Want to bring keep your church, board or volunteer organisation together safely? Don't know where to start? Here's an intro to the tech that can help!
Images Copyright: Vatican Museums / NOKIA Corporation / Artwork: Brendan Joseph Madden

Want to bring keep your church, board or volunteer organisation together safely? Don't know where to start? Here's an intro to the tech that can help!

Brendan Joseph Madden Brendan Joseph Madden

Brendan Joseph Madden

Artist and Researcher | Branding, Textile Design

发布日期: 2020年3月14日
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I'm seeing a lot of people are still organizing large gatherings in person, and others with anxiety and uncertainty around conferences, church services, and other gatherings.

I am realizing that a lot of people don't realize the technology exists for free or at low-cost that will allow you do all this virtually. I want to:

  1. Reassure you that there are fantastic resources available that can replace all in-person gatherings, from board meetings to church services and conferences/conventions of up to 10,000 people.
  2. You don't need to be tech-savvy to do some of these, and I'm here to help whether you want to do something more complex, or more simple, particularly in terms of being simple to access.
  3. I'm offering myself for free to anyone who needs it for a 30-minute consultation via phone/skype/video chat. My direct mobile/cell numbers are:
  • +353 86 384 1722 / + 353 1 491 4786 (Ireland)
  • +1 212 401 4885 / +1 475 777 2 555 (United States / Canada) / +1 888 247 6724 (toll Free)
  • +44 75 11 722 812 (United Kingdom)
  • Email: [email protected]

If you are reading this and have this skillset, then feel free to copy and paste anything relevant with or without attribution and share it with your own contacts.

None of the services linked to are 'affiliate links' and I do not benefit from clicking any of them, so click whatever you like! :-)

If you are reading this and are overwhelmed or need any help, just reach out either via the methods above or linkedin messenger.

This run-down is not comprehensive, and I've put it together quickly, but I hope it helps. With every best wish, be well everyone!

-Brendan

Presenting Via Video

Many of us use Facebook and Youtube, and you will know that you can 'go live' via your computer directly on one. But not everyone will be on Facebook, so it's good to know that you can use a 'third party' live casting service, and that this will 'serve' your video in real time to facebook and other platforms using what's called an "API". It's like magic! You can run a live video on any page you are the admin of. You can also send a direct link to the feed out via Email. One of the better cheaper options is zoom.com.

If you aren't tech savvy, why not use the Google Hangouts or Skype apps on your phone or computer. This will allow you to have a meeting with up to 10,000 attendees, and to control whether people can come in via video link, can type into a feed, etc. It's a great 'out of the box' option.

Recording with your camera and uploading

You may prefer to record, and then distribute it after, particularly if you want to do a series of content and your team are only available at certain times. I recommend in this case to use a good digital camera with a tripod. You can, of course, have someone record using a smartphone if you do not have access to a camera. Most typical SLRs will record high-quality autofocus video. The only issue will be sound. I recommend either using a microphone that connects to the AUDIO INPUT on your camera, or if you do not have one, you can use a 'field recorder'. Your computer software will sync this all together after. If you've ever wondered what the hollywood style 'clapboards' are for, it's for this sync! Grab the person in your organisation who's best skilled in this area as it's all 'much easier when you know how'.

You can use Youtube or Vimeo to host your uploaded video:

Hardware / Budget

To start off with, this does NOT need to cost any money. The best basic solutions are still all under €300 / ￡250 / $300. I recommend using a computer (desktop or laptop) instead of your phone. I recommend using an external webcam preferably one that can do "1080p" or above, but if it's a lower quality one that has a zoom, and you already have it, just use that. If you're stuck you can use the camera on your laptop.

A decent microphone can be one of two types, either a desktop mic like the 'blue yeti' or stand mic, or a clip-on one. Clip-on mics are called 'lavalier' mics. This is if you do not have a mixing desk or audiovisual system already.

If you have this system, then you can use a USB computer interface to feed it into your desktop or laptop. A basic interface will cost approximately ￡150.

For audio-only, if you can't do this, or you have an older system, you can use what's called a 'field recorder' (like a Zoom or Tascam), which should be able to plug into the output on your desk.

Some good webcams:

Some better webcams:

￡150+

These feature things like zoom, remote control, continuous autofocus, this is great if you want a permanent solution going forward as you can mount them in your auditorium:

An All-in-One Solution (includes a microphone and speaker)

Podcasting

If you want to host these on all the major podcast platforms, you can use a 'podcast distributor' which sends the 'feed' out to all the services such as apple podcasts, google podcasts, spotify, etc. Some distributors include:

(Support Guide: https://support.megaphone.fm/en/articles/1560879-how-do-i-distribute-my-podcast-on-apple-stitcher-google-spotify-pandora-and-other-platforms)

Newsletters

If you have resources or news you want to share, there are lots of options. If you already use one like constant contact, stick to it. If you don't, I'm going to briefly cover Mailchimp and Squarespace Campaigns.

Mailchimp is a very good system that's widely used, and it's easy to add your mailing list into it. I like it because it's not too hard, there's very simple templates, but it gives a huge amount of scope should you wish to keep using it into the future.

It will let you know if any emails bounced, unsubscribed, were delivered, and when they were opened. If you're still doing a manual list or 'mail merge' then this will make things easier for when you have to communicate more regularly.

If you have under 2000 contacts, I also recommend keeping a time stamped database (i.e. save the file as 14-03-2020-all-contacts.xlsx) as an excel spreadsheet, if you have multiple lists, you can use multiple tabs, and you can have them all feed to one master list for critical announcements. Excel is great because you can keep and sort all the info you need for multiple purposes at a glance, and can very quickly put all the phone numbers or email addresses you need into another system like Mailchimp or Webtext.

If you use Squarespace for your website, there is a mailing list facility built-in which is not as robust as Mailchimp but does work very well, it's under marketing -> campaigns. You can send your first three mailouts for free. I find that they tend to go to the main inbox, but your experience may vary.

Sending out A High Volume of Texts

You can use a 'Business Mass SMS Distribution Service', which if you have a cloud-based telecom service, you'll probably have on your online dashboard. This is the best solution.

You can also use your mobile network's Webtext Service, which means replies will all come to your nominated phone.

If you have an Android Phone, or iPhone, you may not realise you can send and view all SMS texts on your desktop/laptop computer. You can also do this with Whatsapp. To use these services you'll scan a 'QR Code' (3D Barcode) on your computer screen with the relevant app on your phone, it will give you all the instructions you need.

Android

Whatsapp

iCloud

To enable SMS on the cloud please visit https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208532

Sending Postcards

Mailchimp includes a postcard service, and you can also see who did not receive or did not open your email, and contact them via post or SMS. If it's a small amount of people, you can 'export' that list, and add it into your office mail merge to send letters as you normally do.

https://mailchimp.com/features/postcards/

Again, I'm happy to provide a free one-to-one phone and/or skype session with anyone who needs it. If you're in Ireland, my mobile number is 086 384 1722, and my email is [email protected] (international contacts above).

Why I'm doing this

The reason I'm doing this is that I believe technology can help us do what matters whilst keeping safe. I believe that regardless of government advice, we should ALL be observing 'social distancing' where we keep 2m between us, and limiting gatherings small or large to only what's essential.

I have realized that running a small global business that relies on technology, I have something I can do here to help. I do appreciate that you want to maintain community connections and pastoral care, but there ARE solutions, even as simple as face timing someone who is self-isolating at home.

I've seen great suggestions from organizing to shop for someone locally, and going on a walk with a group instead of meeting in a room, but of course limiting your distance to 2m. You could even have a pit stop at a local coffee shop to help them stay in business. It's good to appoint a point person for volunteer co-ordination if you have either a lot of resources or a lot of need, and to work together with other churches or organisations to spread the load.

Brendan Joseph Madden

Artist and Researcher | Branding, Textile Design

4 年

https://www.gotomeeting.com/en-ie/work-remote Log Me In (one of my tech providers at Brendan Joseph) are putting together a home working survival software kit for free. I didn't include this in my list as it's not Normally free, but it's amazing to see generosity emerge as the theme of this season.

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