Tag Archives: mobile in marketing

Updating the Mobile Ministry Event Calendar for 2013 Events

As part of one of the resolutions that we’ve set forth this year, it was to be involved with and keep an eye towards events that would be relevant to mobile ministry (#mobmin) activities. Whether or not we attended them wasn’t the concern. We wanted to make sure that there was some kind of public listing of events, that you could easily subscribe to (RSS, email updates, mobile, etc.) and be informed as to what is going on. So we created and released the Mobile Ministry Event calendar, and its been one of the more popular links on the site for just getting heads wrapped around what’s happening in this space.

Well, 2013 is almost here and there are a ton of events that have not yet made it to the calendar. Part of that is on our end of getting lots of emails towards items and not sitting down to add them here. The other part of that is that there are just a lot of events we don’t know about and so what might be relevant isn’t heard about until the last minute, or even after the event has happened. So to help things along, I’m asking for your help towards getting this listing updated before the year turns. And in part, if you’ve got an event, this is a great way to get some additional visibility to those events.

All you need to do is send us a note about the event including as much detail that can be copy/pasted into the Google Calendar listing and we’ll get it added. That’s it.

Subscribing to Updates from the Calendar

For those of you who don’t have an event to add, but definitely want to follow along, here are some instructions on how to do so (bullet point per method of keeping up with the listing):

  • For those of you with Android devices, you should simply need to go into your Google Calendar account (use a desktop web browser), and then add this calendar to have it appear alongside your calendar
  • For those of you not using an Android device, but do have a Google Calendar account, you need to copy each event (individually) into your main calendar, and those events will appear there. However, they will not update when the calendar updates.
  • You can subscribe to this calendar via RSS (link here); items will show in your RSS reader when they are added to the calendar, not when they occur
  • You can also add to your Apple devices calendar using iCal (link here). If you add this link into iTunes, it should transfer to another (layer) calendar in your iOS devices; this link does update when the main calendar is updated.
  • Depending on the mobile device you are using, the RSS/iCal item should show an individual item download, so that (for example) from a mobile device, you can download a specific event into your calendar. From your calendar, sharing is as simple as hitting the “share” button on your device and it sends as a vCal item in an MMS message
  • I have a workflow running using ifttt which automatically tweets out newly added events using the #mobmin hashtag – so if you are looking for an easy way to have your audiences keep up with events, that hashtag just got more valuable.

One More Mobile Ministry Webinar Upcoming

Great opportunity to talk about the #mobilechurch w/@symbiota... on Twitpic

For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about the Mobile Ministry Webinar being put on by Symbiota. There’s one more on deck before the holidays roll around. The last one of these is on Dec 17th. All you have to do is sign up and show up. Just showing up gives you a chance to win some great prizes. Here’s an overview of what will be talked about in the webinar:

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.

What you will learn on this webinar:

  • 3 Major myths about cell phone usage that are not true.
  • Dissecting the noise about mobile websites and mobile apps.
  • Tips on using mobile to increase donations & giving.
  • Why your church cannot afford to not be ready for mobile.
  • How to not to miss up to 50% of people searching for your church.
  • Connecting members to small groups using text messages
  • Keys to integrating Twitter and Facebook with mobile.

Sign up for this webinar and learn more about the services Symbiota offers at their website.

The iChurch Method 2: Changing the World When You Login

Pre Order - The iChurch Method 2: Changing the World When You Login (Book and PDF Ebook)

This year, I had the pleasure of meeting Jason Caston, the voice and energy behind iChurch (by Caston Digital):

…Our company exists to help ministries have a global presence online. To provide digital solutions that help ministries connect to people everyday around the world. The iChurch Method is the first book of many that will tell what Caston Digital can do to help advance your ministry online.

Yesterday, Jason introduced version 2.0 of his book, iChurch Method, and its one of those reads that we’d definitely recommend towards understanding and taking the best advantage of mobile, web, and social media for engaging your churches and their surrounding communities.

Volume 2 in the amazing iChurch Method series, the purpose of this book is to continue to help ministries and businesses advance online. Continuing with the five part approach to taking your ministry/business online and reaching the world:

  • Part 1: Website – Interactive websites
  • Part 2: Multimedia – Internet Church Campus
  • Part 3: Ecommerce – Online Stores/Online Donations – Part II
  • Part 4: Social Media – The Rise of Visual Social Media
  • Part 5: Mobile – Mobile Websites and Apps

With these five parts, a ministry can reach and change the world. The iChurch Method is a MUST READ for every ministry leader who desires to have a global presence online.

You can pre-order today and have by May 2013 both the paper and eBook editions.

5 Things About Mobile from Forbes


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.

Why Its Not About Mobile

Apple Criticism

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

Social Media Thoughts

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

Streaming Media Thoughts

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…

Flurry’s Smartphone vs Tablet Perspectives

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.

Flurry Smartpones vs Tablets AgeBreaks resized 600

Flurry Smartpones vs Tablets Dayparting resized 600

Flurry Smartpones vs Tablets CategoryUsage resized 600

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

A Look into Other Stories

Over on Twitter, there’s a conversation that exists around mobile ministry which uses the #mobmin hashtag. Many times, items posted with that hashtag might not make it into stories here directly, even though they certainly do play a part into some of what is put into the stream. Here are some of those stories:

@wfryer: new post: Digital Storytelling with Pinnacle Studio for iPad http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2012/10/28/digital-storytelling-with-pinnacle-studio-for-ipad/ …”

@bdrhoa: Pocket Pad Studio configuration for the Android by MYHOT16 — Kickstarter http://kck.st/VwnIVe via @kickstarter

@KingdomGuy1: The times they are a changin’ – Samsung widens global smartphone lead, as Nokia drops from top 5: Report http://tnw.to/c6bH

@soonguy: Still not too late to book for the Mobile Ministry Forum Nov 28-30http://www.mobileministryforum.org/mmf-consultation-2012 … #missions

@davehackett: [Report} 126 million use Facebook on mobile only; India, Brazil, US key sources of mobile growth http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/126-million-use-facebook-mobile-only-1C6681668 …

@eDOTGeek: Rethinking what mobile web design usage really means (and what we assume could be wrong) --> http://ow.ly/eH8Hk

@Mobile_Advance: Heading to Africa. To find out why check out Training & Equipping in Africa [article] http://www.mobileadvance.org/blog/184-training-a-equipping-in-africa … #ieway

Now, there are more topics within mobile ministry which do get attention, keep an eye on #mobmin via Twitter and other social networks to see those stories as they arise.

The Basics of Mobile Ministry Strategy

Infographic - What's Your Mobile Strategy

Earlier this week, we contributed an article to Church Tech Today which spoke about some basics for determining directions for mobile ministry activities. Here’s a snippet:

Mobile is all about attention. Some would even go as far as to call what we see in mobile and other modern media elements as aspects to an attention economy. Meaning simply that value is determined, generated, and lost by the type of attention gained or lost, and the transaction between those moments of attention.

For example, Facebook wants to keep you on their site (within their properties), and so to get your attention, there is the allure of connecting to friends and people you might have lost touch with. To keep your attention, they use the information you have placed within their environment to create more streams of connections to those relationships and others. This can manifest itself in Likes, games, or other opportunities.

Read the rest of Mobile Ministry Strategy Basics at Church Tech Today

If you are interested in an MMM article appearing at your website, get in touch with us.