Not long ago, a blog that I read daily made an important statement – “If you’re a content provider or program producer, you need to give serious thought to how your program is being distributed.  It’s a new world out there.”  This advice has special meaning to churches with television programs – it is and always has been all about where the people are and how to reach them. (continue reading…)

Last week I participated in a discussion on LinkedIn called “America was not formed as a Christian nation.”  An edited version of that discussion follows which includes a comment from one of the participants and my response.

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Meet Justin Kurtz who until last February was just another student going to Western Michigan University.  He awoke one morning to find his car had been towed from his apartment complex by a company called T & J Towing even though he had the correct permit fixed to his windshield.  Sometimes a story emerges that reinforces the power of generational media on a scale that’s hard to imagine.  Read on if you dare! (continue reading…)

It’s called “Industry Jargon.”  We all have terms which in the context of our work make perfect sense to “us,” but mean nothing to the population at large.  So when I say “long form,” from a traditional radio/television point of view I need to explain exactly what I mean and why it’s so important in understanding the web driven “short form” that will dominate the future. (continue reading…)

I was honored to participate in innovation training last week at the request of Christian Life Center in Kalamazoo, one of my clients.  It was a fun packed, high energy two days  led by Andy Hinkley who skillfully guided church leaders through the steps in creating a responsive culture of creativity.  Within this atmosphere something spontaneous happened – I’ll call it the “Stan Plan” – which could change the way ministry is done in the 21st century. (continue reading…)

Why?  It’s a question that every 3 year old asks in wonder and real curiosity; why is the sky blue?  Why are trees green?  Sadly as we ‘mature,’ we stop asking because somehow we think we know most of the ‘whys.’  In reality, it is the most critical and sustainable question you can ask.  Why?  Because “the secret to creativity (and innovation) is curiosity.” (Seth Godin) (continue reading…)

Glen Beck                     Barack Obama

Glen Beck – that champion of American idealism and identity – has spoken again.  This time the “red meat” to his base of lap dog conspiracy theorists has to do with President Obama’s name and just why he changed from the much more acceptable “Barry” to the decidedly “un-American” Barack.  “He chose to use the name Barack for a reason,” Beck said on his radio show,  “not (to identify) with America.”  Why?

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Toby Barlow                                                                    Mark Covington

My friend Susan talks a lot about the need to define community.  Take a look at this very short film clip – just under eight minutes long – which not many people have actually seen.  In a simple and profound way – it’s about a neighborhood in a place that many people have given up for dead.  It’s called “Detroit Lives – the Farmer and the Philosopher,” – I have never seen community better defined anywhere else. (continue reading…)

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,” Humphrey Bogart said in the movie Casablanca, “She walks into mine.”  As the owner of Rick’s Cafe, he was talking about the love/hate relationship he had with Ilsa Lund played by Ingrid Bergman who unexpectedly walked into his life again forcing him to sort out the relationship.  Of “all the towns in all the world” Detroit has that same love/hate dynamic for me.  My home town, my misspent youth, a lot of good and not so good memories are all coming back as a new project unfolds that just might take me home again.

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Not long ago, two ‘bloggers’ I respect a lot sat down for a live web chat on a site called Conversant Live.  Phil Cooke (the Change Revolution) and Brad Abare (Church Marketing Sucks) are media consultants who have given a lot of good advice and really have a handle on the Internet driven communication revolution.  Here’s a summary of what they said. (continue reading…)