Tech Tips for Catholics

If you follow us on Twitter, then you know how much we love Kickstarter.com.  Kickstarter is a fun way to fund creative projects.  So, whether you are a Christian musician trying to fund your album, an artist trying to inspire, a software developer with an idea for a game, or someone with an idea for a book and a board game, Kickstarter is a super, great way to get others involved.  What we love about Kickstarter is the community aspect of it.  I have personally created one project and have backed several other worthy projects.

Why really great projects do not succeed…

1. You have no clear vision for your project: If you don’t know exactly what you want out of your project, how do you expect others to be on board?
2. Your project lacks a personal connection: Kickstarter people are real people, doing what they love.  Show your passion. Tell your story.  If your kickstart does not feature a good pitch video, of you, then your project is destined to fail!  Just be yourself and have fun with it.
3. You spam, rather than share: Sending out unsolicited @ tweets makes the rest of the Kickstarter community look bad.  A status update, letting those in your social network(s) know about the project is fine (just don’t over do it!)  Letting your family and friends know about your exciting project is totally acceptable and encouraged.  Podcasting and blogging are other great ways to share your project with others on a personal level.  If your project is creative enough, the buzz may come naturally.
4. You have lame backer rewards: One of the cool things about Kickstarter is the ability to create fantastic rewards for different level of support.  The more special the reward, the more support you will have for your project.  Spend some time looking at what other successful projects have offered to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
5. Your goal is too high: Because Kickstarter uses All-or-nothing funding, it is more important to reach your goal, than it is to reach the amount you hope you can get to fully fund your project.  If you go above and beyond your goal, then great!  But, if you do not reach your goal, then you get nothing.  Some people that you see often, and who want to support your project, but do not feel comfortable using Amazon payments, will probably provide funds the old fission way.

We hope to support your Catholic Kickstarter in the near future.  If you kickstart a  project and you would like to plug it in the comments section below, please do!
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Tonight, I took my 4 year old daughter to go see Kelly Croy’s fantastic chalk drawing show!  Croy inspires people, young and old, to live richer and fuller lives, as a teacher, a writer, speaker, coach, father, husband, and in tonight’s case, an artist.  My daughter, an artist in her own right, was captivated by Croy’s performance.  But it was so much more than just a performance.  He brought a message, during this busy, over commercialized Advent season.  He challenged us to slow down, unplug, and meditate on the Nativity.

If you are looking for a great Catholic speaker/presenter at your Parish, company, retreat, or school, Kelly Croy is your guy.  And Kelly can customize his message to match your event theme, if given plenty of notice and information about your specific needs.  Something else that is cool, Kelly usually donates the drawing to the group that hosted him.

Below are some related links to this topic:

• TeacherCast Podcast 07 “The Wired Educator”
• Kelly Croy and the Nun Bun
• Eager buyers line up for iPhone

My cousin, and daughter’s godmother, is bringing a fun and informative class to couples interested in learning Natural Family Planning. Lauren and her husband, Jimmie, have been married for more than three years and have two beautiful children.

Jimmie has been a contributor for CatholicExchange. He has worked as an abstinence educator at Elizabeth’s New Life Center and was a YMCA director, where he organized day camps and after school programs for the youth.  Jimmie has a degree in education from Bowling Green State University. Lauren is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, with a degree in teaching. Jimmie and Lauren are the co-founders of a non-profit organization called the Christian Center for Youth and Family Health (CCYFH).

To registration for upcoming online NFP classes: www.onlinenfp.com/signup

I recommended this course to a couple people and one person posted on my Facebook wall, “Hey, thank you for sending me that link about the online NFP course. We just started this past Sunday, it really was a Godsend!”

Every Friday I post the top 5 favorite blogposts that I’ve come across throughout the week. You have all weekend now to check them out : )

1. Did you see what Father just posted?
2. One Reason Why More People Should Use Twitter
3. Three Gouls of Meeting the Needs of the Youth | Pope Benedict’s Guide to Youth Ministry
4. How YouTube Can Increase Students’ Awareness of God
5. Mormons, Catholics, and Online Success

*Bonus Tweet

If you have a blogpost that you would like to share with me feel free to contact Catholic Tech Tips and I will get it.

Have a great weekend!

Joshua

Every Friday I post the top 5 favorite blogposts that I’ve come across throughout the week. You have all weekend now to check them out : )

1. The Catholic Church’s Teaching on Stem-Cell Research
2. The power of being invited
3. The Sacred Liturgy in the Digital Age
4. Keeping your account safe
5. Faith and Music Meet Technology

*Bonus Tweet

If you have a blogpost that you would like to share with me feel free to contact Catholic Tech Tips and I will get it.

Have a great weekend!

Joshua

Recently, I heard on the news that Facebook is NOT the number one website that internet users have set to their homepage. Then the next time I logged onto Facebook, a window popped up asking me if I want to set Facebook as my homepage. Decline! : ) What’s Yours?

September 18, 2011 is National Back To Church Sunday! What is your parish doing to reach out to the community and invite people back to church?
Some churches have begun planning for this wonderful event.  Talk to your Priest and ask him if your parish is planning any kind of outreach for “National Back To Church Sunday”.  If not, ask if it would be okay to put something together.  Get others within your parish on board.

• About six weeks prior, and up through Sunday, September 18th, post something in the bulletin.
• Get some professional postcards designed, inviting others in the community back to church.  It is suggested that you mail them out about three weeks before your event.
• Put posters up in your Catholic School, Church, or other public places (Don’t litter them or stick them under people’s windshield wipers―It just comes off as lazy)
• Two weeks prior, would be a good time to equip parishioners with outdoor banners, extra invite cards, or links to a promo video or church website (assuming it is presentable)
• On the day of the event and beyond, be prepared to welcome your visitors! When I came back to church, there was a smiling face there to greet me.  Words can not describe how encouraging and reassuring this was for me at that time of my life. Put together a welcoming packet, with information about how they can get plugged-in to prayer groups, Bible studies, apostolates, volunteer opportunities, info about RCIA, etc.  One of the neat things that our church put together was a booklet describing the various symbols and decor found in the sanctuary.  Perhaps a booklet explaining the Liturgy would be great to include in the packet.  Think both inside and outside the box.  Pray about it.

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Every Friday I post the top 5 favorite blogposts that I’ve come across throughout the week. You have all weekend now to check them out : )

1. Googling Madness
2. Brazilian Sliding Girls
3. A Meet-up Time for #cathMedia?
4. Unplugging and Not Judging
5. Work Begins on Apologetics iPhone App

*Bonus Tweet

If you have a blogpost that you would like to share with me feel free to contact Catholic Tech Tips and I will get it.

Have a great weekend!

Joshua

My wife and I taught 7th Grade CCD and the room that we used had a smart board, but we were not allowed to use it : (  Personally I’m pretty old fashion when it comes to education (I think I watch too much “Little House on the Prairie”.)

If you are a teacher, do you use a smart board or some other form of technology in the classroom (besides an electric pencil sharpener?)

This week in tech, the buzz, has been all about Google+. I received several access keys, but when I tried to use them, I got a message stating that they had reached full capacity. Then at 10:17 PM, Jul 6th, 2011, via the web, there was a tweet — “Google+ is now open to anyone with a Google account.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about how powerful Google is becoming. Do I really want to join a social network from the leading search engine site out there? I mean, up until LinkedIn came out, you could not find me by doing a Google search for my real name. And the only reason that I decided to use my real name on LinkedIn was because I was sending out resumes, and the first picture that came up in a Google search was this guy (who happens to live in the same state as I… and has the same name… and… wait for it… HAS A  HANDLEBAR MUSTACHE!) No one would hire me if they thought this guy was me! He looked like he still lived in his mom’s basement, drives around in one of those creepy 70′s vans with the black-tinted, diamond-shaped window in the back, and who hangs out in the High School parking lot (even though he graduated ten years ago).  But I digress.

Google+ Circles: are like smaller networks within a bigger network.  So, basically it is like if you were to merge Facebook with LinkedIn, keeping the two separate, but under the same roof. You could set up a network (“circle”) within Google+ for your business people, one for your close friends, one for your high school classmates, another for your family, one for your Church family, and so on. This way you would only share certain things with a certain group of people. At first, this sounds like a great idea, however, the more I thought about it, the more I pondered whether this is a good idea.

Let’s talk about the dualistic persona for a moment. Sometimes we compartmentalize who we are, revealing only certain aspects of who we are or act a different way around certain environments. Some Christians go to Church on Sunday, but then go out and get drunk on Friday nights. Others may not cuss around their mother, but when around their friends feel the need to drop the F-bomb every other sentence. I’m not saying that we have to make every conversation a theological debate, nor am I saying every action a crusade, but what I am saying is this: Don’t let your environment shape who you are, but rather, let who you are shape your environment. Does Google+’s Circles encourage compartmentalization? Yes, but it is up to you how you choose to compartmentalize your social network(s). Are you going to have a dualistic persona, or will you be the best version of yourself, created in the image and likeness of God?

“Conforming my actions to my beliefs will force a monumental social change.” — Taraek Saab, Gut Check, p. 60

Below are some related links to this topic:

• Google+ or Minus?
• Live the “Alphabet Manners”
• 2011: The Year of Real Relationships