Tech Steward

Appreciated the conversations from the 2nd workshop I facilitated at #nwlc10, Top Online Tools to connect your community. (My other workshop was Technology Steward 101, which was an extended discussion of the pre-conference topic.) Here’s the slides:

Links to resources mentioned during workshop discussions:

• Moodle.org – course management system for online learning (free open-source)
• http://namechk.com – check username availability at 149 websites/ social networks
• Generosity Conference promo video – an example of mashup as video announcement
• YOUR BRAIN ON COMPUTERS:Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price (New York Times); also cf. Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains (The Atlantic); Does iPad have the magic to bring people together? (USA Today); Twittering in Church, with the Pastor’s O.K. (Time magazine)
• Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li and The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter

Anything else I forgot? Any other great resources for using social media beyond broadcasting announcements and sharing content? The opportunity is to coordinate user-generated content to build up a church community, its relationships, and its witness in the world. In a world where everyone can publish and produce fresh expressions of faith and creativity, tech stewards play a vital role to orchestrate individuals into a unified corporate voice.

And now, the discussion is opened up to the world! TechSteward.net is the place where you can ask your questions with church leaders in a similar role, your peers, and share your learnings as worship leaders and church leaders on how to select social media apps that fit a specific church context, how you evaluate what’s working, how you train up key leaders, defining roles, responsibilities, and policies or guidelines.