GodblogCon Podcasts LIVE!

Podcasts of GodblogCon’s sessions can now be downloaded courtesy of our friends at the Scriptorium Daily.

This year’s conference was a great success.  We enjoyed meeting each of you and talking with you about your web based projects, your hopes, and how one of our attendees or one of the blog world exhibitors might be able to help you meet your web needs.

Be sure to continue to check this website in the coming months as we will be releasing information about our new conference coming in October 2009.

GodblogCon Opening Night

GodblogCon 2008 officially kicked off yesterday with our opening night dinner at the Rainforest Cafe.  The evening featured a splendid mix of mingling, delectable cuisine, and some good words from Jared Bridges of the Family Research Council.  I got a chance to meet old friends like Andy Jackson, Rhett Smith, and Jordan Ballor, and I also met some new friends like graphic designer Tim McMahn.

Today, the sessions officially kickoff with the BlogWorld Expo keynote at 9:00 AM, the opening of the exhibit hall and the GBC VIP area at 10:00 AM, and finally Andrew Jones’ session on the Missional Church in the Internet Age.  If you are in Vegas and have not signed up for this show, get down here today and pick up your registration!   If you are here already, stop by and say hi!  I look forward to meeting you here at GodblogCon 2008.

- Dustin – Senior Director, GodblogCon

Opening Night Dinner

GodblogCon’08 is upon us!

Tonight, the GodblogCon staff and those of you who RSVP’d for the Opening Night Dinner will be dining at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand. The address is:

3799 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-8580

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Overheard on the Web: GodblogCon 2008

Buzz is picking up around the web about this year’s conference.  Already GodblogCon has hosted a number of speaker interviews which have been syndicated by attending Godbloggers.

Marcus Goodyear of TheHighCalling.org rebroadcast a podcast of one interview with GBC speaker Wade Tonkin.  According to Marcus, “the business people and nonprofit entrepreneurs, you MUST go to blogworld. Register NOW. I’m serious. If you are serious about social media, this is seriously the place to be. Did I mention that I was serious? I’m serious. Listen to me. Read the words I am typing onto this screen…”

Cynthia Ware at the Digital Sanctuary is getting her readers excited about he conference.  Two posts in one week connecting her readers to speakers like Andrew Jones – Thanks Cynthia!

Andrew Jones is looking forward to hearing our speakers and meeting you all: “Should be good!”

Jordan Ballor at the Acton Institute shared the importance of this conference to his readers saying, “As a think tank committed to exploring the dynamic connection between theology and economics, the Acton Institute is proud to be a part of the innovative evolution of dialogue in a digital age.”

Amy Hall tells her readers at Stand To Reason’s blog that, “‘I’ve been to all of the previous conventions and heard some excellent speakers, but without a doubt, the opportunity to connect with other bloggers face to face has been the most valuable part of these conferences. That aspect of GodBlogCon has been a great encouragement to me–particularly when I first started blogging.” Be sure to say hi to Amy when you are out at this year’s conference!

Finally, Andrew Jackson at Smart Christian has some great advice for those of you sitting on the fence: “Start planning to attend now.  Put it on your calendar.”

Couldn’t have said it better – Thanks Andy and thank you to everyone who has promoted the conference through your blogs.  I look forward to meeting you all in just a few short weeks.  Stay tuned to this blog in the next couple of days as we podcast an interview with GodblogCon speaker John Mark Reynolds about the decline in internet discourse decency and what Christians can do to raise the level of conversation.

La Shawn Barber to Speak at GodblogCon!

GodblogCon is proud to welcome La Shawn Barber to our speaking line-up. La Shawn has been an attendee favorite for the last few years and we are very happy to have her join us once more to lead a session with Scott Ott on politics. This will certainly be a session that you do not want to miss!

Registration prices are going up after tomorrow, so be sure to REGISTER TODAY to secure your seat at the conversation on politics, culture, the church and more at this year’s GodblogCon.

For more information on La Shawn, please note her bio below:

La Shawn Barber is a freelance writer, blogger, and blog consultant.

She’s a member of the Blog Board of Contributors for the Washington Examiner, and her features, essays, and reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Christian Research Journal, Christianity Today, Today’s Christian Women, Beliefnet.com, Townhall.com, National Review Online, BlogCritics.org, and other publications.

La Shawn has appeared on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” the BBC, MSNBC, C-Span, and several national talk radio programs, including National Public Radio, Michael Savage’s “The Savage Nation,” Bill O’Reilly’s “The Radio Factor,” and “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” Her political blog has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, and in the Washington Post.

La Shawn has been blogging at La Shawn Barber’s Corner since 2003.

Technology for Worship Magazine: Technologies for Worship Pavilion and Confereces showcase solutions for House of Worship

GodblogCon is proud to have Technology for Worship Magazine as a sponsor of this year’s conference – without the help of our sponsors, this exciting event would not be possible.

Working in conjunction with the top technology trade shows throughout North America and Europe, TFWM and the Technologies for Worship Conferences present a variety of educational seminars with a strong focus on broadcast, internet, lighting, audio, and other cutting-edge technologies, along with free hands-on classes at the Technologies For Worship Pavilion. For more information on registering for a Technologies for Worship Conference near you, visit www.tfwm.com/conferences

TFWM (Technologies for Worship Magazine) offers in-depth articles focusing moving Houses of Worship forward into the multi-media age using modern technical tools. Published 10 x per year, TFWM is available in print and digital format. Free subscriptions are currently available for all GodBlog Conference attendees – visit www.tfwm.com/tfwmsubscribe to take advantage of this offer. Your promotional code is: GodBlog.

For more information on TFWM and the Technologies for Worship Pavilion and Conferences, please visit their website at www.tfwm.com.

Joe Carter: Lost to the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

GodblogCon is sad to announce that Joe Carter of the Evangelical Outpost will be unable to attend this year’s festivities. We would like to assure people that rumors of Mr. Carters abduction by a flying spaghetti monster have been greatly exaggerated. Joe, the Bono of the Godblogosphere, has not been abducted by the mutant remains of an Olive Garden entree.

GodblogCon is pleased to announce that Joe is working with a group of individuals to launch an exciting, web based publication that examines culture and politics from a Christian-friendly, conservative point of view. In an e-mail to GodblogCon, Joe attributed his new job to his work on his blog; we are pleased to see one of our own rise to such success and we wish him well on his new venture.

The session on politics will be led by the ever amusing and engaging Scott Ott of Scrappleface.com.

Does the Web Make Us Dumb?

The Digital Age is destroying us by making us lose our ability to concentrate…

In an influential essay in The Atlantic magazine, Nicholas Carr asks: “Is Google making us stupid?” Carr, a chronic distractee like the rest of us, noticed that he was finding it increasingly difficult to immerse himself in a book or a long article – “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.”

Instead he now Googles his way though life, scanning and skimming, not pausing to think, to absorb. He feels himself being hollowed out by “the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self – evolving under the pressure of information overload and the technology of the ‘instantly available’”. (full article)

If the claim is true, it holds serious implications for Christians in particular. The Lord reveals Himself through the Holy Scriptures; in many ways, we are a people of ‘the book.’ Therefore, we must be sure that we do not lose our ability to read deeply and comprehend profound ideas and their significance.

At GodblogCon we realized that new habits and expectations were being developed as a result of the emergence of web media. That is why we invited the knowledgeable and engaging Ken Myers of the Mars Hill Audio Journal to speak at GodbogCon 2008; in fact, Ken will be addressing this very debate. Through his work at the Journal as well as a former editor for NPR’s Morning Edition, Ken brings a breadth and depth of thought to the debate which will help Christian bloggers assess the medium and utilize it well to share the profound teachings of the scriptures.

Ken will be just one of the several engaging speakers which bloggers will have a chance to fellowship with at this year’s GodblogCon. Our early registration pricing deadline is quickly approaching, so be sure to register your seat at the fellowship today!

Commendations for GodblogCon

GodblogCon is an impressive gathering of some of the world’s top Christian bloggers. Biola University’s Torrey Honors Institute has created an event that is thought-provoking, inspiring and just plain fun. Christian bloggers owe Biola a debt of gratitude for contributing the vision and elbow grease to create this terrific event. I would encourage any Christian blogger to consider attending GodblogCon.

Christy Lynn Wilson
Director of Interactive Media
The DeMoss Group

Is GodblogCon A Result of Technology Reflex?

Before I address the point of this post, I should probably define my terminology.

Technology reflex is the involuntary motions leading to the immediate adaptation of technology in the name of progress and the Good.  A reflexive movement typically represents an involuntary response to an internal or external event.  For example, the motions of the body beginning with the irritating of the nasal mucosa and terminating in a watery bath of one’s nearest neighbor is a muscle reflex of sneezing.  One usually cannot help sneezing, their body does it against their volition.  Similarly, there is a contingency of persons who are wondering if Godbloggers are not suffering from a kind of technology reflex when Christians hastily scoop up a new technology and attempt to redeem it as a new tool for the kingdom – Sword of the Spirit 2.0.  Such an idea ought to send twitters up and down one’s spine.

Unfortunately, one blogger named VIA raised the concern that GodblogCon might be the fruit of technology reflex.  VIA red-flagged the following excerpt from my last post:

Christians can not afford to critique these changes, to curse the darkness, from the safety of their pews and cultural commentaries. Christians must bring the light of Christ to the fore of this new industry;

VIA then offered the following for consideration:

While controversial, I can’t help but continually suggest that as we engage with this rapidly changing world, and the vehicles of its communication, faith and life are also being radically transformed and even redefined as it takes on these new forms and interacts with these mediums. I appreciate the sentiment that the post above ended with (in the last paragraph, italicized), but it must also be noted that the changes that are happening are perhaps just as influential to our faith as our faith is to the world. The medium is the message, as McLuhan has taught us. So yes, while negative critique is an activity we ought to avoid, especially when it is “cursing the darkness,” not only ought Christians be the light, but we ought to ask the question, what kind of a light are we also becoming? (Emphasis Original)

VIA then offered a series of points for consideration:

Are we becoming less human as we approach a technology that is designed to expand human communication?

Could it be possible that the very mediums that we are using to “reach out and touch someone” (c.AT&T) are actually diminishing our abilities to connect?

Could it be possible that we actually lose power or any real grasp of interpersonal and interconnected relationships as we engage more through electronic means?

And are we really being wise in embracing this new technology so freely, and so fully resulting in a “Huxleyan” enslavement?

To be clear, GodblogCon is not about the mindless adaptation of technology for Christ.  The line quoted above should state that Christians cannot merely critique the technology from the comfort of their pews.  Rather, Christians should think about and utilize the good opportunities which the technology makes available.  In addition to this, Christians should wrestle with and respond to the sorts of questions which VIA has raised.  These are the sort of “concerns” to which I made reference in my last post.  Answering these questions amongst a fellowship of visionaries involved in working with the technology is precisely what we do at GodblogCon.

Web media technology is redefining mass media standards.  Christians can, and should, bring a healthy Christian perspective to a media world that has been unhealthy for quite some time.  Each year we attempt to build a conference with people like VIA, and others who share his/her concerns, in mind.  We hope that as we work to bring a healthy Christian perspective to the forefront of web media we will do so having wrestled with and resolved questions such as the ones raised by VIA.  GodblogCon is an opportunity for Christians to come together for face-to-face conversations about the promise, and the problems, that web media technologies presents to us all.

I recommend reading VIA’s post as it provides an interesting critique of technology reflex and raises some valid concerns about some of the presuppositions undergirding certain forces within the web media movement.

Once you have finished reading his post, REGISTER for GodblogCon and join in the conversation about the problems and promises of web media technology.