Great little read here from Millenial Marketing about Twitter adoption of middle adolescents. (The core group for explosive growth of Myspace and Facebook.)

To summarize here points, Notre Dame marketing professor Carol Phillips suggests these 3 reasons Twitter hasn’t popped in that megamarket.

1. Twitter adds no meaningful functionality that Facebook doesn’t. (Calendar, messaging, photos, etc.)

2. No self-branding of personality/activities beyond a status update. Things happen so fast there is no time for friends to react to what you’re doing.

3. Millenials aren’t accustomed to making friends online. They’ve been warned against that their entire lives!

Do the middle adolescents in your life use Twitter? Why or why not?

Published on Jun 23.09 to social media | 1 Comment »  

This morning I got quite a few emails, texts, tweets, and Facebook messages asking me about the status of my blog. It was really nice to be missed!

Never fear, all is well. I had some nasty server issues which caused the host to temporarily shut off the account until I could sort it out. I’m sure I’ll write a little about my theory of mass acceptence of technology and the decrease of customer service in correlation to the meltdown I’ve watched happen at BlueHost. The bigger they get the more like AT&T they become.

Speaking of which, in the middle of all of that Cox Cable decided that I didn’t need internet access.

Published on Jun 23.09 to hmm... thoughts | No Comments »  

Had a great day yesterday. I don’t think it was just because it was Father’s Day. But yesterday gets a gold star.

I woke up, literally, to a scavenger hunt yesterday. Saturday afternoon, Paul and Megan put together a complex set of Father’s Day cards which lead me all over the house. They were super excited to see me discover all of the cards. The highlight for me was a contraption Megan mad in which I cut a string and a bucket fell on my head. As we do each Sunday, before church we made a run to get donuts.

From there we met my cousin Trent and his family at church. We hadn’t seen them since 2003. Since then we had Paul and they added three more girls. It made for a gaggle of kids both at church and for the day to come.

After church we made a pitstop at Rubios for lunch then headed down to La Jolla Cove. It was packed down there and for good reason. The water was crystal clear, the waves were non-existent, fish were ample, and a blast was had. Kristen and I wrangled the older kids near the shore. Their oldest daughter was on a mission to collect shells. It was a bit sad in that La Jolla Cove is not known for it’s shell collection… but she still managed to find a bunch of ones.

We stayed down at the beach until about 5 o’clock and then started heading towards dinner. Marissa suggested (nice word for it. ) that we go to Phoung Trang in Clairemont Mesa. She swore this was the best Vietnamese food in San Diego… and you know Kristen and I can’t turn down that challenge. Our group grew a little more to about 15 people. This was just a stellar finish to a long, fun day. Great food, great time, all of the kids were happy, on and on.

I hope this is a great kick-off to another great week.

What did you do for Father’s Day?

Published on Jun 22.09 to family | No Comments »  

June 21st, 1997 Kristen and I met at the altar of Trinity Evangelical Free Church in South Bend, Indiana and exchanged vows.

And they said it wouldn’t last…

Twelve years of laughter and love. Twelve years of adventure. Twelve years of exploring the planet. Twelve years of figuring it out as we go. Twelve years of her putting up with my jokes.

Kristen McLane is a patient woman. I’m kind of hoping she puts up with my antics at least another 12 years.

Published on Jun 21.09 to family | 2 Comments »  

Published on Jun 20.09 to Sports, Video Clip | No Comments »  

It’s Saturday at the U.S. Open. Tiger, along with half of the field, have drawn the worst possible lot. Half of the field has played the first two rounds in near ideal weather while the other half has played with sloppy weather.

So, here we are. The leader is 12 shots ahead of the world’s #1 player. Is it possible for Tiger Woods to come back?

I don’t know if he can win. But this is likely Tiger’s gameplan for rounds 2-4.

Tiger’s goal for Round 2 will be to get to even par. He’ll attack the front 9 to try to get back to even as soon as possible. The back 9 will likely be tougher with thunderstorms rolling in. So there won’t be a chance to go low… but he’s a very talented golfer who can bear down and play par golf.If he can get it to even par, that will secure his position in the top 40 and he can start to let the conditions benefit him.

Tiger’s goal for Round 3 will be to get -2 and hope the weather turns on the leaders. The pressure and the golf course will start to weed out some who made it to the top after 2 rounds. Sad, but true. He knows if he can just hang out there he will land in the top 20 with one round to go. Of course, if anyone is capable of a 62 in Round 3, it’s Tiger Woods. That’d make for great TV but I don’t think it’s possible at Bethpage.

If he can get in the top 20 for Round 4, it’s game on. Time and time again the field comes back on the last day. You never know… he could shoot 68 and be right there late.

Can it happen? It can. Will it happen? That’s why the world is watching.

Published on Jun 20.09 to golf | No Comments »  

“That was so cool! A little scary. Can we go faster next time?“ These are the words of my five year old yesterday. Towards the end of the day Paul came to the office to spend time with me because it was abundantly clear mom needed a break from his antics. Not sure how I would transport home my bike, my normal gear, and a kindergartner via the trolley I just told Kristen to drop him off. I have unshakable trust in the theory of emergent plans.

Standing on the street corner I decided that it was plausible to have Paul straddle the bar in front of me, hold onto the handlebars, and peg his feet into my bottle holder. The key to understanding this wild ride is knowing that the journey is .7 miles and nearly all downhill. Even by myself it is one of those downhill journeys that hovers right on that border between amazing and just-a-little-too-fast. So I picked him up, got him seated, and off we went. As daddy white-knuckled down the hill suddenly realizing how stupid this adventure was, Paul beamed with pride. Daddy is thinking about what he’ll tell the paramedics on the way to the Emergency Room and Paul’s wide-eyes glisten as he dreams of going faster. My inner actuarialist vomited all over his shoes. My inner 12 year old thought it was rad. A few minutes later we arrived at the trolley station. Paul got off my bike and sat down on the bench next to me. In that moment we both realized he was a little bit closer to manhood.

Outside of the obvious needs of taking care of our children we are challenged with raising them. Kristen and I have been learning that raising a boy is entirely different than raising a girl. And we are having our eyes opened wider and wider every day as to what that means for Paul. Our son loves to live life a little dangerous. While dad dreams of playing rounds of golf at Torrey Pines, Spyglass, or even Pebble Beach… Paul is dreaming about jumping off of stuff, climbing mountains, and finding snakes. His dreams for himself are often more daring and dangerous than mom and dad can handle. And yet we long to foster this spirit of adventure in him. In fact, I want nothing more than a son who looks danger in the face and steps up to conquer instead of winnowing away his dreams because of fear. While I am always concerned he’ll get hurt I am more worried that my own fears will contribute to him not becoming the boy his souls longs to be. We constantly weigh the fear or danger vs. the fear of not enough danger.

Yesterday was a reminder of my role in raising a son who is crazy enough to change the world.

Yesterday was a reminder that behind great men lay great parents who reminded them that its not just about danger, it’s about embracing courageous danger.

Yesterday was a reminder that our society cannot be filled with men who are always cautious and only seek adventure in measured amusement parks or other things that are pseudo-dangerous.

Yesterday was a reminder that if I want my son to believe to his core in the theory of emergent plans he needs to see me go MacGyver here and there.

Plans? Who needs a plan?

Published on Jun 19.09 to parenting | 1 Comment »  

This cracked me up.

HT to YS Marketing Team

Published on Jun 18.09 to Funny Stuff, Music, Video Clip | No Comments »  

photo by net_efekt via Flickr

Great guest post from Creative Pastor, Larry Hubatka, at Elevation Church on leading a creative meeting.

“I was cutting out graph paper and mapping out the schedule old school. Sliding video shoots and post-production edit sessions all around on the table on little scraps of paper. It wasn’t the best, most efficient approach to project planning. But sometimes you’ve got to go old school to get back to the basics. To remind yourself how the technology is supposed to help, not be the point.”

I have found that this is my number one way to get creative. Some of my best ideas from the past 12-14 have come when I’m not in from of my computer but instead have my journal in hand or a legal pad in a meeting or intentionally away from my workspace just to map out an idea… old school style.

If you’re not feeling creative but need to create. Grab a few friends, some paper, some markers, some tape, some scissorcs, and a room… you’ll be surprised what you come up with.

Fact: All of my best posts on this blog in the last year were originally sketched out in a notebook. Sometimes technology gets in the way.

Published on Jun 17.09 to hmm... thoughts | 1 Comment »  

A few weeks back I talked about a quick trip I made up to Irvine to do a video shoot with Dave Gibbons, pastor of Newsong Church. I was privileged that he made time for me and thought enough about YS to share some thoughts about why a youth ministry training event is still important even when times are tough financially.

Even in the best of times church decision makers wrestle with continuing education dollars. It’s so refreshing to hear senior leaders who understand the value in training and encouragement from people in your tribe. If you’ve never been to NYWC… there is a magical component when you meet hundreds of other youth workers and you have an instant bond. The community of a shared burden and experiences is so renewing!

p.s. Random sidenote. Check me out! This video is well lit, in focus, and I even did a quick sound check before we began.

Published on Jun 16.09 to NYWC | No Comments »