Bringing social media to a different planet

A few weeks ago I posted a cryptic statement on my Facebook page.

"You'll never guess who wants to know what I know."

Lots of people guessed, mostly in snarky comments, but I couldn't really elaborate until I had a confirmation.  A few minutes ago, I got the confirmation.  It may not mean much to most of you but I'm pretty blown away by it.

I will be speaking about demystifying social media to clergy and laypeople attending the Assemblies of God Northern California/Nevada District Council, an annual conference held in Sacramento for the largest district in the world's fastest growing Protestant denomination.  There are many reason to be excited about this, but I will give you the one that gets to me.  

For more than 100 years, evangelical churches have been at the forefront of blocking access to new communication technologies, but eventually adopt them when they see the value in reaching new audiences.  For the first time, a leading denomination is stepping into the water and catching the first wave.  We live in a very polarized world and most of our media encourages that polarization.  Information flow is curtailed but opinion-mongering is encouraged.  Social media, in it's most effective forms, encourages debate, conversation and a positive flow of information.  It is uncontrolled and democratic.  The fact that a very conservative group of people wants to start experimenting with best practices in social media is incredibly exciting to me.

It's going to happen the week of April 19 and it's closed to the public, delegates only, but I'm probably going to broadcast it on Vpype if you're interested.

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