MinistryCOM 2005

Alan MuehlenwegDirector Market ResearchThird Degree Advertising and CommunicationsHow Your Members See You:Using Market Research to Improve Membership Involvement and Enhance CommunicationsIn today’s “message cluttered” world, companies and organizations are quick to throw some fancy words together with some pretty pictures and say “Here we are!” without even considering “who we are.”Third Degree Advertising and Communications believes there is a better approach to developing coherent, relevant messaging that is consistent with your church’s image and identity.Using best practices and case studies from clients who are membership-based and faith-based organizations, this session will provide you with insightful, proven tools and techniques that can be used to help you understand and uncover the essence of your church’s brand.Areas to be explored include:

• How to discover if your church’s “backdoor” is closed.
• How to uncover your church’s character.
• How to unearth your church’s internal strengths and weaknesses.
• How to determine where your church’s greatest opportunities lie.
• How to learn your communities greatest needs.

This session is designed to challenge your thinking and provide you with some practical “do-it-yourself” tips for basic church research.Alan Muehlenweg is the Director Market Research at Third Degree Advertising and Communications, Inc., an Oklahoma City-based full-service advertising, marketing, communications and new media company established in February of 1995.Alan’s experience in market research and ministry has led to his creation of several proprietary research methodologies, including Church Membership Involvement (CMI) studies. Alan’s expertise lies in developing custom research tools based on proven methodologies, such as focus groups, depth interviews, online surveys, and phone surveys and then providing detailed consulting and recommendations based on the results of these studies.Alan, his wife Charity, and son Ethan (8 months old) attend Southgate Baptist Church in Moore, OK, where they actively serve as the junior high ministers.  Includes audio (MP3) and slides (PDF).Electronic download only (27Meg)

Chris ForbesInteractive Media SpecialistPurpose Driven MinistriesThe one thing that can help your ministry reach more people is not a program it is a way of thinking Chris Forbes calls the ministry marketing mindset. Chris says it is the “missionary mindset, meets media”. Forbes believes that only when you and your ministry understand and apply sound marketing principles, can you really create marketing that “works.” Learn how you can develop a strategy for reaching the people in your area or focus group. This conference will give you an overview of the Ministry Marketing Mindset that will help you build the skills you need to apply marketing to your context. You’ll be surprised how fast you understand the marketing mind-set and start applying it in your ministry.

• 7 Ways To Stop Short-Circuiting Your Ministry’s Communications
• The One Simple Principle that Will Help You Reach More People
• How to Communicate to People in Ways that Get Attention and Invite Response
• How to Build Positive Awareness of Your Church in Your Community
• 25 Free Marketing tools You Can Use Right Now.
• And more!

About the Presenter:Chris Forbes (MinistryMarketingCoach.com) has been in the ministry since 1989, serving all over the world. He developed the Ministry Marketing Coach™ seminar surprisingly simple concepts while serving in real ministry situations while working as an international missionary, strategy leader, media strategist, and marketplace researcher. Chris has a passion for developing and implementing ways to use media in the work of the ministry. He has a vision for helping your church or ministry share the Good News in ways that get attention and invite response from the people you want to reach.Chris is the Interactive Media Specialist for Purpose Driven Ministries and is presently developing strategies for www.pastors.com the world’s largest gathering of pastors on the internet.
He is also is the Marketing Evangelism Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma where he has developed leading internet evangelism sites like www.mostimporttantthing.org, and www.code2life.com. Chris is also a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach specializing in nonprofit marketing and works with secular charities, social marketing groups and humanitarian relief organizations in developing strategies for advocacy and fundraising.
Includes audio (MP3) and slides (PDF)Electronic download only (33Meg)

Dawn Nicole BaldwinManaging Director, Co-founderAspire!OneUsing 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?

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), slides (PDF)Electronic download only (29Meg)

Danny MizeExecutive DirectorThe Kids’ Place National Grief Resources

• What do people think of when they hear the name of your church?
• Can they list five things about your church? Even one or two?
• Does your community know where you’re located?
• Do you ever say (or think), “We’ve done the hard work of preparation. Why haven’t people in our area taken advantage of what we’re offering?”
• Would you like to do a better job of “getting the word out” without spending a lot of money?

If these points catch your attention, then this is the session for you! The presenter, after more than twenty years in full-time church ministry, co-founded and directed a non-profit ministry to grieving families. He learned how to build community awareness through news releases, community relationships, partnerships with business leaders, and structured activities which caught the attention of the community. Mize will share the lessons he learned with session participants — as well as provide an opportunity for in-class, hands-on learning. You are certain to leave this session with new ideas that will enhance the awareness of your community about who you are and what you offer as a church.Danny Mize is the Executive Director of The Kids’ Place, a center for grieving children and their families. He co-founded the center in the Oklahoma City area in December 1995. Danny’s duties have included recruiting, training, publicity, fund-raising, and overseeing the administrative needs of the center. He has recently handed off the local grief center to an Edmond church to allow him to devote his time and energies to making the model of grief support they’ve developed, along with the training program and free curriculum materials, available to churches and community groups across the nation.Prior to 1995, Mize served as minister of Christian education and church administration for churches in Oklahoma and Texas. Danny received his M.A. in Religion from Pepperdine University, and his Masters of Religious Education from Abilene Christian University. He and his wife, Peggy, who have two adult sons, are active in their local church.  Includes audio (MP3), handouts (PDF), and slides (PDF).Electronic download only (35Meg)

Sandy SutterDirector of CommunicationsFaith Lutheran ChurchChurches are putting together communications every day and many individuals work on these communications. How do we put together professional, high quality materials with consistency? Some say a Style Guide would be helpful. What is a Style Guide and how do you even go about putting one together? Sandy Sutter, Director of Communications at Faith Lutheran Church in St. Louis, MO will share with you her experience of putting together a Style Guide. She will share:

• Defining a Style Guide and its purpose
• Where do you begin to put a Style Guide together?
• What is included?
• How detailed should it be?
• Who is it for?
• What it looks like when finished
• Is it ever finished?

This workshop is to share the process Sandy went through as she began to address creating a Style Guide for the first time at Faith Lutheran Church. Faith is a rapidly growing congregation of over 1,600 members located in South St. Louis County attracting people from the St. Louis metropolitan area, including Illinois. In the six years Sandy has been on staff, her title has changed four times as the ministries have grown and evolved. Her degree in management and communications qualifies her for this new position of Director of Communications created 2-1/2 years ago, even though that job description is evolving, growing and still being defined. Sandy Sutter has a BA in Management and Communications from Concordia University, Mequon – St. Louis Branch. She and her husband, Norm, live in Millstadt, IL with their son, Wade. They also have two adult daughters, Wendy of Affton, MO and Crystal of Alexandria, VA who are all members of Faith.   Includes audio (MP3) slides (PDF).Electronic download only (22Meg)

Paul BraoudakisCommunications DirectorWillow Creek AssociationCan communications and marketing co-exist?What are the nuances and tensions that each brings to a Christian organization? Do new buzz words like “branding” and “customer segmentation” compromise the gospel? Paul Braoudakis, communications director of the Willow Creek Association, will discuss how the organization has applied the integration of marketing with communications, and discuss the organization’s year-long “rebranding” process.Paul Braoudakis is the communications director of the Willow Creek Association. He has a master’s degree in communications from Wheaton College. Paul has written numerous articles that have been published around the world. He is responsible for the WCA’s external communications efforts as well as public relations and branding issues. He lives with his wife, Heather, in Hoffman Estates, Ill.  Includes audio (MP3) only.Electronic download only (35Meg)

Kirt ManuelCommunications DirectorNorthwoods Community ChurchHelp your leaders and teams navigate the intersection of communication and technologyWe know that many technologies can enhance clear, effective communication. We sense that our culture offers little grace for the church that slips behind the times in terms of websites, streaming media, kiosks, wireless hotspots, mp3s, podcasts, database integration, etc. And we understand that working harder and thinking more creatively isn’t going to be enough. So how do we help senior leaders have vision and understanding related to communication and technology? Can they see these things as a “front door” akin to the weekend? How then do we lead them to allocate the resources necessary to keep up with or ahead of the culture? Kirt Manuel is the Communication Director for Northwoods Community Church. His B.A. is in English from Truman State University. Kirt came to vocational ministry after 13 years in corporate communications, newspapers, design & production, and commercial printing. At Northwoods, Kirt champions strategic communications across print and the web and strives to help the church and its ministries communicate excellently and effectively. He lives with his wife Rachel and daughters Amanda and Marina in Peoria, Illinois. Includes audio (MP3), slides and handouts (PDF)Electronic download only (26Meg)

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)

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)