fitzblog.net

2012 Culture Calendar Q1

2011-12-21T16:21:00.002-05:00

Josh Bayne & I have been working on a quarterly 1 page magazine that is designed to be a best guess of what people will be talking about in Q1 of 2012. Download it here.

Christmas Cribs @ The Fitz Loft 2009

2009-12-20T15:33:00.005-05:00

(custom youtube video embedded, rss readers click here)

*thanks to josh for being the camera man
*thanks to courtney for playing nice

make sure to join Us for NYE @ the Fitz Loft 2009

IMPORTING SONGS INTO PROPRESENTER

2009-05-23T22:07:00.006-04:00

recently i had several people ask me about importing songs in propresenter, so i decided to document the info i shared here also.

The developers at renewed vision have made it very easy to import new songs. They have a video here about how to import from the clipboard or text file. Even better, you can access your songselect account (hopefully you purchased it when you renewed your CCLI license) from right inside Pro (application drop down menu "propresenter 3"/open resource center or shift-command-S). Above is a screenshot of the "resource center.".

In addition to that, below are 2 short cuts I have found helpful! it will help you if you paste a selection of text and want to move some to the next slide or a new slide. In addition to these here is a link to learn all the propresenter keyboard shortcuts!
Create New Slide with Remaining Text: Option - Return
Send Remaining Text to Next Slide: Option - Shift - Return

MAKING INVITING EASY

2009-03-25T21:30:00.001-04:00

in my opinion, making it easy for people to invite their friends* (invest & invite) should always be a priority for churches, but even more when it coincides with an "external marketing" initiative (i.e. mailers, billboards, road signs, etc...) or a big sunday (i.e. easter)

here are some ways to make it easy for attenders to invite their friends (i think these work whether you are marketing or not).

leading up to a big sunday, give out series-specific print pieces on the way out, with the bulletin, or in place of the bulletin.
have basic church info print pieces (business card size?) available.
create a web invite (series specific? or not) they can send their friends from your website.
create a facebook event (this one may be lame, not sure)
give them letterhead to send a hand written invitation to a friend (just got this idea in from nick at north bridge, so if it sucks it's his fault)

if you have any ideas to add leave a comment!
______________
*a pre-requisite: your environments must be worth your attenders inviting their friends to.

MARKETING AS A PARTNERSHIP

2009-03-23T00:54:00.005-04:00

i am not an advertising expert, but i think i've figured out a few things so far...

FACT: i have never drank a coke because i saw a coke ad. BUT it did make it easier to try one the first time it was offered.

i think marketing for churches is most effective when approached as a partnership with your regular attenders. you are creating brand awareness in the community, which in turn makes inviting their friends much easier.

marketing alone will show some fruit of new attenders, but even the most irresistible environment is missing the stickiness a personal invitation carries. in my opinion, a church that equips its attenders to "invest & invite" in addition to marketing will see the highest return.

"RYAN NEEDS"

2009-03-15T21:57:00.002-04:00

i don't do stuff like this often but this was funny...

i googled my name followed by the word 'needs 'in quotations (i.e. "ryan needs")

here was my 1st ten, directly quoted, and i added a few more for kicks...

Ryan Needs...

a bra
his "@$$"kicked (hard)
a Botox Intervention.
to put on some weight or buy new jeans
a shave
awnsers [sic]
support
to be fired
to recognize
a kidney

and other notables

a cell mate
to change his site once in a whil cuz he looks gay
$2 million for legal defense
to go

FRIENDLY FITZBLOG REMINDER: SPRING FORWARD

2009-03-07T11:46:00.002-05:00

as the title reads i just wanted to quickly remind you to turn your clocks forward tonight.. here are a couple action steps

1) if you forgot to tell your volunteers fire up the phone tree, constant contact, email, text messages, planning center, courier pigeon, or your preferred method of communication and make sure to remind them...

2) thank your volunteers for getting up even earlier to make sunday happen! my wife has ordered 2 cookie cakes (that look like clocks set to 9 & 11) for her waumba volunteers at buckhead church tomorrow.

WHERE IS THE BATHROOM?

2009-02-17T11:47:00.006-05:00

there are 2 kinds of people who come to your church: those who ask for directions and those who won't.

the way you think of those who ask for directions is a visible, active, effective host team.

the way you address those who won't is clear, abundant, regular signage and written communication.

go make it easy to find the bathroom in your environment.

SUNDAY THOUGHTS

2009-02-08T22:22:00.002-05:00

i had the opportunity to help courtney with babyD at buckhead today. it really is an amazing environment that begins the partnership with parents.

babyD really is a fresh take on the traditional baby dedication. i believe it challenges parents and sets the stage for a radical change in the way a lot of them perceive the role of the church with their children. what happens at home is more important then what happens at church!

i am very intrigued with tony morgan's post about room capacities. still working through it all...

love the transparency and clarity shaun king gave here about their upcoming move from center stage... a venue that's too big & too expensive...

if you are not reading (and loving) david mcdaniel's blog, you are an idiot.

TAXES

2009-01-28T17:53:00.003-05:00

if you are like me and did a ton of contract work this past year, you probably feel like you are getting a different w2 everyday right now. let me encourage you to not put off dealing with them until april... it's not fun.

josh bayne had a great post here talking about taxes and linking to a website that is designed for musicians, but can be beneficial in theory for others also!

i would love to hear any advice or resources you have that help you handle tax season better.

YOUR PEP TALK SUCKS

2009-01-23T11:20:00.003-05:00

We believe that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that's not changing. We're constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.

We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.

And frankly, we don't settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we're wrong and the courage to change. And I think, regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple (your organization) will do extremely well.

Tim Cook
COO, Apple Inc.

when was the last time you cast vision with that much passion? last time i checked what the church is here to do is far more important then a new MacBook Pro.

what if you canned the talk you have for staff meeting on monday and just adapted this...

WHAT DID YOUR PASTOR DO TODAY?

2009-01-21T11:35:00.010-05:00

most likely your pastor did 2 of the 3 things that mine did today.

pray for the president.
ask you to pray for the president.
pray for the president... in front of the president.

pretty cool opportunity for Andy and for our organization. i am so thankful to be part of such a healthy organization that God has his hand all over!

OPEN TABS

2009-01-04T23:46:00.001-05:00

some ideas and articles i am still working through...

"innovation is dead" from business week, i'm still working through how i feel about it, the comments are even more challenging if you have the patience.

"is everything okay?" seth godin

great new signage from revolution church. good balance of "clear and cool"

"snow mountain at stone mountain" looks fun. tubing down that big hill. my only question, it says tubing is "wheelchair accessible." how does that work?

"season is over... 'the process' isn't'" from espn, makes me even more excited to be a falcons fan!

"less pointing, more thinking" inspired me to write my own thoughts down more...

TOP 8 OF '08: my most important job

2009-01-02T19:31:00.001-05:00

through a very unexpected turn of events half of '08 was spent living with my parents. in fact, moving in was how we concluded our first year of marriage. one of the best parts of the experience was the strong friendship we developed with my parents. not only were they friends, they became mentors.

one of the biggest learnings for me was not something my dad said, but something i realized he had done for years that i had never really appreciated. my dad modeled through his career decisions that his most important job wasn't the one that paid the bills, it was to be the leader of our family.

for years God has blessed me with amazing career opportunities and each time i have consulted and celebrated with my dad. during our 6 months living with my parents we had the opportunity to discuss his job and some of what could be potential next steps in his career, something i rarely remember hearing as a kid. i learned that God had provided him some amazing career opportunities early in life, much like with myself. it's then that i realized things hadn't recently changed concerning the new opportunities for my dad, but by being a recent empty nester he now has time to spend on his marriage and his career. it's not that amazing career opportunities hadn't come along before, it's that he chose to cheat his career instead of his family.

thank you dad for modeling what is most important through your career decisions. i hope that i can make the hard decision to always choose my family over my career.

TOP 8 OF '08: new jobs, king sized bed, the fitz loft (5 6 & 7)

2009-01-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

NEW JOBS!

toward the end of the year courtney and i both landed new jobs with north point ministries. courtney is working for buckhead church in waumba land and i am working for NPMi equipping our strategic partners!

God has blessed us in amazing ways and we are so thankful!

KING SIZED BED

if you are 6'4" and a big guy all around you understand why this is a big deal with out an explanation, but for the first time in my life i fit! courtney and i love it and no worries, we still touch, just now only when we want to!

NYE PARTY @ THE FITZ LOFT

the last memory of 2008 will always be our awesome new years eve party that over 25 people attended in our brand new loft! it is located in tech century old historic atlantic star ice & coal house. we have beautiful brick walls and amazing hardwood everywhere. if you are ever in decatur ATL (ITP) we would love for you to stop by to stop by!

TOP 8 OF '08: anthem church

2008-12-30T00:02:00.001-05:00

following catalyst, God opened a cool door for me to partner with a soon to launch north point strategic partner. for the 6 months following, i made the drive down to gainesville, fl every 2 weeks to help anthem church launch well. chad and the gang were some of the most eager to learn leaders i have ever been around. they were wiling to make the hard decisions to take huge steps forward.

during this experience my passion to consult and coach the north point model grew even more. God has blessed me with some amazing experiences and the ability to help other churches learn from those has been an amazing opportunity. since then, God has continued to open doors to partner with other strategic partners and like-minded churches to help them scale the north point model in their settings...

God is doing amazing things through anthem and i can't wait to see what He continues to do!

TOP 8 OF '08: iPhone

2008-12-29T13:28:00.002-05:00

even though i actually acquired my iPhone prior to 2008 it has still remained one of the most impactful elements of my everyday life. to justify its inclusion into the "top 8 of '08" series i remind you of the major release of the iphone software 2.0 which included the new App store that radically changed the way i could use my iPhone. to further justify i give you my top 3 iPhone apps of '08.

twitterfon - the superior iPhone twitter client

bible - lifechurch.tv developed bible software

evernote - an iphone interface for an amazing note keeping solution.

TOP 8 OF '08: catalyst church

2008-12-28T23:22:00.002-05:00

going into 2008 i had my dream job as the service programming director at catalyst church, a north point strategic partner. God had surrounded me with amazing leaders, a formal relationship with NPMi, and a unique opportunity to grow my leadership.

in january, catalyst hit a rough financial patch that God chose to intervene in and sustain until april. but come april. through some incredibly tough situations and decisions, God closed the door for catalyst to continue to exist. more info here...

while the situations i was in through out the last months of catalyst were not fun per se, God gave me relationships, experiences, and perspectives that have already, and will continue to, impact positively the things and interactions that come in the future.

TOP 8 OF '08: twitter

2008-12-28T01:08:00.000-05:00

i figured i would kick off this 8 part series with the most obvious thing that changed the way i live & interact in 2008... twitter.

literally one of the first things i did this year was dive full force into twitter. if you are unfamiliar with twitter, 1) where have you been for the last 12 months, 2) watch this video to get the gist. twitter has revolutionized the way i develop relationships, share information, and collaborate.

are you on twitter? follow me here!

END OF YEAR GIVING

2008-12-26T10:21:00.002-05:00

if you are much like me (which for your sake i hope you are not) and you do a ton of contract work, then sometime during the next 4.5 months the government is going to stick it to you. since you and i can give less to "The Man" by giving more to the church let recommend a few places to give some money. remember for your gifts to be tax deductible for your 2008 taxes they must be postmarked or sent online by dec. 31st.

all of these churches i have had the opportunity to partner with in different capacities over the past year. all of these churches are doing great things, making hard decisions, and reaching people who are far from God!

a North Point Strategic Partner :: i had the opportunity to partner with Anthem Church in Gainesville, FL for 6 months this year helping them prepare for launch. they have since launched and God is using them to change a city. partner with anthem or any of our 15 partners.

Tapestry Church :: these guys are making some tough decisions to make sure they are doing all they can to remove barriers for people who are far from God.

Wellspring Church :: my brother in law, trey kelly, has recently moved from keller, tx (where he helped start a church) to myrtle beach to plant a new church. trey's patience to wait and rely on God for every step with wellspring has really impressed me.

NEW RESOURCE: propresenter iphone remote

2008-12-17T10:39:00.009-05:00

the guys over at renewed vision released a new toy this week! a new iPhone app, propresenter remote! you can check it out here. my buddy greg harris is a developer over at RV and headed up this project! when i asked him about the new app he said, "Developing for the iPhone was a lot of fun, and we hope to provide additional functionality to our users in the future." knowing renewed vision i wouldn't be surprised to see some awesome new features come out of this project!

I WANNA BLOG REAL BAD

2008-12-09T20:01:00.006-05:00

i want to blog so badly it hurts...

but i can't get anything more than 140 characters out of my head...

we've moved, i've been ill (twice), and dealing with info overload at my new job...

i either have nothing to say or too much, probably the latter...

p.s. you should check out josh bayne's blog on his myspace. he has had some rockstar service programming posts the past few weeks...

NEW JOB @ NORTH POINT!!!

2008-11-23T19:39:00.002-05:00

so, i am excited to share some news! i have started a new job with north point ministries! i will be working with our strategic partners as the new "strategic partner SPD equipping director." fancy title, huh?

while i am still figuring out all that my new job entails, it is looking like my job is 2 fold.

exporting best practices and content from our 3 campuses here in atlanta (North Point, Browns Bridge, Buckhead) to our strategic partners.

working with our 15 existing partners to learn from one another's best practices.

all of that to say i am very excited to be part of the campus expansion team and feel very blessed to be able to work with such amazing leaders!

ATHENS CHURCH

2008-11-19T10:01:00.003-05:00

this past weekend i had the awesome opportunity to spend some quality time with the athens church gang. in addition to spending time in the environments i had some incredible conversations with their staff that i am still unpacking. athens church has been rocking as a north point ministries strategic partner since before it was cool.

i would say my 2 biggest take-away's were:

their comment to excellence, which really shined in the small things.
- i.e. when moving their drum shield in the adult worship environment (AWE) the volunteers used gloves to avoid hand prints and smudges on the shield. while for many of us this would have been over looked mike, service programming director, has helped create a culture of excellence even in the small things. this is just one example of their culture of excellence that i saw.
their ability to use every opportunity to connect people to the vision, especially using stories of life-change.
- it was really remarkable at the level of intentionality that i saw in every staff, volunteer, and one-on-one meeting to connect every single person to the vision through stories of life change.
- i.e. during the AWE breakfast/production meeting sean, lead pastor, shared a story about a starting point group and how 2 people who had been impacted by the AWE had crossed the line of faith.

athens church is a church that has taken the north point model, scaled it to their size/location and God has used that to begin transforming a city through them.

top left: a look from the top balcony during the 1st service
top right: insideOUT/Xtreme (student environment) during 1st service
bottom left: information sign in the building that hosts family ministries

bottom right: one of several hallway signs on UpStreet

sunday thoughts (from the airport)

2008-11-10T16:49:00.001-05:00

i have had a rocking few days. it all started on wednesday night when we went to see coldplay. all i can say is the show was amazing, those guys are legit.

on thursday morning i got up early and went to the airport to hang out with the moyers sound solutions guys at wfx for a few days. i had an awesome time, met the meyer sound guys and went to a really awesome top secret roland systems group reseller and consultant dinner. their v-mixing system is about to be even more awesome!

on saturday my sister picked me up in houston and we headed to austin for a few days. really cool town...

on sunday i had the opportunity to visit lake hills church's video venue downtown at the austin music hall. rocking venue. cool church. if you are keeping record, video church works in texas also. (picture above)

next weekend i am spending some time with the athens church guys... should rock...

and just for fun below are some pics from austin and san antonio

top left: jamba juice in austin! reminds me of NYC.
top right: austin music hall (where LHC meets)
bottom left: texas state capitol in austin
bottom right: the alamo in san antonio