Category: Weblogs

  • Internet Ministry Conference: report #1

    Internet_min_confLater in the week (early Friday morning or Thursday night) I’m headed over to Calvin College to attend my first Internet Ministry Conference.

    Since this is my first real entry into "Christian internet world" I have a whole bag of assumptions. And since I’m going to the event to learn, network with fellow nerds, and evaluate if I’ll ever go back… I thought it would be best for me to just write out what I am expecting at the conference. Wouldn’t any good sociologist do the same?

    Assumptions and pre-conference thoughts
    Revenge_of_the_nerds
    Remember Revenge of the Nerds? The 1984 comedy where a group of nerds ended up living in a college frat house together… finding friendship while the "cool kids" ran around going to wild toga parties and picking on the defenseless nerds. Remember that movie? That’s about how I feel going into this. We’re a bunch of nerds, laptops in tow, Starbucks on our breath, and the latest Google Analytics of our website floating through our minds as we check into Calvin for 3 days of embracing our inner geek.

    I expect to see "funny" t-shirts. I expect to see guys in ties. I expect to see folks wearing gear that represents their company/ministry. And I have a feeling there will be superhero’s represented. Can’t explain that one, just preparing myself for it. Superman, Spiderman, and others on adults… breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

    Looking over the schedule, I’m not sure what most of this has to do with YMX.     It seems like stuff is either "way below" or "way above" of what I’m interested in. But I do see some useful stuff for romeochurch.com. But maybe I’ll be surprised? As far as "value" goes I’m hoping to get more out of it than what I’ve seen from the pre-conference stuff. There must be something more to it than I’m seeing.

    I expect to meet a lot of new people.     Being a newbie Alliance member also means that I expect to say "Youth Ministry Exchange is an online community for youth ministry volunteers and staff" a heck of a lot. And I expect to hear people say, "Oh, that’s nice" a lot as well.

    I expect the release of Gospel.com to be a wow moment.

    I’m looking forward to putting a lot of faces/email addresses together with the Gospel Communications staff.

    Vacancy
    I’m hoping to find a place to sleep.     So if anyone in Grand Rapids wants to hook me up I promise to be a good boy. Otherwise, I’ll be driving around looking for a place to sleep during breaks. Why is it that this always happens to me in Grand Rapids? If all else fails, I know a few good places to camp.

    I’m hoping this isn’t one of those conferences which is a "you either know people or you don’t" kind of things. I am really hoping that people are friendly and welcoming… even to a newbie.

    Revengenerds1
    More than anything.    .. I’m interested in figuring out how all the new stuff that’s out there… too much to list… is going to help me encourage our users at YMX reach people with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.

    That said, if I see a single person wearing a cape or a Darth Vader mask… I’m out.

  • Update from earlier

    Update from earlier

    Earlier I said I was tired. I’m feeling much better. We had a great little event today with Light Force. I think some of the best events we do right now are free and this is no exception. Want to spend an afternoon hanging out and building relationships? Just tell people to meet you at the beach! Bring your own lunch and a ball… you have instant and free fun.

    In other news… I’m a little miffed at a breach in blog etiquette. We all know that in a Web 2.0 environment that collaboration is the name of the game. And so it is no surprise to see something that you said or you wrote about popping up somewhere else. But the unwritten law of blogging is that you simply give credit with a link back. (Sometimes you see the phrase “HT to ____” which simply means, hat tip. Another way to do this is to say, “I saw this over at ____.”) Long story short, I wrote about something last week and someone “of a bigger name” wrote about the same thing on his blog today, read by many more people than will ever come to my blog, and failed to provide the proper HT or link back. How do I know that the person knew they got their post idea from me? I sent it to him! (Which is another rude thing. To take something that was my idea and not even give me the courtesy of responding to my email? Hmph…won’t do that again.) It doesn’t bother me one bit when it’s someone who simply doesn’t know better. But when someone is a recognized blogger, it’s being rude intentionally and a practice of superiority. To the contrary, Mark Oestricher is one of the most polite bloggers I know. All ministry types would do well to act as graciously with their blogs as he is. OK, I’ll stop ranting about it. I am over it…

    That said, I’m starting to think about “Adam’s Blog Etiquette” to go alongside my “Rules for blogging.”  I’m never interested in tearing people down… but instead I want to help the people I know use the internet more effectively… maybe even redemptively. Maybe I’ll even finally write a long thought about article about ministry snobs?

  • Why I blog.

    Chris Brooks asked the question, "Why do you blog?" Here was the comment I left:

    I blog for a few reasons. First and foremost since about 7th grade I’ve journaled. I remember by 7th grade reading teacher telling the class "if you want to be a good writer, you need to keep a journal to practice." That same year I wrote a book review that got published in my hometown newspaper and I thought… Hmmm, I like that. So I kept journaling in notebooks all the way through middle and high school.

    In 1999 I started my first blog. I liked that people read what I wrote… and I quickly got tired of it. But the seed had been planted and a couple years later I tried again.

    My current blog is version 4.0. I’ve changed the "why" of it often but the original reason still stands. I want to be a good writer, so I journal. To me, if other people read it… that’s OK, but the audience is really myself.

    Sometimes I get the question, "How do you find time to blog?" I have two responses to this…
    a. I type really fast. So a thought that I’ve had in my brain doesn’t take long to type.
    b. If I don’t record thoughts… the good ones, the bad ones, and the boring ones… I won’t remember them.

    Blogging is more than just an outlet for me. It’s all part of the writing/speaking process to me. Just like I wouldn’t stop reading the Bible, I wouldn’t stop journaling.

    For those who don’t blog but read blogs, why do you do that?

    For those who blog, why do you blog?

  • New look for adammclane.com

    Customerrights
    Remember rule #1 of customer service? A person with a good experience will tell one person, a person with a bad experience will tell 10 people. This was very true when I worked for a health insurance company as 10-15 negative customer experiences who made "HMO" synonymous for "least desirable" far outweighed the publics opinion despite several million satisfied customers.

    On Saturday, I decided that I was ready for a change on the site. (Those reading on feed readers, you missed this change!) It’s not a major change as I just rearranged some of the furniture and put up a new header.

    Yet one reader dislikes my new header so much that he sent me 3 alternatives using the same color palette but with stuff that he thinks better suits me.

    Adam1_1

    Adam2_1

    Adam3

    So, let me know what you like. My penguin, or these three anti-penguin ones. I just thought the penguin was pretty slick looking. This sites been around long enough where I decided I needed a mascot… but apparently at least one reader hates the penguin enough to open up Photoshop and design a few penguin-free headers.

    This got me thinking
    What would happen if end users started submitting logo revisions on all of their favorite websites and products? What would they submit? Ford? Wal*Mart? Google?

    Any takers?

  • Rules for Blogging mention

    This evening I’ve exchanged some pleasant emails with the editor/developer behind Church Communications Pro. Apparently he found my Rules for Blogging newsworthy and gave me a nice mention.

    Back story: The "Rules for Blogging" really started in one of our infamous AIM chatrooms. We were talking about all the trouble people had gotten into because of things that they’ve written on their blogs. There are some great stories out there. Yes, people have lost their jobs. Students have made some pretty funny gaffs. On and on we shared stories. Finally, I just started throwing out some rules and someone said, "Hey, you should write that down!" Since then, I’ve written about them in the church newsletter, mentioned them on YMX, and obviously posted them here.

  • I love connecting

    I think I learned this little phrase from Jason Raitz, "I love networking with youth workers." I mean, we’re just wired a little differently than the average person. While most people flee working with teenagers there are a group of people who love it. God made us this way and I love getting together with youth workers… it’s hard to explain, but it’s just cool.

    I did this last week as I sat down with Andy, a former church member and graduate of our ministry. (It was a long time ago) Nonetheless, it’s great to see kids who grew up through our ministry involved in a ministry of their own. Even more so, it was great to get to know another youth worker.

    It’s obvious that he and I disagree on the methodology of ministry but I’m confident that we share the same heart for students and much of the same theology. It was really cool… and I hope that somone I felt was "feeling negative" about me and my ministry… I think he at least understands what we are doing better. I know from my perspective he blew a lot of my expectations out of the water.

    Every time I meet a new youth worker (to me that is), I get excited. I’m really excited about what God is doing with him in Lapeer and while I don’t know if we’ll ever be on the same page enough to do something together, I do look forward to hearing more about what God’s doing through him.

    It was well worth my time… and of course, Red Knapps is a great lunch any day.

  • Protect Yourself from Cyber Bullies

    Protect Yourself from Cyber Bullies

    The following is an article I’ve submitted for publication to the Romeo Peach. I thinks it’s a relevant topic for anyone who uses the internet for community purposes.

    The other day Kristen and I watched a Primtime special
    called, “How Mean Can Teens Be?” The investigation was about a new form of
    bullying that many students participate and experience, online bullying. “Cell phones, instant messaging and personal Web sites like
    MySpace and Facebook are now common weapons of “cyberbullying,” used
    to spread gossip, rumors and bequeath public lashings — leaving teenagers with
    painful battle scars.”     http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2421562

    (more…)

  • Sorry about that

    Just a quick note to say "I’m sorry" for commenters having to go through an extra step. I was getting a few too many comments from people who wouldn’t identify themselves. (Which, through the power of IP tracking… it’s not that hard to find out who people are… ) So, from now on it’s either tell the site who you are or just can’t comment. It’s a little slower, so if you don’t see your comment post… I did get it. I just need to approve it first.

    For the record    , I’m pretty low on the curve on this one. Most of my friends blogs have required extra verification for a long time.

    Thanks for visiting! If you’ve never done it… check out my "Rules for Blogging"

  • Congrats to the Herron’s (Even amid the chaos!)

    HerronsI learned yesterday that a friend of mine, Jonathon Herron, and his wife Amber will be getting their long awaiting, prayed for, and patiently impatient forthcoming baby in about three weeks. I am so excited for them! They are certainly in for a wild ride.

    To make life more exciting, the baby is due right around the time that his new church plant in Kent, Ohio is launching. Why not?

    And our church plant launches 2 days after the due date.  Prayers are coveted
    [as are Babys R Us registry gifts 🙂 ]

    You can learn more about his church and even make a donation to their adoption fund on his blog, which is linked above.

  • Comments on comments

    I’ve never had this problem to any extreme, but apparently a lot of people are encountering it. The issue that is so troublesome? Anonymous comments to posts.

    Here’s how I’ve experienced it. I will write a post, say about my mormonism series or what not. Someone who cares passionately about defending their positions on mormonism or thinks that they are somehow representing all mormons… they will search for keywords all day long just waiting for someone like me to post… than they barely read my post and comment like mad. It’s more annoying than disruptive… but it is annoying.

    A former metro Detroit youth guy and current church planter in Ohio, Jonathon Herron, has been seeing a lot of this. These are his thoughts:

    If you don’t have the guts to sign your name and stand behind your opinion while engaged in thoughtful conversation, it’s a waste of our time to bother reading it (not to mention a disgrace to America’s forefathers who risked slaughterous executions by British troops for speaking out in favor of freedom of speech precisely because they attached their names/reputations to their opinions!). Read the rest

    I’m not certain that I’m ready to turn on comment moderation because I like to keep comments open as an expression of the readers… but if I start getting pounded with them, I suppose I’ll have little choice.