Quick notes:

1. This is the first time I’ve ever connected to an access point at N speed.  I’ve had this laptop for two months and supposedly have N access points at home and the office, but I’ve never actually connected at N speed.  Too many other things on my plate to try to troubleshoot why.  Intel PROSet reports a data rate of 144 Mb/s.  I just now got 4868 kb/s down and 3629 kb/s up.  Cool!  I’m stylin’.

2. Matt says I wasn’t merely to use the word "hullabaloo" but I was to find some way to use it creatively.  Just linking to the dictionary.com entry hardly qualifies.  The problem with this assignment is that it assumes I am gifted in such creativity.  Turns out I’m not.  ;-)  I can only appeal to Tony’s theological understanding of mercy and grace.

3. Met Barry Thomason, VP of Business Development for Daxko at lunch.  He’s exploring the ChMS marketplace.  I hope I didn’t scare him too much!

4. Jeff Hook: "Brand" is your promise to deliver.  IT should avoid brand confusion – don’t promise one experience and deliver another.  He said lots of other interesting stuff too.  Check out his full presentation here.

Presenter: Jon Edmiston, Director of IT and Communications at Christ’s Church of the Valley.

• More time on solutions, less on infrastructure.
• Unlike corporate IT, we can focus just on the customer (congregants).  Few mission-critical applications.
• Membership system is the core application.
• Member data must drive the website.
• Single platforms trump disparate but integrated solutions (best in class)
• Your membership system is only as good as the data quality
• Skills you should have: reporting, scripting, statistics, graphical design
• Key technologies: geographical information systems, data analysis tools, data visualization tools, unified messaging, social networking, mobile technologies
• Strategic prioritization: plan ahead, start with solutions not infrastructure
• Don’t seek staff approval – it limits our impact to the ministry.  Staff service is critical but not at the expense of impacting the congregation through technology.
• Infrastructure should be simple.  Don’t overkill the reliability.  Stay away from the bleeding edge of infrastructure unless it directly provides the solution (e.g. Asterisk).  New technologies that save $ rarely do.
• Be aware of opportunity cost.
• Let big ideas stew.  (This is Jon’s variation of my "discernment stew" idea.  Can’t believe I’ve never posted on that.)
• MapPoint is incredible. 

Books mentioned:

• The Non-designer’s Design Book
• The Visual Display of Quantitative Data

My counterpoint:

• Integrating multiple, best-in-class systems vs. a single, integrated solution is a classic IT tradeoff that’s been around for at least 15 years.  I didn’t see any special insight in Jon’s view on that.
• Of course, our default answer is "yes".  Enough said.

EVDO is 704 kb/s down, 197 kb/s up.  Ian says the WiFi is 8 Mb/s down and 4 Mb/s up.  That actually might be enough for all these laptop-bearing nerds!  CORRECTION: Ian says it’s starting to suck wind.  We know about that from the Fall 2007 RoundTable!

Presenter is Tony Morgan, Chief Strategic Officer from New Spring Church, and formerly Jason Powell’s boss at Granger.  The secret code word for bloggers and tweeters is "hullabaloo."  Tony said to check dictionary.com for the spelling.  Heh.

• Assume everyone thinks like a techie.
• Don’t bend on standardization.
• Hire the best geek rather than the best leader.
• Always want more staff.
• Always want more stuff.
• Don’t document processes.
• Implement technology without considering strategy.
• Don’t communicate their solutions with the team.
• Focus on implementation without creating systems for training and support.
• Let technology drive the ministry rather than vice versa.

Tony says we need to get three things right: technology, people, and strategy.  True, but he got it in the wrong order.  If you have the right people, they will determine the right strategy, buy the right technology, communicate with all the stakeholders, and get everything else right in the above list.

Aside: Jason Lee said we should give an award to the first person here who jumps up to go handle a tech support emergency.  Great idea.  I seriously wonder how many of the people here have already this morning faced a technical issue they need to resolve back home.  Even sitting here listening to Tony, some of us are getting e-mails, pages, or other alarms.  Ian just now got alarmed on a wireless access point going down.  Of course it’s the one serving our senior pastor’s office. 

Quick notes:

1. Jason Lee posted a bunch of pictures from the church tours today.  I’m featured prominently in a few.  😉

2. Jim Walton put up a Picasa set.  This image features Ian gesturing expansively.

3. Driving from Henderson Hills to lunch we were in the van for around 15 minutes.  During that time Jeremie, Matt, and Ian were on the WiFi from their laptops.  Jason Lee was on his cell phone.  They were answering tech support issues, getting e-mail, etc.  These guys are so nerdy, they make me seem almost normal by comparison.  The RoundTable is a serious geek-in.  Also, it begs the question: Are we too connected? 

4. Great to reconnect with Terry Storch today.

5. Equally great to meet Brad Coats, IT Director of LifeChurch.tv, Michael Foster, IT Director of Crossings Community Church, and Heather DeShazo of Church of the Servant.

6. There is something very special about the CITRT.  I’ve been involved in secular trade organizations where people come together to network with their peers.  Of course the CITRT is similar to countless trade associations, yet it is much more.  We aren’t ignorant of the differences in our histories, traditions, styles, and even theologies, yet we choose to overlook those differences to see the essential unity of the Body of Christ and the commonality of our mission.  I believe God is bringing us together.  We truly are on the same team.  This group lives that out in a way that is unique in my experience.

7. Ian and Matt agreed with me that the trip down here would have been worth it just for what we experienced today.  It’s awesome that we have four more days ahead.  Bring it on!

Quick notes:

1. Good drive down.  Great weather in Oklahoma – clear skies, temps in the low 60s.

2. Ian’s cell phone as a mobile WiFi hotspot was a fun, nerdy experiment.  Turns out, when doing EVDO and WiFi, the phone consumes more power than can be supplied by Ian’s car charger.  After two hours of more-or-less continuous connectivity, the battery died despite being plugged in to the charger the entire time.

3. The WiFi in the Crown Plaza is bad.  B-mode only.  I got 184 kb/s down and 122 kb/s up.  Jason Lee had the same experience.  EVDO is 1229 down and 274 up.  How sick is it when EVDO is WAY faster than WiFi?

4. Although we are 15 miles from Henderson Hills in Edmond, this hotel will be a mini conference-central.  A bunch of us are staying here.

5. I’m rebuilding my Vista laptop.  Long story, but when the hard drive failed (yes, it was less than a month old when it started acting up) and there was no good way to recover and move to the new hard drive, I had no choice but to rebuild.  It’s an XP laptop now.  Heavy sigh.

6. I still need to put the finishing touches on my presentation.

I’m expecting to see a bunch of losers in Oklahoma City this week at MinistryTECH and the RoundTable!  (Click the link if you don’t get the reference.)  Ian, Matt, and I are getting in the van and making the short, five-hour drive this afternoon.  We’re picking up Jason Lee’s crew at the OKC airport, whereupon some as yet unplanned mischief will ensue.  It should hardly be surprising that Ian has rigged a rolling hotspot for the drive.  If anyone needs us, you can catch him on the CITRT IRC channel or call my cell, 913-642-1875.  I’m SOOOO jazzed!