Earlier today, we contributed to Central Piedmont Community College’s Geek Fest a presentation talking about augmented reality and mobile devices as hubs for greater experiences. Here’s the presentation abstract:

With more than 5.5 billion mobile devices in use currently, we can probably say that we’ve got the hang of these impressive communications and computing devices. However, they can do more than tweet, text and voice. This talk will explore some of the other avenues where mobile technology has gone, including newer media experiences in which mobile is very much like a magic wand.

The presentation can be viewed here. As usual, the presentation is built with web technologies using the very solid S5 Slideshow System. Previous presentations are also archived on this site for viewing.

Makes a lot of sense for many individuals and organizations to have a mobile-accessible or mobile-friendly website. Still, trying to figure out what should be on a mobile site isn’t always as simple to go for. Tyler J Anderson blogs on 5 mobile website essentials for mobile marketing-oriented websites:

1. Make your website mobile friendly
2. Include your location and operating hours
3. Include a “click to call”
4. Include a search bar that is easy to find
5. Include the option to go to the full non-mobile site

Awesome list, with some solid explainations as to why these make sense on the post. Then there’s that question asking if that’s from the mobile marketing perspective, what would those 5 from a mobile ministry perspective look like? Here are how we would phrase these:

1. Be mobile-accessible for the most important content for your organization; that doesn’t always mean having a mobile website, but it does mean having information that someone who is using a mobile can find when needed (address info on a map, lising in a business directory, social media, etc.)
2. Location, operating hours, and also general time to response for inquiries (because no one likes to wait)
3. Click to call is good, click to email/text/tweet should also be employed
4. A search bar and a high-level site map (for heavier content sites)
5. I’d say not just a non-mobile option, but also give an audio-only or app-engagement option as well

What essentials for mobile websites for mobile ministries would you throw out there?

Its always helpful when thinking about mobile to consider that there’s more than just the technology or the communications medium as key to understanding it and making it work. Forbes has taken note of this with a recent article looking at five points about the future of mobile that could easily be termed five points about the present of mobile. Here are the points:

1. Understand the person not the technology
2. Your phone is more important than your tablet
3. Small businesses should not get their heads turned
4. Large businesses need a targeted mobile strategy
5. The rise of face-to-face

Read the entire article – 5 Things You Should Know About the Future of Mobile – which includes explanations on these points, at Forbes

Forbes is a business-oriented magazine. MMM is a faith-oriented one. Could you see these points in a similar, but differently worded, light.

1. Understand the person and their spirit (orientation, maturity, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) – see 1 Cor 2:6 – 3:23
2. Your communication is more important than your display – Matt 15:1-20
3. Producers and creators should not turn their heads – Habakkuk 2:18-20
4. Leaders and organizations need a specific strategy infused with God’s wisdom and direction – 2 Chronicles 2-6:11
5. All actions should encourage one to be face-to-face with God often – Joshua 1:8

I don’t think that its all that hard to see how God wants to direct us in this space. At the same time, we have to have to understand that mobile, whether we are talking devices, services, or the overall experience, is merely a channel, the character of the community leading into mobile needs to be consistent with what people will recognize not just as mobile, but also as a witness of the gospel (John 17:20-26). The teachings of the past is the lesson of both the present and the future.

Found an excellent article in the education space the other week that really broke through the rhetoric that we often hear in this space when it comes to tools and traditions – that its the tools and traditions, not the products of these that need the people to utilize (or not use) them that makes change happen. I found this article about as life-giving as any others we’ve linked to here, and I think that when we get out of our lenses of preferred devices, services, or even behaviors, that we really can start to see that its not about mobile, but about the kind of life that mobile and other media technologies can enable when led by the Spirit and a good dose of innovation:

…This week, I’m helping host EdTechTeacher’s iPad Summit, what we believe is the first national gathering of educators pioneering the use of iPads and tablets in schools and classrooms. As I think about facilitating the event, I keep coming back to the idea that this event for iPad users can’t be about iPads. My own koan for the week is this:

If you meet an iPad on the way, smash it.

If this event becomes a meeting about how we got rid of power cords or extended battery life or solved workflow challenges or found some neat apps, then we fail. The iPad summit is not about the iPad.

The way we are seeking is one where we prepare young people for a life of civic commitment, of self-reflection, and of meaningful work and contributions to community. The way is about unlocking student talent, compassion, and humanity. If the iPad distracts us from defining the way, then we have to smash it…

Read the rest of Why Its Not About the iPad at Edudemic

Starting next week, MMM enters another one of those busy sessions where its just one event after another. Should be pretty exciting as there’s a good mix of online and offline activities happening.

Mobile Marketing Webinar with Symbiota (11/26 @ 4PM EST)

Visitors are increasingly using mobile devices to search for churches information, listen to sermons, and pay tithes and offerings. Your church members are mobile, how about your church?  On this webinar we will be helping churches understand how to get their message through, on the most important method of communication today: Mobile Phones.

Learn more and sign up for this webinar and learn more at the Symbiota website.

The CPCC Geek Fest talk “Mobile As a Magic Wand (Nov 15)

Abstract: With more than 5.5 billion mobile devices in use currently, we can probably say that we’ve got the hang of these impressive communications and computing devices. However, they can do more than tweet, text and voice. This talk will explore some of the other avenues where mobile technology has gone, including newer media experiences in which mobile is very much like a magic wand. Besides my talk, there will be tech demonstrations, and lots of other talks from academic, business, and community leaders on the role of tech.

Learn more at The Geek Fest website.

Mobile Ministry Forum Consultation (Nov 28-30)

The MMF Consultation is the key gathering in the world for people interesting in learning how to use mobile technology for the kingdom! Our prayer is to establish a mobile ministry movement so that every unreached person will have a chance to encounter Christ and His kingdom in a compelling, contextualized fashion through their personal mobile device by the end of 2020!

Not sure if there are seats left, but you can learn more at the MMF website.

Jesus.net Conference (Dec 1-5)

We are called to: facilitate online the spiritual journey of people seeking life in abundance and liberation for the dominance of sin, so that their lives will be affected and they in turn will affect others; encourage our online audience to experience the power of community and durable fellowship within the body of Christ and stimulate the creative potential of our partners and become more effective by working together.

Learn more about Jesus.net at their website.

There are a few other items on the #mobmin calendar, and we aren’t able to make all of them, but want you to have a point of reference as to what’s happening in the Body around this intersection of faith and technology. If you are looking for MMM to speak to your organization on a specific topic, you can make your request known using our speaker form.

The future of publishing is something we discuss from time to time here (being an online magazine, it only makes sense to). Therefore, hearing that a frequent contributor to MMM was interviewed by Roar – a company which produces an excellent suite of mobile app and content management tools – to speak on the impact that eBooks have had on Christian publishing at large. Here’s a snippet:

When looking at the future of publishing, ebooks play an integral role.

While many of us may think ebooks are a pretty new development, WORDsearch has been creating books in electronic format for over 20 years. “Every title that we publish through WORDsearch is an ebook that can be read through our advanced Bible study software,” says LaRosa.

The transition from paperback to digital is already taking place, and it will continue to grow going forward. “Technology and innovation are driving us in this direction, both in hardware and software,” he says. “Devices like the Kindle and iPad have cemented ebooks as a mainstay, and why wouldn’t they? The functionality of ebooks far surpasses that of print books.”

Read the rest of Ebooks: A Win-Win for Both Publishers and Consumers at the Roar Blog

Also, do check out Roar’s Mobile Content Management plans and strategies; this probably one of the best complete packages for mobile and social that you’d find the faith-based space. See more in the below video.

Keeping with yesterday’s thing of sharing some thoughts, there were some parallel thoughts about social media. Both of these were actually brought on by a conversation with Street Corner Prophet about a social media program we are looking to put together soon. For the purpose of this piece though, I want to just concentrate on some of the things said around social media that would play out well with many of you as you are looking at how to leverage social media best:

• What are the challenges with social media that go beyond the tech? How do you teach tools in a way that keeps the message relevant?
• What are the core problems we hope to address with social media (to be informed, to be engaged, and to have an opportunity for expression)
• Time is our most important commodity; its not just about access and opportunity, its about value
• Moving from solving the problem of media having the priority to the person who is listening having the priority
• Where does recording/reposting/sharing the media have value (internally, externally)

I won’t get into how this factors into the specifics of the conversation, but these were just some insights that I had in my notes that I thought quite relevant to share here as many of you whom look at mobile are also looking at how social media opportunities/challenges intersect with that.

We say from time to time here, technology is only relevant when its is personal. Social media is good, but we really have to do a job of assessing if its a good means to an end, or just additional noise in the tube.

Image via Thought Pick

As I write this, I’m taking advantage of the NBA’s League Pass free preview at the beginning of this NBA season over my friend’s Roku and its got me thinking about how we use and discuss the best uses for streaming media. Sure, there’s this practice that when in a home/sitting setting that one can use a stationary media device to get multimedia content, but how would such a connection point fit within what we understand about mobile? Or better yet, where are some of the opportunities for mobile ministry engagement?

One of the things that I do when not exposed to media via some kinds of station like the Roku or Amazon (Instant Video and Cloud Player have become used a bit more since getting my Kindle Fire HD), is looking into the websites of some of the brands or industries I’m interested in and looking for/at short video clips. This works great for sports and with some of the indie music that I listen for, and its pretty decent as well. I’m simple in searching for these though, I just use a search engine or my existing social media accounts, and search from there.

On the Roku, there’s this idea of subscribing to different channels. And to be open, there’s a number of larger ministries that have gone the route of having Roku stations for their ministries. LifeChurch.TV is a good example here as you can pretty much tune in anytime to a church online session. This isn’t different from saving a favorite in my browser then going to it, or subscribing to an RSS channel. Again though, I’m doing this in a stationary moment. When mobile, its a bit different.

I can see a situation where I visit an organization’s mobile website, and one of the options is to view some video clips. After clicking on a clip, I’d be asked if I want to either download an application that preloads these video clips and offers some other kinds of functionality, or asked if I would like to subscribe to updates of new videos and then given options of doing so (RSS, email, social media, etc.).

Because as I think about it, video on my mobile makes sense. But only in the case where I’m able to sit and give attention to it. Music on the other hand, I like to use streaming music as kind of a background filler.

My primary streaming service is last.fm. I have had a paid and free account there for sometime, and so there’s a decent library of music and music recommendations that I can choose from. On any of my mobile devices, streaming from there is just a matter of launching the app and choosing the station/artist. Should churches also have a presence on something like last.fm? You know, where you can choose to listen to either their own mix of commercial and indie artists? Or, where if they are a ministry that produces their own music, that you can choose to listen to that instead (would definitely make visiting those churches easier, in the respect of knowing some of the songs before you get there).

And here’s the core of these thoughts: how does a ministry that creates stuff allow me (the prospective audience) to plug in and get a taste of what they do to glorify God? Sure, making me read a website, sign up for an email newsletter, etc. might be great and works well for those folks that want to learn about you that way. But, what about those folks who would rather be engaged with other senses or don’t have the value proposition that reading about you is a good use of their time? Shouldn’t we be looking at this a bit more from context of how do people wish to receive us not just what can we offer them?

Am up for your thoughts here…

We are always careful here to post about stats looking at usages of smartphones vs tablets. Part of this is because of the entry point for much that information that can sometimes be skewed by access (for example, if you are a web service, then your stats only include those subscribing to your web service, not those who don’t subscribe to yours, or to one at all). That said, there’s always something to be gained from these notes, and Flurry’s latest leaves us a few things to consider.

That’s all for the pictures, visit Flurry’s post, The Truth About Cats and Dogs: Smartphone vs Tablet Usage Differences on their blog.

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