new media

Lisa Hendey

This presentation was given at the 2011 Catholic New Media Conference. Below are my notes on the presentation:

Why Bother?

• Educate about the Church
• Provide parish information
• Outreach to interest groups
• Build community

10 Best Practices for Parish Websites

From Craig Berry:

1. Useful contact us page
2. About Us/History Page
3. Prominent use of Social Media
4. Online Map/Directions
5. Calendar of Events
6. Weekly Bulletins
   

by Matthew Warner

This presentation was given at the 2011 Catholic New Media Conference. Below are my notes on the presentation:

Introduction

• Being 'present' isn't enough.
• Social media is about engaging people in a dialog; talking with them, listening to them, and RELATING.
• Don't get caught up in monetizing your blog/site.
• Don't get caught up in analytics and followers.
• Focus on the PEOPLE involved in your Network.
• "If you shoot for quantity at the expense of quality, you'll end up with neither."
• Build your network upon meaningful relationships.

P.O.S.T Method

• People: Who are you trying to reach?
• Objectives: Why? What are your Goals?
• Strategies: Ways to accomplish those goals?
• Technologies: What tools will help you do that?
  

I've heard about this book here and there the past few months, but it's getting all official now, with a spiffy website, a trailer (hey, I thought only movies had those!), and A-list endorsements.

From the endorsements:

“This book demonstrates how New Media is already impacting the Church and outlines many practical steps for dioceses, parishes, and individual Catholics to embrace it more broadly…Everyone involved in Communications and Evangelization ministries for the Church should read it.”  (–Cardinal Seán O'Malley, OFM Cap.)

[UPDATE: The Archdiocese of St. Louis now has an immense post with more links, pictures, quotes, etc. View it here.]

This year's CNMC MMX (Catholic New Media Convention 2010) was bigger and better than last year's convention; the venue had excellent WiFi access, there were even more Catholic media/new media representatives, and the atmosphere was generally more lively and exciting (mostly due to the great number of amazing people).

Here are some of the highlights from the convention, and links to more pictures and information:

Lino Rulli—a man with a large nose (an Italian)—spoke to the attendees of the Catholic New Media Celebration during a keynote address on Saturday, and talked about the importance of "doing things right" in new media.

He made three main points:

1. Study what others are doing, and copy what others are doing right.
2. Identify your passion and pursue it.
3. It is not *just the message* that matters.

I fully support these points, and I wish to highlight a few more salient points he made. He said that we need to see the good and effective things others are doing in media (old/new), and copy the best things they do. It's perfectly acceptable to do the same thing as everyone else—if it's awesome.

Fr. Robert Reed's keynote at this year's CNMC MMX was excellent. He started by giving us a 'goody bag' with something sweet, something neat, something deep, and something to eat. He then spoke about each topic and summarized the reason why we evangelize—not just online, but also on a personal level.

Something Sweet

Takeaway quote from this portion:

"There has to be an appeal, a professionalism, a standard to our craft."

I couldn't say it better myself. We need to perform at the highest level, in terms of design, grammar, and content—Catholics and those who are not yet Catholic deserve to receive the Gospel message in the highest and most beautiful form. People used to spend years and tons of money to create beautiful stained glass, manuscripts, and Catholic artwork to communicate the faith. Why do we not do the same today, with the new tools at our disposal?

I'll be hanging around a bunch of other Catholic techies this Saturday in Boston, MA, at the Catholic New Media Celebration. In case you haven't heard, I just started a new podcast, Catholic Car Wash (read more about it), and I thought CNMC MMX would be a great venue for its introduction.

A good friend and fellow Catholic programmer/blogger, Matthew Warner, spent much of last night individually uploading tons of photos from last night's meet-and-greet. I figured I'd take the opportunity to send out a 'miss you' wish to my fiancée, Natalie:

You can see all of his photos here: Catholics in New Media: CNMC Kickoff

Boston, MA - August 7, 2010. (Catholic New Media Conference Details | Registration).

I'm there.