Non-internet tools

This is such an important thing to figure out. I have been on this site for less than 20 mins and I’m already feeling lost and bewildered. It took me 15 munutes and direct help from my tech savvy other half just to figure out how to log on.
I know I’m an extreme case and I have no answers. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and learn to be comfortable on forums…

i think b/c email is so common now

that a handwritten letter in the mail is a purple cow (is very unique)

i recieved a handwritten letter two weeks ago, and almost craped myself

twice.

for those who aren't into online stuff:

skype voice mail
coffee shop times
snail mail
stuff dropped off at peoples house that relates to topics we are discussing

• reading things up front from the site
• playing the skype voicemails as a lead-in/lead-out or as featured section
• having a printout available of active topics each week - mailing that out to those who want it
• bring the site into the “experience” have laptops avialable
• let people text things from their cellphone

I think we can do 1000% better at demonstrating what is happening on the J2 site during our worship experiences... on the screen and in interactive times... if people SEE / TRY a useful tool - they will be much more comfortable...

Random Thoughts:
Have people who will do "home visits" and help non-tech people get started. We'll buy a black van, put the new Journey logo on the side and have a team of people - with special jackets. This 'in person' visit will help them cross into the tech divide. :)

We could have a FORUM set up... "Need a Note"
People could list others in the Journey who might like a 'note' sent to them - but how could we do addresses?

Unfathomable.

Seriously, though, I've been thinking of this problem and a related one (namely: How can we connect with each other more easily?) and I was wondering:

How do people who don't go to church meet other people?

And to modify it for this post: How do people who don't know how to use the internet meet other Journey-ites?

Perhaps the answers to the first give hints to the answers to the second.

Computer kiosks set up on Sunday morning?

I'm sorry though: I'm really struggling with this whole idea of not having internet access or awareness. Do people like this really exist or is this an urban legend? Do they have water and electricity? Someone please explain this concept to me.

No internet. This Vanessa post has to be a joke, right?

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I believe in God because every once in a while, I hear a voice that says, "You're my favorite."

dave might actually have a point! [first time for everything]

if it weren't for the internet, i'd probably never talk to most of you mid-week.
praise jesus for chat apps.

kay, jenny, kindle should really be helping in this area. i think it's comical that i live on line and i'm trying to figure out how to do it offline by posting a forum about it. on a website. online.

coffee anyone?

I think it would be sweet to ENCOURAGE laptops in church! Tell people to bring theirs, make sure the Pinoeer wifi works. We can probably get people to donate older laptops and we can have a checkout cart for those that don't have one.

People can post and blog during the service.

We can run polls during a message and get the results back in real time.

You can "raise your hand" online.

There is software to do all this stuff.

Power plugs everywhere.

A hang out area with free wifi where you can hang with others and your laptops. Willow Creek in chicago has a huge cafeteria with plugs and wifi for people just to hang.

At some point, we are a bleeding edge Silicon Valley church, so why not act like one?

“At some point, we are a bleeding edge Silicon Valley church, so why not act like one?”

Wouldn’t it be cool? But, I’m a self-professed geek.
Still, if we can’t do it here, where can we. :-)

Tanya Reynolds
http://www.tanyamreynolds.com
http://tanyareynolds.blogspot.com

Jeff is talking passionately about something in the kingdom. Then suddenly, we hear an explosion coming out of a pair of ear buds (with the sound turned up way too loudly) and a frantic (probably male) voice yells, "I didn't even see you! I can't believe you took me out with a chain saw!"

And another voice in the back corner chuckles: "Gotcha, biotch."

If we play video games in church, does that make it part of our spiritual growth?

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I believe in God because every once in a while, I hear a voice that says, "You're my favorite."

I tried blogging in church once (not at The Journey). It was frowned on. But for me, it was a way to interact with the message. Similarly, I like an environment of interaction through art -- people drawing or scribbling stuff during the message. (This was frowned on, too: the pastor told the artists, "I want you to listen to me." The artists responded, "This is how we listen.")

i think most people meet other people (outside of church):
work
school
gym
there's tons of other places where you can join a quilting group, dance class, etc. (i know that sounds goofy, but thinking of the people i know, they really do things like that)

as for the whole internet access/awareness, i have the internet, but not wifi. when i have days off, i literally don't open my computer unless i have to for school, bill paying, or (now) updating my wedding stuff. i equate opening my computer with work, even though there are a lot of sites i go to just for fun. i understand & use internet stuff, it's just not my priority.

i think having kiosks in church puts too much focus on internet stuff. people in this day and age who don't spend much time on the internet won't do it just because we have places to do it in church. church is appealing to people who enjoy face-to-face meetings because it offers a lot of potential for that (that's why i go!), so we need to leverage that aspect at the same time of using the site for information, etc.

my brotha.

ive been thinking about this "thing" a lot. the times where the asynchronous approaches synchronousity (is that a word?) the times where dialog can happen realtime we shouldnt force it to happen asynchronously! this site we have is great at asynchronous stuff but sarts to breakdown for realtime interaction. try IM, phone, or in person; those things will prolly work better. but how does that discussion (if it makes sense) get translated back onto the site for further asynchronous discussions.

i dont really like kiosks either, it seems too contrived. we're in silicon valley!! if you dont have a computer you wont use one at a church kiosk (nevermind logins)

laptops available to use is an entirely different thing if we're going to get everyone to bring their computer (what a technical nightmare that will be)

i know i "get" stuff more when i interact with it. we now know that people learn in many different ways, why not embrace that?

of course, i'm a nerd & i like school, but my favorite classes are those with discussion and i can do other things while still fully engaged with what's going on. in fact, by forcing myself to focus most of my senses on something other than a speaker, i am better able to process what i just heard. (so a.d.d.)

Kay is pretty much checking out of the forum. If you value her voice (and others like her), you'll have to figure out how to get her input offline.

So let me prove my husband a liar and actually post something.
Has anybody here thought of the possiblity that maybe it's not just the geeks and the artists that need to interact with stuff to more fully comprehend it? I kinda thought thats why we are launching J2. Because people want to interact and not just be talked at.

OK, I'm going to appologize for my next out burst in advance... My gosh guys! You're all so geeky. The digital devide exists around here because some of us CHOOSE not to spend all of our time in front of a screen. Not because we can't. This IS sillicone valley ya know? and laptops all over church is going to make me more likely to use them than laptops all over my home ??( we have 3 of them plus a desk top). We are not second class citezens to be pittied for our old fasioned and backwards ways. This is not an issue of tech support for the incapable or machine availability for the under privilaged.

Back to nice Kay

Perhaps creating an interactive environment on Sunday will decrease the need for computers at church because we will have other ways besides screens and typing to interact with what God is doing.

the tech support nightmare i was referring to was not on the level of trying to help people use the computers but rather just getting that many people powered and connected (presumably wirelessly) to each other and/or the internet.

I think, Kay, you have made a great point; those who don’t use technology to interact with people mostly do so because they prefer not to, not because they cannot. Still on the flip side how/why would creating an interactive environment on Sunday … decrease the need for computers; do interactions over media and interactions in person have to be mutually exclusive?

right now we don’t have screens and typing in church; so what other tools/ways do we use to interact today? we get in groups, we do mixers, we ask questions, we dialog beforehand, we send emails to Jeff. I find it very interesting that the initial reaction to a notion of adding online (asynchronous; if you will) interaction means that we will all of a sudden all be sitting behind the blue-glowing tube (or panel) in our underwear or that we are going to stop doing all those other kinds of interaction we do now.

If we want to have a dialog with as many people as possible how can we not include those who already interact so well over the internet? why cant we take the time when people would normally be buying facebook gifts or whatever and have them interact with someone they previously barely knew but saw every sunday about real issues in their lives, or dialogging about how to help other people, or getting a deeper understanding who Jesus is.

so lets try not to subtract but rather add, or even multiply! lets try things that might work, like text-ing in responses to questions posed either in person or over the week, like opening up a voicemail and playing those messages for everyone, like reading comment threads for everyone, like getting real-time feedback, comments, and questions, like running a montage of people’s flickr sets of past or current events…

Web technology is only useful if it builds friendships and community and helps people grow spiritually.