Tag Archive - churchtechcamp

ReThinking How We Do Conferences

March 12, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 7 Comments

meetingsA couple of months ago I started a series called ChurchTechCamp-8 Things To Know If You Want to Help Organize One. You can see my last post, with the previous posts at the bottom. I actually did have 8 posts within me, but got distracted which is easy for me to do. I could continue those posts, but I think I’ve made my point….(and to be honest, it’s part of my letting go process of perfection…I don’t need to finish 8 posts…haaa).

Conferences are changing, and the traditional way of doing them will disappear for many, but the few elite ones.

Church Crunch had a recent post, Hey Where’s My Conference?!?!

Eric Jones writes:

Has anyone else out there become aware of all the church conferences going on around the US? We’ve got leadership conferences, worship leader conferences, youth ministry conferences and more. It seems like every time I turn around I see a new conference popping up for my pastor, associate pastors, church staffers, worship leaders etc to attend.

I like to check out these sites to see what, if anything am I’m missing. The speakers are all people I typically am aware of and have much respect for. The topics are as expected, slanted towards church leadership and church staff.

But then I started to wonder, what about me? What about the church attender? Where is our conference circuit?

Cynthia Ware at The Digital Sanctuary says this in The Idea Camp Lives On (Idea Camp):

The entire event (free, of course)is still openly challenging all of us who are used to paying for conferences to see speakers we can listen to rather than those we can collaborate with.

And yet, Generation “We” seems to clearly resonate with a new set of values. Open source cross-pollenation, dynamic conversational collaboration, elevating innovation, celebrating creativity, participating, dreaming, designing, doing.

A taste of things to come.

So I’m wondering where you stand on all of this conference stuff. I know some people are frustrated with the sheer number of “conferences” or “unconferences” popping up, while others are thrilled.

Continue Reading…

2009 Goal of “Taking Online Community Offline” in Progress…

January 16, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Technology-Social Media with 6 Comments

17264693If you have been reading my blog lately you know that I posted a couple of entries related to this post, “Taking Online Community Offline:” What I’m Doing About It And My 2009 Goal.

What is my 2009 Goal?

“meet & have coffee with every person in the DFW metroplex that I’m connected to on Twitter, Facebook or my blog. Cool?”

It began with a simple Tweet on November 14th and has now become a movement into becoming more and more real everyday.

So I’m going to give you all a weekly update (if some of the goal is met)…but let’s see how it goes.

January 7: Though Greg Atkinson is one of my buddies and we hang out on a pretty regular basis, my lunch conversation with him that day was a really great way to start off the year. We talked about some deep issues and I was able to walk away with some newly needed focus in some areas of my life. Greg is an awesome guy and knows everyone in Dallas and all the best Mexican food restaurants. Follow Greg on Twitter. And follow his work with Church 2.0 on Facebook.

January 8: Now this day was too huge, that I’m not going to even try to mention names. I know I will leave someone out on accident and I don’t want to do that. But it was an epic day at ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas. About 78 guys and 2 girls from all over the DFW Metroplex, Oklahoma, etc. Too many conversations to mention each one, but great things came out of it, and you will be hearing more about some of the individuals as we spend time together over this next year. But I will give a shout out to Tony Steward who is the brainchild behind ChurchTechCamp. I don’t get to hang out with him too often, so it was a privilege to watch him in action.


#ctcdallas from Tony Steward on Vimeo.

Later that evening I went over to John Dyer’s house for dinner. If you don’t know John Dyer, then you need to know him and his blog, Don’t Eat the Fruit. It is one of my favorite blogs on technology and the church. I’m learning tons from him. He and his wife were gracious hosts and I enjoyed getting to have dinner with Greg Atkinson, John Saddington, Ben Dyer, Ben Jordan, Rick Smith, Camron Ware and Paul. It was awesome, and I will be hanging with all of these guys throughout the year.

johndyer_rhettsmith_johnsaddington1January 9: Well, 5 days of hanging out with John Saddington aka ChurchCrunch guy came to an end. I met John on line a couple of months ago and we were able to hang out for about 2 weeks from the December 28–January 9. I really enjoyed spending time with John and not only did we have fun, but I was really challenged in a lot of ways in many areas of my life. Even though he lives in Atlanta we have struck up a great friendship…I will definitely be crashing his couch in the future.

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

January 12, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 4 Comments

Organic…however you want to define that word, I am using it in the context of something (an event, circumstance, this “unconference”) happening naturally. It is not an event that is planned out on the calendar with strategic locations and dates in mind, but rather comes about quite naturally and instantly when conversation arises and a desire and need for it becomes apparent.

This organic process may take place in a conversation that someone has with Tony Steward, or it may evolve out of some Twitter conversations. I mentioned in this post how ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas evolved out of Tony “stirring the pot” when he knew I was in Dallas and interested in attending one, and that John Saddington would be in town for some classes at Dallas Theological Seminary. Tony saw a desire for one, threw out the possibility, and the rest was history.

Literally within minutes we cemented the reality that Dallas would have a ChurchTechCamp in January.

I formed a Facebook group #churchtechcamp:.Dallas.

Chris created the webpage.

Tony and John organized the talks.

Tony took care of the details like online registration, the tools we would be using, etc.

I secured a location.

Done.

That is organic…and this style fits with the ethos of the “unconference” that Tony has tried to foster.

Some of ChurchTechCamp’s challenges probably come with the fact that it is organic, but that is also its greatest strength and a strong value that I’m sure will continue.

Where do you see the need and desire for ChurchTechCamp? Is it where you live? Why?


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.

Two Opportunities to Meet Your Online Community In Person

January 12, 2009 in Marriage-Family, Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 1 Comment

A few weeks back I posted “Taking Online Community Offline:” What I’m Doing About It And My 2009 Goal. Since I posted that, and since 2009 has rolled around it’s quite amazing how many opportunities I’ve already had to connect in person with the people I’m friends with online.

And it just so happens that January is a great month for me to continue to meet these people.

So here are two opportunities for you as well:

First–
ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas Website

ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas Registration

The Twitter and Blog tag for this event is:
#ctcdallas

Second–
Connect, Network and Collaborate are just three of the things that I hope to do at the Innovation3 Gathering in Dallas, TX on January 27-28.

The event is put on by Leadership Network and is host to a plethora of speakers in just two days. Leadership Network says this about the conference:

I will be one of the live bloggers along with Carlos Whitaker and Cynthia Ware at the event so I hope that we all can have an opportunity to meet and connect with one another.

In the meantime, peruse the website to get a look at all the speakers that are presenting.

Also, check out the Innovation3 blog.

Register for ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas—NOW!

December 21, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas Website

ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas Registration

The Twitter and Blog tag for this event is:
#ctcdallas

#churchtechcamp:.Dallas is Here!

December 19, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

#churchtechcamp, which was pretty much hinted at, discussed and organized within about 5 minutes on Twitter a few weeks ago, is finally coming to fruition.

And instead of Los Angeles, this time it’s going to be in Dallas.

When:
Thursday, January 8

Where:
Irving Bible Church

Time:
9am-5pm

Cost:
$0…yes, I said $0.

Lunch:
Will be provided free by our great friends at Unifyer. (thx Matt and Lance)

What’s Happening:
Tony Steward sums it up succinctly this way–

First half of the day will be 4 conversations about ministry, technology and the internet.

Then Lunch.

During the first half of the day people can suggest and sign up for projects that we will work on together during the second half of the day.

Then we will leave.

That’s the gist, but watch as the specifics unfold over the next couple of weeks.

How Can You Be Involved:
We need one of you to design the stripped down, simple webpage for us. If we get multiple versions, we will put them all up on the site.

And we need a logo.

What If You Can’t Be There:
Well, like Los Angeles, it will be offered virtually.

What Do You Need to Bring:
Your computer of course. And we need everyone to bring an extension cord and power strip if you have one. We want to make sure that we are able to meet the power demands for the number of people who show up. We may not end up using yours….but we ask that you bring one.

Oh, and don’t forget to join our #churchtechcamp:.Dallas (Facebook Group)

Also, check out John Saddington’s Church Crunch post, ChurchTechCamp: Dallas – Let’s Start Now.

And also check out Tony Steward’s post, ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas.

If you have any organizational questions, please feel free to contact me by email or Twitter.

If you have any tech/conversation questions, please feel free to contact Tony Steward by email or Twitter and John Saddington by email or Twitter.

The Inagural Church Tech Camp–And the Role of the Pastor in the Age of Technology

September 26, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 8 Comments

I wish I could have been there this morning with the crew at Church Tech Camp, but since I couldn’t, it was great to watch it live and participate.

Props to Tony Steward for putting on the “unconference.” And props to #churchtechcamp making the Twitter trends today and making it on the Twitter blog.

Check out some of Tony’s thoughts on the day.

Check out the live blog from Church Tech Camp today as well.

You can see my question on the live blog that I posed to the audience.

11:22
[Comment From rhettsmith]
I’m wondering if we move more and more towards open source in the Church…what role do you see the pastor taking?

There was some lengthy discussion about my question and what I meant. But in general, I wonder with the ability for congregations to quickly self organize and communicate without having to go through the pastor, the hierarchy, etc., what role will the pastor take in the future? I think many pastors are nervous about losing power, status and position that has always been afforded them from behind the pulpit, so what if they are no longer needed? And by that, I don’t mean they won’t speak, preach or teach, but what if their particular brand of one person leadership is not needed? Will they become more of a facilitator? Are the traditional vocational roles of the pastor in jeopardy (as in paid staff)? Lots of questions I am asking.

But what I’m really thinking is that the decentralization of the pastor is actually a great thing for a church community, and it places the pastor in a role that I think he or she was meant to be in. That of shepherd, facilitator, etc. Someone who leads from within….not above or out in front.

P.S. Thanks to Rich Kirkpatrick for being my voice in person at the conference when I was actually in Dallas. He helped better finesse and define some of the questions I was having trouble articulating.