Mike Walker Creative

President Elect Barack Obama is planning on introducing an economic stimulus plan this week. I, along with the rest of the country, am very anxious and excited to see what he brings to the table.

Keep in mind, this is the guy who raised an unprecedented amount of campaign capital. Not only did his campaign set records, it eclipsed anything people have imagined. Here’s the really crazy thing…he did it during the middle of an economic recession. They had the right tools with the right strategy.

In a time where churches are seeing on average of 15-25% reduction in giving it’s time to start looking at a new way of doing things.

Monday morning I met with Yuri Star of Church Media Group about a new product they have called Ministry Give. Ministry Give uses the same technology that the Obama campaign used to raise record amounts of capital…..AND…it’s not expensive at all. It allows your donors to give online, at a kiosk, or via their cel phone. It’s a very cutting edge solution for fund raising.

Check out Ministry Give and put together a strategy that will help your organization. If you have questions please feel free to drop me an email.

Recently I got invited for a private screening of Will Smith’s new movie, “7 lb”. The movie was real heavy, but probably one of the best all around movies I have seen in at least 10 years. The writing, the acting, the story telling, the cinematography were all over the top well done.

As I walked out of the theater with a group of friends we were all commenting how blown away we were and not a single one of the comments had to do with special effects or technology. It was all wrapped up in the art of story telling within a movie…it’s an art I think has been lost somewhere along the way in a lot of areas, movies, tv shows, music (especially Christian music), concerts, etc…

While I am a technology guy I really feel like technology has gotten in the way of the message in recent years. I’m not sure if it”s because of the rapid advancement of technology and we are constantly trying to keep up, a lack of imagination, or laziness…or maybe a combination of the 3. I don’t know…

As a live events guy I have noticed the trend for several years. Organizations tend to throw more video screens, newer lights, LED technology, more videos all to keep up it seems, but where is the message? The presentation has gotten so overwhelming that I think it’s become more about the technology…again…where is the message?

I read something interesting the other day that made the statement “technology is a very powerful, but the one thing it can not do is lead”. I really feel like maybe in the process of staying cutting edge or cool, that maybe the message has suffered.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if you took the screens and lights away for a month to see just how creative you could get. You might discover some things about your teams as well.

A few weeks ago Tony Morgan issued a challenge to churches to stop marketing for a time. I think it would be interesting to see churches take a step back from technology for a time and dig deep to rediscover your core message and then let the technology support that message.

I wasn’t really going to put anything out there related to this, but recent conversations with clients have made me rethink it.

As everyone is aware at this point in February of 2009 television is making the digital transition. Several people have been asking me lately if that means their church needs to change all the video gear to digital or HD if they are going to stay on broadcast. The answer is a simple NO.

The people most effected are people who are actually working on the broadcast end (tv stations and networks) and people watching TV via an over the air antenna.

If you capture to a tape format, whether it be dvcam, dvcpro, beta, etc…you can keep doing that. Unless the company actually broadcasting your show requires a different format then you should be able to keep sending your tapes just like normal. The onus lies on the broadcast companies.

You don’t necessarily need to turn in your older analog camera package and do an immediate upgrade (even though it is likely better that you do just to stay current) and you don’t need to upgrade to HD just for the sake of upgrading. Most Christian broadcast companies don’t even have the ability to broadcast in HD (and they likely won’t for some time) so doing a higher end show while will increase your quality and will, if done right, look better is still not necessary.

In fact, if you are an organization in need of a camera package for your church and not ready to lay out the big bucks for digital or HD please email me as I do have some information on a few analog broadcast camera packages owned by major broadcast organizations that are looking to sell them at a VERY good deal.

No need to push the panic button just yet….keep pushing forward

I came across this from Mark Horvath.

“reason non-church friend doesn’t go to church. He can get the blinged out, high def, carnival Jesus by staying home and watching TV.”

What a great question and insight from someone who doesn’t attend church…and who it sounds like won’t. It got me to thinking about what the real turn off is. As simple as it is, it’s really a matter of the heart and a person/organizations motivation.

Being a media guy who has worked with churches as well as the entertainment world I love great presentation done well. That being said, I do think it’s healthy to ask the question why…why is it important to have all the bells and whistles? Is it because it gives a better chance to reach people we wouldn’t otherwise reach? Is it because we need to keep from being outdated? Is it because deep down there is an ego we are trying to feed?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for all the cool tech. I am an audio file so good audio is paramount to me. I believe great video is important…not because it’s cool or cutting edge, but great content and high def screens can go a long way to making a large room feel more intimate. At least for me, it’s all about the audience. Better technology done right gives you a better chance to communicate to your audience. Great tech with done with the motive of being cool while being disguised with empty words of “trying to reach or connect with people” is exposed quickly. You can talk all you want, but your audience knows…so…..why use all the stuff?

What’s your motivation? What messages are you wanting to send? What’s really behind your messages? As the old saying goes “you can get by on charm for 10 minutes, but the you better know something”. You can wow your audience for a time, but if they come to the realization that it’s all for show they will move on to someone or somewhere else.

Yes, you are reading correctly! A pastor living in Alabama listed himself on Ebay. I came across this article on the website of a local Alabama CBS affiliate and had to put it on here. I have no idea how this will work out for him, but you have to give him style and creativity points!

Here is the link to his Ebay listing. If you have read “The Purple Cow” by Seth Godin then you know it’s all about setting yourself apart. Gotta give the guy credit….he did do that! It should be interesting to see how this plays out

Through out my career while working for other companies, ever time I would walk in for my first week on the job I would be issued my laptop (usually a Dell) which was loaded up with outlook, word, excel, etc… I am unaware of the costs these days, but I know at the time one company was spending on average of $200 per computer for licenses. I believe we had somewhere around 250 computers. You can see how that adds up.

In todays IT environment there are more options. While there are some things that are “must haves” there are also some ways to get creative. Each situation is a bit different so you will have to evaluate the needs of your organization. For example, instead of using Microsoft Outlook maybe look at using Gmail for everyone in your company. It works….and it’s free. Google also offers calendars that can be shared and are free. Do you currently have large server space dedicated to email and calendars? Since Google is web based there is no longer a need for email servers for your company. 

Can you re-think what your tech needs are on a daily basis? I know most companies are pretty anti MAC…sometimes with good reason, but sometimes not. I know IT guys who spend most of their day running around to fix PC problems. I know very few IT guys who have MACs deployed that spend much time having to fix them. If there are areas where MAC’s can be deployed take a look at it. You might find your IT folks have less to do which would allow you to move them or rethink that department.

There are a ton of options in this area. In todays economy it’s good to rethink some things. It could end up saving you a lot of money and time.

Every morning I head to Starbucks to grab a Venti Americano and catch up on my ESPN radio.
This morning the announcement came out that Major League Baseball is going to try out instant replay in their fall league.

A lot of baseball purists are openly speaking out against it as technology shouldn’t be a part of the game and it will slow it down (I guess they haven’t figure out that it’s baseball and there isn’t much you can do to make it slower).

The radio host made a brilliant point. He said “do the purists not realize that a good number of people sitting in the stands at the game are working or playing on their PALM or BlackBerry device? They are likely listening to the game on SIRRIUS Satellite radio. They probably purchased their ticket online. And, they probably got to the stadium by using a GPS system. If the people you are trying to reach and connect with are in the 18-28 year old range then they are using technology.”

What about in the churches, are you using technology to it’s fullest? What audience are you trying to connect with? Are they a group that is tech savvy? If they are then take a leap and meet them where they are and figure out how to incorporate more technology (effective technology) and reach them.

It’s ok to try a few things. Going back to some sports examples, the NBA tried enforcing a dress code which many thought would fail and it turned out to be a great thing. At the same time, they also tried introducing a new ball and it didn’t last. Point being, try a few things and see where it takes you.

I was recently brought in by a church that was experiencing some “technical difficulties” after moving in to their new building.

Upon arriving the staff informed me that they were fairly frustrated and they were not sure what to do. As the conversation moved on they kept expressing over and over how frustrated they were because they had just spent a huge sum of money and didn’t feel like their systems were all that great.

After about 2 hours of letting them vent I began to dig a bit in to what all had been put in to play. What I found was that they had some pretty amazing sound, lighting, and video systems put in to play. In fact, they had very little to complain about.

I pulled a team of trusted friends together who were audio engineers, lighting programmers, and video engineers. We were able to come back in and run through a weekend with their staff while operating their recently purchased gear.

At the end of the weekend the staff pulled me aside to tell me how everything looked and sounded different that weekend and wanted to know what we did different. Imagine the surprise of the staff when I informed them that we didn’t change a single thing. Which then posed the question….well…then what was the difference?

The ONLY difference was that we had great people at key positions. Great gear is only that….great gear. If you don’t have properly trained people then you will end up with a very high priced frustration.

Take some time and do an evaluation of where your staff is and what they are really capable of. If you don’t really know how to evaluate them then bring in someone who has a better idea how to bring some light to the situation.

If your staff isn’t where you thought or hoped they are not all hope is lost. Invest in your people. Bring in a team of experts who can help bring out the most in your team….after all….it ain’t all about the gear.