Tag Archive - Chris Brogan

Getting Outside Our Villages

September 25, 2008 in Uncategorized with 4 Comments

I said something earlier this week about my appreciation for GodblogCon and their attempt to be more “missionally minded.” I know that when they brought the conference to Vegas from the campus of Biola not everyone was happy about it. In fact, I think many decided not to come to Vegas because it was….well Vegas. “Sin City” as it has been dubbed.

But I think that was the smartest move that could have been made, and I’m hoping that GodblogCon continues more and more to integrate its ideas, values and thoughts on social media into the rest of the Blogworld and New Media Expo.

I think that we can all learn from each other, and unless Christians and non-Christians (or those who have a practicing faith and those who don’t) continue to dialogue and listen to one another, then I think we all miss out on what we all have to offer.

I like what Diva Marketing says below:

Last year some of my greatest learnings came from sessions outside of my comfort zone – military and sports blogging. This year I sat in on a God Blog session and listened intently to the Andrew Jones, Tall Skinny Kiwi, tell his story about faith blogs. He begin with a light hearted joke .. You might be a faith blogger if .. My favorite .. You’re a faith blogger if your prayers are 140 characters or less because that’s all Twitter allows.

My big take away from Andrew’s talk (slides) was ~

A blog should not be a well. It should be a spring. ~

Although Andrew put it into a religious context, his concept makes perfect sense to me not only for blogs but for social media in general. Think about it .. a well contains stagnant waters. Stagnation occurs when there is no new flow of water. Blogs, social networks, wikis and all the other tools/tactics allow for and encourage fresh water or new ideas to flow.

Sidebar: I often say that the blogopshere/social media is comprised of many, many villages. There is the business blog village where Diva Marketing resides and then the mommy blog, golf blog, healthcare blog, beauty blog, race horse blog “villages” and more. The God blog/faith blog village is one of the most active. Skip over to the interview I did with Lead Pastor of the National Community Church – David Batterson – for some insights into this most interesting “village.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Some of the best times at the conference, and some of the greatest things I learned is when I ventured outside my village and comfort zone and saw what others had to offer. I look forward to next year. It a unique conference.

As Chris Brogan said in reference to Blogworld and New Media Expo:

Rick’s event brought diverse people like religious, military, sports, and political bloggers, and I liked that.

Blogworld and New Media Expo & GodblogCon

September 22, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

This last weekend was a great time at Blogworld and New Media Expo, and GodblogCon.

It was my fourth year at GodblogCon, and my 2nd time at Blogworld.

I have some thoughts about the conference and I will be posting them this week, but just a sampler of some things that stood out to me.

  1. Moving GodblogCon to Vegas last year to be a part of Blogworld and New Media Expo was a great choice.  I would actually be interested in exploring with the Godblog people some ways that we can integrate even more, so it’s not two separate conferences.


  2. Huge, huge props to John Mark Reynolds, Dustin Steeve and the crew from Biola’s Torrey Honor’s Institute for putting together a great conference.  They are some of the most amazing and hospitable people there are, and I’m glad to be a part of such a great group. Thanks Dustin and crew.


  3. Missional thinking: The connection between the two conferences this weekend was tech, new media, social media, etc.  As Christians we need to do a better job of finding our common ground with others, with the world, build relationships, etc.


  4. New media and tech people seem to be very accessible, patient and easy going to me.  The Church can learn a lot from them, especially how they collaborate with one another, communicate from decentralized positions/relationships, etc, etc.  I was super impressed with how accessible all the big speakers were, and how they spent a great amount of time talking to people. Chris Brogan, Andrew Jones and Guy Kawasaki come to mind.  This conference doesn’t seem to have the speakers that roll in at the last minute VIP and then leave.  The speakers are great.  Very participatory feel.  Again, something Church conferences can learn from.


  5. It’s great to see friends at the conference who are involved in Church-land, but who get new media technology and are using it.  I’m thinking of people like Matt Singley, Andrew Jackson and Lars Rood.

Again, I will post more this week on some more specific issues.  But before I do I have a question.

GodblogCon seems like it’s on the verge of becoming more integrated with Blogworld.  And it probably can take some more strides.

Are there any other major conferences where we can bring together the Church and the non-Church world, using our common interests to unite us, but allowing our differences to teach and learn from one another?

The Dark Side of Living Online–Are You a Slave to Your Technology?

September 18, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

A few weeks ago I read a Twitter by social media guru Chris Brogan. His twitter was a link to the blog of Terry Starbucker. The post was titled Danger Will Robinson! The Downside of our Digital World.

And…it scared me to be honest.

Am I a slave to my technology is what I kept asking myself?

That’s a question we should all be asking ourselves. If Terry’s article was not enough, then read the article that spurred his post….you will have a lot to think about.

Connected, Yes, but Hermetically Sealed by Ben Stein

“MAN is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,” said Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

What would Rousseau have made of the modern-day balls and chains with which we shackle ourselves? They are not made of steel or iron, but of silicon and plastic and digits and electrons and waves zooming through the air. These are the chains of all kinds of devices, like the BlackBerry, the iPhone and the Voyager. These are the chains with which we have bound ourselves, losing much of our solitude and our ability to see the world around and inside us.

and

But try a day without that invasion of your privacy. Or a week. You will be shocked at what you discover. It’s called life. It’s called nature. It’s called getting to know yourself. I have a close friend who is in prison. He used to be imprisoned by his P.D.A. He has many stories, but the most haunting one is about how, without his phone, without his P.D.A., he has come to know, for the first time, who he is.

Your Daily Workflow and Social Media Tools

August 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 5 Comments

Does that chart scare you?

It scared me the first time I saw it.  I was given a copy of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. And well, the book and method were hardly stress free for me, while others thrived on it.

Many of you out there are disciples of David Allen and GTD aka “Getting Things Done.” You talk about it incessantly and you have the results to show that his methods work.

Most of us on the other hand fall somewhere else and our personality, gifts and skill set help us determine the best method of workflow for us. Though I wasn’t a big fan of GTD in the beginning I’m coming around to it.

Let me point you in the direction of a couple of other sources that I have found helpful, mention my own workflow situation, as well as get suggestions from you.

Other Methods

Let me just mention a few other methods that I really like and that I have tried picking up. At the end of the day I think that most of our workflow methods are a an array of various ones that we have brought together into one workable, if not messy method at times.

First, I love this method from my friend Wess Daniels, Create a Moleskine PDA: The Student GTD Hack. Who doesn’t love a Moleskine, and how many of us need a break from “technology” and need to remove ourselves from the computer. I haven’t mastered this method yet, but I always carry a Moleskine and am slowly creating the system.

Continue Reading…