Pardon the geekiness of the post, but... if you know me then you know that as far as my hobbies go they are wrapped up in video games and comic books. So, for me, E3 is one of the most important "entertainment" events of the year for me. Basically, it's the week where all the big publishers trot out their upcoming releases for the remainder of the year and a little beyond.
The biggest news usually always comes out of the big three press conferences: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. The nature of the video game marketplace is very competitive, with people investing their time and money into usually one system or another and wanting their chosen system to have the best showing and "win." However, since my dad was a 'gamer' before there ever was the term 'gamer,' we've usually always had all the systems in any given generation (Atari and Intellivision, Sega Master System and NES, etc etc).
Now that I'm older anad on my own, well... that hasn't changed. I won the 360 through a contest, the Wii was bought on day one, and we got a PS3 because it was the cheapest blu-ray player... and anticipation of LittleBigPlanet. So, for me, seeing what was presented at the press conferences basically sets up what I'm going to be playing for the next 6-8 months or so.
Microsoft
Microsoft's Xbox Press Conference was, imho, the 'winner' this year. For me, the most important part of gaming is having new experiences. I've literally been gaming my whole life, so innovation is important. This fall, Microsoft is recreating the Xbox software, changing the dashboard and adding new features. What's the real innovation?
Xbox Primetime
Appearantly, there's going to be set gaming times where people can come together to play a game show like 1vs100. The idea is that one person will get picked to actually be the contestant... and actually win stuff for real. Instead of just watching 1vs100, you literally get to be a part of the mob. Color me impressed. Basically, Microsoft just created an entirely new genre of games, and redefined what we will come to call "episodic gaming."
What else did the announce to take up my time? Fable 2 is going to rock my world. In this game, everything effects everything. You can buy any house, save - or kill - any character, etc etc. Viva Pinata 2 will likely do a repeat of 2006 and manage to literally steal 3 full days of my life. They also announced "You're in the Movies" which seems... interesting. Basically, you play mini-games with the camera, and then the game pulls out the video of you playing the game and makes a movie out of it. Could be a blast... could be a bomb. I'm interested enough that I'll give it a look... if I can buy it w/o buying another camera.
Nintendo
Oh, Nintendo. How you wound me. I bought the Wii with such high expectations. I dreamt of wonderful gaming, new experiences and pure, unadulterated fun. You delivered akward gameplay and Dreamcast/Gamecube graphics. Zelda was fun. Thanks for that.
So this year, I had high hopes. The Wii has been around for awhile. Animal Crossing was due to be revealed, and surely they had some suprises. And then... you bombed. You failed. It was almost embarrassing.
Wii Sports 2 was announced, with a new add-on to the controller that makes it do what the Wii should have always done: let you have sword fights. This does look good... but doesn't come out until the Spring. And you've burned me enough already... so you'll need more than swordfighting in Wii Sports 2 to interst me. (I say that now... but c'mon. It's sword fighting. I'm buying it.)
Animal Crossing for the Wii is starting to show the limitations of the Wii. Their online service is just way too lackluster. It's almost painful, guys. No central server, only 4 (i think) people in a town at a time. And you need to let me do more than go fishing with my friends.
Sigh. That's it for the highlights that interested me. You guys fumbled big time.
Sony
Sony had a very strong showing this year. Resistance 2 almost has me more interested than Gears of War 2 (for the Xbox) does... I'll only be buying on this fall. I might actually have to take reviews into consideration.
LittleBigPlanet is, hands down, the gaming reason I bought a PS3. They used it in the conference to show off their numbers and data. I cannot wait until the first time I get to make a presentation at work on "interactive media" and end up using LittleBigPlanet to do it.
Sony also showed a preview of what could have made them win the show for me... but they didn't announce any kind of release for it. DC Universe Online is going to pick up where Microsoft fumbled (they cancelled their Marvel online game). It's going to steal my life when it comes out. Jim Lee on stage sealed the deal for me. DC Universe, by itself, could make Sony the winner at next year's E3.
So... I now get to sort out what I will be playing the next few months (outside of Rock Band 2). It looks like Microsoft will be getting the most of my time and money, with Sony coming in strong second. Nintendo? Step up your game, please. I want to like you again.
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My buddy Kris and I have played Rock Band far too much. Last night, I purchased the Pixies Doolittle album for it (mmm... such good music!). While joyously reliving my teen years through the album, we were jamming out to one of the tracks, "Silver," when we decided to try it on expert (we usually play on hard, with the occasional expert setting).
'Silver,' on Rock Band, on Expert, on the drums, is quite possibly one of the easiest songs in the game. And, for my efforts, I got 100% on the song. And the first 100% you get on expert comes with a little chime:
A while back, Ashley and I got the pleasure of meeting John Porcaro, Director of Marketing for the XBOX 360. It was the first time I got to meeting someone whose blog I followed before ever knowing them (I'm still waiting to cross paths with Scoble and Penelope, two of my other unofficial career advisers.). While John is the curator of the GamerScoreBlog, he also has his own marketing blog, which is how I originally found him. He slacked off for about a year but - suddenly - has come back to the blogging world (welcome back, John)!
Waaaaaaay back when... a looooong time ago, John posted this about writing employee reviews. The post is tailored to the way Microsoft does their employee reviews, but there is a lot that you can gleam from it regarding how to act at work.
Four years later, he returns to the concept.
Go read those posts, then continue on...
What I really like about John's suggestions is that they are practical and relational. It's easy to get caught up in the fear of a career going badly, so we end up trying to be mediocre. A few of his thoughts that I'd like to expand upon:
Sometimes Mistakes Can be the Best Thing: This is so true. Mistakes happen; we're human. But what makes a great employee is one who can recover from a mistake. If we mess up and decide to just drop everything... then we come out looking bad. Mistakes are opportunities.
Doing your job really well will make you mediocre: Yes, yes, yes. To pull a quote from the post:
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You were hired to do a job. You’re being paid to deliver results that are worth a lot of money to the company. Your reward for doing everything you committed is collecting your paycheck.Yes! Look - I, of course, love the idea of incentives and bonuses. And, if you bring in way beyond the expected value to the company, I think a nice bonus is great encouragement. But, ultimately, we are NOT entitled to a paycheck. We have to work for it. If I aimed to just do my job really well, I wouldn't have nearly the amount of fun that I get to do. Open Access isn't in my job decription, neither are the LifeWay Conversations. But going that extra mile means I get to have so much more fun and - in the process - acquire the skills needed for where I want my career to take me. Make It About You: This is one that I struggle with, especially in light of the culture where I work. We're all too humble. It's awkward trying to say, "Hey! Look what I did!" It's looked down upon, and intentions are questioned. But... it's important to your career. The key is finding a balance. I hope my employers continue to give me the grace to figure that balance out. Thankfully, I work for great managers who often point out the good that I do to me, not the other way around. It's a luxury (note to other managers in the world: your employees will love you if you come to them to tell them how awesome they are. It's honoring, humbling, and will make your employees work even harder to be great). Be visible: again, a potentially awkward one. Here's my take on it: if I have free time in my schedule, I ask for more work. This is how I've gotten to attempt and e-Bay Store, ran usability tests, got on the Open Access team, and am now working on a product proposal for something that I think will go through (amongst other various tasks). If you have free time in your day, don't just chill and surf. Enhance your skills and further your career. Oh, and sit near the front at important meetings. and the last one to point out on here (seriously, go read his posts... he's got other good points and speaks with much more authority than I do) is the one that will best help manage your career. Ask for the promotion before the interview: Wild concept, eh? Think about the reality of employment... there are budgets to consider, work flows to manage, and daily meetings to go through. If you're a good employee, your manager isn't going to want to see you move on... they want you to keep working for them. So... you might have to nudge a bit that you're ready to venture upward. What's great about this is, almost always, the manager isn't going to have an open position to magically put you in. Instead, you might get more responsibilty given, to try and test you out. More responsibility for no increase in pay? Yes! That's OK. That's how things work. How else are you going to get that valuable experience? Thinking about your career is a must. You can't just expect to be a superstar employee that HR will magically want to promote; you have to work towards it. One of my favorite past times right now is looking at random job postings. Not because I want a new job, but because I'm trying to see what are qualifications and experience that I'll need for the next steps in my career. If I can manage to bring in some of those qualifications into my current role... then I'll be better prepared for the next job. The only thing worse than never getting promoted is getting promoted to a job you can't handle.
My second article for Collide Magazine, Stop Throwing Sheep, is now available online at their website. The article is about the Facebook applicatins that have been created by various churches. Through the article I got to interview Scott Miller of Watermark Community Church to talk about their JoinTheJourney program and Bobby Gruenewald at LifeChurch.tv about how they utilize Facebook. Check it out!
So tonight, Ashley and I watched Across the Universe, the Beatles musical. The movie was - literally - trippy, and the music was simply astounding. As it should be; it is the Beatles, after all.
As I was watching the movie, I recognized most of the music but there were some songs that I hadn't heard before (I really loved "Dear Prudence" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun," both of which were new to me). Here's the probelm with the Beatles, though: they aren't accessible to me.
While watching the movie I thought, "man, I need to download their music" since I have a Zune Pass and can download whatever I want. But it's not there. Amazon MP3? Nope. iTunes? Not there either.
The only way to get the Beatles music is via CDs. And I don't buy CDs.
It's not that I couldn't go out and buy a CD... obviously that's humanly possible. I just... don't. I don't want the cluttler. I don't want to have to keep up with a disc. I don't want to be bothered to go to the store. I don't want to have to buy a whole album if I only want a few songs. It's just not how I consume my music anymore.
So here I am, a willing customer. I want to listen to the Beatles and would love to get to put their stuff on my computer, and let their art entertain me. But - because I'm spoiled with the convience of doing everything digitally - it's not going to happen until someone convinces them to put it out there.
I jsut don't understand why it's not out there? In today's fast moving marketplace, why would a band so integral to the shape of today's music not want to be involved in today's marketplace? Why silo your work to an old media type that people would be fighting over to be able to distribute for you? Seriously... it's not that hard to publish content online.
Ah well. It's a shame that the Beatles don't want me to listen to their music. Instead, I just got the Across the Universe soundtrack, and it's pleasing to my ears.
When you decide to play nice, Beatles, I'll be waiting.Whenever I begin a new role in life, I seek to set some milestones for myself. In my current role, I recogonized some immediate needs (exceeding revenue expectations, improving the quality and diversity of the product), but also ancillary tasks I wanted to complete. One of those was to bring our customers into the walls of LifeWay to see the personalities and passions of the incredible people that I get to work with. So far, over 20,000 people have viewed the various LifeWay Conversations strewn about LifeWay.com (and collected right here for my blog readers).
I'm proud to say that LifeWay has had the foresight to offer a product that's based on this very concept: to not only give an open look at how LifeWay crafts its resources, but to give the customers a chance to contribute as well. This project is called Open Access.
Last week, I got to see the fulfillment of my dream to help bring people into the walls of LifeWay. Somehow, the team decided that it was okay for me to shoot one of our meetings. The entire team approved the idea.
I know... it's a strange thing for me to be so excited about. But I love the fact that we can be open enough with our business that we're able to give people a glimpse into what it's like to work here. Sure, it may be a boring video and you might get dizzy with my movements (the filming was just me and a handheld... we've got to look at a better way to film in the future), but it's raw with real people doing real work and making real decisions.
You can view the video here.
I think it would be great to see other corporations have the boldness to pull back the curtain a bit and give a glimpse into their corporate culture and processes. Being able to do things like this makes me honored to be an employee here at LifeWay.
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Sega and Hasbro just announced a robot that follows you around playing music. Oh joyous triumph of science! I look forward to my ways of walking around the office with a robot following me through the halls playing my theme music, Also Sprach Zathura.
Article 
I have been asked to be a part of the premiere issue of Relevant Network's first issue of their new resource for leader, Neue. I'm honored to take part, as I truly believe this is going to be incredible resource for leaders. However, because this is the first issue for the resource, I'm having a bit of trouble finding the right voice for my article.
My initial take on the topic (new media for ministies) was to approach it from a philosophical point of view. I blog regularly, I create videos, I'm working on my own personal metanarrative stories, I'm utilizing micromessaging for LIfeWay content... I'm deep in the trenches of utilizing new media on a regular basis. So, what interested me was something a bit more abstract, talking about some of the history of media and how we got to "new media," and then connecting the two to see a bit why we do new media the way we do... and, thus, how we should do it.
My editor, the wonderfully patient Corene Isreal at Relevant Networks, wasn't interested in all that. ;-)
The great thing about working with an editor like Corene is that she is able to both uplift me in what I've done right but also sternly let me know what she's looking for. The fact of the matter is they have a plan and an image for their product; if I'm going to tell my message the two need to match.
I think the key for any freelance writer that's starting out is a willingness to be teachable and flexible. I know the messages that are important to my heart and threads of them will naturally come out in anything I write. Corene, however, knows what she wanted for this article, and waxing philosophically about the history of media and the cultural concepts behind new media was not it.
To quote Corene's first round of feedback for me:
In general, you should give specific examples of churches, websites, blogs, etc., that are doing cutting-edge things. As someone who knows a lot about new media, you likely come into contact with or know about a lot of innovative things happening. When you talk about blogs, for examples, give examples of some churches/ministries that are doing some creative and cool things and talk about why. Same with the other sections. Be specific and allow people to really hone in on what you're talking about.Yeah, that's totally what I didn't do. Oops. It's tough for me because of the dreaded "curse of knowledge" - like she said, I come into contact with innovative things that are happening all the time. But, at my pace of life, what was innovative a three months ago is copied and processed and old hat already. Writing this article really made me stop and think: if I could only point someone to a few faith-based blogs as prime examples of what TO do, what would I include? I like that Corene challenged me and knew that I had the answers in me, it just took some massaging to get me to slow down and catch her vision. I like that my article is going to fit with the flow and tone of the rest of the product. I like that what I have written is something that may actually help church leaders dip their toes into the blogging world instead of me speaking a language that doesn't really connect yet. I like that my editor told me to change.
I found out today that my dad really does read my blog. It's honoring (and humbling) that my father thinks that the things I have to say are worth his time and effort to read/watch/interact with. Hello, dad. ;-)
My dad called because he was concerned that I would get into trouble for my previous post. I think he misunderstood the point of the post (that I was highlighting a company that is effectively using new media formats to due some unique things; specifically, building a young, talented and loyal workforce). My dad read the post as saying I'd rather work at company where people can dance rather than my current job... which is totally not the message I was trying to convey. The wisdom of fathers often comes with age and, as such, I appreciate that he was concerned enough to let me know how he interpreted the post. Though it was not meant at all to convey such a message, either there was something in the post that made him think that or the post was poorly written and, thus, easily misunderstood.
I chose to feature the dancing video because it showed, to me, how embedded new media is into the culutre at Zappos. At LifeWay we're getting there, but it's the work of just a few of us. At Zappos, everyone has joined the party. I mean, their corporate blog posts recipies even. To me, the reaction to seeing such seemingly non-sensical work that is, essenitally, about creating a corporate image should not just be gawked at but figured out if it works or not.
My dad, having years of experience over me, asked how long they've been in business (to which I guessed 4 years). He said to look into them when they've been around for ten years. Turns out, they were started in 1999 and, this year, they expect to bring in over a billion dollars in revenue.
I could go on and on about how I think they're doing things right in the digital space and innovating with their online transparency. I don't know that I'd want to work there though, to be honest. It seems almost like too much "fun" and pranks amidst the work. Perhaps I'm too old already?
The point is, it's interesting to me how blogs can be interpreted so many ways. My dad interpreted my post spotlighting a cool company doing things the way I consider to be "right" thought new media marketing as me saying I'd rather work there and that I dislike my job. This is, simply put, not true. I love my job and have no intention of leaving. I enjoy the challenge of helping my workplace find how we can best use new media for our business and to help our customers, churches. The reason I write articles for Collide and do videos for the Leadership Network is because I want to share my experise and my understanding of digital-culture-as-it-is with those who maybe aren't as connected to it as I am.
I welcome the struggles of my job and only hope to have more; if it was easy I'd get bored and there would be nothing for me to work towards. But, instead, I get to go to work every day and wonder what the experience will be like, what will I get to learn, and what will I get to teach.
Thankfully, we have the wisdom of our fathers to help us see when our zeal and enthusiasm might be interpreted for something that it's not. It's that experience and outside perspective that always will be valued.
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just when I think we're going in the right direction and making breakthroughs... i find an example of a new media culture that defies all sense of progress I have.
Zappos.com gets it. I mean, really gets it. Why/how? Their employees are all pretty much given the freedom to love their job and talk about it. Since many of their employees are young adults, this kind of stuff in simply inherent in their work/life style.
Stumbling around YouTube brought up a bunch of zappos-related users:
insidezappos, zappos, zapposlv...
i mean... this video right here shows the genius of their new media marketing scheme:
[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmPqYrUJy4w]
Why is this so genius? It has nothing at all to do with the products they sell, it doesn't direct you to their website, it does NOTHING traditional. But what it does do is give you a sense of a great work environment with characters for employees. Which means they're going to get the best creative talent, and their mundane tasks will be done by people who love that kind of work environment. Who loves that kind of environment? Young adults.
I couldn't imagine the ease of working in a new media culture that comes naturally, instead of trying to lead the development of one...
You can check out the place they aggregate all this content at their blog, here.
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1) First read this post by my career guru, Penelope Trunk, for clarifications about ever talking negatively when dealing with your career.
2) There is only one particular state of mind in which you should ever, ever blog about your work frustrations: while you love you job. The reason for this is, if you love your job, you will be wise enough to censor your thoughts and not say anything too stupid. If you're disgruntled already, then you'll let things slip that you shouldn't (unless you're independently wealthy and don't intend to go to work next week anyways).
3) I had a rough day. This rough day is the catalyst for this particular post. But here's the key (and here's why you SHOULD blog about it): thinking about what/how I was going to blog this experience led to something vital to my work life, career, and actual job responsibilities; it cause me to do a lot of introspection. It made me analyze my work flows, the processes for all people involved, and what the next steps need to be for improvement.
In other words: by deciding to blog about my frustrations, combined with the fact that I truly love my job, I spent more time being proactive and positive instead of being reactive and reckless.
So what's been going with me at work?
cont'd
Last quarter, I released almost 150 pieces of content. It was my first full quarter of working, and the results were way "over achiever" results; to use a cliche, I knocked it out of the park. This quarter - which ends in three weeks - I've been unable to release any content. Zero. None.
The hold ups have been, effectively, completely out of my hands. Basically the success of last quarter got people's attention and - as such - there was a scramble to attach some of the same processes we use for traditional media regarding workflow to the digital media assets I push out. This makes sense; I want to play nice and have proper performas and market-competitive pricing.
So because we were successful, the attention was put on us and we had to pause for a moment to get those print media processes implemented. However, because what I'm doing is still so new... getting those things in place were not nearly as important as some other projects (and rightfully so... they [currently] have a larger audience and revenue stream). Which meant we had to wait. And wait.
Until finally, the last working day of May, we got approval.
So, bursting with joy, I created an agressive release schedule that would see the nearly 300 pieces of content I have prepared have a stagger launch throughout the month of June. But nothing happens. Why?
More processes. Even though we had recieved approval on the processes that we were waiting for... the work that goes along with that approval had yet to be done. And still isn't.
It's no one's "fault." I'm not attempting to trace anything to any particular person, nor would I want anyone to be implicated as the fault point. The problem is a rather exciting/humbling one: I'm working faster than the processes can keep up.
So my actual dilemma is: how can I speed up/better prepare the external processes that I can't do. I already do responsibilities far beyond my job description and responsibilities (I'm not just the digital media producer; I'm also the graphic designer for the cover images, the marketing specialist for the product pages and release posts, the web designer for the downloads landing page, the flash designer for the web page, the metadata planner, the original content creator, etc etc....), but I had to accept today that I can't do other people's jobs for them.
But I can make their jobs easier.
So, my three pronged attack upon my frustration at hand:
1) Develop a 15-month release schedule
That's right, I sent out documents today seeking initial approval to begin the digital media production process from July 2008 - September 2009. This means that rights can get cleared ahead of time, ISRCs can be assigned (by me, of course), pricing can be settled, and I should have enough media conversion to last me until at least the end of this year.
2) Develop detailed status updates
Currently, we don't use Microsoft Project or Lombardi, or anything fancy and fun to keep track of where these are in the workflow. Instead, we have an excel worksheet. With little boxes we're supposed to put x's in. It's in a folder on a server... and no one looks at it.
Moving forward, I'm going to be emailing weekly (hopefully) updates with a detailed report on where each title lies in regards to all the steps in the process. Information and communication is key with this many products.
3) Become an internal Digital Media Evangelist and develop a team
Again: I can't do other people's jobs for them. I have to find a way to get them excited about the work that I'm doing and the potential it has not simply to change our company, but to literally change the lives of our customers. By mere virtue of my position, I am probably the most qualified person in our company to talk about how digital media is effecting the world and our customers. I also have more knowledge about where we stand on different products (and what they are) than anyone else.
I have to find other people in the workflow process that are as excited about the opportunities as I am. When there are so many processes beyond my control, I must have the support and enthusiasm of those who are working with me. For right now I think it's just another product and just another point of data entry for many people. I've got to find a way to make this as exciting for them as it is for me.
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It's an ugly word that's surrounded by controversy into today's hyper-transparency culture: marketing. But is there a difference between macromarketing with one consistent message, and micromarketing and targeting the real needs and interests of individuals? Is there a place for marketing ideas in the Church? And, if so, what are the macro and micro messages we are sending?
[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&embedId=32464978&uri=channels/30223/149163]
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I've learned enough to know that what separates a rambling visionary into an organization-changing visionary is being able to communicate their thoughts in a way that is consistent with their firm's culture.
My self-endowed task for the next few days is to take my thoughts:
and turn them into a document worth reading. Essentially, I'm justifying the repurposing of our digital assets for distribution in additional media channels.
While it may seem like a logical choice in the new media realm, you have to dig a bit deeper into the business case to truly justify it. When working with additional distro channels, you have to take into account what percentage of the revenue they will take, and what awareness they would bring to the product. Essentially, are you gaining customer accessibility, or diluting the worth of your centralized digital distribution channel?
I am of the opinion that we should have our media in as many locations as possible, because we are such a niche publisher. By simply having our media available in other channels we serve not only our customer by putting our media in whatever their preferred service is, we end up marketing our products and brand to other users of that service who, otherwise, would never know who we are.
So now I am distilling this whiteboard design into words (and a few images) that convey the process and possibilities for our digital media. Should make for a good Thursday/Friday task!
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and turn them into a document worth reading. Essentially, I'm justifying the repurposing of our digital assets for distribution in additional media channels.
While it may seem like a logical choice in the new media realm, you have to dig a bit deeper into the business case to truly justify it. When working with additional distro channels, you have to take into account what percentage of the revenue they will take, and what awareness they would bring to the product. Essentially, are you gaining customer accessibility, or diluting the worth of your centralized digital distribution channel?
I am of the opinion that we should have our media in as many locations as possible, because we are such a niche publisher. By simply having our media available in other channels we serve not only our customer by putting our media in whatever their preferred service is, we end up marketing our products and brand to other users of that service who, otherwise, would never know who we are.
So now I am distilling this whiteboard design into words (and a few images) that convey the process and possibilities for our digital media. Should make for a good Thursday/Friday task!For the past few weeks, I've gotten to be a part of the planning for a "secret" LifeWay project called Open Access. I'm incredibly excited about the potential that this project has for us, as it is going to do a lot to develop an online community for us. I'm looking forward to the continued movement towards transparency and development of employee personalities here at LifeWay and this is a major step in that direction.
The Open Access line of projects will be products that allow customers to access our materials while we are working on them. Participants who purchase the product will get a rough draft of the study and literally get to see it mere weeks after the author turns it in to us. This will allow the participants to give us feedback about the ideas and concepts in the study, as well as share any personal stories that might be applicable to the study. All of the feedback will be read, and turned to constructive criticism for the author and editors to choose how to implement.
The participants will also be able to communicate with each other via an online forum, so we can see how the group as a whole react to the study and how they interact with each other. LifeWay employees will, of course, interact there as well.
The first product that we're doing with Open Access is a new Priscilla Shirer study... that doesn't even have a name yet! I believe there are meetings next week to finalize the name; hopefully we'll be able to announce it soon.
The Open Access project will have a blog as well, here.
The blog will talk more about the development process than the actual product, and we hope to utilize it to give people a behind-the-scenes look at how a study is crafted here in the offices. As a part of that, I'll get to interview various employees throughout the next few months about what they're working on for the study.
The first of these video conversations is/was with Jennifer McCaman (our project manager) introducing what Open Access is and what we hope to accomplish:
[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&embedId=22245474&uri=channels/30228/143907]
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So my friend Andy messaged me on Facebook and commented that he mentioned me on his blog. Somehow, I missed the memo that he even had a blog... so of course I jumped over and checked it out. His blog brought two things to my attention:
1) Catching up on a blog that you care about but has been in existence even only for a few months can take a while.
2) Andy totally caught what I was missing in my MBA program at Liberty: the chance to meet people and create a network of friends and peers.
I chose Liberty because I wanted a fully online education experience. With as much online work as I do, it was important to me that my education encompass the very same strengths and weaknesses that my career might have.
Where Liberty totally missed the boat is creating any kind of social structure for us. There was interaction, but it was all just names and assignments for 90% of the classes. There were no faces put to names, no conversations outside the flow of the assignment, and no way to keep in natural contact after the completion of a course (or the program).
I think this is a vital part of the Master's experience: to be able to learn from, lean on, and grow with your peers. There should be a camaraderie between us. We should care about how the knowledge helped us a group. I should be able to share about new media with the hr guy and i should be able to learn from the military men that I took classes with. But Liberty dropped the ball and didn't set anything like that up for us.
I feel like I missed out on a lot of great people because of this; whereas I walked away from my undergrad with friends for life and social growth, I leave my MBA program with too few new friends and contacts. This is an issue that must be addressed by online learning programs.
I could take some of the blame onto myself and say that I didn't try hard enough to build the relationships. However, trying to force something like that to happen when you're in the throws of course work, full time employment, being a husband, having friends, etc etc... it just isn't going to come if it takes effort upon effort.
Now that I'm done, I wouldn't mind going back and tracking down some of the cohorts that I thought were interesting, intelligent people. But it's too late as the classes are closed and none of us will likely ever check our Liberty University email addresses again. Sigh.
So enjoy your classmates, if you ever get the opportunity to take a Master's program. They are a key element you don't want to miss.
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A while back, I wrote about my struggle with being a "career Christian." I am still struggling with what this means.
Last week, there came a day when I was tired and - to be honest - a bit frustrated. My boss swung my office to just check in and see how my day was when I let my guard down and expressed my frustration.
My current position was created with some very specific expectations upon it to be considered a success. The expectations were settled upon with the idea that there would be two of me. In my first full quarter, we hit 75% of the expectations for the year (and there's only one of me). In other words, I did pretty well and far exceeded expectations.
I'm not saying that to be bragadocious; just practical. It is also important to note the the various people throughout the organization who touch the work also deserve tons of credit for being able to handle the flow of work that my products added to their load.
Unfortunately, we hit a snag or two this quarter on getting my content released. So when my boss asked how I was doing I explained my two frustrations:
1) We have content that should be available, that's not. This means a loss in revenue and - if we truly believe that our products spead the Gospel - it means people aren't hearing the Message as we planned (in digital format).
2) Last quarter I was a star for getting 75% of the expectations in one quarter. This quarter I wanted to be a super-star.
Now then... we should be getting the flow of content going again this week. This post isn't about that. This post is about how I felt after saying I wanted to be a super-star.
It hit me hard that what I was saying and wanting was, simply put, not humble. It wasn't me trying to help raise the calibur of my co-workers. It wasn't me being meek or quiet or going with the flow. I wanted to be recognized for the work I've done and I wanted to be given the freedom to do even more, better work.
So I'm torn, trying to figure out the balance. Is it ok for me to want to excel at my career, wanting to be the best, wanting to succeed head-and-shoulders above what was expected of me? Is it ok to fight to go from doing 75% of my year's expectations in one quarter to try and get 100 or even 150% of the expectations the next quarter?
Or, am I supposed to be humble and just accept the things get in the way and that things just are the way they are? Am I supposed to be content with being a star when I feel like we could have done so much more this quarter? Am I allowed to challenge myself to levels of success for my area that are far beyond what LifeWay envisioned, or should I be content in knowing that I could simply relax and do nothing until July and my work still be considered a success?
I don't want to be content with great if I know that my work could be excellent. I don't want to be excellent if I know that my work can be stellar. But how do I balance success beyond anyone's expectations with humbleness? Do I have to push down my own expectations of myself and my role so as to not be "too successful" or "too agressive" in making a great product? Is there such thing as too good of work?
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Due to popular request of my own, I have posted the lyrics to Spicey Boot's hit single, SPACE! Recorded (and written) live in Seattle, WA, this piece of musical genius is a lifechanging work of art. Feel free to listen here or at Spicey Boot's MySpace page!
SPACE!!!
Space! Space! Spaaace!
We gotta go to space! We gotta go to space! Gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta go to space!
Yearahh... (i have no idea)... Yearahh... (i have no idea what i'm saying here) Yeeeahhhh! We're gonna fly away into the sky.
(something about cars..?)
Spaaaace! Gotta go to space! We're gonna go to space!
Space is where we'll live! Space is where we'll live! Space, space, gotta go to space! Gotta get my face, 
into space!
Space is where we'll live on day!
We'll meeeet! We'll meet all the aliens in space. We'll meet all the aliens in space. We'll meet them all, we'll meet them all, we'll be friends with all the aliens in the...
Space! We gotta go to space! Gotta got to space! Space, whoooooa!
We'll take a rocketship, all the way! We'll take a rocketship, out today! We gotta go to space! N! A! S A will get us to space!
Ohhhh... they're building technology. Ohhh... they're building technology. They're building a space rocket to take us to Saturn, we're gonna go all the way, all the way to Mars - we'll even go, down to Pluto! We'll even go down to Pluto!
Space! Gotta go to space! Gotta go to space! WHOOOOAAA! WHOOAA!!
(i have no idea...) beautiful is space, beautiful is space... beautiful is space.
In the deep of space (i think? who knows...). We'll live in space, with the aliens. There will be peace in space between the humans and the aliens. But we will be confused because to them, we will be the aliens. We will not be the humans but we will be the aliens to the aliens. And the aliens will greet us.
Space! Gotta go to space! Gotta go to space! Space, space, all the way! It's a race, it's a race to space! Gotta go to space! Space, space, all the way! Take some friends to space!
Space! Space! Space! Space!
Lauching Satellites, my first article for Collide Magazine, is now available on their website. The article features stories of how various churches went multi-site, including North Coast Church in Vista, CA, McLean Bible Church in McLean, VA, and Long Hollow Baptist Church right outside of Nashville. Check it out!In a previous post, I mentioned how we are re-designing the downloads portal at LifeWay.com. In this video segment I share a little bit about the standard process I use when concepting a webpage. Enjoy!
[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&uri=channels/30223/135768&embedId=10153958]
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As of Saturday, May 10th, I have officially completed my school work and been given the degree of Master's of Business Administration from Liberty University. It's quite nice to be done and completed, having successfully gone through the courses and learned the concepts and structures of business on a Master's level.
I chose Liberty as my school of choice for this program because I wanted a fully online experience, which I what I got. I never made it to the school, I never met any of my professors and I never met any of my classmates. I was able to do everything asynchronously and learned my studies through my own will and determination.
The program was quite interesting, as it requires of its students to be very mature and adult. Unlike undergrad work, there is no hand holding involved. You either read the materials or you don't. You either learn the concepts or you don't. You either do the work or you don't.
The education through the MBA program has helped me feel secure in my knowledge of business plans, economic theories, and given me a solid foundation to more forward with exploring the business and marketing application of new media.
And so, with much pomp and circumstance, you are more than welcome to call me "Master Linne" from here on out. ;-)
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