I was in my bosses office today (that would be Kem Meyer) for an impromptu meeting when I came to the stunning realization that the planets were in alignment and everything felt right in the universe.

I was in an "uppity" restaurant the other day. When I asked for coffee, the response was, "Would you prefer the Ethiopian or Guatemalan blend?"

Actually, I was hoping you had Blue Mountain Coffee from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.

I've been silent for over a week now, but not because I want to be. Truth is, we're in the middle of a very large project - one that will change the face of our team and how we do what we do.

Each team member starts with a few regular tasks and has the margin to go above and beyond in their sphere of influence. But over time - we keep adding tasks until that is all the team member does - no more above and beyond. They simply become a clock puncher...getting their stuff done and going home.

Think about it. Each new gadget does more and more - which means you are connected to more and more. Early phones allowed you to talk on the phone - which happened once or twice a day (unless you were a middle school girl). But today's devices allow you to monitor things like Twitter which update every few seconds.

Technology does NOT suggest connectivity. People are the filter through which connectivity happens or fails to happen.

So what are we doing with our websites and our web strategy to keep from enabling a love-hate relationship with those that visit us?

I won't lie, we can't please all the people all the time. But for the most part, do we give people a sense of "zen" when they visit? Or do we so frustrate them, that the good our sites do end up being hated at the same time?

Well, it has officially begun here at Granger. Our Executive Pastor, Tim Stevens was the first of many to move his blog to WordPress. And there are at least 5 more in line to do the same.

Comcast pokes fun at those who still have dial-up connections and has even created a website dedicated to The Slowskys (those famous turtles that love the slow pace of their lives and Internet speed).

I'm typically NOT a fan of third party plugins that are pasted directly into your website with little customization. But this week we installed one that has changed my mind and made me reconsider my position.

If you're like me - you love the fact that you can learn just about anything online.

Anyone out there use wireframing consistently in the design process?

I've been thinking a lot lately about productivity, task lists, project management and organizational competence.

I've been in a number of meetings with my boss Kem Meyer over the past few weeks and for some reason we keep coming back to this concept:

Do we have each others backs?

I love the word picture created when you think of it in terms of an older brother sticking up for his little sister, or a wingman protecting the lead jet. In both scenarios the one being protected is weak in some way. The little sister just because of her age and size and the lead jet because of blind spots and limited firepower.

Similarly, we all have weaknesses and blind spots. If you question this, your blind spot is most likely pride and arrogance.

This is why "team" is so powerful. At Granger, we often hear the phrase:

The team outperforms the individual every time.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do we "have the backs" of those on our immediate teams? For me that's the Communications and Tech Ops teams.
• Do we "have the backs" of those on the greater team? For me this would include the staff members from every department at the church.
• Do we "have the backs" of those serving along side us? For me this refers to volunteers on our teams and those serving in every other area of the church.

Big questions. But necessary for growth, progress and success.

It may appear that I've dropped off the face of the planet, but it's only so I could focus on some cool projects - one of which just launched this past weekend.

The Online Campus is now available at gccwired.com!

Specifics:

• you can get to it a few ways: idochurchonline.com / live.gccwired.com or by simply going to gccwired.com and clicking on the countdown clock at the top of the page.
• Enter as a visitor (anonymous for the most part) or create an account for a full service experience including the ability to give online and register for things offered on the site.
• Lobby gives interesting information regarding the current series and links to the Online Campus Blog so people can stay connected during the week.
• Once inside the auditorium, you find the service agenda on the left sidebar and next step opportunities on the right sidebar.
• Real time chat (including private chat) on the starting tab.
• Granger notes: you can follow along or take notes of your own. Print them off or email them to a friend.
  
• Audience view: See a visual representation of who is in the service (individuals and groups).
• Who's Here tab: Find a person and connect with them via Facebook, Twitter or an email.
• Map: See where in the world people are participating in the online experience.
• Write on your Facebook wall or Tweet directly from the auditorium. Default message is to invite someone to the experience.

Of course I can't talk about the Online Campus without giving a shout out to our creative strategists and partner in all things web - AspireOne.

AspireOne worked with us for months to brainstorm, dream, create and develop this online experience. It was more than a project that just needed to get done. It was the birth of an idea to expand the realm of online church possibilities. Our intent is to take the social networking tools embedded in the site and allow the vision of our Online Campus Director (Mark Meyer) to explode in the virtual world.

We're at the start of an incredible journey. If you get time, stop by the campus (currently offered twice on Sunday evenings) and check things out.

I'd love to hear feedback on your experience so give me a shout if you have ideas. Email: dmcmullen@gccwired.com

I have so many things going on right now I can't see straight. I guess that just means I need to pull back for a few days and regenerate.

And there's no better way than going on a road trip with the Communications team.

First stop: Cultivate09

Here are my notes, chicken scratches and takeaways from the day. Overall a great conference. Met some new people and definitely left with stuff to chew on.


Phil Cooke
Creating compelling content in a media-driven world

2 Things are happening:

1. Our content has become shorter
2. We spend more time communicating + less time creating each message = Time Suck
   

Four questions to ponder:

1. What are you really trying to do? "Remove obstacles/barriers (smooth the path) for people taking their next steps on the web.
2. How do you deal with ambiguity? NOT providing the perfect answer to difficult questions when there really is NO perfect answer.
3. Are you asking the right questions? Jesus is God - but so what? How does that impact my life?
4. Stop focusing on: How much will it cost? And: When will it be ready?
   

Developing a web strategy
Drew Goodmanson (cobblestone software) & Gabe Taviano (Digital Disciples)

SEO (importance of - added numerous visitors/members the weeks following the optimization)

Online evangelism as a strategy is 1% or less successful. + side is that church members forming relationships in the community use the website as a connection point to get people into church.

Theological issues exist in the understanding of online church and if it's even possible for people to connect that way.

Must be PASSIONATE and PROFESSIONAL in order to be successful online.

Use of website for visitors: Visitors can send message online letting people know they are coming to church so you can meet them and welcome them at the kiosk.


iCampuses
Tony Steward (Lifechurch.tv Digerati) & Rhett Smith (counselor)

How does your pastoral responsibilities translate to the web?

How much are you responsible for? Do you have to answer every inquiry? Do you have to provide all services to all people?

So many books out there to grow social media - but are there resources to shrink and better manage your use of social media?

"Batch" your online usage. Check email/Twitter every hour or so rather than the minute it comes in.

Boundaries are huge when faced with the new onslaught of online communication. AND it's not really up to the leadership to set boundaries (work schedule and time nanagement) when they are God's boundaries from the beginning (Sabbath).

Matching space for space (people on computers are rarely standing) (Book: 4 hour work week)
Native to the environment (making the experience feel native to the user - what they would expect and want to see/feel)


Clint! Runge
Archrival Creative in Lincoln, NE

Differences between Gen X and Gen Y

• Xers ask how can I be different. Yers ask how can we be different
• Xers = exclusion. Yers = inclusion
  

Generation Y

• Attitudes: "we" (as in Wikipedia).
• Peer to peer approval most important thing. Branded to death so they tend to trust peers more than advertising.
• Success = good life, good job with purpose and meaning.
• Huge belief in causes: Environment (easy and no one is really against it), economy and education.
• No Brand Loyalty.
  

Mobile devices are the "First screen"

Future of social media: 15 minutes of fame is an expectation rather than an aspiration.

• First screen - "Social mobilization" GPS socialization.
• Creation of smaller social networks based on interests and not the global collective.
• Virtual world - Second Life.
  

Let people in on your "secret" and who cares what everyone else things. Marketing plan similar to that used by Red Bull, "We just want the 14-20 somethings drinking our drink so we'll cater to them in marketing - who cares what everyone else thinks..."

What's the next generation going to be known for? Those born in 2001 or later - Gen Y x50 or something to that effect. Born with the thought that they have all the answers and want
family cohesion.

Trends seen recently

• New politics: Skepticism. People want change but not sure that change will occur. "Apple will have more impact on them than the government will."
• The modern guy: What does it mean to be a guy these days? Free to explore things they are interested in. Things like dance, creativity, arts, starting different businesses, etc.
• Life tracking: adding content to social media and even medical outlets so that it can be tracked and the collective data used for personal development.
• Do the right thing: Too many ethical dilemmas. This generation gets very worked up over this stuff and there is a sense of relief when their decisions are seen as right or ethical.
  

Small Explosions
Bobby Gruenewald & Terry Storch (Digerati - Lifechurch.tv)

Creating small but sustained explosions that can stand the test of time rather than huge explosions that make a big impact that then fizzles out quickly.

Digerati Team: In the development of something like Youversion you start with the big picture in mind. But in that you must also check in each week to ensure the right steps are in place in order to move on to the next week's tasks. In these meetings you may only look a couple week's down the road rather than revisiting the big picture.

New York Cab Driver example: Keep moving forward and don't look back or to the side. Everyone knows his or her role and as long as the meeting up front does well at setting the expectations and framing the roles then everything works.


The 3 T's: Text, Twitter and Thumbs.
Tim Schraeder & Michael Forsberg

Park Community Church uses Jarbyco during all services to elicit feedback from participants on the messages and what they think. Also used interactive polling during a service to help drive the service.

Facebook, Twitter and Texting each hit a niche area and can be used in different ways. Nothing wrong with using all three.


Jon Acuff
Author of the Blog: Stuff Christians Like

"Booty. God. Booty." Description of being all about God only on Sunday mornings...

"Satire: Humor with a purpose."

The Devil tries to destroy your story and get you to discount your story.
Our response: Give your story to God. Don't forget why you tell your story.

Innovate09 came and went, but left a lasting impression on me.

I'm going to divide this post into two sections: My Role and My Experience.

My Role
This year I was part of a few teams looking into and implementing the following:

1. Live streaming: A first for Innovate. It went off without a hitch and was definitely a big hit. We partnered with LightCast to provide the stream. Setup was a snap and the stream was steady and consistent. People were able to watch all main sessions along with the Innovate Film Festival. We averaged 260 viewers over the 6 sessions.

2. Twitter Feed: We used ParaTweet to pull a feed from the hash tag #innovate09 and presented it on the big screens during breaks and as sessions began and ended. Simple web interface for account creation and tweet moderation along with an Adobe AIR application for presenting on the screens. Worked like a charm.

3. Text Voting: During the Innovate Film Festival we partnered with Jarbyco to offer text in voting for the films (medias) entered in the festival. Worked like a charm as well. People are getting more used to texting every day so the number of people participating was even more significant than it was last year.

A special thanks to those that worked on these projects with me and helped make them a success during the conference. You know who you are :)

My Experience
The great thing is that even though I was nervous and "on call" throughout the conference related to the three projects above, I was also able to fully engage and enjoy the conference as it unfolded.

This year took me places I didn't think I'd go. Collaboration was the name of the game. Never before has there been such synergy between our teams and those attending the conference. The Arts Mashup and the Storyteller sessions brought an exciting new flair to the conference and infused it with the blood, sweat and tears of other churches.

I left feeling part of something bigger - a brotherhood of churches all pulling hard for the Kingdom.

There is definitely momentum building behind this type of collaboration and I can't wait to see where it takes the church.

It was good seeing all of you at Innovate09 - we should do this again sometime...

Don't forget to check out the main sessions on the Innovate09 site if you missed the conference or even if you just want to relive the experience!

Growing up I remember being obsessed with sports. I had trading cards, memorized players and their profiles and watched it on television as if it missing it meant certain death.

Over the years I recall players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Andre Agassi, John Elway, Ozzie Smith, Michael Jordan and the list goes on...

But why was I so excited about it?

I still watch sports, but have an entirely different take on them. I get bored easily, I try to understand why they do it, I ask myself, "What's it all for and is there a point?"

At times it just seems so meaningless...

Right? It's not like war, where the winning "team" gets territory or freedom. It's simply to say, "I'm better than you" at something like hitting a rubber disc into a designated enclosure...

At this point in my life the only sporting events that get me excited are things like the Olympic games (for their attempt at unity and humanitarianism). And I still enjoy watching two teams play who have been rivals for life. Or when a team is this close to becoming a dynasty after sustained success.

But the day-in and day-out games that make up seasons...not so much.

Find the Meaning Behind the Scenes
Maybe it's the same for our church websites. People have grown bored of our run-of-the-mill Web sites. We don't capture their interest like we used to. Everyone is doing it these days so what makes us so special?

Well, like my continued interest in the Olympics, rivalries and dynasties, maybe we have to find the meaning behind the game (or Web site as the case may be).

What is the meaning behind what we do? Is the site just a pretty facade with nothing inside, or do we offer people the "meaning" behind the site?

Do we just have Web sites because all the leading churches do? Or are we leveraging the technology to fulfill the mission of the church?

The BIG Question
Will someone find our site and be able to make the jump from missing-in-action to found-for-the-kingdom?

After all - isn't that the real question - the reason we're really doing all of this in the first place?

This morning the new Online Giving page officially went live.

Before

After

It may seem like a fairly straightforward upgrade, but online giving is a difficult thing to conceptualize, organize and implement.

You start with a ton of information that needs to fit in a limited area. You have so much you need to say and yet you want it to be the most streamlined and simple process for your guests.

So what you try to do is boil it all down to simple copy, an easy flow of information and a straightforward interface that gets people from Point A to Point B.

Here are a few of the biggest changes to the Online Giving page:

• Reduced the copy people read on the main page.
• Made PayPal an option for giving. Even though FellowshipOne is the preferred giving portal, we want to make it easy for people.
• An accordion page element is used to give people the option for more information without cluttering up the page or taking them away from the main giving page.

Every element of your (our) website needs this type of upgrade every now and then. Doesn't it feel good to roll out the next big thing?

I've attempted on a few occasions to move from Blogger to WordPress without success.

I'm not sure why - maybe the timing wasn't right or maybe I just didn't have the patience to learn a new system with everything going on at the time.

At any rate, in the past month we've seen a flood of Granger staffers making the switch to WordPress. In some cases it just means they want our advice, but in other cases it means I get to actually help implement a new theme for the blog. This obviously requires me to learn the system and quickly at that.

I'm a few hours into the process and other than a few glitches I'm liking the flexibility. There isn't a huge need to move my blog from Blogger since I manage a full blown website with the blog being a small part of it. But if all I had was the blog - I'd be making the switch.

After years of refining and innovating WordPress has definitely reached a good place and is only getting better. Here are just a few reasons why:

• Free
• Open source
• Numerous free and purchased templates available
• Fairly simple and straightforward css file for customization
• Easy to manage templates (themes) by simply activating and disabling
• Wide range of looks and layouts available
• Easy to give the appearance that your blog is part of a website rather than just a blog
• Can be hosted online or on a server of your choice

I'm thinking this could be the most versatile and forward thinking free blog/CMS tool out there.

I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you the people moving to WordPress are people that for years have been duped into using TypePad. They are fed up with the pricing and the fact that even though they are paying, the tool isn't getting better. It continues to frustrate and makes total customization a pain in the...you know.

If you're a flight risk - I'd make the move today...

This past weekend we spent a few days at the lake. When we returned home, we were greeted with something out of the ordinary - our neighbor's lawn looked like it had been scalped and there were piles of grass clippings all over the place.

This may mean nothing to you, but to us it meant something was terribly wrong with the world. You see our neighbor is militant about the status of his lawn. He edges regularly, keeps it trimmed nicely and always sweeps up the clippings when done.

Come to find out they were on vacation and a distant relative was helping them out by doing the lawn care. If you can call it that...

You see it is painfully obvious to us that our neighbor and his cousin are NOT on the same page. The cousin thinks it is okay to burn the lawn by cutting it too low and that clippings all over the place apparently spruce up the neighborhood.

Bring It Back To Your Team
Seems like something we should be aware of in our teams and departments. Are we operating on the same page? Do we all aspire to the same level of excellence and defend that standard?

Our team has evolved into this reality. In the past we dealt with issues related to the harmony of the team, but recently things have started to click along pretty well. Everyone is pulling hard in the same direction. We all understand the value of excellence and strive to maintain it.

Of course we don't always hit the mark but at least we're aiming for it and helping each other when we're a little off target.

I love the team I do life with at Granger!

I was sitting on the porcelain throne the other day (sorry for the disturbing image that creates in your mind) when I noticed something about the pants I was wearing.

Instead of the rough, unfinished edges inside the pants, there were wrapped and finished edges. Even though it is never seen by anyone but the person wearing them.

I made sure the brand name was showing because I wanted to give props to a company that is apparently interested in excellence. Good job Union Bay.

Illustrates Excellence
This is a no-brainer for me. I can't help but look at illustrations like this and retrofit them to make sense to web design and web strategy.

In this case my question should be obvious:

Are our websites rough around the edges? Or do we take the time to 'wrap' and 'finish' the edges of our sites for our visitors?

There are many parts of our websites that visitors won't see - unless we don't take the time to develop these site components with excellence. Here are just a few of those "unseen" areas:

• Are images optimized correctly for fast download speeds?
• Are forms created well so people aren't filling out information we don't need?
• Can visitors get to (almost) every page on the our websites in two clicks or less?
• Is the site search intuitive so that it won't bring back numerous inconsequential pages?
• Is the content "web happy" so people aren't reading through chapters of information to find what they are looking for?
• Does the site flow well? Is there a logical and practical navigation strategy so people always feel like they are in control and not the website?
• Are the basics in the footer? People typically look for things like address, contact info and quick links in the footers of our websites.
• Many more...

That was a short list, but always be on the lookout for ways to keep our websites from becoming rough around the edges...