Learnings @ Leadership Network

Ever Wanted to do your own online event like #TheNines?

Well, then we will teach you.

In 2009 when Todd and the team cooked up #TheNines we sort of did it on a lark. We threw it together in about 6 weeks and lo and behold, drew over 20,000 people on the day.

Somehow we got lots of great speakers and lots of people to watch and thought – “How about that?”

We tried some new things earlier this year with our Aha! and Sage conferences – also online but we added the wrinkle of a program book.

 

And of course this year we had another blowout day with #TheNines. (28,000 people in 80 countries)

 

And we took some heat for it.

• Some folks don’t like our speakers. I get that.
• Some folks want their cause promoted. I get that.
• Some folks want us to platform THEM, while we want the focus to be on the topic. But hey, I get that.
• Some folks want a few speakers that are well known to dominate the program. I get that, but you can get that anywhere.

We have a vision that is different. And, Leadership Network has a role to play in the kingdom that other groups do not. And we’re fine with that.

But we also want to be good stewards of what we have learned. And we want to share with other groups that want to produce online events like “TheNines” or Sage or Aha! as well.

And it will be ok if you want to promote your cause. And it will be ok if you want to promote certain speakers. It will be fine with us, if you want to platform yourself. We will even cheer you on.

We know some groups are planning to do similar things and are struggling with pulling it together. We understand. It’s not as easy as it appears to the viewers.

But we do have a few things figured out as to what works on these types of online experiences.

So, sometime next year we are going to have a day when we invite those who have a genuine interest in wanting to learn how to do this to come to our Dallas Global HQ and sit down with the team where we will pull back the curtain and show you all the wizardry involved in pulling it off.

We will give you checklists, technology specs and other tools where you can go and create something beautiful and wonderful for your organization or cause.

We think a lot of different organizations should be trying this type of thing and we would welcome others into the space.

So, if you think you would be one of the organizations that wants to try this, do me a favor and drop me an email at dave.travis(at) leadnet (dot) org so I can put you on the list for an invite.

If we don’t have enough interest, then we will punt so I do need to know if you have interest. Yes, there will be a charge for it, but we don’t know what that is yet. Right now we just want to know - “Who wants to learn how we do it and how you can adapt it to your own cause or organization?”

Are you one of those people or organizations?

 

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

#TheNines numbers and our next Online Events

Well the numbers and results are in for this year’s online conference known as "#TheNines”.

This year we actually added to the number of viewers that participated. The total exceeded 28,000 people in over 80 countries around the world.

We have 150 official “group sites” where we had a special feed for the groups.

AND over half watched at least half the show. So lots of people tuning in for a long time.

And if you missed out, we still have a package that allows you to watch all the videos and get the program book. Many churches have said they will use these resources for the next year for some staff training. For $99 it is the best discussion starter you can have for a whole year and you can customize it to your team that way. You can find that resource here: http://thenines.leadnet.org/

A special thanks to Todd Rhoades, Erin Pinkston and Bonnie Randle on the Leadership Network team for putting most of this together for us.

We also want to thank again our friends at Saddleback Church for their hospitality.

We got some great feedback from those of you that completed our survey and we are trying always to make our online experiences better.

We have actually been planning several since last year and we would encourage you to look at the entire series. In fact, go back and check out:

Aha – http://aha.leadnet.org

and Sage – http://sage.leadnet.org

for some great resources as well.

OUR NEXT ONLINE CONFERENCE

Readers and Leaders is 11/11. November 11th and focuses on some of the popular authors of our Leadership Network book titles.

This format is going to be a longer format presentation but with live questions and answers from participants AND roundtable discussions among the authors.

You can see all the details here: http://leadersandreaders.leadnet.org/

As we have done in the past, you can attend for free or buy an enhanced package with freebies such as some digital readers, action plan kit and program guides.

So check that out.

And mark your calendars for March 2nd, 2011 for a special online conference featuring an all female speaking team.

Watch later this week for another exciting announcement about our 2011 plans for online events.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

Announcing our First Presenting Sponsor for #TheNines – Light Cast Media

OK, when you are attempting something like #The Nines, it takes a lot of work and a lot of help.

As you can imagine, putting on an all day conference, FREE to anyone who wants it, ALL OVER THE WORLD, it takes some doing.

I want to thank our speakers in each of these posts as well. So far, we have over 140 videos submitted. Almost all of them really, really good. None of them are getting paid in monetary terms and everyone gladly decided to contribute. So you are going to see me thank them a lot over the next month.

We may even preview a few of those vids here on the blog.

But it is a whole other deal to take those videos and build a group experience shown simultaneously across the globe and tie in an interaction. Add in the live cut ins with some super secret special guests and you can imagine.

In steps our first sponsor, Light Cast Media. In addition to providing streaming services they also have provided us with some fantastic technical support. 

Now I am not the tech wizard guru that Todd Rhoades is, but it is really cool to watch the control screen during the broadcast and see the points where all the participants are gathering. We can tell through their tech how many are watching. The follow up reports tell us the average length of time people watched. (Four and a half hours)

From the tech wizard side it is a good clean interface allowing us to switch between the videos and the live cut ins. Very slick. And support this year for iPhone, iPad and other mobile options. Very cool in my book.

So if your church or organization has a need for their services, go check them out at:

http://www.lightcastmedia.com/index.php

We thank them for being one of our Presenting Sponsors for The Nines.

And you better register and get your group together this week!

Click here for the info: http://thenines.leadnet.org/2010/index.html

What I found interesting this week and why

It’s been a few weeks. I have been buried in prep for THE NINES. So far I think I have previewed and watched 130 videos. Gotta start winnowing now.

I think the Kansas City Paper had a good article on ministry to Sex Offenders.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/31/2120223/with-open-arms-and-open-eyes-churches.html

Very important issue for the future of churches.

 

My friend and co-author Bill Easum did a blog on first time visitors over at Church Consultations.

http://churchconsultations.com/fileadmin/NExt_Level/Audio-Video/FirstTimeVisitors.mp4

Most churches drop the ball there.

 

A closer look at the interracial marriage statistics

http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/2010/08/a-closer-look-at-interracial-marriage-statistics.html - Do I think our society is more “mixed” than ever? Absolutely. Is this a good thing? Yes. But it ain’t quite there where its promoters think it is just yet.

(HT: @praxishabitus)

 

This used to come up a lot in our Senior Pastor Forums. Seven ways to say no:

http://zenhabits.net/say-no/

 

HBR had this on hiring Senior Executives:

http://blogs.hbr.org/ashkenas/2010/08/how-to-hire-senior-executives.html

Change Executive to Pastor and it still works.

I didn’t go to the Global Leadership Summit but this blog gives you some great insights from it. Fantastic piece of work.

http://www.timschraeder.com/category/notes/willow-creek-global-leadership-summit-2010/ -

 

I know a lot of folks saw the Wall Street Journal slam on “hipster churches” – here is one of the responses from @heretolead, one of the church’s mentioned in the article. Michael is in our current Next Generation Leadership Community too.

http://www.heretolead.com/?p=4702

I would spell Michael’s whole name up there but I always get it wrong. I am so happy his twitter name is easy.

 

Tom Peters built this list of “Five Words of Advice” and it is BRILLIANT – a few:

4 most important words: "What do you think?" (Dave Wheeler @ tompeters.com: "Most important 4 words in organization")

4 most important words: "How can I help?" (Boss as CHRO/Chief Hurdle Removal Officer)

Go read all of them here: http://www.tompeters.com/dispatches/011757.php?rss=1

 

@ToddRhoades of our staff pointed out this one on the difference between i.e. and e.g. I think it is brilliant in substance and presentation: http://ht.ly/2oV4x

 

John Ortberg is blogging on “the problem of depth” over at http://johnortberg.com/ - and I think he is right on so far. Depth is an issue at most churches. But sometimes we want everyone to be the same. I might have to blog on that later.

 

And I think Jenni Catron nailed it on Leadership in this post http://www.jennicatron.tv/2010/08/11/the-trap-of-being-needed/

Do the hard things that are hidden. That is real Leadership.

 

OK, do me a favor. Remember my friend Brian Kluth in the passing of his wife Sandi after a long battle. See his web site though for some stewardship resources.(http://www.kluth.org/) And pray for Danny and Jensine for me as they have some real health challenges. Thanks

 

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

@davetravis

 

Technorati Tags: Sex offenders,Leadership,Megachurches,Megachurch,marriage,saying no

Reading Preferences Gone Digital?

Leadership Network recently polled Advance readers on their reading habits.  We also asked participants how much of their consumption of information happened digitally.  While close to 30% indicated that over 50% of their reading happened without paper, there still seemed to be a preference for print media, especially when it comes to books. 

A year from now, will the preference for paper remain?  My guess is that as the options for digital readers continue to grow, we will see a swing in this data.  My colleague, @stephanieplagens reported on preferences among the early digital reading devices here and there is some speculation that by 2012, the vast majority of cell phones in use will be smart phones with digital reading capabilities.

 

Approximately what percentage of your reading materials are read in a digital format?

1-25%	44%
26-50%	23%
51-75%	22%
75-100%	6%
I don't read anything in digital format.	5%

Powered by Zoomerang® Online Surveys

 

What do you think?  Comment below or contact me at greg.ligon@leadnet.org

Greg Ligon

Vice President and Publisher

Leadership Network

twitter - @gregligon

What are our Small Group Innovation Lab Partners up to?

Our RadicalFuture Innovation Lab for Small Groups is underway, with our 8 specially selected church teams each pursuing a Battle Plan of attack in their Groups Ministry. Ada Bible Church in Ada, Michigan has new plans this fall to roll out an online leader training module to equip new leaders over a 6 month period. Phil Niekerk, Ada’s Sr. Small Groups Pastor says several things led them to this decision to pursue online training. First, they began with a focus group study revealing most leaders were undertrained, with only 25% of their existing leaders participating in their traditional training classes held at the church. The reasons varied from ‘Doesn’t fit my schedule’ to ‘I don’t see the need’. Yet from talking with participating leaders, they found their training content was effective and helpful. Second, they knew relationship-based discussions were important in leader development and wanted to move to a model where this was inherent to the process. This led them to begin to develop six 5-9 minute video segments containing essential content aimed at new leaders coupled with conversations with a partner coach. Phil notes their culture supports a ‘train as you go’ model and falls in line with their 3 tier leader structure of 1) seasoned leaders needed a light coaches touch, 2) growing leaders receptive to ongoing training, 3) new leaders in need of development. The initial training will be aimed at group 3, but all other will be invited to participate as a tune-up.

Ada Bible is also looking at their small group coaching structure and considering the concept of ‘short-term’ coaches, specifically aimed at level 3 leaders, where more intense time and development is needed. They could then be passed to level 1 or 2 staff- based coaches for lighter, ongoing relationship and development.

The online training concept has caught the eye of many in the business world. In the article, Who’s doing it best? the author notes that businesses who utilize e-learning modules are now assessing for quality, quantity and impact, with the bottom line question how can we produce a ‘skilled workforce that can perform well and make improvements, while taking advantage of cost- and time-saving technologies.’ Similarly, Ada Bible is asking how can we best use our resources to encourage the heart and skill development of our leaders?

What roadblocks will Ada Bible encounter as they make the move to online training? We’ll share more after our mid-point Innovation Lab meeting in September. For more information on Ada’s online strategy, contact Phil Niekerk, pniekerk@adabible.org.

Wondering what leader training could look like for your church? For a peek at free online training available for Small Group Leaders, check out Small Group Trader’s free resources here

Sherry Surratt

Leadership Network Director, sherry.surratt@leadnet.org

Links of Interest for July 23rd plus a Prayer Request

What a great story from a Baptist Paper about how a small church in a small town can have a big impact through a “Giving Garden” http://www.christianindex.org/6581.article

I have neglected to mention my friends at NorthCoast Church have moved into a new campus in Vista, California a few weeks back. We did a Multi Site Conference there a few years back. I will blog more about this later but check out their exciting opening weekend here:

http://www.northcoastchurch.com/welcome/service_times/vista_campus_opening_weekend/

Ten Reasons why churches stall - http://ht.ly/257WE

Non profits are better organized than for profits. Well sometimes - http://www.economist.com/node/16588412?story_id=16588412

A nice list of Non Anglo Church Bloggers from DJ Chuang http://djchuang.com/2010/top-church-blogs-by-minority-leaders/

A great story of a pastor’s impact on Donald Miller: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/07/19/Miller.jazz/?hpt=C1

Sadly, we had a family friend, about my age, die last week. A friend is organizing some meal deliveries and is using this site and it is a really cool idea:

http://www.takethemameal.com/ - I don’t know if folks still do this in other parts of the country, but down here in the south, we do.

House Church Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15547588

And Ed Stetzer pointed me to this news link about house/simple/organic churches that I thought had some good thoughts: http://cbs5.com/wireapnational/Growing.movement.of.2.1817068.html

Eric Swanson sent this and it is first a really cool animation/information video and secondly, some great content.

http://www.wimp.com/secretpowers/

Does more space mean better ministry? Interesting research from my friends at Cornerstone Knowledge Network and Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/yc/2010/summer/spacebetterministry.html?start=1

A great set of articles on communicating during a crisis over at Your Church: http://www.churchsafety.com/topics/emergencies/disasters/communicatingcrisis/cs72.html

From Will Mancini’s blog, this quote which is so right on:

“Vision dripping is more important than vision casting: Great churches produce visionary teams, and visionary people that share (drip) the vision in the course of daily leadership and life. Vision ought to be a team sport and engage an army of everyday story-tellers in the community. Vision should never be relegated to special gifting of a the point leader only.”

More here - http://www.willmancini.com/2010/07/new-rules-of-vision.html

I want to give a shout out to my friends at Granger Church and their upcoming “Genious of The AND Conference” coming this November – Check it out here: http://www.wiredchurches.com/andconference

And finally, there was a comment from a Mayor on one of our recent Learnings Blog posts about the image of being a midwife and a hospice worker and how leaders bear the pain. That reminded me that we all need to always pray for all our leaders, not just pastoral ones. So pray today for your city or town’s mayor and if you think about it, pray for Mayor Mary in Michigan.

 

More next week.

 

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

@davetravis on twitter

Like Church Planting? Check out the 10-10-10 Initiative

I recently did an interview with Jan Greggo of the 10-10-10 initiative. They have some really great momentum building initiatives in church planting that I think you should check out. Here is the interview

DT: Tell us about the 10-10-10 Initiative.

Jan: We’ve all heard or read Jesus’ words, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” But what if actually lived that way . . . .as though we were ‘sent’ by Jesus, reproducing Christ-followers everywhere? Can you imagine the impact of believers intentionally reproducing themselves? What if every healthy church reproduced itself around the world? What a transformational movement that would be! And transformation is at the heart of the 10-10-10 Initiative.

DT: What is 10-10-10?

Jan: Using October 10, 2010 as an anchor date, we’re inviting hundreds of ministries to join with thousands of churches to transform millions of lives through a simple 4-week message series with the theme of Transformation. Woven throughout the series will be stories of church planting and people living transformed, missional lives impacting their communities for Christ. The message series and the supporting resources will be available in one location, the 10-10-10 website, www.101010initiative.org.

DT: Who can participate in 10-10-10?

Jan: One of the things I love about 10-10-10 is that it’s so flexible. You determine your own level of involvement and how you’d like to use the series.

For example, pastors are invited to rally their churches around 10-10-10 this fall by teaching the Transformation message series. They can use the series and resources available, customize them or create their own. Pastors can celebrate what they’re already doing, cast vision for starting a new church or simply help transform the lives of individuals within their church. Church planters are encouraged to use the series as part of their launch and have the added option of including their church plant location & date through 2011 on an Interactive World Map. That means others can locate them, pray for them or even join their launch team! Individuals can access hundreds of resources that will equip them to live ‘sent’, or take next steps to learn about church planting, maybe even join a team. Networks and denominations have great potential to exponentially increase new churches by using this fall Initiative for a focused emphasis on church planting.

DT: Is there a cost?

Jan: No, that’s the amazing thing. 10-10-10 is free thanks to leaders like Bob Roberts, Dave Ferguson, Ed Stetzer and others who are providing free Transformation resources. In addition, the Transformation messages from the 2010 Exponential Conference are included in the 10-10-10 Shared Library – messages from leaders like Mark Batterson, Francis Chan, Alan Hirsch, Reggie McNeal and others. Great stuff!

DT: What other resources are available?

Jan: The open-source Shared Library will include messages, small group materials, prayer guides, videos and more to be added throughout the summer. There is a Community similar to Facebook where users can create and connect with groups, churches and other individuals. And everyone can upload resources to share with others. In fact, those who join will immediately notice the variety of resource videos others have uploaded in the Community.

DT: How do I participate?

Jan: It’s easy - Just go to www.101010initiative.org and click Join. Once you’re in, you can explore the Community and view the resources. And check out the Planning Guides - they’ll help you take the next step.

So run over and check it out today. Click in to join like I have. And you can find Jan and other great church planting leaders there as well.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Technorati Tags: Church Starting,Church Planting,New Churches,Exponential Conference

Why Not Host a Group Party for THE NINES?

Over at http://thenines.leadnet.org you can see how you can host a group to watch THE NINES this year. (That’s 09/09/10)

Almost 1/3 of the attenders last year watched it in a group with other pastors and leaders.

This year we want to encourage others to host “Nines Parties” all over the world. In fact, we have a special FREE Group Kit to help those interested to do so.

We have a short application form on the site to help you get qualified to host a group. We want you to have at least a dozen leaders or so AND we want you to invite leaders from beyond your church, ministry or business. Invite as many people as possible so that you can share together both the learnings from THE NINES but the fellowship of the friends in your town.

Our plan is to post many of these sites beforehand so that others can see where there are gatherings of leaders. Plus we will have a special blog where the sites can share what they are learning and doing that day. In addition, we are trying to put together a special feed just for the group sites that may get a slightly higher quality feed for large screen projection units.

So – what do you need to host a site?

• A list of friends you want to invite. Or potential friends. Why not invite all the church and pastoral teams of your neighborhood or town?

 

• A largish room with food and drinks available. Either you can provide them or encourage people to bring stuff for a pot luck party.

 

• A fast internet connection that will allow you to hook in computer and large screen tv so that people can watch it LARGE.

In addition, it would be nice to have some wireless access so that people can check out the other streams that day.

Some flip chart paper to make notes and a digicamera to take photos of the party that day.

Think you have a heart for this? Check out the details at http://thenines.leadnet.org/2010/host.html

I will tell you that host leaders may get some extra freebies thrown their way all next year as well. But we really want the motivation to be a desire to network leaders in their city to explore conversations and empower collaboration.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

@davetravis on twitter

THE NINES Registration Now Open!

The cat is out of the bag! Click over to http://thenines.leadnet.org and you will find that Todd Rhoades snuck the web site up this weekend for testing and wham, it got hit hard with people registering early.

And the DATE is 09/09/10. So September 9^th.

As you will see on the site – our plans have morphed and changed a bit this year. I will also tell you that we keep adding speakers and new plans almost every day. But Todd is headed out on vacation this week and wanted to get something posted before he took off for the hills.

As you will see, you can still participate and attend this Conference for FREE. Just click in there to register and sign up. Last year we broke the registration system but they tell us this year it will work just fine.

We have two other FREEMIUM options for those that want some of the nice extras.

Based on our streaming and survey data we know we had more than 25,000 people watch in 35 countries and six continents last year.

So, join in the fun that day. Register now and there is an easy way to add it to your calendar. And check out the “Host the Nines” option up there on the top menu as well. We had lots of folks have “Nines Parties” last year and we liked that idea so much we are building a whole set of materials just for those that want to do that.

More tomorrow on new wrinkles for #thenines.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

www.twitter.com/davetravis