This is the official blog of the Fort Worth deputation to the Episcopal Church’s 78th General Convention. Stay tuned for news, events, stories, observations, food, pictures, and all the fun you would expect from a bunch of Texas Episcopalians.
Capturing Video to Tell Your Episcopal General Convention Story
Tips for Flips and Smartphones
by Susan Kleinwecher, Social Media Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
Publishing video to explain and show your event is a great way to c
onnect to your audience. Using your smartphone, tablet, or Flip video camera is an easy way to capture your video. Planning for success includes understanding the capabilities and limitations of these recording devices and how to overcome them.
Smartphones and Tablets: Most mobile device users take decent HD video. Most mobile devices capture poor sound, because the internal microphone is not powerful. Having said that, we always use what we have, because the worst camera ever is the one you don’t have with you. The major challenges while shooting are stability and lighting. This article offers easy-to-read, common-sense tips for lighting and stability, as well as overcoming the limitations of your camera’s sensors:
Continue reading Capturing Video to Tell Your Episcopal General Convention Story
The Social Media Challenge, Resolution D069, as seen from afar
Something interesting happened at General Convention, and even though I am not present in Indy, I have followed resolution D069 and am compelled to write about it. D069 is, in spirit and intent, a sibling resolution to A025. These resolutions read:
A025 passed by the House of Deputies: “Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, that the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church challenges every congregation in The Episcopal Church to have an effective, dynamic and current website by 2015.”
D069: “Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church challenge every diocese and congregation in The Episcopal Church to actively engage social media in its current and future manifestations.”
You may need these definitions:
GC77: the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church
Chsocm: church social media
OYP: official youth presence
Tweep: person on twitter
Before I went to sleep last night I read a Twitter conversation (yes, all conversations in Twitter are public, except for Direct Messages). It started with this proposal:
Caroline Carson @Conductor222 @TheRevEJ @stevepankey I suggested testifying about soc media VIA soc media! I think that wld be great! #keepmeposted
The Rev. Erin Jean @TheRevEJ Abt DO69-Someone cld take their 2 mins to share testimonies offered via twitter? #GC77 testimonies could use hashtag #do69? @stevepankey ?
Affirmations that “testimony by Twitter” was an idea worth pursuing rolled in. Tweeps, from far and wide, listening to #GC77 conversation on Twitter, started chiming in with their thoughts about the importance of the church’s participation in social media. Now, if you think this conversation was just by young adults at convention, but you’re mistaken. Bishops, grandparents, older people proclaiming their advanced age, teenagers from the Official Youth Presence, folks from everywhere chatted about #D069 online late into the night and beginning again in the early morning. They shared their ideas in 140 characters or less. They tweeted links to their blogs where they had already written about social media’s role in the church today. Some wrote new blog posts to give information to those who would speak at the morning committee hearing.
I put my personal thoughts out there after 11pm Texas Time, using my Twitter handle @skwechter, in 140-character-or-less chunks, but I’ll kindly spare you the text-message shorthand I used:
- Episcopalians have always used available technology for evangelism.
- Social media isn’t a quirky playground, it can be used strategically.
- Church social media is as much an idea space as a coffee shop is, full of conversation between real people separated by geography and time.
- Social media puts a church/christian where people ALREADY are.
- “Willful ignorance” of social media is no longer an option.
- Demographically, the younger people TEC needs to reach often DON’T WANT to be reached by email.
- Don’t use http://episcopalchurch.org as example of socially integrated website; the only way to get info is email subscription.
- episcopalchurch.org and its email-only media releases showcase how to be completely disengaged from 2012 Cchurch social media (yes, I really tweeted that).
- There’s so much ground to cover with church social media that our churches need to be challenged to enter the social media arena.
- Wake up the Official Youth Presence to speak about church social media relevance.
- A priest friend says “I’ve done more ministry through my blog and Facebook than any other way since retiring.”
Then I went to bed.
Before I made it to my keyboard late this morning, I knew something interesting had happened, because my phone buzzed. There was a Twitter direct message from DioFW seminarian Jordan Haynie (@GodWelcomesAll); she had quoted me in testimony before the Communications Committee. Great, I thought, hopefully not the jabs at episcopalchurch.org about their frustrating lack of social media integration on their brand-spanking-new website. But I learned from following #GC77 on Twitter that something remarkable had happened in the 07:35am communications committee hearings this morning. Here are some of the Twitter conversation and before, during, and after the hearings:
@TheRevEJ RT @stevepankey: #D069 tweetup #GC77 http://t.co/UB24r3Rd (ßThat’s a picture)
@#amyphaynie #gc77 #chosm twitter allows me to be present in one committee while “listening in” on others and praying for those also.
@billjoseph “While parishes may not be on FB and Twitter, there are people on FB and Twitter who are not in our parishes”. Well said #D069 #GC77
@Conductor222 #d069 Twitter is enabling me to feel like I have a voice even though I’m not at #GC77 I have a vested interest & it helps.
@stevepankey “Our baptismal covenant challenges us to take Jesus where people are, and people are online.” #OYP at #D069 tweetup #GC77
@EPFYoungAdults #d069 what we do is talk about Jesus. The Church has always mastered communication and we need to master this media. #weneedchange #gc77
@EMjennielle This RT @Conductor222: @TheRevEJ #DO69-blog post on#GC77 & Social Media. Hope y’all find it useful/interesting:http://t.co/iDwPBOTC
@EPFYoungAdults #d069 Episcopal generations speaks to the need for youth and elders to inform each other. #weneedchange #gc77
@episcovol My 3rd GC as an observer from my nursing chair (w 4 different babes) #GC75 #GC76-mostly bloggers #GC77 tweeters have brought it closer #D069
@Conductor222 #chsocm #DO69 #GC77 Relationships are being formed that are affecting me positively in my faith & theological development, I am inspired!
@PamelaGRW “Jesus went out into the marketplace” The marketplace right now is online. #GC77 #D069
@GodWelcomesAll Chair Sherrod: Twitter turned out more people for this hearing than we’ve had for any other. #gc77 #d069 #chsocm #benotafraid
@EPFYoungAdults @TheRevEJ social media is not an addition 2 evangelism. It is evangelism. It’s the language of the future we need to learn.#gc77 #d069
@scottagunn @KatieSherrod3, chair of cmte, suggests that we change sign-in sheet to include twitter handles. #GC77 #GettingModern
@JosephPMathews we want to be clear that social media should not replace face2face communication. #gc77 #benotafraid #D069
@stevepankey: “Our baptismal covenant challenges us to take Jesus where people are, and people are online.” #OYP at #D069 tweetup #GC77
@EPFYoungAdults: #d069 Episcopal generations speaks to the need for youth and elders to inform each other. #weneedchange #gc77
@GodWelcomesAll Chair Sherrod just referenced trolls as she names community policing as a safeguard. #gc77 #d069 #benotafraid
@TheRevEJ No one showed up to speak against #do69 … That’s the future!#GC77
@theologybird: #D069 goes forward with motion to adopt. #GC77
@colinmchapman @scottagunn forgot to mention that @katiesherrod3 also spoke out against trolls #gc77 #thingsyouneverthoughtyoudhereinTEC
@KatieSherrod3 #gc77 The Twitterverse showed up at our Communications hearing. Wonderful testimony and witnessing! http://t.co/Rq8HhjiG
@dianabutlerbass: #GC77 I’m (way) over 35, love words & nuanced ideas & I tweet! Loving that this GC is available via social media. More, please!
Being at home instead of Indy, I don’t know whether the committee needed much convincing, since they had already grappled with A025. But the committee’s decision to send D069 forward was heartening, cementing their belief in the relevance of newer communication channels to the ministry of our church. The creative way in which people of all ages from all places collaborated to fuel the speakers who awoke early to stand before a microphone in a hearing was inspring. #GettingModern #BeNotAfraid #WeNeedChange #ThingsYouWillHearMoreAboutInTEC #AndGodGrinned
Who, me? You say I should “be social” at General Convention?
The Strategy of Using Social Media at the Episcopal General Convention
by Susan Kleinwecher, social media coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
The 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church brings the opportunity for participants to share so much of their experiences in the governance of TEC and the shaping of the future of the church. And it is vital to do so, in ways perhaps unfamiliar to many. It’s insufficient in 2012 to simply go home and write a 2-page article and publish it along with the rest of your July news and email or snail-mail it to your normal recipients. Yes, by all means, do that, but do more, and do it during General Convention.
The “more” is important. It is vital to the life of our church in a time that we so clearly need to grow and reach further, especially to younger audiences, ones that will become the leadership of our church. It is vital to help “folks at home” understand the topics and discussions and decisions that shape our church. It is important that we do this in a social context, because that’s where our reach is both strategic and effective.
It is heartening that so many dioceses have launched their convention publishing initiatives and sites, realizing why social media coverage is so important now:
- Social networking has twice the click-throughs as email, reaching more of your audience.
- Conversation about a subject engages more people than reporting about a subject.
- Pictures and videos elicit more engagement than other forms of digital publication.
- Social networking is a powerhouse for encouraging online engagement, improving and driving how people connect to your information.
- When people feel more connected, they participate more and give more.
When we embrace and follow a new model of engagement and conversation, while not abandoning less timely, traditionally authoritative ones, we won’t leave any listeners behind, and we’ll grow new ones. It’s win-win.
Serious nonprofits use the social web in intentional ways, not as a gimicky playground, but as part of a larger communications strategy, driven by solid content. Add to the content. Be social at General Convention, on social media, perhaps in ways that are new to you. Check in using Facebook or Foursquare so your peeps know you made it. Blog; perhaps enjoy the brevity of Tumblr. Post to Facebook, and Tweet about it all with hashtag #gc77. By all means, point us to your blogging on Twitter using #gc77 and a link shortened with bitly.com or goo.gl. Pin your good visual stuff, and tag it so we can find it. Add your ideas to the commentary every way you can.
The Church will be richer for the experiences and information you share in a timely manner and in newer ways.
Writing About Episcopal General Convention
Who, me? Write? I’m not a Reporter!
by Susan Kleinwecher, social media coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
It might have gone down like this: the bishop said, “You guys are all going to write during General Convention, and we are going to publish it. We’re not waiting until we get home.” Blank stares around the room, curt, affirmative nods, except from the excited communications director, who worked late into the night to get a small team very busy on the how. (There will be more on that). Did something like that happen with your convention possee?
For the next few weeks, deputies and alternates from all over the country are asked to become content creators and to publish things digitally. So here are some basic instructions for folks who are writing and publishing:
You must contribute.
Write about what is going on.
Write about the context surrounding what is going on.
Write what you think about what is going on.
Write about how you feel about what is going on.
Write about your spiritual experiences, connections and revelations.
Take pictures and video of what is going on.
Use the pictures and video to help people understand and connect to what you are writing about.
Write about what other people say is going on, and comment on their writings.
Quote other people.
Link to content that will help people understand what’s going on.
These are 10 basic instructions for writing about any event, to be re-used over and over. (Yeah, right; did the communications director make you say that? Is that director hinting that some of us are expected to do this for our ministry meetings and diocesan convention, too? )
Few among us are news copywriters, but that’s OK. The largest shift that has occurred in communications lies in how much everyday people in the world, versus official reporters and designated authorities, are now publishing useful information to eager audiences. News is not just broadcast at 6 pm and talked about at the dinner table, or read about in a morning paper or monthly newsletter. It’s not just done by “the official source” who can always be expected to be fair and balanced. It’s done by people watching and participating in what’s going on.
Another subtle difference and new communications concept is the opportunity to talk about a subject, not report on it. There is more to convention than governance discussions and outcomes; smaller stories matter, too. Adam Wood, the up-and-coming Director of Online Development for the The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth offers:
“We need to lay aside the outdated assumption that the only things worth talking about at General Convention are issues of finance, governance, and church polity. Sharing reflections on homilies and keynote addresses, revealing new ideas about mission and evangelism, conversing about the evolving theology in our church – it’s all worthy content.”
Recalling her previous participation at General Convention, Diocese of Fort Worth Communications Director Katie Sherrod shares, “There is so much, much more than governance, although reporting on what is done is important. What’s more important are the relationships the deputation develops and shares. The daily Bible study, the daily worship services have always been, for me, the best part of General Convention. To worship with 10,000 Episcopalians is a powerful experience. To get to do Bible study with an Episcopalian from Haiti, or Taiwan, or from the European Convocation of Churches, or Puerto Rico, or Honduras enlarges one’s perspective in all sorts of ways. Many Episcopalians may not realize The Episcopal Church has congregations in 16 countries.”
So, yes, YOU, write! All of you! Everywhere! Photograph! Record! Publish! Comment! Dive in! You’ll find your voice.
Using Facebook for Episcopal General Convention
Admittedly, this is a timid approach to using Facebook
by Susan Kleinwecher, social media coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
What Facebook is:
it’s the largest social network in existence, used more than any other on the planet.
Getting Started: Go to facebook.com and create an account. Set up an account, upload your image/avatar. Find some friends! You’ll find people you know on Facebook, along with organizations you care about.
Tutorials: https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=260315770650470&ref=hcnav http://www.gcflearnfree.org/socialmedia http://www.gcflearnfree.org/facebook101
Connect with the Diocese: Go to facebook.com/DioFW and “Like” the diocese page. This will allow you to receive updates to the page and post to the page.
Post to our Diocesan Facebook Page: Our page allows posts by fans. Go for it! Post your resources, information, and links to blogs on our page; post to your personal profile as well. Page admins may re-post your information to extend its reach.
Where are the tags? Facebook does not tag content. It’s quite different from WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest. It focuses on people connections, not content connections. Tag your content everywhere else, but not facebook.
Go Mobile: When you’re comfortable with using Facebook in your computer browser, know that every major mobile platform has a good, free Facebook app.
Why this is timid: I could make all our deputation a level of admin that facebook calls “content creator” (see Facebook’s admin roles). I’m leery of that. Somehow it changes the voice of the page from an official one to a more chatty, less-predictable one.
What comments do you have on my fearful approach- of NOT opening up Facebook and allowing our deputies to have admin roles, yet having the existing page managers and content creators re-post what our deputies share on the page? What are other dioceses and organizations doing on Facebook, considering a flood of content from new sources? What approach do you recommend?
Using Pinterest for Episcopal General Convention
You mean I can Pin about GC77? Sweet!
by Susan Kleinwecher, social media coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
What Pinterest is: CNET says, “If Tumblr and StumbleUpon had a baby, they would likely give birth to Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board with pins; users grab things from around the internet and pin them to boards. Boards, owned by a user, possibly with other contributors, are the organization tool, organized loosely around a topic or inte
rest. The shareable content is called a pin; it is usually an image of some kind, with a description, links, and descriptive tags. In Pinterest the focus is on on quality images. It’s about (1)content (2)sharing and (3)sharing & commenting. Got that? Sharing is real big on pinterest.
Getting Started: Go to Pinterest.com and request an invite; Pinterest is invitation-only now, but don’t let that be intimidating; it helps them manage their exponential growth without overloading their infrastructure and disrupting your access. The email address you use is the one Pinterest will issue an invitation to. Activate the invitation following the instructions in the email you will receive. Set up an account, upload your image/avatar.
Tutorial: http://pinterest.com/about/help/ http://www.gcflearnfree.org/socialmedia
At the start: After you create an account, create at least one board. Search for “Episcopal Diocese Fort Worth” and find the General Convention board. Follow it. By following it, the owner can allow you to contribute to it by authorising you and sending you an email. Follow any other boards you see that you like.
Get ready to Pin: Install the pinterest pin button (bookmarklet) in your browser (chrome, firefox, safari, IE) http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/
Connect with the diocese: search for “people” named “diofw” and follow the diocese at http://pinterest.com/diofw/. Follow the diocesan general convention board: http://pinterest.com/diofw/episcopal-general-convention-2012/. Once you follow the boards, an admin may invite you to become a contributor.
Become a contributor to our convention board: Our convention board is set to “Me + contributors.” Our convention pinners need to follow the diocesan GC pinboard http://pinterest.com/diofw/episcopal-general-convention-2012/, and be allowed as contributors, to contribute to it. Users added as contributors will receive an email notification. They can choose to remove themselves at any time.
Go Pin: You can find things to pin on most websites, or on Pinterest. In Pinterest, it’s easy – you search, and you RePin, or you comment. You may find great resources on other sites; for example, the Episcopal Diocese of Maine will have a daily video blog on their convention site http://indy300.net/.
Good descriptions are essential content: Regarding pin descriptions, what you should ask yourself each time you write the description for a new pin is, “what would I search for if I was looking for this pin?” and “what do I say about this pin to convey the story I want to tell?” The more descriptive your pin is, the easier it will be for users to find, and for search engines to find, and the more valuable your pin is. Add URLs whereever you can. Also, it is very impotant to ADD TAGS (hashtags, keywords beginning with #)! You can add multiple hashtags at the end of your description. For example, you might use any or all of these tags for a pin about convention: #gc77 #episcopal #church #worship #event #deputy #deputies #bishop. Add as many as you want, but keep them relevant to the image.
Best practices: Pin from the original source, pin from permalinks, give credit and include a thoughtful pin description, using URLs where you can. If you pin from OUR blog or website, please remember to attach the URL to the pin and link the pin to relevant pages of our website.
@Mention: To mention another user in a pin description, use the form @username.
Go Mobile: When you’re comfortable with using Pinterest in your computer browser, if you are an iPhone user, you can download the Pinterest iPhone app. There’s no official app for other mobile devices. Instead Pinterest implemented a HTML5 experience inside of your mobile browser. Pinterest seems happy with that interaction; others find it clumsy and unsatisfying and wanting an app.
What tags do you recommend for GC77? How will you use Pinterest at Convention.
Using Tumblr for Episcopal General Convention
Tumblr – Multi-media blogging with little moderation responsibility!
by Susan Kleinwecher, social media coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
What Tumblr Is: Tumblr is a microblogging service providing a short-form blog, or tumblelog, with an array of features allowing easy posts of text, quotes, photos, links, audio, and video posts. The multimedia platform is adaptable and easy to use. According to DigitalSherpa, “You can set up a Tumblr blog and be posting in the time it takes you to brew your morning coffee.” UnlikeTwitter, on Tumblr you don’t have to battle an uncomfortable 140-word character limit and you may freely post graphics with your posts. Tumblr combines all the traditional elements of a blogging platform with the social and sharing features of popular social media networks, in a simple and concise platform.
Ahah! Tumblr does not have a comment feature. Wow, that simpifies moderation responsibilities!
Getting Started: At Tumblr.com, sign up for an account. Get familiar with your dashboard, which is where new posts of blogs you follow will be. Upload a portrait photo that looks like you for your primary blog, and a relevant image to represent any secondary blog like one you might have for the Episcopal General Convention.
Post text, photos, quotes, links, audio, video. Re-blog. Chat with others on Tumblr. Give it a try!
Tutorials:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/253487/how_to_get_started_with_tumblr.html
http://www.tumblr.com/tips
Connect with the Diocese: Go to diofw.tumblr.com and follow the blog on Tumblr. Go to http://diofw-gc2012.tumblr.com/ and follow the blog on Tumblr. If you are in our deputaton, the blog admin(s) will manually invite you to contribute to the diofw-gc2012 blog. After you’ve been invited to contribute, write a test post in any format – text, photo, quote, link, audio, video. When that works, you’re off and running!
Blog admins, you may invite others to contribute to your blog, from the blog dashboard under Members. Submit email addresses, and invitees will receive an email with instructions to join the blog and register if they are not a Tumblr user yet. New members can post, but not change blog settings unlesss you promote them to an admin.
Best Practices (soooo good that we’d really like to mandate them): For each post : tag, tag tag – You don’t need to put a tag in quotes or start with a hashtag. Hit return on your keyboard to enter a tag. Then add another one! These keywords make your blog search-friendly, your content findable, and they will promote SEO. They are essential.
You’ll want to fill your content with links, not just to your website and other social sites, but to other blogs or people in your network. Each time your post is ‘reblogged’ it will carry these links with them. That’s good for SEO.
Engage with Others: Your way of engaging on Tumblr is to:
- ‘Follow’ – Click in a particular Tumblr blog where it says ‘Follow’
- ‘Reblog’ – Find a blog you enjoy that you would want shared and share it on your own Tumblr blog by cliking ‘Reblog’ at the top of that post.
- ‘Like’ – Click on the heart on a post to ‘like’ the post.
Each Tumblr blog has its own URL, so audiences don’t need to be a member of the Tumblr community to view your posts. The URL makes your Tumblr page available to everyone. Tweet your Tumblr posts by URL.
Use a Tumblr bookmarklet (button on your bookmarks bar) to quickly share things you find on the web.
Go Mobile: When you’re comfortable with using Tumblr in your browser, get it on your smartphone by downloading the official Tumblr app for Android, iPhone, or Blackberry.
Add your ideas and comments on Tumblr!