Social Media
August 9th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Facebook is a hot topic for churches that want to have a presence in social media, followed closely by Twitter and YouTube. We all know what Facebook is and that if you want to build community it’s a great tool to use. What most churches DON’T know is how to use Facebook to effectively reach our audience. At 12Stone we’re working on developing a strategy and setting up our Facebook communities to be successful but we don’t have it completely figured out yet.
While I do have some pretty good ideas about what an effective Facebook community looks like, there is another church out there that is already doing an outstanding job…Lifechurch.tv. As I’m creating a strategy for 12Stone I look at what Lifechurch is doing on their Facebook communities. They’ve made individual fan pages for each campus that they have, they’ve created custom HTML welcome pages and info pages.
You can checkout what they’re doing here: http://www.facebook.com/lifechurchtv
Church Online, Marketing, Ministry 2.0, Social Media, Web Design
June 19th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Catalyst
Many of you have probably heard of Catalyst but have you ever attended? I know it’s not about web or social media, or online video, or anything that I normally discuss on here… It’s about leadership, moving the church forward, igniting a revolution, building great leaders. I believe it is important that we instill leadership values into ourselves and our team. It also helps to have a vision as a whole of where the church is going. This is why at 12Stone® Church we get tickets for our entire staff, and I do think that it has an effect on how we work together.
An Event Apart
I haven’t been able to attend one yet but I’m hoping to sign on for the one in San Diego this year. Every year since they started I’ve wanted to go but haven’t had the money. It is one of the most expensive events for web developers, designers, etc. This is one of the more advanced conferences so if you’re just starting off this probably isn’t the one for you. But if you’ve been in the game for a few years and want to push yourself…this is where you want to be. Become a fan of them on Facebook and get an additional $100 off with discount code: AEAFBAEA
An Event Apart is an intensely educational two-day learning session for passionate practitioners of standards-based web design. If you care about code as well as content, usability as well as design, An Event Apart is the conference you’ve been waiting for. Your conference pass includes admission to all fourteen sessions at the two-day conference; breakfast, hot lunch, and snacks on both days; access to the opening night party; and a bag of swag.
M2Live
I had the opportunity to attend M2Live last year and it was a very affordable conference with great speakers such as John Saddington, Tony Steward, Jason Reynolds and more! The event is based around web, communications, social media, etc.
If you are a church leader or volunteer interested in learning how to develop an effective social media strategy, create a more appealing and usable church website, or would like to grow your ministry using web technology, M2LIVE Orlando is the event for you!
Ministry 2.0, Social Media
April 12th, 2010 by Matt Haff
Free M2LIVE Webcast to Feature 8BIT Founder, John Saddington
The name may be a bit different, but the intent is still the same – to grow the Kingdom by embracing new media. M2LIVE.org (formerly Ministry 2.0) will host its inaugural webcast on April 14, 2010 at 11 a.m. (EDT), featuring 8BIT founder and North Point Ministries’ creative web director, John Saddington. Saddington will be discussing church social media strategy development.
The first in a series of FREE webcasts, the M2LIVE webcast will feature insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists. While presenters will have opportunity to share their message, the format will allow you ample time to ask questions and engage the presenter. To access the webcast, visit M2LIVE.org live on April 14th at 11:00 a.m. (EDT). Each webcast will last about one hour.
M2LIVE.org is a grassroots effort allowing believers of all backgrounds to come together to celebrate Christ, while sharing and learning from one another. A series of web-based and live hands-on workshops, M2LIVE is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using the latest in web and social media technology. Learn more at M2LIVE.org.
Blogging, Social Media
January 9th, 2010 by matt
WordPress 3.0
Merge has started… WP + MU = WP
- Multisite functionality in WordPress
- Version 3.0
- Plugin authors: pay attention to Trac
Custom Post Types!!!
Core plugins
- suggested plugins but not binded
- team development
- independent dev cycles
- “best of” functionality
- coding standards
- integration with core UI
- bundled but not…
New Default Theme: 2010
- Clean, fast-loading code
- minimalist design
- big blue header ( just kidding) (I think)
Core Development Workflow
- Mini-project teams, not solo devs
- Daily updates on wpdevel.wordpress.com
- Bug ticket triage
- Rallying testers
- Sticking to scope and schedule
Code of Conduct
- play nice
- be respectful
- assume the best, not the worst
- if you’re not sure, ask
More UI/UX Contributors
- Design challenges
- Distributed usability testing
- Scheduled UI/UX chats
Mentoring
- welcoming committee
- buddy system
- bug gardeners
- Student programs like GSoC
- increase underrepresented populations
Girls, girls, girls
- 25% employed computer programmers
- 22% computer science graduates
- 1% of WordPress core contributes
WordPress Summer Camp
- small groups
- qualified teachers
- classes in PHP
- design & development
Redesign WordPress.org
- community hub
- buddypress profiles
- updated look
WordCamp.org
- install buddypress
- add ticketing module
- enable local meetups
iPhone App – iPhone.Wordpress.org (open source, if you want to help then go for it!)
Ministry 2.0, Social Media
October 10th, 2009 by matt
Managing the Total Social Media Plan; Developing a Social Content Schedule
Use an index card with a topic to draw your attention to that topic. Your life is full of triggers to connect with, it’s just a matter of you noticing it. Example: When you buy a car, you’ll notice that car on the road more often. You don’t need to know what exactly is being said, just talk about the topic.
Video is really good to use, a good method is just to take video of yourself with an iPhone or Flip and just post it to YouTube. You don’t need really high quality stuff as long as it’s friendly and personal.
Huge difference between content and channels.
Encourage civil debate instead of getting rid of any and all criticism. If you’re having stuff accessible, it is possible that people will post negative comments. People don’t always have to agree but at least they had an engaging conversation about the Bible. If you always take away the negative stuff then you’re missing out on standing up for what you said and letting your community defend you. You’re encouraging critical thinking in a positive and healthy way.
If you’re doing a social media strategy, it’s good to have a community guideline for people to follow. If you delete a negative post, come back and connect with that person and let them know that you are up to the challenge but it should be worded in a more appropriate way that doesn’t demean people but instead facilitates a good mature conversation.
By deleting all critical posts you block all critical conversations and also cause people to feel that their voice isn’t heard there. By taking something down, people notice it even more.
When you post something crazy, apologize and be honest that you were upset when you posted it.
