been my experience that pastors are reasonable people (as a rule).  I find it is often the people in the middle, those between the doers and the deciders, who over-promise.

VisitOasis.Org Improves Significantly

Comparing last January to this January.

The Next Hot Site Idea

Trying to come up with the next hot website?  Think of a common expression that many people use.  Then turn it into a community experiment/expeirence.

Let's practice.

Common Expression: 

There are two sides to every story.

Check for available domains to host the website: 

www.2sides2everyStory.tv is available

Write a One Sentence Hook: 

Got a disagreement?  Have each party upload their side and then we'll display them side-by-side so your friends can vote on who's right.

Ideas are easy.  For all I know this one already exists. It's the execution that is tough.  It's the execution that makes the difference.

Florida Church IT Roundtable

It's getting closer!  The Florida Church IT Roundtable hosted by Christ Fellowship is scheduled for January 26th.  Have you registered yet?

Event Wiki with registration link: http://fl.citrt.org/

Original Post: http://churchcio.com/regional-church-it-roundtable-event-in-florida

More Recent Post With Specifics:  http://churchcio.com/regional-florida-citrt-event-january-26th-2009

If you do IT for your church--by IT I mean Information Teachnology--and your church is in Florida I hope to see you there!  The $50 registration plus about that much money in gas and food is about all the conference budget I'm going to get this year and this is the best bang for the buck I'm sure!

Twitter Scenario 6

I recently learned to Twitter.  Twitter isn't immediately obvious, but it is incredibly useful.  Here is one scenario that might help you see the twitter possibilities.

Say you are trying to extend your small group relationships at church into the week for mutual encouragement and accountability.  Get other members of your group on Twitter and share updates throughout the week as you put into practice the things you discussed and learned as a group.  Who knows, others who follow your small group members may get in on it and grow your group.

Twitter Scenario 5

I recently learned to Twitter.  Twitter isn't immediately obvious, but it is incredibly useful.  Here is one scenario that might help you see the twitter possibilities.

Say your friend is going to see Barrack Obama's inauguration and that she has invitations to several key events.  If she twitters throughout the festivities you can get a first-person account of what takes place.  What if you don't have a friend like that?  You could probably search on Obama Inaguration and find someone who is there and follow them.

Twitter Scenario 4

I recently learned to Twitter.  Twitter isn't immediately obvious, but it is incredibly useful.  Here is one scenario that might help you see the twitter possibilities.

Say you just read an article or a book by someone amazing and that person Twitters.  Maybe that person is someone you might want to work for someday.  Maybe you're hoping to understand how they do what they do.  Maybe you just think they have an odd and interesting view of the world.  If you follow them on Twitter you will gain insights into what matters to them as well as how they spend their time.  It's basically a socially acceptable way to stalk someone.

Here are some famous people who twitter.

Twitter Scenario 3

I recently learned to Twitter.  Twitter isn't immediately obvious, but it is incredibly useful.  Here is one scenario that might help you see the twitter possibilities.

Say you are going to paint an orphanage in Guatemala.  Have team members tweet (post) throughout the day using #GuatTrip.  The Twitter programs for iPhones and other devices allow you to easily upload pictures at the same time.  There are many ways people who are NOT using twitter could follow your updates.

1. By RSS Subscription
2. By having your church webmaster pull the RSS feed and display it on the church site. 
3. By adding the RSS feed to a member's blog as a widget

4. By giving those interested in following your trip updates a link

Twitter Scenario 2

I recently learned to Twitter.  Twitter isn't immediately obvious, but it is incredibly useful.  Here is one scenario that might help you see the twitter possibilities.

Say you have 6 relatives working together on a family reunion.  Have their tweets (posts) sent to your mobile device as SMS messages and then agree to all post updates as you work through your part of the project.  All six stay informed.  A record is created.  Links to things they should all check out and weigh in on are shared.  Photos are uploaded.  They can all add the word #09reunion to each post to make it easier to search and fine tweets related to the effort.