Live-Blogging at MISE2010!

The following are some notes from Jim Gray’s session titled: Strategies for Connecting Community and Mission: Dumpsters, Ninjas, and Guerillas.

Take a look after the jump (and a large picture of Jim himself [click his face]…!):

Social Media Is:

A fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one-to-many) in to dialogues (many-to-many); Facebook and Twitter.

Jim gave a massive list of Social Media Software.

All of this can be overwhelming.
The dumpster is about sorting things out.
We need to sort through what we’re going to use- about what works best for us.

The Dumpster Sorting

Social Media is about people, not about technology.
Social Media is people-aware-with people connecting all the time.
Applications like Facebook connect people directly with each other.
As powerful as technology is, it is just an enabler. More opportunities to connect.
It’s when you put technology in the hands of the almost-always-connected people that make it much more powerful.

Current Issues and Concerns

Misuse:
How much time are you spending online?
Management: Time, Staffing, et cetera
How are you going to get an ROI?
Control
How do we build policies and procedures for this?
Engagement
I have these accounts, how do I respond. What is my frequency. DOn’t build an online format and never respond to it.
Follow-up
Instant access to feedback.
Groundswell (Book by:
Once this happens, you can’t stop it. It’s already happened- it’s not going anywhere. How do we keep up with all of this?

The Effects

Negatives:
Families, Careers, Ministries, Relationships
I still have to manage the “real” areas of my life.

Positives:
Relationships, Networking, Collaboration, Synergy, Resourcing, Connecting

Endless possibilities.
Jim is a part of MISE2010 as a direct result of connect with @forneymichael on Twitter.

We actually make decisions based on how connected people are, and our sense that we HAVE to be connected is interrupting our lives.

NINJAS are intentional

Social Media is about building and leveraging relationships. It’s quid-pro-quo, reciprocal. We trade collaboration. It’s NOT using people.

Experiment
Find what works best for you and your team. Don’t be afraid to say that something didn’t work- and leave it.
Take it slow
The pressure you feel to rush is all in your head. Take time to guage and see where you are.
Research
Invest in training and resources. Get a Kindle or the app for your mobile device.
Fail
Jump off the social media infrastructure with no parachute
Finding Guerrillas
Focus on releasing your team and the gifted-ness of the body. There are people in your church or community that have this natural sense of these things. Find guerrillas, create guerrillas.

Online Strategy Ideas

If your online presence is negatively affecting your relationship with God, cut it off. This is NUMERO UNO.

Focus on internal relationship of the Body around you.

Focus on external relationships outside of the Body. We need to start thinking about these when we start building and creating technology.

How will the person outside our body use this? Glorify God through your use of social media.

User-Friendly

STOP re-inventing the wheel.
There are 4 tools that exists already:
Facebook
Twitter
Blogging
Video

On Twitter- think about the tone of your voice. Really think about that. Really.

Wrap-up

If you’ve already started using social media in your organization, great. But don’t be afraid to adapt it uses to YOUR benefits. It’s a tool and should be used as such, in a strategic, planned out way.