Tag Archives: Collaboration
Meeting new/old friends
Posted on 28. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
I feel like today is going to be a reunion. Seriously. I’m not even talking about the Tweet Up tonight… that one’s going to be like a reunion of epic proportions.
This afternoon I’m picking up Matt McKee and Sam Luce at the airport. A few hours later Jonathan Cliff is flying in as well. Gina McClain is flying in later but I probably wont see her until the Tweet Up. These people have become some of my closest friends in ministry. I feel like it’s a gathering of old friends as we’ve experienced so much together. Funny thing is that the five of us have never met in person.
That’s the value of collaboration. The five of us are leading a brownbag lunch session on Friday about this very topic. If you’re yearning for this kind of community, be sure to atted this session.
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Can my staff meet your staff?
Posted on 23. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
Last year I went to Orange alone. I wasn’t on staff anwhere (I started at Gateway the Monday after the conference). Going to Orange I knew about five or six people. It was a lot of fun, but I really wish I could have met more people. It helps to arrange some of that before you go.
This year I know of at least 30-40 people that I’m planning ot meet. I imagine that I’ll likely connect with dozens more. It’s going to be so cool.
I’ve seen the benefit of collaboration in my life and ministry this last year. I’m encouraging my staff to make some new connections with people in thier areas. They’re planning to meet people, but I thought I’d give them a head start as well. Here’s who I’m bringing that need to make some connections:
Early Childhood Director: She oversees brith through kindergarten, about 400 kids each weekend.
Early Childhood Coordinator: She assists the director and helps with volunteer staffing, so I know she’d love to connect with other Early Childhood people as well.
Production Director: She writes scripts, shoots and edits videos, leads production teams and worship teams for both elementary and early childhood. I’d love for her to connect with others doing this stuff as well.
Interim Multi-Site CM Coordinator: We’re still looking for our CP at our South Campus, but I’d love for our interim person to connect with other leading ministry at a small (100 kids) multi-site campus.
I have other staff coming, but they’re already well connected. If you are in any of these roles or have staff memebers who are in these roles, can we connect? I’d like to get my people talking to your people. Collaboration is amazing and it’s a value I want all of my staff to live out. Feel free to leave a comment and I’ll respond to you by email!
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Orange Blogger Brown Bag Lunches
Posted on 23. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
Hey people. Something you may not have known about yet.
On Thursday and Friday of next week, several bloggers will be hosting brown bag lunches. It’s an opportunity to network and learn more about blogging, social media and network collaboration. So if you’re interested, here are some details.
Stop by the upper level of the Arena to meet over twenty bloggers that write about their experience with children’s and student ministry. We’ll be having brown bag lunches on Thursday and Friday with a handful of the bloggers to discuss very specific topics in an informal setting. Space is limited and will be filled on a first come-first served basis. Meet at the specified time at the top of the escalators in the Arena to head to the lunch location.
Blogger Brown Bag Lunches
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Topic: Blogging Explained – General Q&A
Time: 1:15 p.m.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Topic: Children’s Ministry Collaboration via Social Networking
Time: 1:15 p.m.
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My collaboration team
Posted on 17. Nov, 2008 by Kenny.
Both Matt and Jonathan already linked to Sam’s video. Here it is in case you haven’t seen it already. Sam created this video for his Pipeline Conference last week. What a great video, and I’m not just saying that becasue I was in it. 
I think some of these guys were were talking some already, but it was last May that I sent an email to Sam, Matt and Jonathan for some help on an article I was writing for K Magazine. It was kind of a shot in the dark, but I got great feedback from everyone and in the few days that followed, all of us kept emailing each other back with other ideas, thoughts and everything in-between. From my perspective it wasn’t really that intentional, it just kind of happened…. but I’m glad it did. Not too long ago Gina joined our group and has provided some incredible thoughts, ideas and feedback. It’s been one of the best things that I’ve experienced in ministry in recent years.
So, if you don’t have someone to collaborate with, I recommend a little intentionality. Read lot’s of blogs and develop relationship with the authors (comments and emails). Do the same on sites like Kidology and CMConnect. Find people you gel with and start collaborating. It’s a beautiful thing.
Here’s the video Sam made!
Collaboration Video from Sam Luce on Vimeo.
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You Version… still waiting
Posted on 17. May, 2008 by Kenny.
Several weeks ago I discovered YouVersion. It’s a project being developed by the guys at LifeChurch. It’s actually a really amazing concept. It’s an online, collaborative Bible.
No, this is much different from Bible Gateway. It allows you to tag verses and passages. You can keep a journal and even share thoughts on scriptures that you’d like to make public or keep private. It’s all brilliant!
Today I discovered a new YouVersion trick. I just signed up for the “Yearly Bible” reading plan RSS feed.
However…
YouVersion is still in beta. There are a lot of features that will be added soon that is going to make YouVersion absolutely amazing. I think that once they add the “groups” feature, I’ll be able to use this as a collaborative Bible Study with others. We can study the Bible together, share notes and encourage each other. So, although I haven’t used it much yet, I anticipate using the group portion for study.
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Enterprise 2.0
Posted on 30. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay. I think this this my last post in this two week series of technologically heavy posts (I think). I actually came across the little slide show below several months ago. It’s not outdated, but there are now other web application out there now that could also be included in this presentation.
Here’s where we are. The multi-site model of doing ministry is exploding. Members of the same teams are sitting in offices spanning cities and even states. Even though I was only 15 minutes away from one of our campuses, sometimes a few weeks would go by without even seeing the CP at that campus. So, we need the tools to effectively work together when we are apart. This is Enterprise 2.o. Most of the tools listed in this presentation are free (or very low cost). See how it may change the way you collaborate! [...]
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Free: Google Docs
Posted on 28. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.
Google Docs Rocks! If you have a Gmail account, then you already have access to Google Docs. If you don’t, just sign up for free. It’s really easy.
Basically Google Docs are simply an alternative to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. No, there isn’t anything wrong with these programs and I use them all the time (well, not PowerPoint as much anymore). Actually the Microsoft incarnation of these programs are much more powerful. You can’t do complex formulas on Google’s version of Excel and you can’t do a mail merge on Google’s version of Word. However, there are some unique aspects about Google Docs that I love.
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