photos from farmersville…

I usually post my photos on flickr.com once I get them edited.  (yes, I’m a Photoshop junkie)  I can’t figure out how to use the web links in here, but here’s the address to copy and paste:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30795470@N07/sets/72157622345554191/

Here’s some action pics of the people that went:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30795470@N07/sets/72157622344862743/

The next outing will be next month.  Hope you can make it!  Jody

I usually post my photos on flickr.com once I get them edited.  (yes, I’m a Photoshop junkie) Here’s the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30795470@N07/sets/72157622345554191/

Here’s some action pics of the people that went:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30795470@N07/sets/72157622344862743/

The next outing will be in October.  Thx!  Jody

photo safari prep…

Okay, Elizabeth came up with the name for this.  I love it!  Photo safari is a good description of what we do.

Here’s a few tips on preparing for your safari:

Dress comforably.  Hours of shooting could be difficult in nice clothing.  Wear something you can rip or get dirty and not worry about it.  Also, jeans are good to cover your legs in tall weeds and grass.  You can roll them up for the muddy areas.

Wear the right shoes.  Sometimes we walk through some crazy stuff like broken glass, mud, abandoned house debris, tall grass and weeds, etc…  Laced up shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty works great.  Doesn’t hurt to bring an extra pair.

Bring a baggie.  Plastic baggies are great for those whom love altered art.  Sometime we find old newspapers or little trash trinkets.  I have a scrap of vintage wallpaper and a letter from the 70’s.  Cool stuff, but covered in dirt.  Some hand wipes isn’t a bad idea either.

Camera equipment.  Bring whatever you have.  If you have a small point and shoot or an SLR with lots of lenses, bring it!  We usually keep most of the stuff in the car, but camera backpacks are also nice.  And yes, iPhone cameras are welcome too!  Don’t forget to charge your batteries and have plenty of free space on your media cards.

Tripod.  You don’t have to bring one, but these will really help in the low light areas.  I can share mine.  :)

Light reflector.  Again, not necessary, but nice to have.  I have two of them and you can borrow one if you like.  White paper also works well in a pinch!

Props.  This is clearly not a necessity, but sometimes fun.  I sometimes bring one of my old rotary dial phones or my skelemingo just for fun.  If you like staged photos, this is fun, although we are NEVER hurting for cool stuff to shoot in these places.

Wow!  This is like packing for a trip, right?  Hope everyone can make it Sunday!  Just for the record, any places we choose to go do this are places we found on a map.  This is an adventure for all!

Post any questions you may have.  Hopefully I didn’t forget anything.  :)  Jody

Okay, Elizabeth came up with the name for this.  I love it!  Photo safari is a good description of what we do.

Here’s a few tips on preparing for your safari:

Dress comfortably. Hours of shooting could be difficult in nice clothing.  Wear something you can rip or get dirty and not worry about it.  Also, jeans are good to cover your legs in tall weeds and grass.  You can roll them up for the muddy areas.

Wear the right shoes.  Sometimes we walk through some crazy stuff like broken glass, mud, abandoned house debris, tall grass and weeds, etc…  Laced up shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty works great.  Doesn’t hurt to bring an extra pair.

Bring a baggie. Plastic baggies are great for those whom love altered art.  Sometime we find old newspapers or little trash trinkets.  I have a scrap of vintage wallpaper and a letter from the 70’s.  Cool stuff, but covered in dirt.  Some hand wipes isn’t a bad idea either.

Camera equipment. Bring whatever you have.  If you have a small point and shoot or an SLR with lots of lenses, bring it!  We usually keep most of the stuff in the car, but camera backpacks are also nice.  And yes, iPhone cameras are welcome too!  Don’t forget to charge your batteries and have plenty of free space on your media cards.

Tripod. You don’t have to bring one, but these will really help in the low light areas.  I can share mine.  :)

Light reflector. Again, not necessary, but nice to have.  I have two of them and you can borrow one if you like.  White paper also works well in a pinch!

Props. This is clearly not a necessity, but sometimes fun.  I sometimes bring one of my old rotary dial phones or my skelemingo just for fun.  If you like staged photos, this is fun, although we are NEVER hurting for cool stuff to shoot in these places.

Wow!  This is like packing for a trip, right?  Hope everyone can make it Sunday!  Just for the record, any places we choose to go do this are places we found on a map.  This is an adventure for all!

Post any questions you may have.  Hopefully I didn’t forget anything.  :)  Jody

a BIG thank you!

Thanks so much for a great experience at ministryCOM 2009!  Let’s keep the marketing, communications and media conversations going.  If you have any questions from the Marketing & Media on a Small Budget or the Basics Roundtable breakout sessions, please post them here.

Thanks again!  Jody Wissing

ministryCOM ‘09

Marketing and Media on a Small Budget

The presentation notes are available for free download online from slideshare.com.  There are two versions:

The one from the breakout session

The enhanced/detailed version, no fancy transitions, just good info to share when you get back home

If you have any questions, Twitter them and add these tags:

#CHEAPMM or #FREEMM

Thanks!!!  :)

FREE graphics & FREE media sites

This is a list of free media sites.  Although the majority of it is royalty free, there are some that have copyright info.  Please respect those.  :)

Free images sites

sxc.hu – stock.xchng – 394876 photos online as of 9/9/09

imageafter.com – Image*after – easy to navigate

deviantart.com – Lots of really creative stuff, great for busting creative blocks.  Some media is copyrighted, but can be purchased.

freephotosbank.com – nicely categorized and trendy images

coregfx.org – more Photoshop tools than images, but some good free stuff

defcon-x.de/textures – huge selection of textures!

lostandtaken.com – blog site with lots of awesome textures

stockvault.net – blog site, lots of photos and well categorized

morguefile.com – (I love the name!) A site for creatives by creatives

cgtextures.com – *my personal fav* This is where the game programers get their textures.

freerangestock.com – They share ad revenue to encourage good photographers to upload images

flickr.com – tons for stuff from regular people.  Also, there are lots of great groups.  Check out my favs: shared worship background graphics – church marketing lab – light junkies

kavewall.com/stock – cool stock photos and awesome folder navigation

photocase.de/en – very artistic media

vecteezy.com – links to lots of free vector images

everystockphoto.com – okay site, some media has conditions of use

free church media:

creativemyk.com – free christian graphics for download shared by artists around the world

mynorthside.com/creative – message graphics, posters, logos and much more

muddyrivermedia.org – get muddy… it’s free

freecountdowns.net – because free is way better than NOT free

open.lifechurch.tv – 1000′2 of free resources by lifechurch.tv

newspringonline.com – good stuff last time I looked but had trouble pulling the site up recently.

openresources.org – great site for media and other resources.  VERY well organized and easy to navigate.

churchmedia.net – media exchange

wingclips.com – Movie clips that illustrate and inspire

Please post a comment with any links you might have to add to the list.  Thanks!!

ministryCOM.org: Tweet your ?’s

Even if you can’t make it to Chicago next week for ministryCOM, you can check out their website for resources.  I’ll be leading a breakout session Marketing & Media on a Small Budget.

Do you have questions about church marketing on a small budget or no budget?  If so, tweet them!  For ideas or questions on free marketing and media, use #freemm. For ideas or questions on low cost (cheap) marketing and media, use #cheapmm.

Thanks!!!!

Social media: Are churches friends or foes?

A question popped up in my mind this morning as I read an article on emarketer.com.

I wonder if churches are considered more as a “friend/relationship” or a “brand/company…or foe” in the social media world?  The article states, “Common wisdom over the past few years has been that people are interested in interacting with social network friends, not marketers.”  The stats (May 2009) in the article supports this.

Thinking of this from my own point of view, I would not want a bunch of marketers on my Facebook wall or in any of my personal space.  However, on any sites where I have joined a group, I don’t mind it so much.  Actually, it has lead me to some great products and services.  What I have noticed is that the best ones are the ones that are “opening a door” and allowing you to make your own decisions about their product or services, they aren’t shoving it in your face.

So where does church fall in the social media realm?  If the church is the people, is church a friend?  A relationship?  All of our jobs in the church is to bring people to God through our church.  To do that, we market.  So does that make us a marketer?  A business?  A brand?  Although we may not be in competition with other churches, do we sometimes come across that way?

After looking at church-based social media, our church and some other churches, here’s a few things I discovered:

• The churches using stories make the church feel more like a friend.  Captivate Church has done this really well.  They have linked to many stories.
• The “behind the scenes” conversations feel more like friends.  Jerod, also known as KidVid, posted a video of a funny moment from the worship planning meeting.  Lots of great feedback and people enjoyed a glimpse of our planning. (I hope the link works)
• Updates with questions or comments that spark conversation feel friendly.
• Humor feels friendly.
• Updates on events and ministries is good info to post so people know what’s going on.  As long as your updates aren’t pushing people to join something, but instead opening a door for a new opportunities, then you’re friendly.
• Conversations and updates that spark involvement are friendly.  We needed family photos for a video project and posted the need on Facebook.  It was awesome how many people responded and sent pics!  That shows relationship, not marketer.

What are your thoughts on this topic?  I would love to hear them!  :)

Having a small marketing budget is GOOD news?!

Yep.  Okay, I’ll admit.  I’m mostly a glass half full kinda person, but there lots of advantages to having a small marketing budget for your church.  Here you go!

• Makes you a good steward of your money
• A recession doesn’t matter because you are used to working with no money or very little money
• Your budget plan is very detailed and you know where every penny is going
• More job security (your $ savings far outweigh your salary)
• Spend more time prioritizing your expenditures
• When you do get a larger budget, you will spend it more wisely
• Forces creativity (in my mind, the most important)

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination. –Oscar Wilde

I would LOVE to hear any ideas you might have about small marketing budgets!

Social Media

This is a great video clip on the social media revolution.  Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Faffluentartist%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded#t

1st Photoshop Class 7/10/09

I hope everyone will enjoy the Photoshop (PS) class tonight.  It will be basic and informal, but it will hopefully make people feel more comfortable about using PS.  Most of the questions I have received have been “How do I do this?” with a photo attached.  We will go over some simple photo editing techniques and design techniques that will get you started, or for PS intermediates, move you farther along.

As I was searching the web for some tools and tutorials, I quickly realized that I didn’t have time to search 180,000 results.  ;)  So here are a few links I found to some good basics (for FREE):

BASICS LINKS:

photoshoplab.com – basic tools

simplephotoshop.com – tools and shortcuts

graphicssoft.about.com – basics

psd.tutsplus.com – cool effect tutorials

FONTS:

1001freefonts.com

dafont.com (my fav)

BRUSHES:

brusheezy.com

myphotoshopbrushes.com

TEXTURES:

cgtextures.com

texturez.com

All of these sites are free stuff, which anyone that knows me, knows I’m all about the free!  If you are looking for a specific stock photo or you don’t mind spending a little money, my favorite sites for stock photos are istockphoto.com and dreamstime.com.  When purchasing stock images, here’s a couple of helpful tips:

• purchase images you can use multiple times.  (frames, borders, design images)
• back up your purchases in case you do want to use them again in the future.  
• purchase layered files if available.  This allows you to use design pieces and give that file many different looks.

The class is a casual, open forum setting.  Here’s a basic agenda, however we might deviate from it.  (I’m ADHD)

AGENDA:

• Introduction
• Opening questions
• PS interface / tools / getting around
• Layers
• Actions
• Blending Modes
• Filters
• Brushes

If everyone enjoys the class and would like to go more in depth, I would love to do these classes regularly. Please let me know what you think!  

Thanks! Jody