Facebook killer? No…it’s more than that.
Twitter killer? Not so much even in that arena.

Here are my highlights and why G+ will take a very dominant role in the online arena.

Making social, personal

I like the organization they’ve built in right from the start. It allows me to not only be sure I hear the people that really matter to me but also allows me to have unique conversations with different groups. The story I tell to pastors is different than what I tell to artists. Circles gives that unique message to each.

An even longer tail

G+ has it’s ‘like’ button (+1) but also takes a queue from Twitter with ‘share’. Not only is this something that I find missing in Facebook, but I think it will go beyond just sharing it in my stream because of this:

Google+Everything

And this is how I think Google’s play is a huge move. This isn’t about competing against Facebook or Twitter, this is bigger than social media. G+ brings your email, your documents, your photos, the blogs you read, events you’re attending and brings them all together. It blurs the line between them all, or rather knocks down the wall. Like this presentation says it’s all about the cloud.

And this really is just the start. I believe this was a huge move by Google. I’m not super active with it yet as I’m not a huge fan of in-browser software (my gmail is within mac mail, facebook and twitter through Hootsuite, etc), but this has huge potential.

If you don’t have G+ yet and need an invite just leave a message. If you’re on, what are your reactions so far?

Oh, and you can find me at gplus.to/holycow

Whenever we talk about originality, don’t just copy, stop basing every sermon on a tv show, etc. we’ve all heard the quick retort of

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

It’s been talked about in the lab, Phil Cooke talks about it, as well as the old “talent imitates, but genius steals.” , it’s an old debate. One that will probably never find a conclusion.

Here’s my take in a nutshell…it’s a cop out to say we can’t be original. To pull a verse out of content to support or take one quote to excuse medicority, especially in the way we communicate The Creator, just lazy.

Nothing new? Here’s something that got me thinking about this. Ask these guys what they think:

Here’s how they describe themselves (I think they might be related to Holy Cow!):

At LEGO, it’s all about play. Sure, we work hard, but when your work is about playing, we like to make sure we’re the best in the world.

And that definitely reflects in these business cards.

*Hey Lego see how I gave you free advertising? That’s gotta be worth sending me one of these cool business cards. Right?

These ideas work not because they are clever, but because they rattle your mind. The mind loves to be surprised, but in order to do that you have to push your creativity outside of your comfort zone. Enjoy!

Mini Cooper: “Test your handling skills”

ESPN: “Soccer is good everywhere, but it is much better on ESPN channels.”

Schizophrenia awareness: “Schizophrenia can be treated. Seek help.”

Wash Your Hands: “92% of guys say they washed. 34% were lying.”

Built by Kolbrener, a lead generation agency

Take a look around your church, look for that boring info area, sitting area, dark corner…what can you do to make it enjoyable and interactive, something worth talking about?

Check out the rest here.

Here’s a video that should remind all of us – creatives, pastors, designers, technicians, communicators – that i innovation is most always preceded by a bit of craziness. Aim for the impossible and be bold enough to go against everything that we call normal.

Check out inner city snail for more pictures.

As most of you know, I’m a pretty big fan of originality and don’t put a lot of credit in a copycat of the latest TV show, or in this case political campaign. What do you think, does something like this blend in or does it stand out as a church being relevant?

One post puts the struggle well: culturally relevant vs. creatively independent.

Here’s my thought…marketing is all about communication, so what does something like this communicate? Do you look at it, read it and say oh good, Granger is going to talk about the changes in their service structure? Do you read, oh I see Granger supports Obama? What is it communicating? If it’s just slick…well, then can we wonder why people shut the door on “church marketing”?

What do you think?

In the city I live we once had a great restaurant downtown that was known for great food and the perfect setting. They were always the most expensive and always full.

Then a new bar opened across the street. In all its brand new glory it attracted a crowd and began to pull some of the business from across the street…they were now full all evening.

In response, the restaurant changed itself and turned itself into a bar. It’s now lucky to have 4 tables full.

They couldn’t get past someone else’s success and figured it meant they were unsuccessful when in fact people most likely had some dinner, maybe a glass of wine and went across the street for some music and dancing.

It is so easy pastors, churches, all of us to look at the what’s been hot for the last 5 minutes and panic. All of a sudden we have to be just like them…we’ve lost the concept of originality.

In the church we copy sermon series, preaching styles, marketing campaigns…you name it, and we wonder why we didn’t have the same blockbuster as the originating church. They’ve lost there personality.

We need to celebrate our uniqueness while celebrating other’s success.

We don’t need another them, we need you to be you.