Archive by Author

Make it Sticky

October 24, 2009 in Innovation with 0 Comments

“Why do some ideas thrive and others die?” (via Made To Stick by the Chip and Dan Heath).

SUCCESS

  • Simplicity
  • Unexpectedness
  • Concreteness
  • Credibility
  • Emotional
  • Stories

Whatever you do avoid the Curse of Knowledge!

Meaning? The more we know the harder it is to make our ideas/teaching/communication meaningful, easily understood and sticky. Not that we ought to dumb down, but in my job as a campus minister I must be striving to communicate Biblical truths, ideas and vision in way that has the best chance of of sticking. I’ve got to get better at this.

This post was accidentally deleted a few days ago and is making it’s reappearance this morning

My Websites and how I use them

October 24, 2009 in Technology with 0 Comments

Three websites?!!! What am I thinking? Here’s what they are and the general purpose of each.

Personal Ministry Site: We use this to update our current and potential ministry donors. It’s an iWeb site so it’s pretty flexible and useful but loads really slow. I’m thinking about developing a wordpress site for this purpose. I use Mobile Me as the host for this site. This has been incredibly helpful in communicating what we do to potential ministry partners.

Weird and humorous blog: This way my original foray into the blogosphere. It’s lasted about 3 or 4 years now. It’s where all my weird wanderings of the interweb show up. Blogspot ruled for a while back in the day.

Leadership, Technology, Innovation blog: You’re looking at it! This blogs niche is ministry peoples. Hopefully it furthers the innovation conversations. The goal is to help other leaders innovate, grow and serve the Lord at a greater capacity wherever they’re at. Self-hosted Worpress site has allowed the most flexability…although it’s taken me a while to learn the basics. Still developing.

This post was accidentally deleted a few days ago and is reappearing this morning!
Image courtesy of Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

My favorite Mac app’s today.

October 23, 2009 in Technology with 0 Comments

  • Things – I know it’s expensive, but I got a free copy by telling them I’d tell all my friends about it (good or bad). I love this program. It helps me track projects, tasks, etc. It’s flexible enough that you can make it work for you. Plus there’s an iPhone app that can synch with it….which would be even cooler if I had an iPhone.
  • Tweetie – Twitter application. Clean, easy and pretty. Makes Twitter enjoyable. I use the free version.
  • iWork - Pages is a hundred times better than Word, Keynote is a million times better than Powerpoint. I’ve had literally no problems converting Office files and I write all our newsletters in Pages and use Keynote as presentation software. It’s amazing! Don’t buy Office anymore.
  • Skitch Free screen grabbing software. It’ll take pictures of whatever is on your screen and turn it into whatever format you need it in. Super handy. I use it often to grab various stuff!

Did I miss any killer mac app’s out there?

Why do I blog? Top 5 reasons.

October 22, 2009 in Innovation, Leadership, Technology with 0 Comments

The other day I was asked by a staff member why I blog? It got me thinking and here’s my initial response to that.

  • It sharpens my mind. It challenges my thinking and helps me to communicate what I’m learning
  • It gives a behind closed doors look at what I’m thinking about and what we’re doing at MSU
  • I’ve been challenged, motivated and inspired by other leaders blogs, perhaps I can do the same for someone out there
  • It adds to the spirit of collaboration (especially in light of leveraging technology for the Kingdom)
  • It helps me connect with people with similar interests beyond the borders of physical conferences and our region

Maybe blogging is for you too.

Season of Service in Portland

October 21, 2009 in Innovation with 2 Comments

The Season of Service effort by thousands of volunteers in the city of Portland continues to make shockwaves. Watch this PBS clip for more. I think it’s innovation at it’s best.

Need some blogspiration?

October 20, 2009 in Innovation, Leadership, Technology with 1 Comment

11 things that I want to know:

  1. How/why do you use Twitter?
  2. What are you reading that’s inspiring you?
  3. What do you wish you could use technology for to save time?
  4. What are the internet applications that you can’t live without?
  5. How do you use Facebook?
  6. Who’s blogs do you subscribe to that I should too?
  7. How do you decide when a new technology is worth learning?
  8. What’s your weekly schedule like and how do you plan for it?
  9. How do decide to risk spending time working on new projects?
  10. How do you increase your teams innovation capacity?
  11. How do you refresh and recharge?

Why fly when you can use the interweb?

September 13, 2009 in Technology with 6 Comments

Ok, it’s time for Campus Crusade (and other ministries for that matter) to start thinking more about using video conferencing and webinars.

Skype has changed the way I keep in touch with our staff around the world and we’ve been using free conference calling services for regional meetings for a while. But now it’s time to start utilizing technology, specifically video conferencing for regional meetings and national meetings. webinar_sign1

My wife just purchased a $440 airplane ticket to go to a conference at our national headquarters on reviewing staff applications. Could we figure out how to do the same content online? Obviously online meetings won’t ever completely replace face to face meetings, but the potential to cut costs is huge. If Leadership 2.0 is about collaboration and cross communication we need to master this medium.

I haven’t used any of these yet, but I’m starting to do my homework. These video conference services look promising:

  • Tokbox: Free online video chat with up to 20 people. You can also send video messages.
  • Oovoo: Free two-way video chat and pay per month service. Looks solid but requires some software download…ala Skype.
  • gotomeeting.com: Pay per month service. This seems to a popular option in the business world. Screen sharing is available.
  • Adobe Connect Now: Free for up to 3 people and then a pay service. Screen sharing and whiteboard service.

Does anyone have any success stories in their use video conferencing? Am I missing a killer service out there?

Donald Miller – A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

September 12, 2009 in Innovation with 0 Comments

51frH7R79DL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_Thanks to Michael Hyatt and Thomas Nelson publishing I got my hands on two pre-release copies of Donald Millers new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I’m supposed to do a review on my other more random blog on Sept 29th, the day it releases, but I can’t not talk about this book right now. Donald Miller and innovation go hand in hand.

Bottomline… this book is good. The best one of Donald’s since Blue Like Jazz. It’s challenging, thought provoking, hilarious, inspiring and moving. I loved it. You’ll want to go out and ride your bike across America or dig wells for clean water in Africa after reading this. I recommend it.

Michael Hyatt is the man

September 10, 2009 in Innovation, Leadership, Technology with 0 Comments

Michael Hyatt | Live and Lead on PurposeIf you haven’t added Michael Hyatt’s blog to your Google Reader yet, you’re missing out. He is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, a brilliant businessman and a standout when it comes to spiritual leadership. He is passionate about using social media to influence those around him for Christ. In fact he’s coined the term Leadership 2.0 (i.e. Web 2.0), where people will be interconnected and dialoguing across multiple platforms instead of the old-school uni-directional communication model.

Listen to this recent Catalyst podcast to get a taste of what Michael Hyatt is thinking about, including his take on using his blog and twitter to connect with people around the globe.

Social media…a fad?

September 1, 2009 in Innovation, Technology with 1 Comment

Mind blowing statistics about Social media…if they’re true. The better question, what are the implications for the Christian community?
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