evan mcbroom THE OTHER SIDE of the boat

Creating Buy in For Next Big Thing

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of about 40 pastors and other church leaders at the Cornerstone Conference (Twitter #ckn09) in Charlotte. (that's not me in the picture, it's Matt Evansof Rockbridge Community Church in Dalton GA)  I spoke on the topic of casting vision.  I promised folks that I would post my slides here.  Here they are. (I pulled a few of the photos out, but it's still a 8MB file)

Download Communicating Next Big Thing - CKN Charlotte - blog version

And here is the link to an article published in Church Solutions Magazine that tells some of the same story.

If you attended, I'd love your feedback on the session.  What resonated.  What repelled?

Say less. Say more.

Yesterday I Twittered the following:

Communication advice from Ecclesiastes 6:11 "The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?"

This morning I took that advice to heart and cut 30% of the slides out of the presentation I'm giving today at the Cornerstone Conference in Charlotte, NC.  It's my belief that if I give them less detail, the pastors who will hear this message will walk away remembering the main thing...and that's the main thing.  What I cut was a lot of the detail that would be great to come back to if I were able to give a second talk to the same group tomorrow. But for today, I'm giving the main message more room to breathe.  More time for people to ponder. Percolate.  And more time for discussion.

What are you working on right now that could use a little snip-snip in the detail department?  It's tough to cut, because we're often vested in our material...but in many cases its all so new to our audience that giving them less may allow them to remember more.  Crazy huh?

Take the first step

Do you have an overwhelming task?  Are you faced with a challenge too big to tackle?  Do you have a Goliath sized to-do list and not a single stone in your sling?  I feel that way right now.  I've got some things...mostly just annoyingly detailed tasky-tasks that need doing.  They need starting.  But I don't feel I have the go-juice to get 'em done. And so...I look around me to find some measure of inspiration to get off my jeans pockets and knock 'em out. 

Take this moment for instance.  This is me on Saturday a few minutes after the completion of my first half marathon.  13.1 miles.  Official time 2 hours, 05 minutes, 52.8 seconds. I finished 69th in my age bracket.  No records here...but it was a big day for me.

A bigger day?  January 1, 2008.  The morning I started walking. In a post dated February 1, 2008, I tell of my first month of walking.  75 miles in a month.  Those first early morning steps 22 months ago set in motion a series of events that led to Saturday's finish.  I would say that the decision to get out of bed and walk was harder than the decision to run the final mile on Saturday.  It wasn't glamorous to get out of bed.  There was no cheering crowd and certainly no medal waiting for me at the finish...but the first step was the first step. 

What's the first step you need to take to get the big task off your list.  I've got mine...I'm gonna go take it now.

Church finance talk...bring in the experts

Here are just a few of the topics I'm unqualified to advise on:

• How to raise quiet children
• Pre-Colombian art
• Physics, Algebra, Engineering
• Office organizing
• Car repair
• Photoshop
• Church finances

The good news is, most of the church leaders we serve could care less about many of the things on that list, but church finances...now that's another thing. (and it's a critical thing)  So, when I learned that our pals at Aspen Group were hosting a pastors lunch titled "Straight Talk about Church Finances." I wanted to help make it happen.  I'm thrilled that Fishhook is joining the NACBA and Aspen Group as sponsors.

Church leaders - you're invited - you can check out the official invitation. 

Download Aspen Group Pastors Lunch

And while I don't know two cents about church finances, the speakers at this event are worth their weight in gold.  Here's who they are and here's what I like about 'em:

Allen Walworth- President & Principal of Generis

• I’ve met him up close, have visited with him at his home and he is the real deal. Big heart for seeing people experience God's love through a generous heart.
• I’ve seen him speak at a recent Cornerstone Conference where he personally challenged and inspired me.
• I’ve seen the evaluation from the audience at that conference and from their comments he challenged and inspired many.

Jon Huskins, MBA, CPA, President and CEO of Crosspoint Capital

• I’ve met with Jon as a brother in Christ – just to get to know each other and see how possible collaborations might come together.  He has a humble heart and a seemingly incredible brain for church finance stuff.

• I’ve worked with Jon in my capacity as a Fishhook creative guy and his role as an elder at his church and through this, I’ve heard his heart for people who aren’t in relationship with Jesus.

• He’s known Fishhook’s Janie Mehaffey for years…and when I asked Janie for her thoughts about Jon, she said, "He's one of the smartest people I know. Jon could easily brag about what he knows and what he has accomplished, but he is such a humble and godly man that his focus is constantly on what he can learn from others and how he can invest his big brains into making a Kingdom impact."

The event is October 15.  Greenwood, Indiana.  Aspen Group's Lynn Noe is the go-to for questions and RSVP.  Hope you can join me as we learn together.

Here's the invitation with lots more detail: Download Aspen Group Pastors Lunch

Extending the church brand into childrens ministry

Kudos to Kingsway Christian Church.  With an already solidly established brand presence on Indy's western suburbs, they have extended the brand identity to their first major ministry.  At Fishhook, we call this a sub-brand - a separate, weighty brand that is connected to the parent through the visual identity, communication and brand experience.

This branding includes the development of a new mark, specific for Kingsway Kids with a strong tie to the overall corporate mark and a twist as the corporate tag line (real - passionate - truth) plays out to describe the Kingsway Kids experience (real - fun - truth).

Much more than just the logo, the sub-branding is part of a larger overall effort to

• increase the visibility of Kingsway's Childrens Ministry (renamed Kingsway Kids)
• improve the connection, communication and collaboration with parents and volunteers
• celebrate how God is at work through Kingsway Kids and more

Kingsway mobilized multiple staff and lay teams to tackle various aspects of the project and Fishhook was honored to collaborate on this major, multi-month effort of research, creative development and implementation.  You can check out some of the streamlined communication tools at the Kingsway Kids area of the Web site.  Check out the videos and High Five newsletter.  

Here are just a few lessons we learned and/or principles we applied in doing this work:

1. It's better for a church to be a "branded house" than a "house of brands."  We see this best in the corporate world.  Disney is a branded house - a strong tie across their sub-brands (Disney World, Disney Land, Disney Stores, Disney Cruise Line, etc.) Procter & Gamble is a house of brands (Tide, Bounty, IAMS, Crest). Design the identity of your ministry brands and your overall church brands to support each other.
2. Parents and volunteers want one place to go to get informationabout classes, lessons, events and the assignments...especially if they have multiple aged children in the ministry.
3. Stories move people. If your ministry has a story to tell, give it a place to tell it.  The newsletter and Web site will become the place to share stories and resources will be directed to help tell the stories. 

Congrats Kingsway and Kingsway Kids! (and thanks for letting us be part of the fun...I mean work)  

Vision Slides - here for you

I had an awesome time in Chicagoland today presenting to church leaders.  My topic "Casting and Communicating Vision - Creating Buy-in for the Next Big Thing."  Here are my slides for your enjoyment and reference:

Download Beyond_bricks_casting_vision_030408

Don't confuse information with...

Dear Church Leaders, Do you have a major change ahead for your congregation?  A change in service times?  A facility change? Moving from a Bible study approach to small groups?  Adding a service style? Changing your name? Starting to allow coffee in your worship center?  Changing your office hours? Cutting staff?  Adding staff? 

Assess your communication efforts regarding the change and ask yourself:

Are we informing our people about change or inspiring our people toward change?

Don't confuse information with inspiration.  Is the difference clear to you?

My Biggest Interview Ever... Buzz Aldrin!

I get to do some pretty fun stuff in my life.  Interviewing Buzz Aldrin is near the top of the list...and at the top of the list of people I've been honored to meet. I've been in Atlanta this week working with my old company at the CEDIA Expo and serve as a reporter on a convention TV channel shown throughout the convention center and in 24,000 downtown Atlanta hotel rooms.  The work is a blast, the work covers a lot of Fishhook expenses, it's a great time to be with my old friends from The Sanders Group and CEDIA. Here's an example of how I've spent this week...getting to interview Buzz Aldrin!

Why I'm not at MinistryCOM

There are two late summer events I never miss:  MinistryCOM and CEDIA Expo. MinistryCOM is the conference event for church communicators and it is key to the work we do at Fishhook. CEDIA Expo is the tradeshow event for home automation and it is a long time client of my former employer and I play a role in making it happen as a host on the convention TV channel. (here I am interviewing CEDIA's head of PR and Marketing)

I never miss either conference...except this year. They fall on the same days.  This year, my work at Expo is funding Fishhook's team traveling to and being a part of MinistryCOM. Attending and supporting MinistryCOM is a big expense in time, travel and preparation. I thank God that my work here pays for our work there. But team and MinistryCOM pals, I miss you.  

Inspiration overload?

"Too much information coming to my brain. Too much information driving me insane."  

Yeah.  You read it right. Inspiration overload.  The normal phrase is "information overload" and we hear the term often in the culture, media and our conversation. I would say as church communicators gather this week at MinistryCOM, a listening ear might hear this refrain as one person shares their world with another, something like this, "At our church, we just totally suffer from information overload. We just put so much stuff in front of our people - posters, banners, weekly bulletin, monthly newsletter, email blasts, stuff in our lobby, and in their mailboxes, and postcards and...blah, blah...

But I challenge you to find one uttering the phrase "inspiration overload" to describe how their church - and their church leaders - communicate with their congregation - that's because (I believe) church leaders and church communicators often concentrate 99% of their communication effort on communicating the information, but fail to provide the right amount of inspiration. Because information does not move people to act...unless it is combined with inspiration. 

Gotta bolt...an upcoming post will outline my thoughts on how to bring inspiration and information together.  But while I go get some other stuff taken care of...perhaps you have thoughts?