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Cultivate Conference '09

A gathering of mavericks in ministry communication is convening at the end of this October. And registration is officially open. [after registering, your Twitter avatar will show up in the "who's in" section]

The facilitators vary in the focus of their expertise--some from the marketplace, some from ministry--but everyone has been carefully selected because of their impact and heart to make a difference.

We'll be highlighting their backgrounds in the weeks to come, but in the meantime here are just a few that I'd like to introduce you to:

Matt Knisely is a multi Emmy® award-winning Photojournalist and Storyteller focusing on social-awareness campaigns with non-profits around the globe.

He served as director of photojournalism for FOX Minneapolis and made it one of the best stations in the country for television photography and visual product. His work has been featured on the BBC, NBC, ABC, and FOX News Channel and he has received the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award in electronic journalism.

Clint! Runge is the co-founder and creative director of Archrival, a distinguished mid west youth brand strategy and design firm.

He's served a diverse roster of clients that include Red Bull, SPAM, Walgreens and Microsoft and has a reputation for winning numerous national gold ADDY'S, Art Directors Club, Young Guns, AIGA awards and One Show appearances including multiple One Show Pencils. His work has also been featured in publications like Communication Arts, HOW, Print, Graphis, STEP and the One Show Book. Runge teaches at the University of Nebraska in the advertising and architecture colleges.

 
Phil Cooke is considered one of the most insightful resources on issues of faith, culture, and media. His production and consulting company: "Cooke Pictures," works specifically with non-profit and religious clients, and as a founding partner in the commercial production company "TWC Films," he also produces national advertising for some of the largest companies in the country - giving him a unique perspective on both religious and secular media issues.

His online blog at philcooke.com features insight into issues of media and faith, and his book: Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact the Culture and Others Don't is changing the way non-profit and religious organizations use the media to tell their story. He's lectured at universities like Yale, University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, and is an adjunct professor at the King's College & Seminary, and Biola University in Los Angeles.

And there's more to come... some focus in ministry, some are social entrepreneurs... all want to help others tell their stories more effectively.

Seriously--you won't want to miss this.

Cultivate & MinistryCOM

Yes, this is new. And I'm insanely excited about it.

I know the specifics are sketchy while the concept is still being shaped, but I think it's important to clarify a few things right out of the gate.

Tim Schraeder does an excellent job outlining the difference between Cultivate and MinistryCOM in this post & I want to highlight some of the ideas behind how this evolved.

• Conversations :: It seems there's only a handful of professional speakers out there but a lot of people who are doing amazing things in communication and have wisdom to share. Let's change the format and invite others to the conversation. And while we're at it, let's get input from both ministry and the marketplace. [The faculty guest list was very selective. Some of these names you'll recognize, others you wont. All will add value & they're doing us a huge favor by participating]

• Connections :: Many of us are doing some truly innovative things to help people connect to God. We understand the basics and would love an opportunity to stretch ourselves and others in similar situations. Lots of intentional opportunities for networking and collaboration have been built in.

• Support :: Instead of reinventing the wheel let's build into a platform that's already in existence and doing great things where we can make a collective difference. Center for Church Communication & Blood Water Mission will benefit from the profits of this effort.

• Partnering :: We don't want to add more noise to the conference world. So we're tag-teaming with Ben Arment to support an idea that was a strategic fit and well underway. [Secret to be unveiled May 18] STORY is the event, and trust me you don't want to miss this.

• Accessible :: We know budgets are tight, so keeping this to one day without frills will keep costs down. There's no conference notebooks. No cool tote bags & the facilitators are coming pro bono. 

So in a nutshell the primary difference between Cultivate, MinistryCOM [and a host of other great options that are out there] is you. We're planning to serve a different audience with different needs in a different way.

A more fully developed online presence is in the works with all the deets. In the meantime, bookmark www.CultivateConference.com and watch twitter for updates [#cultivate09]

Our hope is the next generation of Cultivate's website will fill in any blanks. In the meantime I'll do my best to help answer questions. [I'll be on the road over the next couple of weeks so some responses may come quicker than others.]

Love to hear your thoughts.

Let's Hear it for the Little Guy :: #Tribes

 Welcome to Day 8 of the Tribes group blogging festivities, initiated by John Saddington. I'll be focusing on pages 35-39, which deals with initiative, leverage, followings, factories, and my favorite--Innovation. (Which I believe it's at the heart of it all.)

What I love about innovation--the power of an idea--is it can come from anywhere. It's not dependent on what you've done before, your talents or bank account size. In fact, too much of any of these things can actually inhibit the process. That's why I'm a huge cheerleader for the little guys.

The little guys are typically the ones to challenge the status quo. They don't have the resources to do it the way it's "supposed" to be done. (Or they're fortunate enough not to know any better.) 

Large established organizations are frequently boxed in [perhaps self-contained?] by this type of thinking. There's too much at risk to try something new. The stakes might be too high with much to potentially lose. The early days of Southwest Airlines was a brilliant example of challenging the status quo. They refused to hire industry professionals who knew how it was "supposed" to be done. They were masters at asking, "What if".

"What if we standardize our planes to make servicing them easier? What if we could turn them around in 10 mins instead of 40? What if we focused regionally? What if the flight attendants had fun with the passengers?"

They changed the game.

Little guys are nimble enough to shift gears if something isn't working. They're forced to get creative when solving problems because throwing more money or people at it isn't an option. They cast vision and create passionate tribes that are crazy enough to realize they just might be able to make a difference.

This is one of the reasons why I love church planters so much. They're entrepreneurs. Underdogs. Ministry MacGyvers, if you will.

"[You have] ... everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself. The people around you realize this, and they are ready to follow if you're ready to lead." -Seth Godin

The challenge is to maintain this mindset as the organization begins to mature. Marketplace companies have R&D labs; what about the Church? This is something we need to be intentional about because it's inevitable. Once we discover something that works, we systematize it. So what are we doing to overcome the Factory mindset that is inherent with larger organizations?

Fellow Triiiber, Eric Murrell did a fantastic job painting a picture of the unfortunate results in his post of an organization consumed by the Factory mindset:

"The lack of enthusiasm was even evident from the demeanor in the break room; instead of discussing the latest technologies and wildly daydreaming about it’s implications on our field, folks sat around passively drinking their coffee and checking the clock to see how much time remained before they could escape their fluorescent prisons."

How many churches does this describe today?

My take away from this section is that innovation is born out of initiative, which leads to increased leverage and a following. Factories can be the unfortunate byproduct of success that cripples future growth if not handled with care. True, efficiencies can be fantastic but at what cost?

*Tribes banner courtesy of Media Salt

5 Questions with Kary Oberbrunner

Recently, I was humbled and honored to be included in Kary Oberbrunner's "5 Questions" interviews with leaders in ministry. If you'd like to see a quick snapshot of how we've gotten from there to here & stuff I stress about, you can find it here.

I was privileged to meet Kary sometime last year when he was getting ready to launch his book, The Fine Line. Fabulous book about being relevant to today's culture without compromising your values. I was really impressed with the book overall which you can read more about here.

Question for you guys-- What irrational fear has held you back from pursuing something God may be prompting you to do?

How Not to Run a Company

This email was received by a friend of mine today from her boss:

Since we seem to have some misunderstandings in how things are working right now, I thought I would document the new rules.

Until we have generated revenue all work is going to be done in the office.  If you have to make up hours then come into the office.  If you have late interviews then stay late or don’t schedule it for evening or weekends. (and I’m sorry *name changed*, I know how hard you are working but I can’t do this for everyone but you)  From now on if you work at home it doesn’t count.

If you don’t work 45 hours a week you are fired.

Everyone needs to come up with suggestions for how we are going to save money and we will discuss in on Monday afternoon.  There needs to be some major changes and everyone is going to have to pitch in.

I’m sick of the excuses, the attitudes, and feeling like I’m being taken advantage of.

If anyone doesn’t like this, I suggest you leave and find alternative employment.

I don't care how tough times are. There is no excuse for poor leadership.