Great resource from a local church

Many of you have probably heard of Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City (plus other campuses around SoFla). One of our network members, Scott Mankin, serves as the Production Director there! They have a great resource that I have just tapped into in the last 2 months or so. They do a podcast for leaders in the church. There are a couple of episodes that really inspired me, mostly about church marketing and creativity.

Check it out here. And here are my faves:

“The One About the Creative Process”

“The One About Marketing that Sucks” – with guest Brad Abare, from ChurchMarketingSucks.com

“The One About Tribes” — with author Seth Godin

“The One With Nancy Beach”

Great article

Anyone read Collide magazine? I came across this article from the Creative Director at Newspring Church in South Carolina. Check it out, it’s definitely challenging!

What are your thoughts on church copying culture? What should we do about it?

Next meeting – Nov 20

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a great week!

Here are the details for next month’s meeting:

• Date: Thursday, Nov 20 from 9 – 11 a.m. (light breakfast will be served)
• Location: IBB Church (see address & directions below)
• Topic: “God-stories: How do we get them and how can we share them?”
• Brenda Ulloa, Creative Director at IBB Church, will host the meeting. In the short time I’ve known Brenda, I have seen how she gracefully handles all that she has on her plate (she does it ALL!). She is a very driven individual; she knows how to get stuff done! She also has awesome creative ideas and a passion for excellence in all she does. I know you will enjoy hearing from her and visiting a church you may or may not have heard of before!
• Bring a website, magazine, CD, blog, whatever – something that inspires creativity for you and would encourage others.
• Nov 20 is my predicted due date, so I may or may not be at the meeting. I want to be there SO BADLY! But, just in case I can’t, Brenda will be the contact person for this meeting:
  • brenda@ibbmiami.org
  • Cell phone: (see email)
  • Church phone: 305-620-5111 x225

IBB Church Address:
17701 NW 57 Avenue (Red Road)
Miami, FL 33055
(across the street from Super WalMart and Starbucks)

From the North:
I-95:   

Travel South on I-95.

After passing Miami Gardens Drive, take the Palmetto 826-West Exit
Go west on the 826 and Exit on 57th Avenue.
Make a right (going North).
Church will be on your right hand side immediately after NW 176th Street.

Turnpike:

Travel South and take the Homestead Extension.
Exit on 57th Avenue.
Make a Left (going South)
Make a u-turn on NW 176th Street and turn into the Church

I-75:

Travel South and Exit on Miami Gardens Drive.
Go East on Miami Gardens Drive.
Make a Right on NW 57th Avenue.
Make a u-turn on NW 176th Street and turn into the Church.

From the South:
I-95:   

Travel North on I-95.

Upon approaching the Golden Glades Interchange, take the Palmetto 826-West Exit
Go west on the 826 and Exit on 57th Avenue.
Make a right (going North).
Church will be on your right hand side immediately after NW 176th Street.

Turnpike:

Travel North and Exit on 57th Avenue.
Make a Right (going South)
Make a u-turn on NW 176th Street and turn into the Church

826-Palmetto Expressway:

Travel North and Exit on 57th Avenue.
Make a Left (going North)
Church will be on your right hand side immediately after NW 176th Street.

P.S. I know it’s hard for some of you that work north of Miami to get down here. Next year, i want to try and alternate meetings from north & south locations to make it easier on everyone. On that note, if you work up north and would like to host a meeting next year, please let me know so I can plan accordingly. Thanks!

Jenn

Just to brighten your day…

Oct 16 meeting recap

Hey all-

Our meeting on the 16th was great! We had 10 people and 6 churches represented at the host location, Oasis Church. I presented on the topic of The Communicator/Senior Pastor relationship. I think this is a very important topic and I’m pretty passionate about it right now. Check out this article that my pastor and I did for Fishhook’s e-newsletter, Fresh Catch. Make sure you also read the article by our own Janie Mehaffey called “Do People See You as a Ministry Partner?” It is a MUST-READ!

You can also download the outline I gave out, which includes a short activity for you to do. I hope you find it useful. Feel free to link to it, print it out, pass it out, whatever!

Details about our next meeting TBA. Please pray for me, as I only have 1 month of pregnancy left! I’ll send pictures when the blessed event happens!

Don’t forget to check out our Flickr site and post your stuff for feedback!

Have a great week!
Jenn

Our meeting THIS Thursday 10/16!

Hey all- 

I hope to see you guys at our next meeting THIS Thursday, 10/16 from 9 – 11 a.m. at Oasis Church in the Community Café. 

A couple of quick details: 

• Topic: “The Relationship between the Creative Professional and the Senior Pastor”  
• This will be an interactive session with real-life situational problem-solving and role playing.  
• To get a head start, read this article that my Pastor and I did for Fishhook’s “Fresh Catch” E-newsletter. This will be the catalyst for our session on Thursday!  
• Sign up to receive “Fresh Catch” – a bimonthly e-newsletter which offers stories, guidance and practical advice for those who are pursuing more effective church communications.  
• Come ready to share frustrations, get helpful advice and tips and share some laughs!  
• A light breakfast and coffee will be provided.  
• Please RSVP and let me know if you are able to come. Directions are below.  

Directions to Oasis Church:

We are located on Flamingo Road, 1 block North of Pembroke Road.  

12201 SW 14^th Street
Pembroke Pines, FL 33025 

From the north: Take the Turnpike South (to Miami) to the Homestead exit where you’ll continue to go South. Get off at Red Road and turn right. Red Road becomes Flamingo Road. Oasis Church is just 1 block North of Pembroke Road, past the plaza, on your right hand side. Enter through the doors with the “Community Café” logo on them. 

From the south: Take the Turnpike North and then get off at the Homestead exit to go South (I know, it’s weird…you’re going to go North just to go South). Get off at Red Road and turn right. Red Road becomes Flamingo Road. Oasis Church is just 1 block North of Pembroke Road, past the plaza, on your right hand side. Enter through the doors with the “Community Café” logo on them.

Flickr

Hey guys! I encourage you to check out our Flickr page and see what’s new! We’ve had some postings recently in the pool and some discussion topics. Check it out!

If you haven’t joined yet, come on in!

Oct 16 – Next Meeting

Hey all- 

I just wanted to give you a heads-up on some changes coming your way! 

• Our meetings will no longer be held on Saturday mornings; I hate for everyone to have to give up your day off for one more thing! Enjoy your free day!  
• We will now meet temporarily (depending on what everyone likes), once a month, the third Thursday of every month from 9 – 11 a.m.  
  • The reason: Again, I want Saturday to remain open for everyone. I figured Thursday could be kind of “dead day” for everyone and our meeting would be the first thing you do that morning so it’s easier to come in the AM than at lunch time, when you’re already into your work.  
• Our sessions will be structured differently. Each month on the third Thursday, we will meet in a different host church/location. I will work with each host to come up with one topic that they will present that will appeal to creative professionals in ministry. Each host will be responsible for presenting that topic, hosting the meeting at their place and providing light refreshments (make it easy on yourself…get bagels or donuts and coffee…don’t go crazy!).  
• Our next meeting on Oct 16 will be hosted by Oasis Church (see directions below) from 9 – 11 a.m. Topic is TBA. After the meeting we will have a sign-up sheet available for anyone who wants to volunteer their church for upcoming meetings. Start thinking about what you’d like to share with us!  
• The meeting after that will be Nov 20. I may not be there since that is my expected due date. However, I will still work with the host that will be responsible for that meeting and make sure everything is good to go, so please try to come!  
• Please RSVP so I can get an accurate count of who is coming for food, etc.  
• Last thing: what are some topics that you would like to see discussed at future meetings? Branding, printing, bulletins, creative process, etc.? Please write back with some ideas of what you’d like to hear!!  

Directions to Oasis Church: We are located on Flamingo Road, 1 block North of Pembroke Road. 

12201 SW 14^th Street
Pembroke Pines, FL 33025 

From the north: Take the Turnpike South (to Miami) to the Homestead exit where you’ll continue to go South. Get off at Red Road and turn right. Red Road becomes Flamingo Road. Oasis Church is just 1 block North of Pembroke Road, past the plaza, on your right hand side. 

From the south: Take the Turnpike North and then get off at the Homestead exit to go South (I know, it’s weird…you’re going to go North just to go South). Get off at Red Road and turn right. Red Road becomes Flamingo Road. Oasis Church is just 1 block North of Pembroke Road, past the plaza, on your right hand side. 

Feel free to Mapquest us if those directions are confusing! Thanks for your flexibility! I look forward to seeing you at our new meetings!

Creative advertising ideas

Hey all-

I don’t know about your church’s budgets this year but we are strapped. In fact, we have cut back on all advertising for the coming year. So…yeah, that affects my department a ton!!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who is in this situation, so here is my question to you all: what are some creative ways that we can advertise to our south FL community without using the typical means of communication – postcards, letters, newspaper ads, etc.

Let’s really think outside the box about how we can reach our community in different and innovative ways without spending much money or any at all! Leave some comments and let get the discussion going.

Recap from last meeting

Wow! I am still amazed at the incredible group that came out on the 26^th to Calvary for our 3^rd network gathering. It was awesome to meet some new friends as well as catch up with some old ones. I am so thankful to those who came. We had somewhere between 16-18 people! Wasn’t the food delicious? 

I just wanted to mention a couple of things that I didn’t get to at the meeting. 

• First, did you know that we have a blog? (you’re here!!) You can check it out at http://www.commnetwork.wordpress.com. Subscribe to the RSS feed so you can get updates on your computer without having to visit the page a lot. I’d love to have some of you send me ideas for blogs or even write a guest blog. I don’t update it as much as I’d like to…I need help! Write me back and let me know if you’d be interested in helping in that area.  
• Second, we have a group on Flickr.com where you can post your designs for critique and feedback from the rest of us and even have discussions about anything related to church marketing/design/web, etc. Come join the group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/soflacommnetwork/. The group was created off of the large Church Marketing Sucks Lab on Flickr. I also recommend joining that group. It is a large community of people just like us: http://www.flickr.com/groups/cfcc/.  
• Third, we are on Facebook! Find me at Jenn Rizzo Collins and the group is called Communications Network of South Florida. All meeting dates will be posted there as well as pictures and links. It’s also a great way to connect with the people you met at our previous meetings (if they’re on Facebook…get on it!).  

OK that’s it! Our next meeting date will be announced soon. Sometime in late September/October.  

Thanks everyone and remember; this group is a resource for YOU…use it!