[Continued from our main COMMUNICATIONS page.]

Think of this page (below), as the 'science-experiment' left in the back of the fridge... as we developed our newer page.

We hope to delete this page soon.

(previous... to be edited... strategy... (At least we're bulleting some thoughts re strategy...)

Are YOU bored with all YOUR toys...

...and wish you could do more with 'em?

Previous Temporary List...

• Dr. Thomas Ho, New-Media Instructor, IUPUI
• Neil Cox, IndyChristian.TV
• Indy Christian Geeks
• Ellen Spencer, Camcorder, Video-editor, Trainer.  (can come to your church to do training/coordination in advance- email ellenspencer22@gmail.com)
• Mike Boler, liaison to CBMC groups citywide.  Will 'fill in' wherever needed.
• Dian Foreman, Camcorder & Interviewer (Remember, they're now doing Media Training for urban kids at Northside New Era too -- that's the trainer's video-site.)
• Glenda -- learning to shoot video
• Cheri Herron, FotosByCheri
• Melanie Reed, Media Coordinator along with Mitch Malloy, posting FHL's 40-Days of Prayer(s)... long-distance, from Bloomington (how cool is that?)
  • Also... video-editing (needs a little training.  Ellen, want to do a special little section on the video-page in the AAS wiki?) and Writer/blogger.
• Chris (Englewood) Smith -- writer, editor, photographer, etc.
• Ester Hovath-Fer (fAr) -- Video shoots
• Adam Fer (fAr) - video and tech
• Rhonda & Charita -- video shoots
• Jackie Johnson -- video shoots
• David Voelker -- Neighborhood Flyers Project for FHL Week.  (click to see his project)
• Jeff Miller (Xagronaut)... coming all the way from Ohio to be with us Thurs pm, and Friday.
• Orvil Tucker, Tucker Construction (and member of New Beginnings Ministry).  Has a digital camera and camcorder... needs help learning them.
• Jim Ackert, Video-editing
• [We'll be in close communication with Merlin's intern... Chang Kang.... see recent email.]
• @GregorLove has offered for blogging help.
• Indy Prayer Breakfast Committee will have a Communicators Coordinator shortly.  [Til then, contact Gary Kirschman, Chm.]

• Mapping key neighborhood & collaborative ministry-locations
  • Can you envisage the future value of having our Google-map built-out more fully?  And remember, each dot is clickable and can contain info about the ministry or even video -- but it all starts with just 'getting em on the map'.  And again, our purpose is about identifying 'collaborative' locations -- people pretty much already know where all the silo'd churches are... and they have yet to accomplish the Great Commission.  So we're out to accentuate those Bible-believing churches/ministries which might be most willing to work together.  And the dots can include collaborative secular locations... like Panera, Paradise, and community-centers where we have Bible studies, etc.... or would like to.)
  • Imagine dotting our map with Mentoring locations such as churches, community-centers or cafes... or schools in need of mentors?  Dr. Daniel Bassill (Chicago) can. (MappingForJustice.blogspot.com)
  • Remember, a very key step of even starting an FHL team in an area is finding out key info... Who are the collaborative-type players, What are the NEEDS, and Where are the Resources & Capabilities to meet the needs in a given area of town.  During FHL our project teams will uncover a lot of this -- so make sure we capture it for future value for years to come.  It's as easy as tossing it into our searchable wiki, if nothing else.
  • FYI... SAVI.org is available... and alpha-testing their Web2.0 prototype... So as we work on our geo-mapping things, remember SAVI is avail and will be a great asset for the future.  We might even consider being leaders in helping train community leaders to be able in the future to use SAVI intuitively.  [Community experts are using it now, with great effect.]
• Compiling more & more helpful information in the collaborative knowledgebase (wiki).
  • (Can you envisage the future value of having a searchable, centralized knowledgebase of key info needed to support/expedite the Great Commission in our city?  Eg... Prison-related ministries & support teams?  Transportation-related ministries?  Food?  Housing? Evangelism-training?  Collaborative 'timeline' calendar?  Tech ideas and even perhaps a HelpDesk function?  And Christian 411 phone-line?  Prayer foci for the city?  Leader-connections?  Encouraging Neighborhood Best-Practices?  Video howto's?  Even some theological discussions geared toward accomplishing the Great Commission -- not splintering the team more concerned with it?
• Connect neighbors to the dozen major WYNS needs/solutions categories... including the ultimate offer by God the Son.
• Help consolidate some of our major email databases.   (Eldon/Merlin/Neil)
• Idea:   Do an interview(s) suitable for the Geeks & God Conference going on concurrently in Detroit... 7/24-26.  Our tech-friend Jeff Miller (Columbus OH) will be there.  Ideas anyone?  [Related item, LOLLLLL.]
• Optional at this time, but someday... Vital Vine citywide phone-tree.  DeVos team may be interested in being a subset of this tree, to expedite communications among their team.  If we see TI, FHL and PHP as similar subsets, perhaps we could easily knit together a citywide 'tree'.
• Standard Tagging:   "fhlinternational" for FHL-related items.   [Later, search Technorati for that tag.  Similarly, search GoogleNews for stories.]
• FHL Notes For Next Year... We'll very certainly try to establish a Communications Center for the whole week... presumably at the UBcafe.  Think of it as a Hotline.  It cannot replace great coordination at each of the regional host-churches, but it could help them in a number of ways.  And of course, having an 'embedded reporter' assigned to each of the Regions, is paramount.  And if possible, provide LIVE FEED(s) via webcam or video devices.  Cell phones even?
•  

Other Thoughts, Links & Ideas...

• KLOVE will be podcasting news tips re FHL during July.   [see Tips link to report news]
• Recruit, recruit, recruit... more & more e-capable team-members for the future.  Encourage each to think whom they might then invite or communicate through.
• Suggest (here) some special video-footage we might like to have for the future...
  • Sermon-footage  (Dr Ware, perhaps?)  laying the theological foundation for Christians being a blessing to the city/community in which they live.  Christ-likeness, being self-sacrificing.
  • Some How-To videos, for help as we get more & more neighborhood-area-teams up & running in future years.  How-to find projects.  How-to Recruit Volunteers.  How-to collaborate online.
  • Dr. Ho and/or others -- shoot a short testimonial re 2007 FHL, the cafe projects using a wiki, and thus the effort all year long then, to connect/recruit more Indy Christian Geeks to get involved.  Talk about 'Ask Anything Saturday TV' for instance... and cut-in some video-clips from there too.  Objective... get yet-more e-capable vols to get involved with the citywide Communications Team... not just for FHL... but many future Great-Commission type events & activities.
•  Data-collection from each FHL Area Team?  (ie, number of vols, number of projects actually worked on, accomplishments, etc.)???  Is that a piece of the Communications Team (this year?).  It might be a bit much, this time.
•  

*******************************

Key Communications People?

• Prayer networkers?
• Facebook CityReaching group (please join)
• Emergency communications workers?
• Russ & Jackie Jones (Indianapolis Chronicle)
• WGNR.org 
• IndyChristian.com
• Ivan.... Religion & The News
• Chaotic Christians?
• Indy Bloggers?
• Any other Web2.0 types out there doing blogs, podcasting, vid-casting... TTTv... ???  Contact me.
• Richard Sickels
• Jeff Cardwell -- People Helping People Network
• Fishhook Communication?
• PR/media contacts in each of our collaborative churches & ministries? 
• Here's a golden rolodex listing of media contacts (Christian & secular media).

Issues & Obstacles:

• The Information Jungle...  The 'information explosion' has become an information deluge.  The 'highway' has become a jungle.  How can the Christian team slice through this jungle?  One Answer: "Tagging" is simply marking something so that it can be found more easily later. Tagging is like walking through the forrest of information overload, discovering a rare flower that you know your botanist friend may enjoy, and that you want to come back to take a photograph of when you retrieve your camera.  You "TAG" it by using a social (web-based) bookmarking tool like "Delicious" or "Digg". There are other services available, just look up "Social bookmarking".   SEE some of the common tags we use by clicking on one of the Delicious links at the bottom of this page.

What might that optimal communications process look like... possibly?

• Build an internal 'Vital Vine'... ie, a citywide (cell) phone tree to ensure key communications among the team, at least.
  • Especially follow natural lines of RELATIONSHIPS (social networks?) re regular, priority communications... like Pauls to Timothys, Prayer networks, etc.
  • Optimally... someday... try to also create a 2-way feedback loop to optimize important information flowing both directions, up & down the chain.
  • Remember, cellphones and e-capability provides great new opportunity for optimizing key communications.
  • Consider building a whole team of 'embedded reporters'... ie, a very e-capable communications team.
• Internal/External transition nodes... Designate the internal nodes who then would contact (which) external media outlets.
• Spam?  **ugh** Also use mass email like everyone else seems to?
• Use centralized 'bulletin-board'... ie, website (private) for the team, for communications.
  • Facebook 'City Reaching Movement' group... (imagine!)
  • Premise:  These are the best-connected, e-capable, driven cityreachers... city by city.  Thus perfectly suited for initiating the core communications.  As the message then hits the 'edge' of our Facebook periphery, our Facebookers then use next-best networking contacts... say their (non-Facebook) "Fav-5" on their cell-phones.  Ultimately the purpose & principles are the same... get IMPORTANT, URGENT messages proliferated at the speed of Light... throughout our city(s)... especially ensuring the trickle-down path reaches key church networks.  Use existing motivated paths of communications... especially prayer-networkers.
  • [See Facebook's "Six Degrees" app and consider how it might apply here... or at least help stimulate a new 'Vital Vine' app by someone such as Joe Suh.... Read on...]
    • Those who have loaded/committed to Vital Vine app...
    • Would receive a high-priority 'notification' (how?)...
    • They'd 'confirm' it's been received and if they're available & committed to pass the vital message along.... [how could these features work?]
    • The app would show them a short list of suggested 'Next Contacts'... ie, their closest friends still needing to be reached...
    • And hopefully the app could display the existing paths of communications to date...
    • Especially (chronically) figuring the shortest-path to prioritized networks (say key churches)... [interacting with MyChurch?]
    • The app could then prioritize suggested 'Next Contacts' at any moment for anyone...
    •  
    • Some way or another build-in the potential to name an 'out of network' contact you'd commit to reach quickly.
    • Ultimate Purpose achieved... To quickly, accurately convey IMPORTANT & URGENT info. 
    •  
    • Some future nuances...
    • With an increased amount of Vital Vine app-users, and with our 'interests' and potentially 'spiritual gifts' on-record at Facebook, the communications could be customized for 'important-to-us' messages.
    • Another nuance could be a Digg-like voting function built (for admins, leaders/officers) to quickly help validate a particular message for citywide dissemination.
    • Similarly, a Digg-like vote/feedback/comment mechanism would be extremely helpful (whether the message is in-transit or completely disseminated).
  •  
• Use centralized 'bulletin-board'.... ie, 2nd-tier website (but very public)... for validating key communications at least.  That is, how do you know the 'message' (at least the one I heard after numerous iterations of the 'telephone game') is true?  We'd need a place to post the core message, word for word.

Stray thoughts to hang onto for followup...

•  
• Start an Internet TV channel for urban/suburban Indy Christian folks to collaborate on... to help 'connect & communicate'.  Maybe blogTV.com.
• "New Media for Urban Change" TAG: nmuc.-- premier course of 'Center For Urban Innovation' = TAG: c4ui.  Bottom line objective... train & deploy best-practices for Christian communications... to transform lives & communities.  [So everyone, help us make sure we know about best-practices that you know about.  Collaborate above, on this Communications Team page.  Thanks... Neil]
• Social Media Manifesto
• PRWeb (Web2.0) wire-service. Here's a quick video.
• Build a consolidated aggregated feed... AND, importantly... also consider that many of us are now 'labeling/tagging'... ie, able to identify smaller & smaller chunks of our information being automatically distributed throughout the web.  How about not only aggregating key feeds (pipes?)... but also potentially being able to break 'em down into useful categories... as aggegated feeds.  See how Technorait does it... LIVE.
• If the above aggregated feed is searchable, then the IndyChristian SEARCH-ENGINE grows!
• Aggregated video-feed?  TTTv?  [Alex, wanna help?]
• Twittering urgent news feeds?
• CyberJournalist.Net seems to be a neat site we'd want to keep up with -- always considering new ideas.
•