YWAM Networks

Need to schedule a meeting across multiple YWAM locations and even timezones? Maybe you should give Doodle a try.

Doodle is a free service which will help you organize any meeting like a “board meeting, business lunch, conference call, family reunion, movie night, or any other group event”. You don’t even have to create an account with them, although you can if you want to. They also offer a paid-for service which will let you choose your own theme, track who hasn’t voted yet and sent out reminders.

It’s really easy to use. All you have to do is go to their website, click the “Schedule event” button and you’re on your way.

Click to get started

You can choose multiple dates and multiple times per day. It even offers time-zone support so people know exactly for which time-zone the selected times apply.

So, check it out and let us know what you think.

I’ve been playing around with the BuddyPress plugin(s) for WordPress-MU.  Check it out at http://ywamnetworks.com and, if you’re interested in networking with other communication staff in YWAM, sign up for a free account and start networking.

This is still experimental, so I might just quit using it at some point, but it looks very promising.

From February 2nd until the 6th, 75 YWAM leaders from all four regions in Europe–Northern, Central, Eastern and Western–convened on the Eastern Comfort houseboat hostel on the River Spree, moored alongside the East- Side gallery, part of the Berlin Wall that is still standing, for the bi-annual European Leadership Forum.  EuroCom was privileged to have the opportunity of leading one of the sessions. Read the rest of this entry →

Cross-post on The Donkey’s Mouth

These are taken from John Maxwell’s latest Leadership Wired e-mail newsletter. You can subscribe to it here: www.giantimpact.com

“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.”
~ Keith Ferrazzi

“Always recognize that human beings are ends, and do not use them as means to your ends.”
~ Immanuel Kant

“Your network determines your net worth.”
~ Anonymous

Instead of “How are you doing?”, a much more relevant question nowadays would be, “How’s your inbox?”

My inbox is a measly 1754 messages (none unread), but what about those of us who have 3000, 4000 or 5000+ e-mails in our inboxes? If that’s the case with your inbox, check out this series of articles by Merlin Mann over at 43 Folders which looks at the “skills, tools, and attitude needed to empty your email inbox — and then keep it that way”.

I know, sometimes you just want to take the “trouble” off the word and “shoot” Skype. When it works, it is really great, when it doesn’t work, well…

Here’s a good article on troubleshooting Skype:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2002061_troubleshoot_skype_voip.html

Hope it helps some of you out there.

Check out YWAM European director Jeff Fountains Weekly Word @ http://www.ywameurope.org/news/word.asp

I’d like to pass this along from Rob Abraham of the YWAM International Communications Network.

The new YWAM Promotional DVD is now available! We are very excited to release this DVD and hope that it will spread YWAM’s passion to know God and to make Him known. The videos on this DVD are excellent tools for recruiting, promoting and fundraising.

The four videos are:
• We are YWAM (3 min.) is a fast-paced glimpse of YWAM worldwide aimed at getting youth excited and involved.
View it on YouTube

• Get Involved (4 min.) is an invitation to churches to learn more about YWAM and how they and their youth can be part of this international, interdenominational missions movement.
View it on YouTube

• Get Going (5 min.) is all about YWAM’s life-changing Discipleship Training School.
View it on YouTube

• Think YWAM (10 min.) is a sit-down talk with two YWAMers sharing the heart of YWAM’s wide-spread ministry.
View it on YouTube :
Part 1
Part 2

We invite you to post comments and rate these videos on YouTube. We also hope to make them available for download as podcasts through ywam.org soon. Please help spread the word.
To order DVDs for US$5 each plus shipping, please email pr@ywam.org
If you are interested in having these videos in your language, email: procla[at]intlcom.org

Don’t forget to order the new YWAM international brochures too! Print ready data for 6 different brochure designs is available – customized in local languages, with your local YWAM ministry contact info on it for localized printing. More info on all these new materials is available at : http://ywam.org/contents/sta_res_promo.htm
or email: pr[at]ywam.org

David Berlind over at ZDNet has posted an article on trackpads vs pointing sticks of the kind that you find on thinkpads.

One MacBook with a Thinkpad keyboard please (or OS X running on Windows, when hell freezes over) by ZDNet‘s David Berlind — Just because almost everybody is doing it, does that mean it’s a good idea? Or does that mean that we’ve somehow been hoodwinked into thinking this makes sense. I’m talking about touchpads. Somehow, users have been convinced that these kissin-cousins to the digitizing tablets that graphics artists use (where the technology benefits productivity) make [...]

Is this guy on crack or something? Sure, I agree with him about trackpads. Who really uses the trackpad on their mac laptops anyway? I’m a macfreak but I avoid using the trackpad on my powerbook as much as possible. I’m also a productivity freak so I use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible. But pointing sticks? Please, that’s so 90′s.

My only brief experience with a pointing stick was when I had to help a friend with his Toshiba back in the 90′s. My only hope was that I could get the job done as soon as possible so I wouldn’t have to use that stupid, little pointing stick anymore.

Sure, it was fast. Too fast. Speed went up and accuracy plummeted. The fact that it may be harder for manufacturers to make or maintain is not the real reason why it has never caught on. People don’t like them.

Want speed and accuracy? Use a mouse. Want productivity? Keep your fingers on the keyboard as much as possible and use shortcuts. That is unless you get paid by the hour, of course. In that case, feel free to use whatever outdated, outmoded technology you wish to use.

Technorati Tags: productivity, trackpads, pointing-sticks

This is a link post for any fellow podcasters out there. As you may well know, if you are trying to make a podcast, it’s nice to have some background music/intro music/bumper music. However, you can’t just use any old music because of copyright laws.

This actually goes for anyone who is trying to make a presentation or a video of some kind which will be displayed in front of a larger audience like a church or even distributed via the internet. It’s my understanding that if you’re just showing the video/presentation to a small audience in your own home then you’re safe to use whatever kind of music you want, however, if at some point you decide to post it on your blog or show it to your church on Sunday morning, then you’re going to have either redo your presentation using copyright-free music or obtain a costly license to use the music.

Well, here are some links to places that offer free music that you can use for just about anything except for commercial purposes (some of them can even be used for that). Please refer to the license information provided with each song or on the website itself. Some artists do ask to be notified if it is going to be used publicly, and some of them ask you not to remix the music in anyway (using excerpts notwithstanding), but others place absolutely no restrictions at all on their music. Two of them are secualr websites where you might find some Christian music and the last one is specifically worship:

Podsafe Music Network
macjams.com
freeworshipmusic.com