The "Communication" track is for those who would like to learn about current technology that can aid your outreach and member conversations. Email, video and branding strategies are offered.
Becoming a Visual StoryTeller
In this session, Steve Zambo will share insights and tips on how to effectively tell your story in a visual and digital world.
Capturing Great Video Imagery
Cameras and lenses aren't nearly as important in getting a great image, despite what camera manufacturers try to tell us. Cinematography (and photography) is the art of crafting composition and light, neither of which have anything to do with a camera other than it being the tool we use to record the image. If you want your image to look great, the right place to start is in your mind as you plan your shot and then follow through to establish the lighting and composition that will give you the look you want. We start with the masters of light and composition who used paint and brush as their tools, see how they influenced modern cinematographers who used tungsten lights and film to bring those ideas forward, and up to the digital age where cinematographers use a wide array of new lighting techniques and technologies to essentially copy what Vincent Van Gogh was doing long ago.
Church Branding & Technology
Much of what we do as a church in the area of outreach—whether it's our print materials, website, or social media presence—falls into the realm of visual communication. Whether we’d like it to or not, what we visually communicate online and through various technologies will have an emotional impact and imbue subliminal values onto those who see it. Creating a unified look and brand for your church helps support and visually communicate the gospel by making your church unique and recognizable to your community and congregation. This presentation will examine the implementation and best practices of church branding through the use of technology, such as websites, social media, audio and video tools, and presentation software.
Polished Email Campaigns Using MailChimp
MailChimp helps you send professional looking emails to members and/or prospects with little to no “coding” knowledge or experience. Pastor Burgess will demonstrate the basic features of MailChimp, including how to use campaign design templates, create subscriber lists with different group subscriptions, integrate campaigns with social media, and will share a few tips, tricks and time-savers. He will also share some ideas for uses in ministries, congregations and schools.
Publish It Yourself with Print-On-Demand
Churches have published in the past--usually at great cost. How many still have the Ladies Aid cookbooks piled up in a closet, unsold and eventually given to prospects? With Print-on-Demand (POD) technology congregations can publish cookbooks, histories, even educational material developed in-house with minimal cost and greater return (if the publication is for a fund raiser). How does one get a book written, edited, then placed in a POD setting where it can be printed as demanded, in whatever quantities are needed? This can also be used as a teaching tool in the classroom.
Technology & Your Brain (Keynote Discussion)
Spend another 50 minutes with Dave reflecting on the keynote content, and extend your learning further with more examples of technology's role in our lives.
Video Communication in our Churches & Schools
Have you ever wanted to bring an expert into your classroom who lived miles away? What about getting input from a board member who is out of town for work during a key meeting? Are you part of a multi-campus church or school and your staff are spending time every day driving between sites for one or meetings? Or maybe you live in northern Minnesota and are trying to find a new way to get the Gospel into your members' homes while they are hibernating through the winter months.
Stop on by and let's talk about video conferencing for these and other applications in our churches and schools. High quality, engaging video conferencing is no longer a luxury for the multi-million dollar corporation.
After sharing ideas for using video we will discuss a variety of video services and hardware comparing features, costs and room set up guidelines.