Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

Free Ezine!

Articles Inside:

• Five things you don't want to hear (First impressions)
• Why pop culture is no longer popular (Service strategy)
• That's just gross (Communications)
• What happened to our attention spans (Web & Tech)
• How do you see the world (Missions)
• The story of the padded cow (Kids)
• Hands-off or hands-on (Arts)
• Why people serve (Volunteers)

And, more. 

Enough love to go around...

So, it's true. I finally got an iphone this week. It is a handheld miracle of technology (no exaggeration). I am in awe of the power, functionality, connectedness, fun contained in this slick little tool. Frankly: I. Am. In. Love. It is quite possibly one of the two coolest gadgets I've ever owned.

        

The other is my Zune. It still rocks. The subscription service and channels feature are da' bomb. I use my Zune hours on end every day. 

And, if I wasn't already a raving fan of the Zune product and experience before (which I was), this week sent me over the top. After a few of my Apple fanboy friends on Twitter proclaimed I was going to switch everything I own over to Apple now that I have the iphone. I responded with this:

"My Dell is serving me well. No plans to abandon it or my Zune... but the iphone is quite magical."

In less than 30 minutes after my tweet, I got an email from Brian Seitz on the Microsoft Zune team giving me free music to reward the loyalty he saw on Twitter. Wow. That's magical, too.

I've got enough love to go around for the two coolest gadgets I've ever owned.

Maybe this is you...

• You're committed to helping people take steps in their spiritual lives.
• You may have even devoted your entire life to it.
• You know the local church is the hope of the world, but recognize it's struggling to find a connection with people in the community.
• You're trying to figure out how to mobilize and motivate members to move to action.
• You're tired, stuck in a rut, looking for some fresh perspectives to shake the cobwebs off.
• You're drained and need a reminder why it all matters.
• You're looking for training and team-building exercises for your staff.
• You're wondering where you can sit down and roll up your sleeves to talk candidly with people who have responsibilities like yours.
• You don't have a ton of money but you do have at least $99.
• You don't have a ton of time, but you could use one (or two) days out of the office.

Is this you? If so, I want you to know...You matter to us.

          

That's why on Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6 our team is hitting the pause button to host leaders, professionals and volunteers from other churches. We're sharing everything we've got in a few specific workshops and practicums to train, encourage, equip and share with you, in the trenches.

I'll be there ... leading the 'Less Clutter. Less Noise.' and 'Web Strategy' workshops. Tim, Mark, DC, Georgia, Butch, Jason and Adam will be leading in their areas of expertise.

• First and lasting guest impressions
• Kids space and learning
• Pop culture in the church
• Teaching students
• Leading worship & unleashing creative arts
• Technical arts
• Volunteers

Print the postcard and share it with a friend. Register your team. It's only two weeks away. I really hope you see you there. Come for either day or stay for both. You won't regret it. And, you deserve it.

For people who want to make great web sites but need help

Designing & building great websites

Everything's amazing...nobody's happy

"We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots."

Thanks for the clip, Meg.

Milestone!

Manuscript complete! Aaaaaand, now it's moving to layout. RIGHT ON SCHEDULE.

Time to celebrate & renew! I'm leaving tomorrow for a week's vacation with the hubs. See you when I get back. In the meantime...look at the going away present Daryl gave me tonight!

What's better than flowers? Better than bling? Better than a Best Buy gift card?
A new web site! lessclutterlessnoise.com

New logos after the financial crisis...

Thanks to Business Pundit for these fun logo parodies and to Mom for sending me the link.

Nine things that will define 2009...

Today Adverblog posted Leo Burnett's 9 predictions in marketing for 2009. Take a minute to read them and tell me there isn't a tremendous opportunity for the church to make a difference in 2009. It's being handed to us. I'm praying we step up to the challenge, change where needed and don't drop the ball.

I'm personally absorbing this set of inspirations for the new year and asking myself how this changes what we do and why: on the web, on the printed page, in our programming, etc.

1. New realism. Economic conditions will profoundly affect our context going forward. The speculative affluence era will be replaced with a grounded and socially creative phase. Our culture will become more tangible and honest forcing us to be much more realistic. The human story will be one of value reassessment; examining our priorities and purchases in light of what is truly meaningful to us.
2. Hyper-reality. The pace of change is accelerating around the world. Status quo is changing real-time with real consequences
3. Trust economy. In turbulent times we look to organizations who share our concerns, manage anxiety and take the lead.
4. Eco austerity. Austerity turns the environmental case to an economic one. Products that use less energy, and are cheaper because of it, can’t be argued against.
5. Digital TV. We’ll reach a tipping point for broadcast quality. Media neutral TV (watching tv online) will go mainstream.
6. Thread marketing. Content will be free from central control and will be tradable across multiple networks. Ideas, brand logos or simple web URLs will form the threads that link content together.
7. Generation game. As economic pressures encourage us homeward, soon we will all be part of generation game. Did you ever expect to be playing tennis with your granny in the living room? No. Well, don’t be surprised when gaming pushes things even further beyond our comprehension.
8. End of fact. Perceived wisdom now changes on a daily basis. This year expect more contradictory opinions and diverse solutions being presented as definitive. In the future we will cherry-pick what constitutes fact. It will be the modern equivalent of the hypochondriac with the medical textbook.
9. Brands as vehicles. Brands are landing points. We follow our needs and and we invariably end up at a brand. This is all set to change. The days of the static brand are increasingly numbered. They are the means not the end. The brands of the future will be vehicles not just destinations.