Resources

Brad AbareFounderCenter for Church CommunicationCrybaby emotional designers. Senior leadership that thinks YouTube is a designer casket company. Audiences that continue to filter and ignore. If church communication is all about connecting people, why is so much of our time spent pushing projects amidst the disparate and the desperate? From blogs and brochures to billboards and broadcasts, the methods continue to compete with the message for what really matters. This session will identify common obstacles as we collaborate on opportunities to continue creating meaning-filled stories that matter.About the Presenter:Brad Abare is the director of communications for the Foursquare denomination, dream-filled advocate for the Center for Church Communication, and cheerleader for Personality, the cause marketing agency he founded in 1998. In 2004 Brad started a little conversation called ChurchMarketingSucks.com, a blog to frustrate, educate and motivate the Church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ.Includes audio (MP3) onlyElectronic download only (10Meg)

Chris ForbesMarketing Evangelism SpecialistBaptist General Convention of OklahomaOklahoma City, OKGet an insider’s view of the inner workings of planning advertising for ministry. This step-by-step overview will give you a sneak peak into how the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma put together an evangelistically oriented campaign launching during the state’s centennial in 2007. A few insights you will gain:- Determining campaign objectives- Developing a strategy for reaching a target audience- Using research to inform creative planning and testing advertising concepts- Watch a video of a focus group of unchurched people talking about their experiences and opinions about going to churchChris Forbes is the founder of MinistryMarketingCoach.com and serves as the Marketing Evangelism Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He has served as the Interactive Media Specialist for Purpose Driven Ministries and as Media Strategist for the International Mission Board, SBC. Includes audio (MP3), slides (PDF)Electronic download only (36Meg)

Kem MeyerCommunications DirectorGranger Community ChurchGranger, INFind out how to develop and maintain the best practices that can help you get your message heard, read, surfed and shared.Kem draws from more than 15 years experience in corporate communications to help increase the competitive edge of the church today. She uses a no-nonsense approach to lead a team of communications and technology professionals at GCC (staff & volunteer). Using best practices, they live to find ways to remove barriers that keep people from connecting.With more than 5,000 in weekly attendance, Granger Community Church was recently identified by Outreach Magazine as one of the 100 fastest growing churches of the 21st century. Includes audio (MP3) only.Electronic download only (27Meg)

Kem MeyerCommunications DirectorGranger Community ChurchBuilding a cohesive communications strategyAs challenging as it is to compete in today’s information-driven culture, it’s even more frustrating when your communication teams and specialists are all working with different agendas. Your messages get diluted – or worse, contradict themselves. Your audience is confused; your staff and volunteers are cranky. Time to step back. Reboot. Get a plan. Find out how you can structure your communications so printed resources, Web services and technology break through the clutter to reach people facing daily information overload. You’ll learn to:

• Prioritize your efforts by purpose
• Set clear goals and objectives that are collectively shared and understood
• Eliminate redundant systems
• Streamline your infrastructure, information architecture and promotional tools
• Unify your communications teams and the vehicles they produce
• Instill competitive practices and principles in your communication strategy

Take your communications to a whole new level of professional – that no one expects from “just a church.”About the Presenter:
Kem draws on 15 years of marketplace experience in corporate communications and Internet strategy to fuel her passion for increasing the “competitive edge” of the church today. She helps lead a team of communications and technology professionals at Granger called LiveWire, directing the team to use available technology to create unique opportunities and enhance ministry operations. Prior to joining the Granger staff three years ago, Kem worked at Moody’s Corporation, a billion-dollar credit research and risk-rating company with offices in 18 countries. Kem and her husband, Mark, have three children – Erin, Emmi and Easton.  Includes audio (MP3) slides (PDF).Electronic download only (34Meg)

Kem MeyerCommunications DirectorGranger Community ChurchBest practices for communications that connectThat’s the question the people you’re trying reach are asking themselves. But even more critical for communications that truly connect are the questions you should be asking:

• Do we know our objectives, our audience, our mission?
• Do we provide information based on the church’s needs – or our audience’s needs?
• Are our messages easy to access, easy to understand, and easy to absorb – quickly?
• Are they compelling – or redundant? Error-free – or full of distracting mistakes?

• Are they presented as professionally as the junk mail our audience is getting – and the Web sites they’re surfing? (And yes, this is our competition – not other churches.)
• Have we developed a style – and are we consistent?

Find out how to develop and maintain the “best practices” that can help you get your message heard. And read. And surfed. And shared.
Kem draws on 15 years of marketplace experience in corporate communications and Internet strategy to fuel her passion for increasing the “competitive edge” of the church today. She helps lead a team of communications and technology professionals at Granger called LiveWire, directing the team to use available technology to create unique opportunities and enhance ministry operations. Prior to joining the Granger staff three years ago, Kem worked at Moody’s Corporation, a billion-dollar credit research and risk-rating company with offices in 18 countries. Kem and her husband, Mark, have three children – Erin, Emmi and Easton.  Includes audio (MP3) slides (PDF) and handouts (PDF).Electronic download only (36Meg)

Volunteer for Christian church or faith-based ministry. Annual membership.

Kent Shaffer Bombay Creative
Without question, marketing can help a church better fulfill its mission. But if a church is not careful, marketing could actually distract it from its mission. This workshop discusses the importance of distinguishing between mission and marketing and how to strike balance between the two. About the presenter: Kent Shaffer is founder of ChurchRelevance.com, an online resource created to inspire and train ministers to be more relevant and effective. He also co-owns Bombay Creative, a ministry-oriented design and marketing firm (www.BombayCreative.com).

Balance: Finding Harmony Between Your Marketing and Mission
Includes audio (MP3) only Electronic download only (59Meg)

Ashley SchuermannGraphic ArtistSeacoast ChurchMount Pleasant, SCBeing a Graphic Designer in MinistryHave you ever wondered if you are designing effective pieces for your church? Do you ever feel like you are trapped in a box? No matter how you look at it designing for church is different than designing in the corporate world. In this session, you will learn how to effectively design for your church. Whether you need to know some of the basic do’s and don’ts, how to design for the contemporary church, how to overcome the challenges of designing for a church, or how to get of that box, this session is for you. About the Presenter:Ashley is the graphic artist for Seacoast Church, a multi-site church with 13 locations throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and cyberspace via their internet campus. She has been a member of the communications team since 2003 and came on staff full-time in 2006 after receiving her B.S. in Graphic Communications from Clemson University. Ashley dedicates all of her time at Seacoast designing everything from print to web pieces for all of their locations.MP3 audio & PDF handouts (14Meg)Electronic download only

Shawn WoodExperiences Pastor Seacoast ChurchImagine walking into a restaurant named “Benihana” to find that they serve tacos or into a a small little store called the “Beanery” to not find an ounce of coffee.  This would be unacceptable, yet every weekend at thousands of churches this same brand schizophrenia that would repel us is called “marketing” and ”design”.The negative effects of Brand Schizophrenia on your church are blunted affect, emotional and social withdrawal, poor rapport, lack of spiritual spontaneity and boxed in and stereotyped thinking.  Well, if Seth is right, and all marketers are liars, then what’s a Creative to do?Through creating a compelling experience in the areas of the weekend, web and word-of-mouth, Seacoast Church has “found themselves” by finding the sweet spot of who God has created them to be (even accepting who they are not) and letting that drive the creative design process.In this session Shawn Wood, the experiences Pastor for Seacoast Church’s 11 campuses, will discuss how to help find that sweet spot in your church rather than continuing to compete in a multiple personality beauty contest hoping to make the latest list of the 20 best churches. About the Presenter:Shawn Wood is the Experiences Pastor for Seacoast Church, a multi-site church with 11 campuses (25 weekend experiences) in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.  Through leading a team of designers, videographers, communications professionals and very talented people, Shawn helps campuses create compelling experiences in the areas of weekend, web and word-of-mouth to help people become fully-devoted to Christ.  You can find out more about Shawn on his blog at www.shawnsblogspot.com Includes audio (MP3), workshop slides (PDF)Electronic download only (15Meg)

Dawn Nicole BaldwinManaging Director, Co-founderAspire!OneBranding 101: Using strategic branding to reach people with greater impactAre your communications an accurate reflection of the vision and personality of your church? Does it seem like your church is the area’s “best kept secret?” In this session, we’ll discuss live case studies of churches who’ve succeeded and share how strategic branding principles can help ministries communicate more effectively. Topics include:

• What is our unique thumbprint and “brand personality”?
• How can we have a “target audience” if we’re supposed to serve everyone?
• Can we be consistent if the ministries all want their own look and feel?

About the Presenter:Dawn Nicole has spent the last 10 years overseeing the brand development for a wide range of organizations, including work for ministries such as Willow Creek, Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College, Granger Community Church, and many other churches across the country. Previously she was part of the advertising team for Big Idea Productions (creators of VeggieTales) where she developed new property launches and campaigns for video releases, while building the overall brand equity for Big Idea. She also was on staff at Willow Creek Community Church overseeing visual communications and regularly speaks on strategic branding for ministries at conferences nationwide. Includes audio (MP3), workshop slides (PDF)Electronic download only (15Meg)