The story of Matt Mullenweg is an interesting one. He is the founding developer of Wordpress, the popular open-source blogging software. At the age of only 25, he has already been named as as one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the Web and Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web.

Matt blogs at ma.tt and his latest post starts like this….

I often get asked something along the line of, “If you weren’t leading Automattic, what would you work on?” There’s not a single answer to this question; the answer changes day to day. But I think if you asked me today, I’d say I would like to start a bank.

He goes on to explain what kind of bank he would start….and it’s nothing like the bank you currently use. Go read the blog post here.

I can’t wait until this type of fresh thinking, creativity, innovation, common sense, and focus on the customer invade and disrupt all of our traditional industries like banking, auto, airline, real estate, etc.

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Senior Pastor Andy Stanley and Campus Pastor Jeff Henderson introduced the new online community and talked a bit about the strategy, mission, and vision for this new experience.

North Point Online “will offer live worship, practical teaching, online discussion groups and much more.”

So exciting to see churches like North Point, Lifechurch.tv, Newspring, my own church home, Woodlands Church, and many others leveraging technology to….

1) spread the message of Christ

2) connect the members of the body of Christ

3) communicate with church members and attenders

Here is a video introducing North Point Online…..

North Point Online – Promo 1 from North Point Media on Vimeo.

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Check out this video to see how HP Touchsmart PCs are being used by Hope Technology School to assist autistic children.

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Yesterday, I had the opportunity to join the pastors and staff of Woodlands Church in a lunch session with Roger Berry, Senior Vice-President & CIO of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.

I strongly believe that the business world and the church world have a lot to learn from each other. The outstanding session with Roger was a great example of such knowledge sharing.

He shared some information about the role that technology plays at Disney, presented some of his thoughts on IT governance and strategy, and challenged the church to leverage technology to enable transformational experiences.

Here are some of my notes (more paraphrase than direct quotes) from the session…….

• At Disney, technology doesn’t make the “magic” happen, but it does enable it.
• God has given everyone the gift of technology. It is our responsibility to learn how He wants us to use it.
• When things are good, the demand for technology goes up. When things are bad, the demand for technology goes up.
• IT must have a seat alongside Finance, HR, and Marketing at the governance table.
• IT must be a part of the decision making process. If not, it is a formula for disaster.
• His 5 points of focus: 1) Stability & Performance 2) Talent Management 3) Segment Strategy 4) Total Cost of Ownership 5) New Technology & Innovation
• Disney knows everything about their customers. They are a trusted brand and, therefore, people willingly share lots of personal information.
• We are more alike than you think. Disney has Intenders –> Repeaters –> Worldphiles. The church has Seekers –> Members –> Disciples.
• You don’t have the resources that Disney has, but you do have power that Disney doesn’t have.
• I believe technology is given to us by God, but it is also a tool of the devil.
• Does your technology plan align with the mission and vision of your organization?
• Are you continually leveraging new technology?
• Will technology change your brand?
• Iteration is important at Disney. We release then release then release….improving each time.
• When I was at Campbell Soup, consultants told us that bad marketing decisions 15 years ago caused us to miss an entire generation. Don’t be late.

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