Social Media Day

The big meetup in OC [4th largest in the world] is hosted at our local newspaper, OC Register (625 N Grand, Santa Ana) from 3-6pm today — see schedule of speakers. Free food truck is an extra bonus. // [update] OC Register article about Social Media Day; commentary by @tanyaahedo + @MeredithSimonds + @DanielaBolzmann; @techxsw podcast interview w @ksablan = How @OCRegister created 4th largest #SMday event //

One particular person I want to meet is now-retired Gadgetress Tamara Chuang. There have been very few Chuang’s I’ve met in my lifetime, though this volume researching the Chuang genealogy from Fujian does go back 21 generations– see video:

There’ll be lots of photos and videos [watch live streams] all over the web. Follow hashtag #smdayoc for the convos about Social Media Day in the OC; watch live stream of the meetup at OC Register.

This will be my first time I’ve ever attended a Catalyst experience. I’m glad it’s not 12,000+ people, and more like 3,000 people. And I kinda don’t want to go alone.

So I’ve got a free ticket. Add a comment here for why I should let you have it. On April 10th after 2:00pm Pacific, I’ll pick one out of the thread to give the free ticket. This is totally subjective and not a random drawing. [contest rules: I made up these rules; my decision will be final; any comments after Fri 4/10 2pm Pacific will not qualify.] [update 4/11] The winner of the free ticket to Catalyst West is Brett Crimmel! Congratulations!

You can still register at: www.catalystwestcoast.com or by phone at 888-334-6569. Mention Rate Code BLG and you can save an extra 10% on the ticket price.

Here’s a starter question for your comment: what makes attending a conference most valuable to you during this time of year?

Or, if you’re not the gambling type, get 10% off by using rate code BLG when you register.

Yes, this is a high-production kind of deal. Lots of big-name speakers. Lots of excellence and high-quality stuff that makes for a memorable experience. (I’d like to say that all of the speakers will be live and in person, but I can’t promise. Maybe someone from Catalyst can confirm.)

Worship by Hillsong United, Steve Fee, Aaron Keyes and Joel Auge

Speakers include: Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Rick Warren, Guy Kawasaki, Ravi Zacharias, Francis Chan, Brian Houston, Erwin McManus, Perry Noble, Catherine Rohr, Jud Wilhite, and Luis Palau…

Plus, on the first day 4/22, Origins and Catalyst Labs are hosting interactive sessions with leaders like Dave Gibbons, Alan Hirsch, Blake Mycoskie (Toms Shoes), Erwin McManus, Eric Bryant, Dan Kimball, Jamie Tworkowski (To Write Love on Her Arms), Margaret Feinberg, Mark Batterson and many others.

Oh, and put your idea in for what The Origins Project should name their new community and/or network for cultivating creativity and innovation for the passion of mission and evangelism. Go to the Origins website for that.

info + rsvp at twtvite.com/43vxt8

And at 1:00pm, Innovation3 Gathering starts up! Follow hashtag #i3 for twitter buzz. (psst, sneak preview of #i3 logo, projected 20 feet tall)

The following event is being hosted by the Fellowship of American Chinese Evangelicals (FACE) and you’re invited! The email below is posted with permission. This is one of those rare opportunities to glean from the life experiences of older English-speaking Chinese/Asian-American pastors.

An email from Calvin & Priscilla Hai [cphai69@yahoo.com] >>

Dear Colleagues in Christ,

Happy New Year! Praying that you will have a year of growth and exciting ministry in the Lord.

During the English Pastorsʼ meeting last October and from the feedback on the follow-up survey, many of you indicated that you are interested in a one day vision seminar. In response, the FACE Directors will host a one day Vision workshop on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, from 9am to 5pm. It will be held at:

Chinese Evangelical Free Church
1111 So Atlantic Blvd (north of the 60 and south of the 10)
Monterey Park CA 91754
(626) 570 6971

We have invited Peter Lin who has helped a number of ministries and for-profit corporate bodies develop compelling visions that drive their businesses. In all of USA , California is probably the most strategic state for English speaking ministries. Peter has been doing some research in this area and we will share some of the statistics with you of the compelling need to raise a new generation of pastors, to plant new churches, and to develop and strengthen existing ministries. The goal of the one day event is to develop a compelling vision so that together we can meet that need.

I realize that it can be very lonely in ministry. I pray that this one day of sharing will be the beginning of building a true kinship in Christ through fellowshipping, networking, and accountability with colleagues in ministry, which will multiply our effectiveness in our service to the king.

All this may sound grandiose, but we have a great God who has proven Himself all through history. And, unless the Lord is in this, we will be building in vain. May I count on your not just coming to this event but that you will lift it to the Lord in prayer that he will glorify Himself in our midst on that day?

If you know of others in ministry or have other staff who would benefit from this time, please feel free to invite them and let us know. Would you please respond to us by February 13 for planning purposes? If any questions, please email or call.

Blessings,

Wayland Wong

Retired pastor and FACE Director
(714) 848 6184

Please RSVP to Calvin and Priscilla Hai so that we can have adequate space and lunch for everyone. Again we will have some resources to recommend for your ministry.

About Peter Lin:

Peter Lin was born in Hong Kong and raised in the USA. After his MA in Dallas Theological Seminary, God called him back to Asia in a “business setting”. He served as VP in AIG in Singapore/Taiwan/HK and then went on to become President of Prudential (Hong Kong) and President for Asia for Liberty International (the international arm of Liberty Mutual). In 2002, he was called to be the lead pastor of Grace Baptist Church – Singapore. His god given passion is in leadership and vision development. God had given him a burden for developing a long term vision for the companies and churches that was under his responsibility. He had also developed the long term vision for the English Task Force for CCCOWE (Chinese Coordination Center of World Evangelism). He is currently at Fuller Theological Seminary focusing on studying Christian Leadership.

And I’ve paraphrased Church 2.0 as “stories and conversations of how Christ-followers from churches of all sizes are changing the way church is done“. Don’t quote me.

Whether the term as Greg has coined it will stick or not, we’ll see. I’ve heard from some that Web 2.0 is not well-defined and that introduces confusion, so maybe “Church 2.0” could be confusing, cf. Google has a range of results for “Church 2.0″ // a Church 2.0 presentation by Bart Caylor, book titled The Wired Church 2.0, blog posts by Andrew Jones (circa 2005), Mark Glaser (circa 2006), PBS MediaShift (2006), this Church 2.0 wiki curated by Unitarian Dan Harper, wikipedia had an entry for Church 2.0 – now deleted …

Now, Greg notes that the Church 2.0 Local Forums is not only about tech:

These gatherings are for ALL Church leaders. This isn’t just a “tech” thing. These Church 2.0 Local Forums are where Church leaders gather together to meet, network, discuss innovation, leadership, technology and share stories of what God is up to in their city. I don’t present anything. I don’t sell anything. I simply listen, learn and help guide the conversation. It’s truly a God-thing. I really appreciate your friendship and your support.

Clear? Crystal.

Walked outside to see snow flurries last night. So nice! Winter finally feels real. Nothing like bundling up and feeling a little chill. (okay, enough winter this season, tho’ making a snowball would be a bonus)

Didn’t plan this trip as well, just booked it last minute last week; otherwise, I woulda stayed the whole time, b/c there are so many next gen Asian American pastors here in this mix, including Eugene Cho, Ed Lee, Walton Yuen, Ted Law, Peter Ahn, Abe Han, Dave Chae, Greg Yee, John Lee, and more. Locals like Soong-Chan Rah and Peter Cha stopped by too. Haven’t seen Scot McKnight or Doug Pagitt. Very encouraging to see how this older denomination is making intentional changes to enter the 21st century with growing momentum.

My conferencing tip I’ll divulge: I skip out of plenaries and workshops to meetup with people, and buy CDs of the talks I want to hear. And, I’ll roam around workshops, drop into several for 5 minutes each, catch the gist, and either settle in on one that most resonates to me, or if I find someone, pull someone out and get a hallway conversation. Though, in this grand and beautiful hotel, there are so many nice sofas and sitting areas all over, it’s ideal for mingling. Love that!

And a book I’ve been highly recommending to my pastor friends, and good for anyone who does public speaking, is Dave Stone’s Refining Your Style: Learning from Respected Communicators — read D-Plum’s raving review too. Plenty of books and courses on the mechanics of speaking and plumbing of preaching, but few books like this that helps you to find and shape your own voice.

Here is the official wording of an invitation to those of you in Southern California — Los Angeles and Orange County area, and those of you who’d travel farther out for this rare occasional event [update: facebook event invite] –

Please join us at:

THE GATHERING…

…of SoCal Asian American pastors, staffs, missionaries, and parachurch leaders…

10 a.m. Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Evergreen Baptist Church-L.A.
1255 N San Gabriel Blvd
Rosemead CA 91770

*** Speaker, DJ Chuang
*** A time to pray together
*** A free lunch, thanks to the Evangelical Christian Credit Union

Come and bring an associate or co-laborer, but please RSVP to tomsteers@… for our lunch count. IMPORTANTissimo! (or leave message at 310-…)

DJ will share with us about Revitalizing Asian American Churches For New Generations. He has an amazing national perspective on what the LORD is doing in Asian American churches. He has two ministry positions 1) Director of Digital Initiatives and Asian American Church Research with Leadership Network (He recently published a report for them entitled: Asian American Churches: An Introduction). 2) Executive Director of the L² Foundation. His comprehensive personal website and blog is: www.djchuang.com He recently moved to Orange County with his artistic wife, Rachelle and their 10-year old son.

The Gathering is an informal lunch meeting for Asian American leaders in the SoCal region that takes place just once every few years. This “GATHERING” is being planned and conducted by the core planning team for the 2008 Asian American Leadership Conference. The core is: Tommy Dyo (Epic Movement, CCC), Louis Lee (MESA), Ben Shin (Talbot Seminary), Tom Steers (Asian American Ministries, The Navigators), and Ron Sugimoto (MESA board member).

“Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of the SPIRIT in the binding power of peace.” Ephesians 4:3, Amplified Bible.

So I’m digging around for (what seemed like) hours, trying to find info like this:

• T-Mobile has the Sony Ericsson GC89 PC card for $149.99 and broadband access for $49.99/mo. T-Mobile Total Internet gives you unlimited Internet access (GPRS/EDGE) _and_ unlimited T-Mobile HotSpot access. Did I read that right: for $20 more (than the $29.99 monthly subscription for HotSpots alone) I can have both internet access at Starbucks T-Mobile HotSpots and in over 100+ metropolitan areas??
• Sprint has Mobile Broadband Connection Cards costing either $49.99 or $99.99 and their Unlimited Data Plan (EVDO) is $59.99/mo. Sprint claims to cover 4x more cities and 5x more airports than Cingular’s BroadbandConnect network. [1 describes this comparison as a marketing gaffe]
• Cingular has an Option GT Max PC card for $99.99 (2-year contract required) and Laptop Connect Unlimited (EDGE) for $59.99/mo (voice plan required).
• Verizon has PC cards ranging in cost from $49.99 to $179.99 and BroadbandAccess (EVDO) for $79.99/mo. (Allegedly, that monthly subscription dropped to $59.99 in August 2005?)

EVDO claims to be faster than EDGE. Ed Bott laments a similar dilemma to choose between the two. This December 2005 article gives more detailed comparisons on some of the above.

Here’s what I’m looking for: lower cost, wider coverage, more reliability, faster speed, less fine print nickel & diming, no contract, in order of priority. Help?

1. While conferences, seminars, events, workshops provide an opportunity for networking, networking doesn’t actually happen 99% of the time, b/c that time is used to put a name to a face, and conversations skim the surface with small talk. Networking requires intentional + regular follow-up and conversations, both in-person and virtual (IM, phone, email, msg boards, chat rooms, IP telephony, etc.) The ol’ mediated “Say hello for me” doesn’t quite count.

2. Networking with people requires actual people who are connectors and/or facilitators to run the network, to keep it running, to keep it going. Technology can support the networking activity, but someone has to be traffic facilitator, coordinate some conversations + meetups. Just as a computer network [LAN] requires hubs and routers, so does human networks.

3. Extending and growing a network involves meeting new people and connecting with them. Through conversations, you broaden your horizons, learn new perspectives, meet great people, open up possibilities for synergy + collaboration + mutuality + combustible ideas.

4. Maintaining a personal “network” of a few close personal friends, a la friendster, doesn’t really tap into the power. That’s just bunkering down into a clique, comfort zone, a gang, a clan; not there’s anything wrong with that.

5. On a good day, I can get 5 meetups in 1 metro area, including travel time and brief interims to decompress or transition, if needed: breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon tea at Starbucks, dinner, evening meetup. This is my trade secret, yours for the taking [attribution would be nice, but not required] for being my faithful blog reader.

6. If you know of a job or a company that would value my contribution in meeting up with people for simply the pure love of networking [and NOT making a sales pitch, or using people; just connecting with them, and building relationships], reply back to me with an intro, b/c that’d be a dream job for me!!

This blog entry courtesy of JetBlue, who gets it, offering free Wifi hotzone here in the (otherwise boring) lounge @ Long Beach.. JetBlue, you make me happier every time