The Blind Side

I've got to see this film. I keep hearing great things. Here's a take from Christianity Today. http://tiny.cc/IrxNy

Daniel Pink on Reward Motivation

Gotta love Daniel Pink's work. Check out the TED talk. "Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think." http://bit.ly/4F39Qf

Producer / Executive Program Re-Launch

Act One is launching a newly formatted 14-month Producing & Entertainment Executive Program in June 2010. The course work includes Creative Development, The Business of Hollywood, Physical Production, and Marketing & Distribution. Good work Gary, Terence and team. http://www.actoneprogram.com/EP.htm

Five Stages of Innovation

1. People deny that the innovation is required. 2. People deny that the innovation is effective. 3. People deny that the innovation is important. 4. People deny that the innovation will justify the effort required to adopt it. 5. People accept and adopt the innovation, enjoy its benefits, attribute it to people other than the innovator, and deny the existence of stages 1 to 4. Thanks to Josh Craft via Phil Cooke for the summary

The World Changed Again Last Night

We watched "The Mission" streamed from Netflix through the PS3 on our big screen TV. I have not wanted to buy an extra device to be able to stream content to our television. On Tuesday, the email from Netflix arrived announcing the PS3 would allow us to stream to our large screen. It requires a disc (they send for free) and was easy to set up and use. The buffer time was minimal and the image surprisingly crisp. Did I hear someone say convergence?

Lausanne Global Conversations

Here's a chance from the Lausanne movement to think big. "We invite you to join the Conversation. Here thoughtful Christians are engaging critical issues relating to world evangelization to better equip the whole Church in taking the whole gospel to the whole world.
We believe this is the first online conversation of its kind, and observations and ideas will help shape discussions at http://bit.ly/3VjGYU."

Looking for Training Content

We continue to hear of the need to aggregate effective online training for those who are in less resourced areas of the world. If you have training videos in the area of production, distribution, marketing, ministry use, etc, please post the video to your profile page. We will then feature it on our "How to Story" resource section. You may also post videos from other training sources you have found useful.

Daniel Lin - CEO Lin Pictures

Loved the interview with Daniel Lin at the Biola Studio Task Force dinner last night. Daniel is very sound in his faith and passionate about film (Sherlock Holmes, Terminator Salvation, etc.). He offered great advice from his career. Some slices: Don't lie and always return your calls. Be creative about getting past closed doors. Be accountable (wife, pastor, small group). Kudos to Kathleen Cooke, Jack Hafer and Ralph Winter for the evening.

Believers are Cutting Edge in Nollywood

Nollywood has surpassed Hollywood in the number of features made (872 vs. 485 in 2006). Christians are in the midst of the movement instead of 20 years behind. Nice. Read more at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/november/7.17.html.

Rich Source of Info on Mobile Resources

We just posted a number of new down-loadable files regarding the use of mobile devices. Thanks to K for the good work. Click the Resource tab and scroll down to "Mobile Devices."

The Dominant Screen of the Future

"The mobile phone will be the dominant connection tool: 77% of the expert respondents agreed with a scenario that posited that the mobile computing device—with more-significant computing power in 2020—will be the primary Internet communications platform for a majority of people across the world. They agreed that connection will generally be offered under a set of universal standards internationally, though many registered doubts about corporations’ and regulators’ willingness to make it happen." Pew Internet and American Life Project (12/2008)

A Night of Film

We had a great time at the 2009 Night of Film. Butterfly Circus (Josh Weigel), A Big Table (Michael Hodges), 99 Balloons (Rob Thomas) and Deidox Li (Brent Gudgel) were compelling short films screened before an audience of 1000. The Veracity Project (Charlie Matz) and the Grove Center (Joey O'Conner, Mark Perez) did a great job putting the program together.

J. Carla Northcutt #400

J. Carla takes the prize for being #400. Thanks for joining J. Carla! Sorry, the only prize is the honor you are now accorded.

Who Will Be #400?

Sharon Epps became the 399th person to join in the online community. Who will be # 400? Great to see you here Sharon.

More on Mobile Media

There have been great discussions on mobile media in this newly created group. Dave Hackett has posted insightful research in several of his discussions. Check out these resources under the Mobile Media group. http://www.visualstorynetwork.com/group/mobile

Amazing Tool for Meeting Effectiveness

After more than 10 years of leading virtual teams, I think I have found the single most useful tool to virtual meetings. www.etherpad.com is a free service that allows you to create a “public pad” with a unique url. Etherpad is a simple, “really” real-time white board that allows everyone to take notes (concurrently), post content, chat, edit, and then export meeting notes. The notes stay active on the public page "forever" so they can be referenced by clicking on the url you get for each “pad.”

Seth Godin's blog

I've got to suggest you subscribe to Seth Godin's blog. I actually read his daily musings that offer fresh insight on brand building, innovation, communication and more. Seth is the author of Tribes, Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, etc. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Creative Juices

Here is a never before seen take on how to get the creative juices going. http://bit.ly/WcmRE. Enjoy.

Getting Started - Mobile Media Ministry

We just posted a very helpful article for those interested in using their mobile device as a ministry communication platform. Check it out under the Resource tab.

Mobile Media Ministry

We're interested in knowing who is involved in using mobile devices in a ministry context. If you are involved in any way or know someone who is, please email me at clyde@visualstory.org