Innovate - Big Idea Session Notes 2

One of the things I heard Dave Ferguson and Eric Bramlett talk a little on yesterday was the relationship they have on staff. Dave is the lead pastor and Eric is the creative arts guru.

Here's what I wrote down from their discussion:
Creative arts director and lead pastor need to be on the same page - key relationship.

Creative arts needs permission to take risk (needs the permission from the lead pastor). Art is about risk - all art. Churches are risk adverse and this is why we repel artists.

Artists need trust from lead pastor. The lead pastor needs to know/trust that the creative arts director is going to risk for the sake of the cause and the mission.

In this relationship:
Planning - artists need/want to plan. Gives them a canvas in which to work, to be creative. Teaching is an art as well and needs to be woven and planned together. Not just a setup for the teaching, but something working all together. Advanced planning allows you (lead pastor) to suspend skepticism on risky ideas.

Proximity - have to be in close proximity, in time and space with the lead pastor so that they can be on the same page. Trust and friendship.

Parameters - we ask: does it contribute to the big idea (not just a song or video for fun but goes with the idea)? Is there anything about the idea that distracts from the big idea? (not necessarily just offensive, IF it will take people closer to the idea) but take away from an idea. A positive review on an element can be just as distracting if people focus on that and not on the big idea.

Anyway, thought this was very insightful for you all working together in similar environments.
Peace.

Innovate - Big Idea Session Notes

In my previous post I was in the middle of a session at the Innovate 2007 conference with dudes from CCC. Here's some of the notes I jotted down regarding the Big Idea and planning for the weekend:

More information = less clarity
One Big Idea = more clarity and action

Goal of the Big Idea - a community of transformation not information.

Big Idea Planning Timeline (this is for ONE idea or series):
One year out - meet with lead team, teaching pastors and those involved in areas that will be affected by planning of messages - 2 day meeting to plan a year.

10-13 weeks out - teaching team takes lead and creates a document (mini essays) that talk about the series, topics, paragraphs, scriptures of what will be talking about. Big Idea drafts. These are sent out to everyone. This is the beginning document.

9 weeks out - day of creative meetings - brainstorm adult experience. Beginning middle and end of service planned, focus times, sketch ideas, message outlines, etc. Kids and small groups (and students) experiences are hammered out during this week as well.

5 weeks out - reviewing what we've learned regarding the planning of this big idea. Taking a look at what we said 4 weeks prior, do we have video shoots put together, dates scheduled for the various elements, does it all still make sense. Review.

3 weeks - manuscripts of teaching is completed and sent out. The teaching pastor receiving it finalizes it and adds/subtracts to make it personalized from them. Media pieces developed for message at this time.

2 weeks - cue sheet, transitions, reviewing. Sometimes things don't work but meticulously going over every piece to make sure it is all together.

1 week out - changes if necessary, but everything else is just a thumbs up to make sure that everything is good to go and working properly.

Thought this was a really good session. So if you ever get a chance to check out a Big Idea session with these guys, I recommend it.

I actually heard some things from Dave and Eric this time that I did not pick up on before. More on this in another post.

Innovate 2

In my previous post I was in the middle of a session at the Innovate 2007 conference with dudes from CCC. Here's some of the notes I jotted down regarding the Big Idea and planning for the weekend:

More information = less clarity
One Big Idea = more clarity and action

Goal of the Big Idea - a community of transformation not information.

Big Idea Planning Timeline:
One year out - meet with lead team, teaching pastors and those involved in areas that will be affected by planning of messages - 2 day meeting to plan a year.

10-13 weeks out - teaching team takes lead and creates a document (mini essays) that talk about the series, topics, paragraphs, scriptures of what will be talking about. Big Idea drafts. These are sent out to everyone. This is the beginning document.

9 weeks out - day of creative meetings - brainstorm adult experience. Beginning middle and end of service planned, focus times, sketch ideas, message outlines, etc. Kids and small groups (and students) experiences are hammered out during this week as well.

5 weeks out - reviewing what we've learned regarding the planning of this big idea. Taking a look at what we said 4 weeks prior, do we have video shoots put together, dates scheduled for the various elements, does it all still make sense. Review.

3 weeks - manuscripts of teaching is completed and sent out. The teaching pastor receiving it finalizes it and adds/subtracts to make it personalized from them. Media pieces developed for message at this time.

2 weeks - cue sheet, transitions, reviewing. Sometimes things don't work but meticulously going over every piece to make sure it is all together.

1 week out - changes if necessary, but everything else is just a thumbs up to make sure that everything is good to go and working properly.

Thought this was a really good session. So if you ever get a chance to check out a Big Idea session with these guys, I recommend it.

I actually heard some things from Dave and Eric this time that I did not pick up on before. More on this in another post.

Do U Innovate

Sitting in Dave Ferguson's breakout session at Innovate 2007. He's talking about the Big Idea and how we can impact people by reducing the amount of info we are giving out and giving out the same idea - big idea - in all environments at our churches. Eric Bramlett is sharing about a couple of series that they did where the adults (weekend services), the kids (weekend services) and small groups all talk about the same big idea.

Anyway, are you here at Innovate? Any of you guys checking out this conference and how God is going to use you to make your mark? Let me know.

Heard Guy Kawasaki and Mark Beeson speak this morning. I'll have my notes up shortly for you to check out and ponder.

Innovate or die!
Peace.

link Love Update

Hey bloggers! I'm trying my best to get back in the game here and have just been in a busy season. Rest assured though, I'm committed :)

I noticed I had some new links (thanks to the wonders of Technorati). If you link back to me and I haven't shared the love, let me know and I'll be glad to add you to the link love list.

PLEASE use my domain name http://mikejonesblog.com as I'm thinking of moving my blog over to wordpress.

The latest additions are:
Brandon Shanks - The Revolutionary Blog
Paul Haugen - Jacob's Well
Bekah Gustin - Caffeinated Ragamuffin (she's back!)
Ted Egly... of Ted Egly (congrats on George!)

Make sure you stop by for a visit.
Peace.

The Latest and Greatest

Been trying to catch my breath a bit lately - so much going on seemingly at the same time.

I did want to share some of the great things that God has been doing lately in my life and in the Creative Arts at The Orchard:

1. Video Upgrades - Part of our Makin' Noise 2007 vision initiative this year was to do an overhaul on our video systems in our auditorium. We decided to change our two side screens to widescreen format to go along with our videos. We are also making them larger (they will be 12' wide by 7' high). That will be awesome, but on top of that we are adding something even bigger - a center screen that will also be in widescreen format. This screen will be almost 24' wide by nearly 14' tall! It will be spectacular!
   



2. Lighting Upgrades - Another part of our upgrades to the auditorium is our lighting. We are reconfiguring our house lighting to give us control of the environment through our lighting console. We also want to make sure that the house lights have better coverage than the setup we are currently using. We are also planning an upgrade to our stage lighting. Between the ability to put controllable lights nearly anywhere we want in the auditorium and some intelligent lights - the upgrade is going to be a huge improvement!


3. Saturday Nights - There are several studies out there that say that when a facility is 80% full, that growth starts to be hindered. Some studies are now saying that once you reach 70% capacity that people will no longer come because it feels too full. We have reached or gone beyond both of these percentages in several areas of our current facility at the Orchard. We also know that our 10:45am service on Sunday usually has the most first time guests - that when most people will check out a church. Evaluating all of these things along with the idea that we could reach a whole new crowd of people, we are launching a Saturday night service on October 20th! It exciting for all of us as a staff and a church. We will be beginning a new series that weekend and we have an awesome mailer designed to be going out the week before. Lots of volunteers involved in this and a great opportunity to get more people involved. Can't wait!

Lot's of things happening and this is just the tip of the iceberg! Thanks for your patience and sticking with me here at mikejonesblog.com - more posts on the way.

Peace.

Fighting

It's been a beautiful day in the Chicagoland area - I love this time of year! It's cooling down and we get to have the windows open and enjoy the weather. My wife is not thrilled about the change in temps though.

So I'm sitting here in my upstairs room with the windows open, listening to my neighbors fight. They have been arguing for a while - cussing and screaming at each other. I guess I never grew up around that so it seems almost movie-esque to me. I'm praying for their kids. I don't know them very well, but the few times we've talked they seemed friendly.

The one thing that is totally jumping out to me is the yelling.... they're yelling at each other at the same time. Neither is listening to the other. Very sad.

I'm sure they didn't plan the whole neighborhood to hear them. Though their windows sound like they are closed, everyone else's are open. I'm praying for the two of them as well.

Now, please keep in mind that I am not one to eaves drop. This is nothing like that... I am on the verge of closing my window.

But have you ever thought about how your conversations sound to others?
Would others hear you screaming or yelling at your spouse? At your kids? At your pets?

Have things ever been so bad that you couldn't solve a problem through discussion rather than through screaming? Do things ever get solved that way?

I hate fighting.
Peace.

Guys vs Girls: Box Score

Well there have been a few games since I last posted the scores... let me see if I can catch you up :)

Guys - 14
Girls - 8

This is the most recent tally and the girls seem pretty ecstatic to be making a change toward a positive in their favor... we'll see how long that lasts :)

To keep things on the good side with my beautiful wife, I have to say that her and her entourage whooped us 3 games to nothing while my family was in town. We just couldn't catch a break.

Hope your games have been going well - their good for the mind and fun in their own right.

Peace.

Long Time No Blog

Can't believe how time just slips away from you. It's been over two weeks since I've blogged and a LOT has happened since then!

Thanks for hanging in there with me... some big things coming up that have been on the horizon for a long time.

This week we just started a new series called OPEN HOUSE and each week we are changing our stage setup to reflect one of the three environments we are focusing on (the foyer, the living room, and the kitchen). These environments make up everything we do at the Orchard so we are spending some time reminding ourselves why we do what we do at the Orchard and how everything we do is strategic.

I hope to throw some updates on the things that are happening this week.
Until then...
Peace.