Stay tuned for the second part of my interview with Anne Jackson tomorrow.
Tag Archive - innovation
Innovation3 Gathering: Day 1 Recap & Tomorrow’s Online Connect
Today was a great day. As always, the highlight for me was meeting a lot of people–those that I know only online, and some that are new faces. By the end of the day I was super energized as well as exhausted. It was connecting on steroids.
There is lots of great content out there from the event online, so I’m not going to recap the entire event today, but just a few things that stood out for me. Some of these are quirky, but they are things I have been thinking about today.
- I thought DJ Chuang and the Leadership Network team did an amazing job putting on this event.
- This was the first conference that I have ever been to that hands you a flash drive to keep that has all the speaker’s notes on it.
- Camron Ware’s lighting design was amazing.
- The opening session on failure had a wonderful diversity of personalities speaking. Loved it.
- I learned a lot from Anne Jackson’s session on burnout. Anne in “real life” is who she is on her blog. Awesome!
- The Catalyst Team is awesome. Had great time chatting and hanging out with them.
- People desire conversation and collaboration more than ever. Want to work together not just be talked at.
- For the world to be transformed, the Church must rely on the totality of it’s “body” not just individual members.
- People want to know what you are passionate about. Do you have an answer to that question?
- Jesus has gifted each of us uniquely, therefore, are we being good stewards of those gifts. Are you?
Those are a mixture of some random thoughts, things I have been wrestling with, and some observations–all from today.
Connecting Tomorrow
I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I loved the Cover It Live blogging tool I used for today’s events, but I thought for tomorrow I would steer you in a couple of different directions. I will post a couple of more formal blogs, but I want to provide to you some great online live resources as well.
- Tony Morgan has been doing a great job of live blogging. Check out his site tomorrow.
- Check out Tweet Chat. Log in and join the i3 room and follow all of the Tweets at the event. Awesome tool.
- Watching live streaming video and sessions at the Innovation3 Gathering live site. Watch-Chat-Tweet.
Those are just a few great ways to stay in touch all day long and get a large perspective with what is going on. With over 100 speakers in a day and a half, it’s like drinking water through a fire hose–which is impossible. So I would think.
And then check back into my blog at intervals (I will tweet about it) to see some posts on some specific thoughts, experiences from the event.
Innovation3 Gathering–Live Blog by Rhett Smith (Tuesday & Wednesday)
I’m very excited to be a part of the live blogging team for the Innovation3 Gathering, put on by Leadership Network, and hosted by Bent Tree Bible Fellowship.
I hope that you can join me on my blog Tuesday and Wednesday as I will live blog 4 specific sessions, and as much of the rest of the event that I can. I hope to see your input and comments throughout the day (via this blog and Twitter–please use the #i3 hashtag), and if you have any questions you would like me to pose the speakers in or out of their sessions, please let me know. You can reach me via the live blog or on Twitter @rhetter.
If you are having trouble viewing this live blog, try watching it in a pop-up window: Click Here
Not only can YOU participate, but the tweets of 11 other Twitterers will post automatically to the live blog. So stay tuned for their behind the scenes insight and thoughts: gregatkinson, cynthiaware, djchuang, scottmcclellan, decart, lancebauslaugh, camron_ware, flowerdust, innovation3, tonymorganlive and mbstockdale.
Connect In Other Ways
Innovation3 Twitter Announcements @innovation3
Innovation3 Twitter Hashtag #i3
Innovation3 Flickr Photostream
Innovation3 Bloggers Meetup/Tweetup
See you there in person or online….
Leadership Network: Innovation3 Gathering
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I will be one of several live bloggers for the Innovation3 Gathering in Dallas, TX. What is Innovation3?
Innovation3 is a two day gathering of church leaders and innovators for the purpose of connecting, networking, and collaboration. Sure, there will be speakers and sessions and breakouts… but the real power behind the Innovation3 concept is that you will get to rub shoulders and bounce ideas off hundreds of innovative church leaders about what’s working in today’s church (and what’s not). We’ll level the playing field, allowing you to meet and interact with many of today’s thought leaders. You’ll learn from others, and have an opportunity to share your ideas as well.
Those who attend will have the opportunity to “hear from and interact with nearly 100 innovative church leaders that will be a part of our organized program.”
I’m super excited to be a part of this gathering and I’m looking forward to not only connecting with these leaders and those who attend the conference, but all of you online as well.
You can find a schedule of the events here, but let me tell you about four specific events I will personally be covering on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday, January 27
3:00 – 4:30 pm Anne Jackson (MadChurchDisease.com)
Join Anne Jackson for a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving discussion
for anyone in ministry—vocational or volunteer—who would like to understand,
prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in our churches. Ann will provide
research and insight she has learned from leaders from across the United States,
providing statistics, stories, and hope for healing.6:00 – 7:30 pm — Dinner On-Site
Internet Campus PastorsWednesday, January 28
10:00 – 11:30 am “Author Side Conversation” – Kingdom Impact: Church, Culture and
Community: Join Mel Lawrenz, author Whole Church, Rex Miller, author of Millennium Matrix and Hugh Halter
and Matt Smay, authors of The Tangible Kingdom in a conversation about the kingdom impact of
Church, culture and community.11:30 – 1:00 pm — Lunch
Choose a table discussion group – Architects and Designers
Hopefully you can “tune in” to this blog on Tuesday and Wednesday and get a sense of not only what is happening at the conference as a whole, but four very specific conversations that I will be a part of.
I will be using Cover It Live (embedded on this blog) for those two days. So hopefully you will have an opportunity to get online and chat, or ask some questions during the conversation.
Twitter Information
@innovation3 is the Twitter ID for the event and #i3 is the hashtag
@rhetter is my Twitter ID if you want to message me.
See you Tuesday and Wednesday…
New Blog Look…New Blog Focus…A Work In Progress
As some of you have been reading on Twitter, I have been in the process of creating a new blog look. In reality, I just watched John Saddington help me create a new blog look. John went above and beyond what I expected…I was looking to just change themes, upgrade my WordPress to 2.7, but John was interested in helping me shape a new direction for my blogging as we spent time talking about my interests, passions, gifts, etc.
There are a few things I still need to fix (i.e. About page, add some more page tabs, clean-up some duplicated comments, add images to my 8 categories section at the bottom, clean up some minor bugs, etc, etc.)…so it’s a work in progress, but I might as well not let my moments of perfectionism handicap me. That being said, what you see will be in the process of refining, and I will let you know about some of the cool features as time goes on.
So this blog not only signals a new look for me…it also will signal a change in the direction of my blogging.
As many of you know I’m pretty passionate about 3 things:
- Theology: Ministry, Church
- Psychology: Therapy, Counseling
- Technology: Social Media, Innovation
You will continue to see me blog about many things related to those topics, but I’ve decided to focus more of my writing in the future on issues that stem from my last run at graduate school and what I’m currently engaged in. What that means is that you will see me address more issues related to the topic of psychology, specifically issues of pastoral counseling, as well as marriage and family (or more broad, relationships). Not only will I be looking at these issues from a counseling perspective, but I will be looking at how they intersect with our lives in the church, ministry, pastoring, etc.
That’s one change…
Another change is that though I love blogging about ministry and the Church (and will continue to do so), I will be sticking (focusing) on areas that I have more training and expertise in (pastoral care, college ministry, leadership), and will bring more attention to those who are writing great things in the area of ministry and Church that I’m not as gifted in.
That’s another change…
Last, I love technology. But technology expert I am not. So I will continue to be a “technoevangelist” (see John Saddington) and write about those tools that I’m passionate about, and the ones that especially connect with those that I’m using in ministry and therapy. But I desire to bring more attention to those who are much more knowledgeable in this area.
So you will continue to see my write about ministry, counseling and social media, but I hope by the end of the year you notice a much more focused approach to my writing that allows for a much more distinctive voice in areas that best fit my giftings.
And I hope that you learn a lot from what I’m learning and writing, that we can enage one another, and become partners along the journey.
But in the meantime, please be patient as I continue to transfer information over, change/update/create new pages, and fix some little bugs. Thanks.
Innovation3=Connect-Network-Collaborate
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:
Innovation3 IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE CONFERENCE…
Innovation3 is an opportunity for you and your team to have up-close, face-to-face conversations that will transform your mind and ministry. Over 100 presenters from some of the most innovative churches in America will be on hand.
Innovation3 is a chance for you to do some real networking. You won’t just be adding “Facebook friends”, but you’ll be interacting one-on-one with peers that will help you sharpen your views and collaborate to help change the world.
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.
And check out what Tony Morgan has to say about the event.
10 Blog Sites That Must Be A Part of Your Reading….
Below is a list of 10 blog sites that I highly recommend. It’s about time I recognize just some of the sites that have given so much to me. When I read any of these 10 sites I am continually challenged, stimulated in my thinking, and pushed in a direction of valuable growth.
We all have different sites we like to read, but if you read my blog, then I think you will also like these sites very much.
The common theme…an interest in social media and technology and the implications it has for church, ministry, non-profits, businesses and community.
Thanks for checking them out.
BeDeviant by Justin Wise. This is a great, great looking blog visually, and Justin is always blogging about interesting things that really engage me.
Human3rror by John Saddington. Another great looking blog…great design. John is a great commenter and a very creative blogger. He always has me thinking.
Chrisbrogan.com by Chris Brogan. I mean, come on. The guy is prolific, and if you have any interest in social media…even a tiny bit, you best be reading him.
Beth’s Blog by Beth Kanter: Beth, like Chris is really prolific, and if you are a non-profit, then you need to be reading Beth to better understand how you can leverage social media in your organization.
Church Video Ideas by Greg Atkinson. The name of the blog might be a little misleading…this is not a site just about videos. Greg is Mr. Church 2.0, a visual worship tech guru, and someone who has a growing heart for the issues of slavery and sex trafficking.
Gathering in Light by Wess Daniels. Wess is an amazing thinker, and he, more than anyone I know is really able to blend really academic theology with pop culture and praxis. He’s really good and making me feel much smarter after reading him.
Tony Steward Blog by Tony Steward. Digerati Team. Need I say more. Tony is an inspiration for those of us who are exploring the what it means to be an online campus pastor. There aren’t many of those…but I know that trend will grow, and Tony is on the leading edge of it.
The Digital Sanctuary by Cynthia Ware. No one cover the church, technology, tech conference, tech tools, social media…like Cynthia.
Church Crunch. The intersection of ministry and technology. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs…I am learning tons.
Collidge Magazine Blog. Ministry, technology, pop culture and more. One of the few online and hard copy magazines I read faithfully.
Fight Club and 8 Rules for Innovation
One of my favorite movies of all time is Fight Club. It’s one of those movies that resonates with so many people on so many different levels. Though in the end, Fight Club proves to be nihilistic, a very different view then I hold as a Christian, it was an amazing movie and has given me much to think about. But that’s for another post entirely.
Brian Clark over at Lateral Action has a great post titled, Tyler Durden’s 8 Rules of Innovation. (HT: Tim Ferriss of 4-Hour Work Week over at his Twitter).
Check out Brian’s full post.
And I apologize ahead of time for some foul language (one word) that is in the linked post. But I definitely recommend reading it. There are some amazing insights on innovation. And some great things we can glean from the post and apply to church and ministry life. I especially like the part on the 80/20 principle which we talk a lot about in church.
Technology and the Future of the Church
There are a lot of amazing things happening in the world of ministry and technology. So much so that it’s hard to keep up with all of it. Some churches are on the leading edge of innovation, while others are still trying to get a website put together. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, below are four links that might interest you from this past week.
First:
Author, blogger, video guru and Church 2.0 leader Greg Atkinson has a great post which basically introduces the Digerati Team from LifeChurch.tv, SPOTLIGHT: LifeChurch.tv’s Digerati Team. Many of you don’t know that there exists such a team on a church staff. But I think that trend is changing, and as you read the article you will definitely see their fingerprints all over the world of ministry and tech.
Greg says:
You might be wondering: “What in the world does “digerati” mean?” To get to the bottom of something, I go to Wikipedia. Wikipedia reads:”The digerati are the elite of the computer industry and online communities.” From what I know of my friends Terry Storch and Tony Steward (and the rest of the Digerati Team) this fits them very well.
Maybe you don’t recognize the team, but you may recognize their work. Here is what the Digerati team has been up to and is responsible for:
* YouVersion (Web, Mobile, and iPhone)
* OPEN
* ChurchMetrics
* Internet Campus
* LifeGroups
* LifeShare
* OnePrayer
Second:
If you can make it to Pasadena, CA this Friday, then you need to so that you can attend Church Tech Camp. It’s the first in what I think will be a growing group of church leaders who are on the innovative edge of integrating technology and ministry, especially as it relates to social media, web 2.0 tools. If you can’t make it, then watch the live stream of the get together. Not only is the technology and its use in ministry innovative, but the organization of the camp itself is on the leading edge. Check it out and you will see.
Third:
Check out Andrew Jones’ Powerpoint presentation from his talk at GodblogCon, The Missional Church in the Internet Age. You can listen to Andrew’s podcast as well at Podcasts of Godblogcon 2008, as well as all the others from there.
Innovation and Early Adoption in the Church and Ministry
Two weeks ago I was having dinner with DJ Chuang, Greg Atkinson and Stephen Shields, and it didn’t take long for us to start talking church and technology. I love being around creative and passionate people who make you feel energized, and when you leave, your head is spinning all night with thoughts and ideas that you can hardly sleep. That was me two weeks ago.
One of the the topics at our table was on innovation and early adopters. I knew there was some graph out there that described them, but I wasn’t sure so I just mentioned it. Of course, DJ was all over it and had sent the link of the chart to all of us before I had even arrived home.
DJ even posted a blog on it here at Leadership Network Learnings.
Here is the graph that Leadership Network put together concerning Adoption of Innovation Over Time.
Much of this work on innovation and early adoption is based upon the work of Everett M. Rogers where he discusses Diffusion of Innovations
According to Rogers(2003) “Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social System.” In other words, the study of the diffusion of innovation is the study of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. It applies, for example, to the acceptance of new technological products like the wristwatch and the personal computer, foods like tomato sauce and sushi, music styles like opera and bossa nova, dressing styles like the top hat and blue jeans, ideals like democracy or feminism, and so on.
I think it’s a very fascinating theory and I like seeing the chart visually displayed before me.
Where do you think you fall on the graph? Why?
Where does your church fall on the graph? Why?
We often think only of technology when it comes to innovation and early adoption, but what other areas can we discuss it in terms of ministry?
I was thinking the innovation and adoption of Bible study, or small group tools.
Or we can think of it in terms of a theology, (i.e. Reformed, Missional, Emerging). I know those are generic words in many ways today, but they are the words we hear a lot in terms of theology or in terms of the “buzz” in the Church.
What about adoption of a favorite author or speaker, such as Rob Bell, Donald Miller, John Piper, etc.
Or adoption of a style of worship music.
In what areas does the Church and ministry need to innovate and early adopt more?
And in what areas does the Church and ministry need to back away from, slow down, or not adopt?
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MDiv, MSMFT, LMFT), and co-facilitate marriage intensives. I also love to write, speak, and run.
Author of The Anxious Christian which is tentatively slated to be published by Moody Publishers on March 1, 2012.
To schedule a counseling appointment contact Auxano Counseling at 972-312-8893.
