MinistryCOM 2009 Breakout Session:

Presenter:

Tim Ellens, Strategic Creative Guy
CHANGEffect
Chicago, IL

Session Description:

God has uniquely positioned your Church in the context of culture. But how will you cut through the noise and effectively reach your community? It’s not about a nifty logo. Not about a cool website. It’s not simply about using “compelling” language. And no, not even about an awesome worship space. It’s about knowing your story: who you are, what you’re saying, how you’re saying it, how you behave and engineering staff and volunteer alignment. What can your church promise day-in and day-out that 10,000 other churches cannot? Why does your congregation drive past dozens of other churches to attend your church? During this interactive session we’ll discuss what it means to discover, express and live your church’s one-of-a-kind story. You’ll learn the principles of aligning your staff with your unique story, how to mobilize attendees, and attract visitors.

About the Presenter:

Tim Ellens, Strategic Creative Guy | a.ka., President
Tim is a brand strategist passionate about helping clients “live” their unique story. Viewing everyone in an organization as a storyteller he facilitates and develops strategies that get the story out of the board room and into the back room. As a student of branding, he understands that people relate to brands in ways that shape their identity and connect with the values of an organization. Additionally, Tim is motivated by helping leaders of organizations gain clarity of vision through “aha” moments and pulling simplicity out of complexity. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies and those who view $500 as a fortune but has a heart for those who are making this world a better place.

MinistryCOM 2009 Breakout Session

Presenter:

Terrell Sanders
Executive Director
MinistryCOM.org
Edmond, OK

Session Description:

Do you have more logos than ministries at your church? Do some ministries complain that other groups  receive more support from communications than they do? Do you struggle with balancing announcements across print, web, live, and even more brochures? Do you need some basic principles and strategies to fall back on when making communications decisions?

Sometimes it’s hard to get everyone on the same page when they come from such diverse backgrounds. Often church communications is hampered by lack of common goals and divergent basic assumptions.

In this session Terrell will present seven core communications principles he has collected from extremely effective churches around the world. When approved by your leadership, these principles give your a strategy for effective communications, and a defense from trying to be all things to all people.

About the Presenter:

Terrell Sanders is the Executive Director of MinistryCOM, and founder of MainStreetOpen, a web development firm. Between his web company and MinistryCOM, he has trained and consoled church communications staff for almost 10 years.

Terrell’s background is computer technology, both from the software and hardware sides. He has extensive experience in business process automation and software development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics and a number of obsolete technical certifications.

He has worked with a number of churches and non-profits on communications projects both a volunteer and a paid consultant. Terrell lives in Edmond, OK and attends Henderson Hills Baptist Church (where the communications team does a fine job without his help).

MinistryCOM 2009 Breakout Session

Presenter:

Tim Schraeder
Director of Communications
Park Community Church
Chicago, IL

Session Description:

The title DIY (do-it-yourself) is said a bit tongue in cheek, but the reality is that many of us do communications by ourselves. With a limited budget and resources, it’s oftentimes difficult to know how to successfully build a communications process and strategy to fit the needs of a growing church when you’re literally working on your own.

Whether you are new to church communications or if you’ve been doing it for years, this workshop will help to equip and encourage you to take what you are observing and learning from other churches and how to apply it to your context.

You’ll also get an inside peek at the “renovation” Park Community Church has undergone over the past two years as Tim has taken their communications from 1.0 to 2.0.

About the Presenter:

Tim Schraeder serves as the Director of Communications at Park Community Church, a Gospel-centered innovative church in the heart of downtown Chicago.

His ideas on church communications have been featured on many blogs including ChurchMarketingSucks.com. His first book is due to release in the Spring of 2010. Follow Tim on twitter @timschraeder, or check out his blog at timschraeder.typepad.com.

MinistryCOM 2009 Breakout Session

Presenter:

Jody Wissing
Visual Arts Director
Preston Trail Community Church
Frisco, TX

Session Description:

Are you a small church?  Or maybe you’re a large church?  No matter what size, we all have one thing in common: a limited budget for marketing and media.  We are all affected by the economy and our culture.  We have an obligation to connect God with people in culturally relevant ways.  There’s good news!  Being on a limited budget forces us to be more creative and find innovative ways of getting our message out to the masses.

In this session, we will talk about how to identify resources, create marketing strategies that won’t break the bank and learn ways to increase creativity.  Here’s a sampling of some topics that will be discussed:

• Identifying your resources
• Doing marketing differently, out-of-the-box ideas
• Where to find inexpensive media
• Free marketing / free media
• Increasing creativity and how to brainstorm
• How to get the most out of the money you do have

Let’s think of marketing and media in a new way!  You will walk away with a toolbox of culturally relevant ideas and strategies for reaching people inside and outside your church.

About the Presenter:

Jody Wissing is entering her fifth year as the Visual Arts Director at Preston Trail Community Church, a position that allows her to merge her two passions: great art and great deals! Jody’s passion for visual art is exercised as she seeks to communicate the bold truth of the Gospel in ways that aren’t. .  . beige. Jody’s passion for an awesome deal comes in handy as she is consistently challenged to find the least expensive and most creative ways to do church marketing and design.

Jody’s background is as diverse as her artistic influences, with business experience in training, marketing, presentation, design, and finance for companies such as Motorola, Toys ‘R’ Us, Charles Schwab, McDonalds, Navigant International and New Horizons. Ever the independent spirit, Jody also has 10 years of freelance experience, including design, presentation and small business marketing.

As a seeker of anything artistic and fun, Jody loves spending time with her two sons, enjoys going on adventures to find abandoned houses and likes being the neighborhood mom that gives all the kids water guns filled with paint.

Branding 101 : Reintroducing Your Church to the Community

This material is from a breakout session presented at MinistryCOM 2007.

Session Outline:
Even though God is doing some amazing things through your church, does it sometimes feel like it’s the best kept secret? Perhaps you’ve inherited a brand that isn’t an accurate reflection of your church’s DNA, vision for the future or there are just a lot of misperceptions in the community.

In this fast-paced, interactive session we’ll discover how to be intentional about developing your church’s brand by answering questions such as:

Exactly what is branding & can it really help churches?

Is it okay for ministries to have their own brand? If so, how do I avoid feeling like a bunch of mini churches?

Where do I start & how do I roll out our new brand?

About the presenter: Dawn Nicole Baldwin
Dawn Nicole Baldwin is the Founder & CEO of AspireOne, a strategic branding firm with a passion for helping churches reach people more effectively. During her tenure on staff at Willow Creek Community Church leading Visual Communications as well as the advertising team of Big Idea Productions (Creators of VeggieTales) she’s had the opportunity to build and witness the power of a strong branding in ministry.

For over 10 years she’s consulted with the leadership of some of today’s most innovative churches (Granger, Seacoast, Perimeter and Willow Creek name just a few) and has spoke at conferences across the country.

Branding 101

Includes audio (MP3), workshop slides (PDF)
Electronic download only (17Meg)