ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want To Help Organize One-Part 3: Collaborative Planning

Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together toward an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor[1] [2] that is creative in nature[3]—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Collaboration does not require leadership and can sometimes bring better results through decentralization and egalitarianism.[4] In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

This is at the heart of ChurchTechCamp. A coming together of people, sharing of their gifts and resources, to bring a greater impact to the Church through the use of technology. This is not something that one person, or one organization can do, but rather is best brought about by a number of people with a variety of gifts.

When planning for a ChurchTechCamp in your area one of the early things to think about is the collaborative nature of the event and who are those people that can get the ball rolling, as well as usher in a presence and demeanor to everyone else on the fringes to participate and give fully of their gifts. Put another way, “Who can help make this a shared event, and not a one or two person show?”

To pull of ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas collaboration was key. It began as I have mentioned before in a Twitter conversation. Tony Steward knew that John Saddington was coming to Dallas and that I was interested in having it in Dallas. So it began as a collaborative effort among the three of us, but was really encouraged by others who commented on the Twitter conversation. We helped organize, but it was the attendees, in person and online, who before and after the event brought the true meaning of collaboration to the event. A few simply helped get the ball rolling, the rest was done by all of you. Thank you to all of them.

Thanks again to Christoper for designing the ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas website. He practically volunteered and did it overnight. Thanks Christopher, that was huge. If you ever need design work, make sure you contact him.

Thanks to everyone who brought extension cords and power supply cords.

Thanks to Unifyer for providing lunch for all of us. Thanks Matt, thanks Lance. They are a group of people with a passion to bring collaborative tools to Church.

Thanks to Shawn Bettes for his work in helping organize the Irving Bible Church location. Thanks for all you did.

Thanks to Tony Steward for all his work in gathering people who are interested in the use of technology and Church, and it’s impact upon the Kingdom. Tony is a pastor at heart and I’m thankful, as I know many of you are that he has helped spearhead this event. Or is that an online pastor at heart Tony? If you aren’t a reader of Tony’s blog, please check it out. I’m learning tons from him everyday.

Thanks to John Saddington of ChurchCrunch, who helped bring amazing knowledge and “mad” teaching skills to the event. John has a huge passion for educating people in the area of technology and how it can greatly impact the Kingdom and the Gospel message. If you are not a reader of ChurchCrunch you should be. I have been learning tons everyday from the wisdom he brings to this topic. ChurchCrunch is one of my RSS feeds at the bottom of my site for the next month. So check it out if you havne’t.

And last, what event can be collaborative without a wiki. Check out ChurchTechCamp wiki here.

Or watch the live replay here. (We did have technical difficulties…sorry).

80 plus people in person, and another 100 or so online = collaboration.

What are some of the advantages of collaboration?

What are some of the disadvantages?

How has it worked well in the past for you?

Check out the two previous posts on this series below:

ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want To Help Organize One-Part 1: It’s Organic

ChurchTechCamp-8 Things to Know If You Want To Help Organize One-Part 2: Unconference

Disclaimer: Tony Steward is the main organizer, facilitator and influence behind ChurchTechCamp:.LA and ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas, I’m simply writing this series from the perspective of helping organize the details (location specifics) for the Dallas event, and hopefully this will be a useful series if you find yourself wanting to or in the position of helping organize one for your city.