I recently submitted a post buried in another thread asking for those interested in gathering with other Tech people to respond. I decided I would try again with a new thread to see if there is any real interest in what I am proposing which is a gathering of tech people with the purpose of:
- Meeting others doing similar things that you can share ideas with
- Increasing our existing skills or learning new ones to help our churches
- Increasing awareness of how to communicate God's message
- Discovering how to use tech in ways that really glorify God
Possible Topics:
- Creating video and graphics
- Sound
- Multimedia Presentation Software (such as ProPresenter, Power Point, etc)
- Other visuals including lighting
Please suggest any other topics I have missed.
I attend Evergreen MInistries in Hudsonville, MI and we would love to host this. Please post to this thread if you have interest or any suggestions or you can email me at [email protected]
Comments
Hi Scott,
I'm definitely interested! Maybe we can figure out a way to work through or with the network on this idea.
Mavis
Great idea, Scott. You'll want to post something in the A/V forum as well, perhaps linking to this post.
If you're interested in doing this virtually (i.e. using a cheap teleconference provider and a screen sharing tool like join.me) you could cast the net wider. Not as much fun as meeting in person, but it can work and perhaps get more participation.
Keep us posted. And, once you've got a date/time, let us know if we in the CRC Communications office can help spread the word.
I'd be interested, and possibly consider driving to GR for this. If it can be done remotely by teleconference or such, that would indeed allow more people to be part of it.
Great responses - thank you!
Mavis, do you have any ideas on how to work with the Network on this other than just posting?
Tim and Wendy, my initial intention was to gather in person - and hopefully people in the West Michigan area still would want to, but I do agree that more people could get involved if we were able to do it virtually as well. Since I am a video guy, maybe somebody would be willing to help make this happen.
I think this is a great idea and would be interested in attending and willing to support this event however I can. -Joyce
Scott,
I would love to be involved in an event like this. Living in Washington might hamper the direct interaction though. I have been envisioning a similar training and networking event in the NW Washington area but haven't had the time or drive to make it happen.
Keep me informed as the plans progress and I might just attempt a west coast version as well.
Blessings,
Doug Sebens
Joyce - thank you for offering to support - I'm not exactly sure what all you are able to do as far as this website is concerned, but maybe in the near future if we generate enough interest to definitely move ahead with planning something, your help in spreading the word would be great.
Doug - that is awesome to hear that you have been thinking of a similar event. Already you and Wendy have expressed interest in somehow connecting remotely so I think we may have to seriously consider Tim's idea of at least doing some virtual sessions.
Scott,
I was thinking of the network's participation in a similar way to what Tim mentioned in his reply. If we can set up a way for people in other locations to be able to view the sessions via streaming, maybe we could have a link to that and announcements about it in the network. If live participation isn't feasible, recordings of the sessions could be added to our resources links here on the site. That's the kind of thing I was imagining.
As far as topics, I would love to hear from people who are currently using a technology and could tell us about their experience with it. In addition to the types of topics you listed, I'm thinking, for example, that I'd love to hear a presentation from someone who's used social media successfully -- they could show us the actual thing they've created (Facebook page or Twitter postings or ....) and talk about what it took to do what they did, what they learned from their experience, how we could do the same or similar, that kind of thing. Sort of like what you might hear at a users' group conference.
Mavis,
Yes, we will need to consider some type of virtual access to the sessions.
I just posted a comment on the Social Media Training thread started by Nick Inglis. It was interesting that he is doing some of his own training out east - so I asked him if he would want to get involved with this somehow. I think many churches could benefit from this topic as well. Thanks Mavis.
Tech Gathering/Planning Session
For anyone interested in meeting to discuss ideas and help plan the future of any gatherings and training, please either post here or email me at [email protected]. I would like to pick a date in April sometime to meet either at Evergreen Ministries in Hudsonville or if somebody has access to a more central GR location, let me know. I am just throwing out a few dates - please post which dates DO NOT work for you so I can pick a date. Thanks everyone and I can't wait to meet some of you.
Monday Evenings April 11, or 18
Thursday Evenings April 14, or 21
Saturday Mornings or Afternoon April 9, 16, or 23
Let's Discuss
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