Vroman's Valentine's Day Video Venture!

Okay... I was really trying with that alliteration, but it's really not much of a stretch considering the project that Vroman's put forth today! Why not call it a "video venture"?

In any event, Vroman's sent out a Valentine's Day videogram to the world and then thought, why not share the love? Let's all read our favorite romantic, sappy, mushy, steamy, sentimental passages to each other! Go leave yours on the Vroman's Blog!

Here's mine:


Vroman's V-Day Reading from Danica Northend on Vimeo.

Church Marketing Sucks talks about Deidox!

Oh man... not only do I LOVE this site, so do a lot of other people! And it's fantastic that they wrote about Deidox! Visit the site and article here.

Deidox and The Power of Story

Recently, Deidox.com wrote to us to let us know about their film project. They make incredibly moving short clips telling the stories of everyday people God is using, and then churches can buy and use the clips. It's a fascinating idea that's brilliantly executed, and it speaks to something much larger.

Several conversations in my life lately have been revolving around this idea: Stories matter. I don't simply mean that they interest people or that they can be funny. I mean stories change the world. When people hear a story, it connects with their imagination, and they can place themselves in that story. When they hear someone in your church is serving the poor and making a difference, they imagine what their life would be like if they were playing the lead in that movie. When they hear that people are helping orphans rise from a hopeless life, they feel the dirt of an African village crackling beneath their own feet.

In our world, stories aren't just orally transmitted like in the days of old. They aren't just Jesus telling his disciples about a metaphorical farmer. It's not a bad idea, and sometimes this is a great option. But in our world, stories can take you so close to a different life that you can feel it.

Maybe one great storyteller can relay the story of how they made a difference. Or perhaps you can use realistic audio, stirring photography and moving videos to tell a story.

However you tell it, it's important that you prioritize these stories so people can understand and believe that as humans, we're capable of so much. Perhaps you need to use a story from Deidox or the ever-popular Nooma. Or it could be that you need the pastor to interview a member of your congregation about their time at the soup kitchen.

Whatever it is, find a way to let the people of the church share their stories to show that God is alive, real and working in the world.

Tangle.com

Whelp. They did it! GodTube.com, the number one Christian social networking site, is now Tangle.com!

I had a great conversation with Lauren Brock of the newly named Tangle about the vision and direction GodTube has taken. She said something to effect of,

"We don't want to be just a second-rate 'Christian version' of something that already exists ... We don't want to drive people away from YouTube or Facebook or anything like that, those things are great!"

But the goal of Tangle is to... well... tangle people up! - like the branches that spring from the vine (John 15) - to provide a place where people, groups, and churches sharing in the pursuit of a common faith can connect.

And boy! If I ever heard words after my own heart: "We don't want to be just a second-rate, Christian-version of something already exists." I could go on and on about the unfortunately realization of the "Christian dollar" and "Christian market." It's terribly sad that the history of the Protestant church includes iconoclasm and such a forceful divorce from our Catholic sisters that we find it common to hold service in an empty room devoid of much beyond a pulpit and wall-fixed cross.

But while Tangle takes its first steps out into the virtual world, still dealing with some kinks and beta-bugs, I must say that ought to be stepping out with some measure of confidence! Not only has the interface increased a hundred-fold in quality and user-friendliness, the design and layout are simply fantastic! I was even impressed by the use of the aesthetic little leaf in Lauren's own email signature - a common graphic seen throughout the website. As odd of a praise (regarding the birth of a social network) might be to bring before God, I am grateful and impressed by the work GodTube has done in this transformation.

My conversation with Lauren included some talk of how this new network and Deidox might be mutually benefited by a relationship. We hope that our own efforts in film reflect a similar mantra: a dedication to our art and calling that resists the temptation of poor standards because we talk about an active God, an appealing subject to the Christian market. I cannot express enough how exciting it is to be aligned with a group of brothers and sisters who feel this way, too! I hope the future brings this particular "tangle" to fruition!

Funny story about Deidox that includes cats

Funny story:

We're conducting a series of live broadcasts that include a Q&A session with Brent (Director) & Dave (Producer) for the films, right? (called webcasts)
And come 8:30ish Dave and Brent are like, "Hey guys, make sure you all Twitter that we're going live in a half hour!" And Dave proceeds to Tweet this. Brent promptly copies Dave's Tweet.
And from the other room, Dan Portnoy goes, "Hey Dave, are you really 'excited about the upcoming webcats' or the 'webCAST'?"

Of course, this Twitter now has been circulated with the following address:
www.deidox.com/webcats

which I just made into an awesome page!! So now you can click it, and instead of getting a 404 error, you get something like this:

Deidox!

Deidox | Trailer from Deidox on Vimeo.

Finally! We are live and out there! Deidox.com is up and the curious have come pouring in!

On Tuesday (Day 2 of being live) we actually had a server crash... Check out the team's reactions here.

Probably because we got so popular all of a sudden!

Today we had TWO live webcasts from the Deidox site itself. We will be broadcasting for the next five or six weeks; if you're interested in attending, just checkout the times at Deidox.com/webcast.
The next series of broadcasts will be tomorrow (Friday) at 9AM, Noon, and 5PM.

If you're not sure what Deidox is, go check out the website. In short, it is a series of films Chronicle Project is producing that illustrate the activity of God. As Christians, we understand God to be loving and gracious (despite the many consequences of a broken nature); and we believe that God is ever-reaching into the world to extend that grace. These are true stories that document that activity as it is manifest in the Body, in God's people.

But watch the films! Get the story for yourself. I've provided the Deidox trailer above, but there are also trailers for Deidox | Lindsay and Deidox | Robert.

If you like what you see or want to join in the discussion, pass the word on and leave us comments on the Deidox Blog!

You can also join the Deidox fanpage (which has been growing exponentially daily!) or view the works on YouTube, Myspace, Godtube, and Vimeo.
And yea... I do think I'm cool for being responsible for most of the design on those sites - I'm also guilty of not being a graphic designer...).

Happy viewing!