Tag Archives: Fellowship One
Systems, Processes and the great F1 outage of 2011
Posted on 31. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
So, if you use Fellowship One, you know that there were significant issues with Check In today. Even if you don’t use F1, you might have seen the traffic on twitter about the issues. I know that for some churches, the slow-down was crippling. Most of the morning, I was watching the twitter stream and saw all kinds of tweets. Most were encouraging, some were certainly frustrated. I thought that it was interesting that today happened the way that it did because I’m in the process of finalizing my outline for a workshop I’m leading at the Kidmin Conference in Chicago and the subject of the workshop ties into what happened today.
Here at Gateway, check in was as fast as it always is… maybe even faster. It actually didn’t really matter than Fellowship One was down because we had a backup plan. About 2 years ago we bought those over-priced church nursery, two-part stickers to use in the event of an internet outage or issues on F1′s end. In the three years I’ve been at Gateway, this is the first time we’ve not been able to use electronic check-in. Being that this was the first, everything went pretty flawless? Why, because many years ago we put a system in place to anticipate what would happen with a check-in failure and today we put the system in process.
I’m sure there are people who are really upset with Fellowship One right now. I bet they’ve already gotten some mean-spirited phone calls and even a dirty email or two.
Was Fellowship One at fault? For not being able to provide electronic check-in…Â absolutely!
Were they at fault for churches having a bad check-in experience today? Absolutely not! I’m pretty sure that in documentation and training, they clearly communicate how important it is to have a back-up plan. If churches had a horrible check-in experience because there was no back-up plan or the back-up plan was poorly designed, that’s no one’s fault but the leadership over that church’s check-in.
This is the beauty of systems. Anticipate what is or is likely to happen and put a plan in place. When you become aware of the systems your organization needs, ministry becomes more efficient, effective and immune to road bumps like F1 users experienced today.
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Fellowship One joins Active Network
Posted on 08. Feb, 2011 by Kenny.
If you follow my blog, you’ve heard me sing the praises of F1 on more than one occasion. I’ve used other products and let’s just say I’m immensely happy with Fellowship One (that’s me being very kind, Ha!). Well, good news for the company. This morning it was announced that F1 joined active network. Here’s the press release.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know entirely what that means. However, it seems to be a very big win for Fellowship One as well as all the clients. Fellowship One is the premier Church Management Software (more than 1700 client churches representing 36% of the largest churches in America), yet there are more than 300,000 churches in the US. It’s a huge market and that’s why Active Network was so interested in F1.
Even though F1 is incredible, they hit the limitations of having things they want to do and products they want to innovate, but resources, technology and time aren’t as available to get things done at a speed that they’d like. Partnering with an organization like Active Network has the potential to eliminate some of these limitations. Active Network is a major player in technology resources like online registrations, event resources and so much more for giant companies like Starbucks, Oracle and Ironman. This is huge.
So, this is exciting! Congrats Fellowship One. Can’t wait to reap the benefits!
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Visiting Fellowship Tech
Posted on 07. Dec, 2010 by Kenny.
Last week I got a chance to go up to the Fellowship Technologies offices. You don’t have to read this blog for very long to know that I’m a big fan of F1. Selfishly, I wanted to see the offices and get a look at their operation. However, I did want to say thank you for all the ministry help by taking some F1 people out to lunch.
Wow! I’m not sure I had any real expectations. In reality, the whole visit was very last minute. I was shooting emails and tweets to anyone I knew at Fellowship Tech the day before I would be there. However, the experience was off the charts. It was an incredible time for sure! Seeing their operation was pretty amazing and I’m so impressed by what their doing. It’s funny really. There have been times where I’ve seen a company or organization that has a really great public face, but if you could see things from behind the curtain, you’d be surprised by what was missing or how things are not as organized as you would assume. Again, I’m not sure I really had any expectations, but I was really impressed when I got to look behind the curtain of Fellowship One. I realize that they were birthed out of Fellowship Church many years ago by a lot of creative and very smart people, but I was really impressed by what I saw. I felt like I was in the headquarters of any top web company bring run by a lot of really smart guys who knew what they were doing. The best word I can use to describe the feeling I had walking around their facility was “impressed.”
Being in the ministry world, you don’t always get the training or knowledge that other industries have on project planning, structure and organization… so I learned a lot while I looked around. I took pictures and looked at everything through the filter of “how could I translate that to the ministry I run.” I’ll have to blog a little later about some of the stuff I learned and I’m cooking in my mind right now.
Most importantly, as I walked around and saw what people were doing and projects they were working on, I really did get the sense that the folks at Fellowship Tech love the church and they’re committed to serving churches. That may sound silly, but I know that many companies that service churches as clients sometimes get distracted by profits and losses and it all just becomes business. I didn’t feel that here at all.
So,  I got to meet Jeff Pelletier for the first time. He had some words for Matt McKee that I was glad to pass on about how his football team was better that Matt’s. Anthony Coppage took me on the grand tour and I took him and Curtis Harris to lunch to Hard Eight BBQ. It was pretty great and I’d say that if you’re in the DFW area, you should check it out. I’d say it’s the best BBQ I’ve had in the metroplex. However, I’ll be honest. It still just didn’t quite compare to some of the classics we have down in the Austin area. Ha! I shook Curtis Simmons‘ hand, but ended up missing him as I had to run to another appointment (Curtis, I’ll hang with you next time). Last but not least, Mark Lindsley and a few developers from his team gave me a sneak peak at some new features in development. Mark has helped me out many times via twitter and phone, both showing me where I was doing something wrong as well as showing me features I didn’t know existed. He’s a great guy and it was a real privilege to see some stuff in future development and even asked for my opinion.
Wow! What a great time I had, I can’t wait to visit again. I know I’ll be in DFW again in a few months, so if they’ll have me again, they can count on me stopping in again. 
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All-In-One check in touch screen computers
Posted on 19. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
Last week I posted about these $350 All-In-One check in computers that were selling on Amazon. What a great price. All you need to do is plug in a printer and a scanner and you’re ready to go.
So, I ordered two and got them in today. I spent a few hours this afternoon getting acquainted. It is a pretty low-powered machine, but I think it’s going to work fine for check-in. I’m excited to get them installed. I just checked and Amazon seems to still have 4 or 5 left, so I’d take advantage of it if you can. If they still have any by next week, I might even buy another one.
So, my friend Rob from Keller, TX bought one too and he saved me a bunch of time telling me how to calibrate for Fellowship one Check in as well as where to get a mounting plate (I’m hanging these suckers on the wall).
So, here’s what he shared:
Screen Calibration
Go to display properties and change the resolution to 800×600 (When I did it, I noticed something still wasn’t right). Then click on “advanced” and change the DPI setting to 96 (this was what I was missing. Once I did this, it all looked great).
Built in Software
Just in case you’re wondering, the machine has a lot of extra built in software that enhances the touch screen functionality. A lot of it is junk, but there’s a great little built in “soft” keyboard that is great. Once you get it all set up, you don’t need a keyboard wired into this thing.
Wall Mount
So you want to mount this to the wall? I couldn’t find out how to do this, but Rob figured it out. You have to buy this plate which you will attach to the back of the machine. Then you can use any VESA75 wall mount to connect the computer to the wall. I bought this wall mount off of Amazon.
Hopefully I’ll have these things installed in a week or two, so I’ll be able to give a full review then.
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Have you used pre-designed thermal labels?
Posted on 13. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
Just a quick question for you. Have you ever used pre-printed color labels for computer check-in?
I’m not talking about solid color labels you can get instead of white, but maybe a white label with our ministry label already printed on it in full color? I don’t think I’d be able to use it in our Children’s Ministry since we print both name tags as well as security tags. However, our guest services team is thinking about using Fellowship One to print name tags for their volunteers and they’s really prefer not to use a generic solid color tag, especially white. Has anyone else done this with the thermal labels?
One way I’m thinking about doing this is kind of a hack. If you turn on your printers after you launch check in with Fellowship One, the ministry logo wont print on the labels. Usually this is an accident. However, if I do this on purpose, we could design a label with some color on it, specifically with the ministry logo on it.
Any thoughts?
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Killer deal on touch screen all-in-computers
Posted on 12. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
I just bought two Asus all-in-one touch screen computers for my check-in. You can hang them in a wall as it’s the CPU and screen all built in one.
How much did I pay you may ask?
$350
That’s right. I’ve never seen a deal like this.
It’s not a commercial grade computer, but I expect to get a few years our of them. Amazon stock is low, so get them before they’re gone!
You can get a little faster one for $200 more here.
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Is fingerprint check in weird and creepy?
Posted on 12. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
So, I need your help. I’ve been using Fellowship One for many years now and based on the equipment we have we’ve been doing assisted check in. Essentially, that requires a volunteer to man the computer and check families in. However, I want to move toward self check in because it’s much faster. With Fellowship One, one of the best ways to do self check-in is using bar codes. However, I was talking to a manufacturing sales rep and he was suggesting that I look into fingerprint scanning as an alternative to bar codes. In the long run, it’s easier and faster. It’s not security based or anything like that, it’s just a speed thing and convenience thing (people forget to bring their key fobs, but they usually bring their fingers).
So, my bigger concern is this. Is it creepy? Does it feel too big brother-ish? Would your parents resist? My feeling is that most won’t, but will enough throw a fit to make it less than successful?
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How much do you pay for labels?
Posted on 08. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
I’ve got a question for you.
How much do you pay for labels for check-in?
Why do I ask?
Well, I know that a lot of you out there are feeling the tight restraint of budget cuts. I don’t care how big your budget is, anyone would love to save a couple of hundred bucks for their ministry, right? Several years ago I moved into a new postion. The budget was a mess as it was one big pot and most expenses were coming out of that. When it was time to budget for the next year I was having to investigate what expenses were being lumped into this pot. I was trying to find all the things we spent money on and work that into the budget. As I was wrapping up the budget, I realized that I hadn’t accounted for labels for check-in. I dug in a little to find out what we had been spending. What I discovered almost made me sick. An administrator from another department had been ordering our labels from Staples or Office Depot and were paying the premium price of $30 per roll (350ish individual tags). THIRTY FREAKING DOLLARS! In 5 minutes of Google searching I found another supplier for $9 a roll. Just a few months later I was actually getting rolls for under $5. A little investigation saved me nearly $5000 a year for silly little stickers.
So, it might be helpful to share some information. How much do you pay for your labels? Are you willing to share your sources?
So, in the comments, tell us the following:
- What system do you use (i.e. Shelby, Arena, F1)?
- Where do you buy your labels?
- How much do you pay per roll?
Here’s what I’m thinking. I know that the best price for rolls come when you buy a lot of them. I usually buy in the largest quantity to get the biggest price and as a result I only have to order labels once or twice a year. Some of you at small churches wouldn’t go through that many labels in 4 years, so you have to buy less labels at the higher price. I’d be willing to bet that if some of you went in together, you could take advantage of the lower price. So, let’s just see what you’re paying for labels.
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Creative way to get touch screens without buying touch screens
Posted on 31. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.
So I’m excited about this little piece of technology. We currently use Fellowship One for check-in, but we’re only using it as assisted check-in. I want to move toward self check-in stations, but I only have one touch screen. I know that you don’t have to use touch screens, but let’s face it, it’s a better experience. I know that there may be others in a similar situation. You have a lot of monitors already, but you want to move to touch screens. Touch screens cost $500 each (let me know if you know of a better deal) and that’s cost prohibitive for most ministry budgets.
Then I came across Magic Touch, a little device that turns any monitor into a touch screen. It plugs into USB and then calibrates with your screen. I haven’t tested this yet, but I’ve got one on order. In a few weeks I’ll post a review and let you know how it works.
You can get more information on this device here. I actually bought it from here. Check out the video below for and idea of what it looks like. However… although this piece of equipment is pretty innovative and new… the video looks like it was made in the 80′s.
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I need help with a report
Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by Kenny.
Okay, I’m crowdsourcing a problem I’ve run into. I found the PERFECT volunteer report for Fellowship One. We check all of our volunteers in every Sunday. We keep up with our volunteers as well. If one drops out, we make their ministry assignment inactive. This way, I can run a report and pull up the names of only those who are active. Likewise, I can pull the same report of those who are inactive to see who isn’t serving anymore.
As PERFECT as this report is, it’s got one little problem. Actually, it’s big enough to make it report frustrating. I’ve sent in a request to have this enhanced, but I’m hoping that someone out there can help me before I hear back from the fine folks at Fellowship Tech. So, I figure that one of three people could help me out. If you’re one of these three types of people, then read on. If you’re not, then feel free to move along unless this just sounds absolutely intriguing.
- You work for Fellowship Tech and you’d like to have mercy on me and pass my request to the front of the line to have it fixed before the end of the day. (Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?)
- You’re a Fellowship One ninja and know of another report that will get me the same information (or enough to satisfy my needs).
- You’re an Excel genius that can help me extract the information I need that is already in the report, just not in a convenient way to access.
So, I’m betting that at least one of you three are reading this post and are going to have a solution for me. Here we go:
The report is M3739E. It’s a fantastic report that spits out the names, addresses and communication information of all active or inactive volunteers for a ministry. In addition, it tells me where they serve, what their role is as well as the RLC they’re assigned to. Best of all, it shows volunteer requirements, such as when they had a background check run as well as if they’re filled out an application. It’s beautiful!
However, the problem is that this report puts all the communication information in one cell. Every phone number and email in once cell. So, if I want to run this report and quickly cut and paste 200 emails, I can’t becasue all the phone numbers are mixed in as well. At first I thought this was a simple fix as I could just do a “text to columns” split, but the contact info doesn’t appear to be separated by commas, spaces or anything else… so I can’t seem to divide the individual contacts. The only way I’ve been able to do this is manually cut and paste.
So, any advice? Is there a similar report? Anyone know an Excel trick that will do this for me? I need to get an email out to all my volunteers later this week and I totally don’t want to have someone cut and paste 300 emails.
Here is a sample of the report. The names, addresses and such have been changed, but it gives you something to play with to see if you can work your excel mojo on it.
UPDATE:
Within an hour of this post, my friend Mike Niebuhr, both a F1 Guru and obviously an excel ninja created a custom fix. So, if you’re curious about using this report, which you should becasue it is awesome, then you can use this fix as well.
Insert a new column between “communication” (column C) and “work address” (column D). Now column D is an empty column. In column D2, paste the following code:
=MID(C2,(SEARCH(“E: “,C2,1)+3),LEN(C2))
This code/function will extract the email (if there is one) from the C column and put it in column D2. Brilliant, right? To quickly add this function to all the rest of the cells in the D Column, click on Cell D2 and in the bottom right corner of the cell you’ll see a little box. When your cursor hovers over the little box, it turns to a solid black “plus sign” instead of what was a “hand” or white “plus sign.” Click on it (and hold down) and drag it all the way down Column D. This will populate the function in every cell in this column.
Thanks Mike for your help!
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