This is what I do...

Tips for SYMC...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:21:00 +0000

I am just thinking of a few tips to help you out while you are in Chicago.

TIP #1 Bring your Jack Bauer man bad (or some type of European carry-all). You are going to have your Bible, Participant Journal, Pen, Hotel Key, iPod, Headphones, Cell Phone, Water Bottle, Laptop, Moleskine, Deodorant, Backup Hotel Key, Gum, Chapstick, USB Thumb Drive, Digital Camera...and on top of all that you will need to leave room for all the stuff you pick up and purchase while you are at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. I think the bookstore will have all Simply and Group products for 20% off.

TIP #2 Bring business cards and address stickers. This is a little nerdy and lazy but I hate filling out my address 100 time over the weekend...I have seen people stick a sticker on those forms…complete with Name, Address, Phone, and Email. The business cards are for networking...you may want to bring something to hold other peoples cards in so you don't lose them (or take a picture of it with you camera or cell phone and throw the card out).

TIP #3 Know what sessions and workshops you want to hit. With the conference sold out you want to get where you want to go so you get a seat...a good seat. For some of us that means back row aisle, for others that means front and center so I can actually smell Doug Fields. I hear the workshop I am leading on Tech will be in a room for about 60...last year I had over 100 at one session and 75-80 at the other...this means there will be standing room only for some workshop and others may have to turn away people for capacity. Know where you want to go, know how to get there, and show up early.

Hope this helps a little and gets you excited that we are only a few days away form our weekend together.

SYMC Connect

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:52:00 +0000

If you are a youth worker I hope you are coming to the SYMConference. This will be a great weekend! I would be great to have you join the conversation online right now before we even begin our time on location in Chicago. Connect with me HERE. Join the Senior High Affinity Group that I am leading HERE. If you are looking to connect with other areas of ministry search them HERE. Just resister FREE on this site and you have all access symcconnect.com.

I look forward to CONNECTing...

QIK for Droid...Live Video App...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:18:00 +0000

I am not sure how I want to use this but the options seem pretty cool.

Downtime and Encouragement for Youth Workers...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:55:00 +0000

I am very excited to for the Simply Youth Ministry Conference coming up in February...that is like 6 weeks away. For me, this has been a great place to connect with God, network with other youth workers and to grow. Group has done a great job of making a BIG gathering of youth workers feel small. What I mean is I do not feel like I get lost in the crowed, I am able to connect with the speakers and workshop leaders, I actually saw Kurt Johnston last year and he said, "Hey, I know you...how are you doing?" My senior pastor doesn't even do that...thanks Kurt! Please come and spend time with others who are interested in your spiritual success as well as seeing you succeed at loving students for the Kingdom!

Top 5 Worst Android Apps...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:28:00 +0000

Let's start with the bad. There have been a few bumps in the road the past few days. I have noticed that some apps seem to crash, apps that have high ratings and apps that people really like. For example Twitdroid worked for about 2 hours and then it "force closed" on my every time I opened it. I uninstalled and re-installed and it kept doing it so I would another twitter app that I think is perfect for my needs. I am finding that not all Adroid phones fun all android apps...while the open nature of app creating helps have tons of apps this seems to be an issue...not huge but there are some apps that say wont work of Droid or know issues on Nexus One. The battery life is good for the amount of time I have been using it but I need to figure out how to extend the like.

The Droid also is missing some features I depended on with past phones like name dialing (T9 style dial/search). If I were going to call my friend Joel and if his name and number were in my contacts all I would need to dial is 5635 (J-O-E-L) and all the names that those number represented would pop up. I have to scroll through all my contacts now...I am searching for an app that will do this for me.

A great feature is that the phone downloaded all the facebook status pics for all my friends in my contacts. It also downloaded all the cell numbers from facebook, even created new contact entries for numbers that were on facebook that I did not have in my phone. The bad thing is I have about 20 friends named Brandon Early and every time I call the Church office (which is under "Brandon Early Work) I call an guy named Brandon Early. This is just a new form of evangelism I guess.

Anyway, the phone has been great...not a ton I would change other than more and better app. But with the open source nature of Google they are coming.

On to the 10 worst apps I have tried (in no specific order):
Mahjong - The one I used did not fit on the screen and I lost interest
Metal Detector - Supposedly this app uses something in the phone to detect metal...useless unless I start patting down people at an airport.
TV GUIDE USA - While very cool that it showed me every channel that I get it did not have a feature to search forward to what is on 3 hours form now.
Clock Programs - This is pretty general but I have tried a few apps that function as night alarm clocks and all are either to bright or have lame functions. I found that the Motorola docks have magnets in them to trigger their special Dock Clock (there is no native app for this) and the car mount. Watch this.
TunesRemote - I just cannot get it to work...it loops in pairing more

Off to Snow Camp Friday...I will write about my favorite apps when I get back

New Cell Phone...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:51:00 +0000

Yes, I got a new cell phone. I was using the HTC Imagio, very iPhone like (by like I mean look alike). The phone was running Windows Mobile 6.5 and was the best phone I have ever used. It was face, it had 9 home screens at the touch of your thumb, and a kick stand...seriously. The only thing wrong with it are the buttons at the bottom of the phone. They went bad on 4 different phones. Yes I went through 4 and after the 4th phone broke they decided to put me in a different model. They tried to put me in a phone that was half the price but I reminded them that was lame and requested the Motorola Droid.

I read an article a couple months ago the said the iPhone killer won't be a phone, it will be an app store. Even though Windows Mobile has bee out for years they have the worst apps. This Droid has so many useless app that I just do not know how I lived without. I have had my Droid for about 48 hours and it is amazing.

My next few posts will be about the phone apps. I will give my "Top 10 Favorite Apps", "Top 10 Worst Apps", and "Top 10 Apps I Wish Were."

But to tide both of my blog readers over until then check out this video. The Droid is the first mobile phone with Flash 10. It is not out yet but it sounds like it will be the first. Hulu here I come.

FREE STUFF - Christmas Time Give-a-ways

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Bible Software...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

I use my Logos Bible Software about every week. It is a great help because I have a ton of resources in it but also because I can take all those resources with me on my laptop. It is a pain to take a study Bible to a coffee shop much less 5000+ books. Anyway, if you are thinking about Bible software Logos just released version 4. It looks like a good upgrade but I wish they would work all the bugs out of the Mac version that just came out.

Check out all the book at http://www.logos.com/upgrade

Special FX....

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:36:00 +0000

I have been playing with Adobe After Effects for a few months now. It is extremely challenging to create an effect that interesting, cool or even usable. Check out the short clip from the upcoming movie 2012...many scenes are 100% digitally created and look 100% real...WOW!

My Boys

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:29:00 +0000

Brandon

Posted via email from Brandon's posterous

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:53:00 +0000

I like iTunes…all the music I buy I get digitally. I would go there every Tuesday and see what the latest releases were and maybe even make a purchase. Then I found that I could get the same music at Amazon.com for less money. I like spending less money. For instant I wanted the new Hawk Nelson release and it was $10 on iTunes but Amazon was running a sale on release day for $4. Same with the latest U2 release “No Line On The Horizon” Amazon had it for around $3, iTunes was around $10 and I saw it at Starbucks for around $15.

As much as I like iTunes and Amazon they are not the best at letting me know when music I like is coming out. Sure they have sections with what is coming out but nothing great. For this, I left iTunes and have been using a site called NEW RELEASE TUESDAY. They are pretty current and are full of information. Their niche is Christian music and they do a good job of keeping everything up-to-date.

Some features I really like at the FREE downloads and the full album previews. I was listening to the David Crowder Band’s new release Church Music a week before it was released. They add a few radio bumpers in the stream but it was not a big deal. I do find the site a bit busy, kind of cluttered and it is clear they are selling adds to keep the site up but I guess that is business. There are links to purchase music from each artist and the prices are reasonable but I buy all my music digitally, but if you want a hard copy make sure you price shop this site against Amazon and Wal-Mart.

The site has some other cool features beyond what I listed, like a new release list and coming soon list that reaches several months out. A huge list of Christian artists with a link to a good bio, twitter page (if they have one), headlines, upcoming events, music videos, and artist links for each artist. A lot of work is put in to this site.

Check it out and register by clicking the link below…if I get enough refer-a-friend points I might get a fancy t-shirt. http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/nrteam_register_invite.php?uname=uthguy9

The cool things:
Free Music
Album Previews
Artist Info
Release Dates

The not cool things:
Feels busy (too much going on)
Do not have digital downloads, Buy MP3’s from Amazon
I have never seen “Live Support” online (could just be me)

Tribes...FREE AUDIO BOOK

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:41:00 +0000

If you are looking for a good book to not read check this out...

CLICK

In Process...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:39:00 +0000

I am in the process of writing a "New Believers Guide." We saw over 170 decissions for Christ last school year. Last week was the start our our new school/ministry year and I had the privileged of praying with one of our students who wanted to give her life to Christ. We always give out a great Bible but we need to do so much more.

There are several students coming that gave their lives to Christ but not nearly 170. This makes me a little sad and yet it drives me to work hard to find a better way to follow up and connect those students to Christ and the Church.

So I would love your prayers as we develop a new believers class and as I work on a booklet/guide that will help these new family members grow.

Ready to Launch...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:42:00 +0000

This is the first summer in my 10 years at First Free that we took a summer break from our midweek program. As we evaluated the purpose of doing ministry we saw that it's purpose (evangelism) was hitting the mark all year long but falling short (way short) in the summers. We could have changed purposes but we are already heavy on discipleship and fellowship. We could have focused on worship and ministry but that is present in our Sundays, events, bi-weekly ministry opportunities (SummerWood), mission trips (and training). We were either redoing/replicating ministry or we were running a student ministries "child care" program and that did not seem like it was honoring God. September 2nd is coing soon...that is our first ministry night back from our summer break. I feel like this break was very valuable. Other than all that was mentioned for pausing ministry here is what else we are hoping is value added:

Leadership is fresh and focused
Each series from now to next summer is planned
Small groups are ready and we are using the new LIVE Curriculum
Taking a break gave us a unique opportunity to get with our adult volunteer staff
We did not lose connection with students; there was still Sunday School, twice the events, 10 service opportunities, 2 Mission Trips, and we focused on individual contact instead of large group ministry.

All this said we are hoping for some big payoffs:

Entering ministry with freshness (mental and physical: we were getting tired. While other ministries were launching in the Spring, Student Ministries "continued" it 50 week schedule...we did not meet the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and 4th of July when it fell on a Wednesday)
Entering ministry with freshness part 2 (fresh ideas, ready to start instead of finding the energy to keep going creatively)
Prepared and excited leaders
And anticipation. We hope that our students are crazy excited to begin again. This could be a great momentum builder.

There is more I could say but these are the main points. Do you take a break in ministry? What do you see as benefits? Has this hurt your ministries?

David Crowder* Band 4...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:56:00 +0000

New Book

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:56:00 +0000

I am really looking forward to reading my new book "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. Thanks to my friend Sue who went to the "Christian Retail Show" in Denver and picked up a pre-release for me. It is not available to the general public until September first. YAHOO!!!!

David Crowder* Band 3...I love these...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Cool FREE font...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Watch the video too...this is a pretty cool was to make a font.
http://nl.toyota.be/cars/new_cars/iq/iq_font.aspx

Ukraine trip slide show...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Weddings...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:44:00 +0000

I have been in a lot of weddings this summer. I kind of wish I was in this one...

Free Text Blasts...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:04:00 +0000

I am convinced that there is no “one way” to get info to our youth but there are better ways than others. We call students, mail things to homes, use fliers, we have a youth ministry webpage, a facebook group, and the list goes on and on…

This can get exhausting but I heard that a person needs seven contacts to really remember something. Whether that is true or not it is a good idea to have your info out there in multiple forms so your audience can have access to it at their ease.

All that said we know most people have a cell phone and that cell phone is on them all the time. The text message alert has bee a hugely successful contacting method for our ministry. You can send out group messages with services like the ad based textmarks…a free or pay service (I do not recommend ad based services for youth, you have no control over the ads. I have discontinued my service with them due to the nature of their ads). You could also use a pay only service like SimplyTXT, which is a solid service, and you will never have to worry about content because it is 100% from you. While these services are great and come with different perks you still have to pay and in some cases BIG BUCKS but did you know you could do this for FREE?

Create a card to give to students asking for:
NAME:
CELL NUMBER:
CARRIER:
(If they are not 18 years old it might be a good idea to ask for a parent’s signature so you are not responsible for running up a students cell phone bill.)

Once these cards are filled out and back in your hands just add the info to an address/email program like Microsoft Outlook. But instead of entering their cell number in the “mobile phone” entry, enter their number in the email entry as an email address. You can find the proper extension for each major carrier below.

For example if my cell number was 815-555-1234 and my carrier was Verizon I would add an entry for Brandon Early with email 8155551234@vtext.comto my address book. After entering all the cards I would create a distribution list called “TEXTING” (or what ever you want to call it) and add all the subscribers to this list. Now you are set to send out FREE group text messages from your computer. Anything I send to 8155551234@vtext.comwill come to that cell phone as a text message and if they “reply” it comes to my inbox.

Remember that text messages are only 160 characters. Be wise with your words and keep the messages (subject and all) under 160 characters (including spaces). Also, it is a good idea to tell your students how often you plan to send messages. The students with unlimited will not care but those who pay for each message might be more cautious to sign up. I committed to sending one or two a month plus any special events or deadlines.

Have fun, run contests, give away a $20 discount to your winter camp to the first 3 people who respond to your text, pray for students and send them all a messages letting them know, add a comment to this post letting us know how you use group text messages or how you plan on using them.

Here is a list of carrier email address endings, if I am missing one you need just google it.

Alltel (10-digit phone number)@message.alltel.com
AT&T (10-digit phone number)@txt.att.net
Boost Mobile (10-digit phone number)@myboostmobile.com
Nextel (10-digit telephone number)@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint (10-digit phone number)@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile (10-digit phone number)@tmomail.net
Verizon (10-digit phone number)@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile USA(10-digit phone number)@vmobl.com

Want to go to a ministry conference for free?

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:25:00 +0000

I cannot pay your way but maybe you would like to watch or listen to some great online content.

Here are several links to audio and video from Advance 09 below.
http://theresurgence.com/advance_conference_2009

David Crowder* Band 2

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:27:00 +0000

David Crowder* Band 1

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:08:00 +0000

Meat Cards...

noreply@blogger.com (brandonearly) — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:00:00 +0000

That's right folks, Meat Cards, business cards made from meat. This is the thing that will take my speaking ministry to the next level.