Tag Archive - dallas

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

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

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

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.

“Taking Online Community Offline:” What I’m Doing About It And My 2009 Goal

Great guest post by Leo Wurschmidt over at Church Crunch today, Meatspace Monday 4–CLT WordCamp–Taking the Online Community Offline.

I love the phrase, “taking the online community offline.”

For as big a fan as I am of social media, online community, online communication, etc…..

Here is what I think is social media/new media/technology (whatever you call it) greatest asset:


IT’S ABILITY TO FACILITATE THE MEETING OF PEOPLE IN PERSON.

In my tendency to ramble I could say tons more, but won’t for now. That being said, because it is it’s greatest asset, I have made a goal for 2009.


2009 Goal (as stated on Twitter this last Friday): meet & have coffee with every person in the DFW metroplex that I’m connected to on Twitter, Facebook or my blog. Cool?

I don’t know how I will exactly achieve this goal, but I have some ideas that I’m working on from larger group meet-ups to one on one, small group times. So stay tuned as I talk more about this in the coming month and a half.

Oh, and I’ve already been getting requests for coffee since I sent out that Tweet. If I can just say upfront…I can’t afford to pay for coffee for all of you. So how about we just agree that we all pay for ourselves. Haaa

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