This week, I thought I’d highlight some favorite apps related to the various themes I like to cover on my blog. The following is a repost of “Top 10 Apps for Pastors & Ministry Leaders” that my ROAR team collaborated on and that appeared on the website of Technologies For Worship Magazine.

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Top 10 Apps for Pastors & Ministry Leaders

Mobile technology has its good and bad points, just like everything in life. Although it can prove to be a distraction or frustration, mobile tech can also be really helpful to pastors and those in leadership at houses of worship by increasing organization and productivity. Here’s a list of my 10 favorite apps (in no particular order) for those in ministry leadership:

YouVersion – One of the best Bible-reading apps out there. It has a huge amount of free versions, along with several great reading plans that will help you track your progress. There is built-in social sharing to easily share what you’re reading or learning. And it syncs across devices so you can pick up where you left off no matter what you’re reading on.

Evernote – This app is your one-stop place for gathering information of all kinds. You can gather files, images, audio, websites, anything all in one place, and you can sort them into folders to keep it all organized. You can also type right into Evernote, so putting all your thoughts in one place is simple. It also syncs across devices so you can use it for file sharing as well. Use Evernote to get sermon notes from your computer to your iPad. You can also use it to record an audio note while you’re driving in case you have a killer idea that you don’t want to get away. So many cool uses for this app.

Flipboard – This beautiful app turns your RSS, Twitter, and Facebook feeds into a magazine-style reader. It will aggregate your feeds all in one place, and make it so simple to just flip through to scan content for items of interest. You can either read them right there or mark them to read later. It can also bring in other content that has been read or shared by your friends, and it is one-tap simple to share your content on your linked social accounts as well. This app can save you a lot of time catching up on your reading, as well as providing a beautiful, eye-friendly way to do it.

Clips – This unique and stellar app is a database that helps you find a movie clip to use in your speaking. You can search for clips by topic or by movie. It will then tell you what movie to find the clip in, where to start and stop the movie, and it even suggests discussion questions. This is a huge time-saver for pastors who like to use movie clips as illustrations!

Bump – Sharing just got a whole lot simpler. This exceedingly cool technology allows you to share contact information or photos with another person simply by bumping your phone with theirs. No more awkward repeating of phone numbers, no more entering in info from a business card by hand, no more forgetting to send them an email with your contact info. If you both have Bump on your phone, just bump and go. You can also easily transfer photos from your phone to a friend’s phone or to your computer with this same app. This would be very helpful after a large ministry event.

BC Reader – For those who do a lot of networking but find someone who doesn’t have Bump installed on their phone (see above), use this handy app to scan in information from business cards.

Dragon Dictation – This talk-to-text app allows you to just speak what you want to type and it transcribes it for you. It’s amazingly accurate in several languages, and can be a real time saver when you want to type out something long and all you have is your iPhone’s on-screen keyboard.

IMDb – The International Movie Database is a great website, but their app is really awesome on the go, too. One of the best parts for pastors and leaders is the Parent’s Guide, which will help you gauge how family-friendly a movie is. So if you hear some parents say they’re going to take their kids to the next blockbuster, you can just open up IMDb right there and help them decide if it’s a wise choice for their kids.

Air Sketch – This cool app can turn your iPad into a portable whiteboard, with your drawings being projected to a screen via wifi. It can completely revolutionize your presentations, teaching, and meetings!

HootSuite – There are several good apps out there for gathering your social media feeds in one place. My personal favorite is HootSuite, but what I think is most important is that pastors and ministry leaders stay involved in social media, regardless of what app they use to do it. Facebook keeps you connected with your congregation and community, and Twitter gives you real-time information. Both are essential for a thriving ministry.

Matt is a speaker, writer, strategist and entrepreneur. Formerly with Fellowship Church in Texas, he now leads a company, ROAR, focused on mobile apps and social media for churches. He also does social media and helps write a curriculum for leaders called YouLead for Orange. You can find his ebook Be Social: The Social Media Handbook for Churches in the Amazon Kindle Store. Matt resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Jessica and two boys, Patriot and Azlan.

I saw this cool infographic on iDB this week that brings together all the rumors about the upcoming iPhone 5 release. It shows all the rumors and their sources, as well as the percentage of agreement about whether they’ll actually be true.

What do you think about all these? What’s your favorite rumored feature of the new iPhone? Your least favorite??

I’m still asked on a frequent basis how I keep up with the latest technology or how I keep up with so much information. I normally follow it up with a question to them, “Do you know how to use Google Reader or an RSS feed reader?” Most of the time, the answer is “No” or “I set that up and have forgotten about it.”

If you answered “No, I don’t know how,” then here is a great video from Google explaining how to set it up and how to use the service.

If you know how to use it then it is time to dust it off and get back to the basics. Sure there are newer services out there and you aren’t prompted by your friends as much as you are on Twitter or Facebook but it is a incredibly powerful tool that should be in your everyday arsenal.

Here are 9 reasons why Google Reader is still important:

1. RSS Feeds are still the standard for updating or getting information from services like Facebook, Twitter and many others.
2. You can subscribe to whatever content you want and make it customizable. Here’s the Orange Leaders feed if you haven’t subscribed already.
3. You don’t have to visit a bunch of sites but instead they come to you when they update.
4. Google Reader integrates with great apps like Flipboard on your iPad and MobileRSS on your iPhone.
5. Google Alerts are built in so that you are always up-to-date with whatever you want to keep up with, even if it doesn’t happen on your favorite sites.
6. You can follow your friends and see what they think is important, or see what they are sharing.
7. You can take notes on posts and share those on other services.
8. Google Reader gives you a database of your favorite content and makes it searchable.
9. It saves you time and makes it super simple to scan through multiple posts and topics at once so that you only read what is important or interesting to you.

This week I read the following 17 Twitter Tips from a social media specialist who attended a conference hosted by Mashable.

TWITTER TIPS

• 1) @jeffpulver, Casting Director, #140conf: “The secret to Twitter is to listen, connect, share and engage. It’s the conversations that matter.”
• 2) @davepeck, Director of Community, Meshin: “Respond to everybody, positive or negative.”
• 3) @michiganflavor, COO, MIFlavor.com: “Retweet, retweet, retweet. People love to see their stuff retweeted, and they’ll start retweeting you.”
• 4) @shrmsocmedguy, Social Media Strategist, Shrm: “Use your tweeting to set up meetings.”
• 5) @dstatusstalker, Chief Status Stalker, Status Stalker: “Start a conversation. Reach out to others, and say hello.”
• 6) @kratzpr, Founder, Kratz PR: “Don’t think of it as a tool, think of it as a gateway for being social.”
• 7) @ctreada, CEO, Notice Technologies: “Ignore it; they’re all pornographers anyway.” (Chris’s other tip: “Chill out.”)
• @jkrohrs, VP of Marketing, ExactTarget: “Don’t tweet if you can’t spell.”
• 9) @moniguzman, Director of Outreach, Intersect: “Tweet what comes naturally. Don’t try to fulfill someone else’s expectations.”
• 10) @shashib, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions: “More than an RSS feed, connecting with people on Twitter gives you interesting content that is validated by them.”
• 11) @jennydevaughn, Director, Social Strategy, @HODES: “You need to have brand sacrifice if you want to be viewed as an expert in your field. Only tweet about 10 topics, events or ideas.”
• 12) @robkey, CEO, Converseon: “Embrace your insignificance.”
• 13) @zagrrl: VP Technology, Innovation Center for US Diary: “The best way to learn is to share.”
• 14) @heidiotway: VP & Director Social Media, Salter Mitchell: “Follow the best, learn from the best.”
• 15) @jonnorp, Director of Social Media, American Airlines: “Remember that it flies forever.”
• 16) @chrisvary, Director of Emerging Technology, Weber Shandwick:“Don’t connect your Twitter to Facebook.”
• 17) @joeyinteractive, Interactive Creative Director, Disney Parks:“Marketing doesn’t spread; stories do.”

via mashable.com

How then do you become Valuable on Twitter?

Let’s break down the best overall advice in a top 10 ways to become valuable on Twitter:

1. Be Friendly – Don’t be a jerk. You can give your opinion but be respectful. You may get attention for a brief moment but it won’t pay off in the end.

2. Be Human – Even in your brevity, add personality into it. You are not a robot. Don’t act like one. People want to relate to people.

3. Focus – Pick your top topics not all your topics. Keep your community informed with what you are compelled with the most.

4. Don’t Over-think it – Don’t be afraid that you are going to mess up. You will then mess up.

5. Tell a Story – Don’t sell me your product. Tell me your vision and strategy on why your product, belief or service exists.

6. Reach out to People – Even those that you disagree with have value. Choose to interact and not just broadcast.

7. Have a purpose – Don’t tweet about food unless you are a foodie. Don’t drop the F-bomb just because you can.

8. Respond, Respond, Respond – If someone has taken the time to engage with you then do what you can to respond.

9. Remember that it is Public – Don’t blast your boss, your spouse, or your kids. There is a better way than Twitter to do that.

10. Follow the Best People – Learn from and interact with the best people you can. You now have access that you never had before.

What did I miss?  What would your top 10 things be to become valuable on Twitter?

By the way, you can interact with me on twitter: http://twitter.com/mattmckee

UPDATE: We added a couple more to the list below.  Make sure and check them out for insight to the conference.

This year at The Orange Conference we have a lot of bloggers coming in to help us out. Why? One, because we know that not all of you are coming to the conference and you want to make sure and learn everything you can. Second, because we love to build relationships with people who are writing incredible things to help out the online community. Third, because I, Matt McKee, have been blogging for almost eight years now and I am a little bit of a geek that way. Nonetheless, we here at Orange really do love us some bloggers. Here are just some of the bloggers that are coming to The Orange Conference:

Each one of these blogs will cover The Orange Conference differently. So, you will want to check out each one or put them into your Google Reader if they are not already there.

Here is the big question though: Are you a blogger and coming to The Orange Conference but your blog is not listed above? If so, please comment and let us know that you are coming. We want to let others know about your blog and support you as much as we can.

One of the biggest stories and biggest business deals in the past 15 years has to be the announcement this past Sunday that AT&T plans to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion. Yes, $39 Billion is a lot of money, and there has to be a strategy behind this type of decision. We must be able to look at this decision and learn from it. Whether our reaction is “YES!” or “NOOOOOOO!!!!” the information that we take from this decision needs to be examined.

Believe it or not, I believe some of the same principles that are found in the Orange Strategy can be found in this huge deal. What are the principles I see in both?

1. Combining two influences is greater than two individual influences.
-Orange combines the influence of the home and the Church.
-AT&T combined the influence of their current towers with the towers of T-Mobile.

2. Refine the Message
-Orange is always updating lessons, websites, conferences and anything else that we do for that matter.
-AT&T needed to update its image. They could not simply hope to build enough infrastructure or market better. Their message had to go to the core or their problem. Even if they had to overpay, the message had to be sent that they believe in their customers.

3. Integrate Strategy
-Orange sees this as aligning church leaders and parents to lead with the same end in mind.
-AT&T sees this as integrating calls, 3G, 4G, and all other data that could be coming in the future. The end in mind here is all about data going to mobile devices.

4. Utilize Influence
-Orange sees this as creating consistent opportunities for students to experience personal ministry.
-AT&T has to see this as creating consistent opportunities to make calls whether you are in San Fransisco or New York, which is where they have huge issues. These two cities just happen to have a huge influence, as well, on all things technology in the U.S.

5. Elevate Community
-Orange sees this as connecting everyone to a caring leader and a consistent group of peers.
-AT&T of course wants to connect everyone to their network and make the most money. They will do this by elevating every community in the U.S.

Now these are just some of the similarities that I see in Orange and in the AT&T deal. I also see a lot of similarities between this deal and what needs to happen at a lot of churches across the U.S. What do I mean?

1. Students, Children, Preschool and Senior Leadership need to look at doing a merger in their own church that will increase their power to reach the next generation.

2. Some churches need to do an infrastructure overhaul. They need to look at their systems and see what needs to be improved in a way that is drastic.

3. This process of AT&T taking over T-Mobile is going to take at least a year and go through a ton of meetings. Change is not an easy process and it will take your church a long time and a lot of meetings to get on the same page.

4. This deal is a global effort, even though its effects will mostly be felt in the U.S. Churches need to think globally as well as locally. Even if most of your efforts may be felt in your community, don’t forget about the global initiative to which we’ve all been called.

5. Some people hate this decision and others love it. The same will be true when your church tries anything new. Don’t listen to your greatest fans or your greatest critics.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the similarities that I see. What are some that you see? Do you think it is going to be a good thing that AT&T bought T-Mobile? We want to hear your opinion.

I am amazed by how many times I get the question, “What is the best way to communicate to volunteers using social media?” The problem is that there is not one BEST way. There are a bunch of different ways and you have to pick one and go with it. Many times you picking the path that you are going to communicate is the hardest step of all though. Why? Because it depends on your communication style and not necessarily the receiving style of your volunteers. Notice this is a post on communicating to volunteers and not to the overall church, your community, or people who don’t go to your church. That type of communication is for another post.

Let’s look at the options that you have for communicating to your volunteers and then you get to pick which way is going to work BEST for you.

1. Set up a blog using WordPress, Blogger, or Posterous.  By the way, Posterous is the easiest to set up and get going and WordPress is the most powerful in my opinion.  You can password protect the blog if you want so that only your volunteers get the inside information but having a password isn’t necessary in most cases.
2. Set up a Facebook Group.  This forces your volunteers to join Facebook if they haven’t already, but more than likely they are already on the site.  Lots of options here with Facebook but I would make it a Group and not a Facebook Page.
3. Set up a Volunteer Twitter Account.  This will limit you to short messages but for some of you out there that is a great thing.  Of course if your volunteers are not on Twitter then you could help them set it up to receive text messages every time you tweet from the volunteer account.
4. Set up a texting group using SimplyTxt, GroupMe, or a whole host of others.  Again you will have to be short and sweet but your volunteers may love you for being just that.
5. Set up your own Social Network using Ning or others.  More and more people are setting up their own niche social networks to communicate to people.  You could set up your own and let your volunteers interact with each other in a unique way.
6. Set up church specific services like Planning Center Online, SoChurch, FellowshipTech or your church database company.  Services like these target your church needs in unique ways and could help you in communicating more than just member management or what is going on in a large group program.  Maybe not what you were thinking when you hear social media but many of these are building more and more into their offerings that either integrate or look very similar to social media functions.
7. Set up a YouTube or Vimeo Channel. Some of you out there despise writing and just wish that you could talk to your volunteers in a creative way.  I would say keep the videos under 2:00 and do a little bit more than sitting at your web cam but that is just me.
8. Set up groups using Google or Yahoo.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you are a part of a group already in some form or fashion.  The issue is with groups like this if you don’t use them then you forget about them quickly.  Then again if you aren’t communicating to your volunteers on a regular basis then they are going to forget things quickly anyway.
9. Last but not least of course is email.  This is kind of cheating when it comes to calling this social media but some of you might not be ready to do any of the 8 things above.  If that is the case then feel free to continue using email, phone calls, and paper newsletters.  Utilizing things like these are not a bad thing but soon I think you will find that you will want another way.

There are 9 options for you.  Again I don’t know which one is best for you but I would love to know.  Let us know which you have found to be effective and why in the comments.  I really think we could learn a lot from each other in this area.

Why in the world do 4500-5000 people come to Atlanta at the end of April each year? I could list a slew of reasons like the speakers, the music, the passion to reach the next generation, or simply to see a guy named Lanny do something really stupid and funny. Of course none of those things are the number 1 reason I came to the Orange Conference or eventually moved to Atlanta to be on the creative team that makes the conference happen.

So what’s the big deal? Why come?

When Bill Clinton ran for office his campaign manager kept telling him and the entire staff this phrase: “It’s about the economy, stupid.” This message kept them on point. My mantra for the Orange Conference is, “It’s about relationships, stupid.” Sure Orange is the best conference around when it comes to excellence, strategy, message, family ministry, children’s ministry, student ministry, and I could go on and on. Those things don’t mean much though if you don’t connect with your team and other teams that you can collaborate with.

Some of my best friends in the world get together at Orange each year. No matter if they live in New York, Texas, Michigan, Tennessee, California, Ohio or Georgia. We all come together and spend as much time as we can together. You see, to me, there is as much that happens outside of the conference that happens inside the conference. When I’m asked is it worth it because money is tight or that is a lot of time, I scream, “YES!”

Come on down or over or up for that matter. We would love to have you. Don’t know what I’m talking about when I say Orange conference or need more info? Click here and sign up before Feb.17th. You will save money and have a blast while you are here!

Still need convincing- we asked one of the other bloggers Matt got to know who she’s met at the Orange Conference. Gina McClain says, “That’s a tough question. Primarily b/c it seems near impossible to narrow it down.

Ever since meeting Cathy Harwick at Orange 2 years ago I look forward to times we chat on the phone or see each other at other venues. On the kidmin team at Gateway Church in Austin, TX, Cathy works with Kenny Conley building some NextGen ministry magic. Cathy is always upbeat, always encouraging and full of great ideas that challenge me to think bigger. Love. Her.

I met Dan Scott and his wife a few years ago and enjoyed talking “shop” with them. Dan and I collaborate on kidmin projects occasionally and I value his creative insight.

I hung out with Henry Zonio in the Blogger’s Lounge some at last year’s Orange Conference. Henry’s unconventional approach to kidmin challenges me. And I like to be challenged. Henry isn’t afraid to do things most people aren’t doing. His entrepreneurial spirit is what brought about the project “What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry“. I loved the opportunity to contribute to it.

I was personally stoked when I met Michael Chanley a few years ago. Admittedly I was star struck and thought he was cool. And that would make him uncomfortable. Mostly b/c Chanley is another guy out there following where the Lord directs. He would never deem himself as anything more special than the rest. But Chanley is a connector. He’s all about connecting people in ministry so we don’t drown in isolation. Working together with him on the project “Collaborate: Church + Home” was a personal blessing for me.

Meeting Jim Wideman at Orange was cooler than an icicle in December. (Can you hear him say that?) I admire and respect Jim and the impact he has made on kidmin. I value the fact that he is so willing to simply hang out with people and get to know them. I appreciate the few opportunities I’ve had to sit at the table with him and just listen.

The following guys were people I met “in person” for the first time at an Orange Conference but had known for a year through our blogs. Sam Luce, Kenny Conley, Matt McKee & Jonathan Cliff. These guys are not just my friends, but my husband’s friends, as well. Through time spent online and in person, Kyle and I have been personally blessed by these friendships.

The interesting thing about all these people is that our relationships may have spawned at an Orange Conference but they have developed dramatically in the months following. Certainly I walk away from the Orange Conference renewed, refreshed, full of ideas and notes.

But the greatest value I’ve walked away with always seems to be in the relationships. And it’s worth every penny.”

Since we are talking about the importance of meetings this month, I thought it only appropriate to write about how to leverage technology for this.

I’m a big fan of face to face (short) meetings, but not all meetings can be this way. At Orange, we have an all staff meeting that happens every week. But some of our people don’t live locally. Sometimes people are scattered all over the nation and sometimes the world. Then technology steps in and we are able to conference with each other and keep each other up to speed. What happens though when you want more than a conference call and most of your people are not in the same office? Video conferencing steps in like a champ.

There are many options that have come around the last couple of years that do video conferencing but my favorites still are Skype and Tokbox.

*I really like to use Skype to do video conferences when it comes to 10 people or less. Why 10 people or less? Skype has put that limit as 10 at this point. Skype group calling also cost a monthly fee. It’s not that much, but still it isn’t free.

*This is why I use Tokbox more and more. Tokbox gives you the ability to bring up to 20 people into a video conference for free. There is no download like Skype and it is very easy to use.

Now don’t get me wrong. I think Skype does a better job overall but it’s hard to beat the price and ease of use of TokBox.

The next time that you want to have a “face to face” meeting, but can’t get everyone in the same room then look into Tokbox. It’s a creative way to use technology and bring people into the conversation better than traditional conference calls.

We want to show you how this works and how easy it is to use, so we are setting up a Tokbox conversation for the end of the month. We will be taking questions and giving answers. Stay tuned for more information.

Don’t you just love knowing about new technology before all of your friends do? Come on, you can say yes. Think about it, you are at a staff meeting and everyone is sitting around the table waiting for the meeting to start. Someone asks, “So, what’s new?” Then you pipe up and say, “I hear that Quora is going to be big this year.” Heads turn because they don’t know what you are talking about and your tech cred just went up a little bit. You can thank us later, but first let’s get to the what it is first.

What is Quora (taken from their website)?

Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.

Why does it matter (my opinion)?

Quora takes your current social graph (the people you know on Twitter/Facebook) and combines it with your interest graph (the information you know or want to know) You will connect with people who have the same interest as you instead of the people who you happen to meet. The greater the connection of social and interest… the greater the likelihood of impact. When you have impact, then you can make a difference.

How are you going to use this service for ministry?

Well, that is truly up to you. You may not use Twitter, Facebook, mobile apps, or other technology for ministry right now, so this may not interest you. Of course in our hypothetical situation above, you might want to have an answer since you brought it up in the staff meeting. I would say it is important to reach out to people who have questions about faith and Christianity. There are already plenty of those questions on there.

Go ahead, try Quora.com out and ask a question on it. Then look really smart in your staff meeting.