Communicating for a Cause

M2LIVE :: 5 Quick Ways Social Media Can Kill Your Brand

 

  

For those who missed the Echo Conference this year, I'll be participating in a webinar this week hosted by M2LIVE covering the core chewy nougat from my session 5 Quick Ways Social Media Can Kill Your Brand.

I love the unique approach the M2LIVE team takes, as the session was pre-recorded but we'll all be on live chat & ready to answer your questions during and after the session.

Best part... it's free.

When & where does this social media goodness occur, you ask?

 

Thursday, Dec 2nd @ 11:30 am EST

http://www.M2LIVE.org/live

 

M2LIVE 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. View an archive of past M2LIVE webinars at http://www.m2live.org/web/webinar-archive/.

 

**UPDATE** Thanks to all who participated! In addition to the above notes, Tim Schraeder did a fantastic job [as always] capturing they key ideas which can be found here. There will be a rebroadcast Tuesday, Dec 7th @ 8p EDT for those who missed it or would like to catch it again.

Catalyst Atlanta

Catalyst 09 Backstage
Originally uploaded by The Catalyst Movement

It's that time of year again... and easily my favorite event of the year.

Catalyst Conference--happening October 6-8, 2010 in Atlanta, where 13,000 young leaders will converge for the leadership experience of the year, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Seth Godin, TD Jakes, Craig Groeschel, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, Perry Noble, and Christine Caine, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like best-selling author Daniel Pink, charity: water founder Scott Harrison, Gabe Lyons, First Response Team founder Tad Agoglia, and Rani Hong, winner of the United Nations Human Rights Award.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Pete Wilson, Mark Batterson, Anne Jackson, John Ortberg, Mike Foster, Jud Wilhite, Reggie Joiner, Jamie Tworkowski, Alan Hirsch, Gayle Haggard, Chris Hodges, Jon Acuff, Tim Elmore, Charles Lee, Chris Seay, Chris and Phileena Heuertz, and others. [Honestly, the labs are worthy of their own "conference" in themselves]

Best Rates on Catalyst tickets end this Thursday, August 26th, so register now. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystconference.com.

        **Bonus** Use Rate Code FOB for an additional 10% discount off your ticket price

Catalyst will sell out, so make sure and register early. Hope to see you there!

ECHO Conference

 

Thanks again to everyone who came to the session today at the ECHO conference! As promised, here's a quick recap of some of the key points we discussed as well as a few take-home resources.

Enjoy!

Download DawnNicoleBaldwin_Echo notes

Ten Stages of Speaking at Events

The following dramatization may or may not fully represent the cycle some (*cough*) speakers go through before, during and after an event.

Stage One
Oh wow--this sounds like such a fantastic event! Love the concept. Love the audience. Topic is right in my sweet spot. So honored to be invited. I can't wait.

Stage Two
Bio & headshot? I hate writing bios. Can I send what I've been using for the past decade? Yes, a lot has changed but did I mention how much I hate writing my own bio? Can I successfully extract a decent headshot from this family photo?

Stage Three
Description of my talk? It seems so incredibly far away. (Brainstorm cool title, scratch, rewrite, repeat until the very last moment it needs to be submitted. Scribble description that's compelling, yet vague enough to change the content direction at least 9 million times)

Stage Four
Holy smokes! It's when?!?? What did the description I sent say again? WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?? I'm such an idiot.

Stage Five
Cancel all extracurricular activities. Hole up in office. Stare at blank sheets of paper. Re-read Presentation Zen, Confessions of a Public Speaker and an unhealthy amount of blogs on successful presentations. Why did I sign up for this again? I hate speaking. (Write blog post about the insanity of preparing to speak)

Stage Six
**And then a miracle occurs** (Light bulbs go off. Heavenly choirs can be heard) This is going to be so cool. I can't believe I get to do this as my job. I love speaking. The audience is going to love this. I'm so excited. (Much enthusiasm now around building slides)

Stage Seven
(Day before event) This sounds so stupid. They're going to hate me. I'm tired of hearing the sound of my own voice. Why did I think this is cool? I hope no one shows up.. and all recording devices break so there's no evidence of my ineptness. I wonder how bad it'd be if I left the country for a few days.

Stage Eight
(15 mins before event) I don't believe I should drink anymore Red Bull. Or eat anymore candy, lest I go into a sugar-induced coma. Or talk at a billion mph. What if no one comes? What is the sound of one hand clapping? What if that one hand doesn't even clap? Why isn't Keynote working right???

Stage Nine
(Immediately post-talk) That sucked. I suck. I can't believe people were interested in that. I'm such a poser. The people who followed up were probably just being nice. I should go poke my own eyes out now.

Stage Ten
(After talk) Wow--I can't believe all the great feedback I keep hearing. Maybe it went better than I thought? It sounds like it really helped a lot of people. They want me to come back? Really? Wow. That is so cool. I love my job. 

**Any others we should add?**

Catalyst '09 :: On Your Mark

I look forward to this all year. It is, hands down, my favorite event personally.

I love the combination of brilliant ministry and marketplace leaders that are invited to teach.

I love the electric vibe of being in the same room with 12,000 other passionate leaders with a heart for making a difference for God.

I love how the Catalyst team consistently surprises me, going above and beyond year after year. From simple things like geo tracking games to fun toys on the seats to giving me a chance to do something practical when I'm there.

One year we we all chipped in to build a new water system for an impoverished village in Africa, another we personally filled and shipped shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and yet another we helped TOMS Shoes help kids in need. They tee up the opportunities and make it easy to get involved. I'm not just learning or connecting with others--I'm able to do something in the moment as well.

But the part I love the most is my teenage son has been coming with me for 3 yrs now. He'll be in college next Fall, so this might be the last one we can do together for a little awhile. [Hold on--I think I need a moment...]

If you haven't already registered, today is the last day
to snag the early bird rate.

Yes, I attend a lot of conferences
and I'm frequently asked which ones are truly worth it.

This is the only one I register for a year in advance...
For the past six years.

Exposed :: Innovate '09

There are very few "can't miss" events on my hit list and Innovate, hosted by Granger Community Church on Sept 24-25 is definitely on it.

Why? In a nutshell::

• They do a fantastic job of blending aspirational vision stuff with nuts & bolts application. Participants leave not only inspired, but equipped.

• It's the best thing I've seen--hands down--for teams. The entire church experience is covered. Programming, first impressions, communications, operations, IT... Yeah. If you're wanting to know about something, there's an app for that.

• The heart this church has to serve others is one of the most authentic I've seen. They're truly vested in making a long-term Kingdom impact. So much so, you can check out all of last year's sessions FOR FREE.

And if that's not enough, they've rolled registration back to '05 prices. No joke. (Best rates end Monday 8/24 though!)

As an added bonus, I'm giving away 2 sets of 2 tickets. Thanks to Granger & Jarbyco, winners will be randomly chosen via text this Monday 8/24. [did I mention that's the last day for the best rates?]

Just text INNOVATE TIX to 24625
for your chance to win.

(You'll need to cover your own travel/lodging, etc. but c'mon--2 free passes? Seriously? Yep.)

Winners will be randomly chosen and notified via text on Monday 8/24, so keep your phones handy :)

Congrats to our winners Leah Carreon & Chris Roberts!!

Echo '09

 
In a word... Wow. I was so impressed with this event.

The caliber of speakers across the board and the overall quality in which it was run, which not only includes the experience onsite, but the care & attention given to the speakers was off the hook.

There was stellar teaching, worship, Krispy Kreme donuts in the morning, an ice cream truck plus meals were provided. [They had me at Krispy Kreme].

I loved that all the speakers kept bringing the focus back to Christ. That yes, we want to push the envelope and do things with excellence, but for the sake of advancing the Kingdom. The technology is just one of many tools available to make that happen.

And is if that's not enough, the Watermark team AND facilities just blew my mind. It was amazing & I will definitely be back next year.

[ps: Thanks to Tim Schraeder for the ECHO title graphic!]

Diving into Text Messaging

 

Another fantastically fun session I had fun leading on Thursday. There was free candy galore on the seats, [prior experiments of hurling candy into the audience proved dangerous given my complete ineptness with hand-eye coordination] and great questions on how texting is being used in church.

Slides are available::

Download Diving_into_Texting_Echo_SLIDES_09

But do yourself a favor and get the complete scoop with Tim Schraeder's notes. [Yes, again. He's amazing & could seriously have a smokin' side biz for speakers... but let's keep that a secret]

Thanks again to all who participated & if you'd like to read more about churches texting check out Jarbyco or email Mike@Jarbyco.com

Leveraging Social Media in Ministry

This was an insanely fun breakout. Cynthia & I explored the landscape of social media and how it can be used to help churches connect with people more effectively. She's just brilliant & it was such a joy to tag team with her.

Participants texted in questions [courtesy of Jarbyco] & we had a blast. If you missed it but want to feel like you were there, check out Tim Schraeder's recap. [I'm pretty sure his notes were posted as we were walking off stage. The man has a gift, friends]

**AND** as promised,here are the slides which are a nice side dish to Tim's notes.

Download Echo_social_media_SLIDES_09

Thanks to everyone who participated! [and to Tim for the slick title graphics]

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.