Christian Hackathon, 14 App Ideas Demoed

Saw this neat article linked through the #mobmin tag on Twitter (lots of good stuff posted there):

Code for the Kingdom brings a distinctively Silicon Valley angle to Christian tech. Its mentors and judges include a partner at the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and Google’s head of Android partnerships, alongside more conventional mentors from charities and content companies. Reaching out to “techies, designers, and entrepreneurial starters,” organizers invited participants to “tackle the challenges confronting our society, our churches, and our spiritual lives” with “prayer and technology.” By holding an event, they are convening interest around this vision. By giving away $11,000, they are offering a small number of teams the possibility to start creating their idea.

While some of the ideas for these apps aren’t too far-reaching, there are a few approaches which should be taken and run forward. Take a look at the rest of the report at PBS.org and look into groups such as the Mobile Ministry Forum and WIP Connector who do hackathons and connect to developers, organizations, and opportunities.

Its Been A Long Time

Gosh, its been a long time since a post has gone up. More than a month really, and that’s not even counting that latest experiment with Dave Winer’s Fargo. Lots of thoughts about going forward, and in the meantime, trying to keep at task with some of the items at hand.

There’s a bit of a resetting to the entire site that’s being undertaken. I don’t even know that the blog will stay when its all said and done. I’m feeling that one of the original goals for MMM – to find out what the Body is doing at the intersection of faith and mobile tech – has mostly been met. And if so, its possible that MMM serves better in a capacity like MobMin.Info rather than the ruminations and observations of primarily one person.

Nothing has been decided yet. And like the tweet says, there are items still on the plate and things which need to be completed regardless of the decision. Its been a long time since simply posing the question and letting it speak for itself. Perhaps, this is something that time must now assign to my plate again as well.

At the intersection of faith and mobile, how do you respond?

 

The Mobile Lens According to Smartphones

I’m not really a big fan of the focus on smartphones. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of a mobile device that has a significant level of intelligence above the models that I had in pocket half a decade ago. But, overall, a lot of the push for smartphones really just comes from carriers and their stakeholders who see the ARPU higher with smartphone owners than with feature phone owners. If you will, it literally costs you more to own a smartphone, and carriers are milking that for all its worth.

That’s why I look at this recent image about the top countries for smartphones with a bit of disdain (from Textually). No, not that it doesn’t make some sense, because it does. What happens is that much of the marketing and focus for smartphones and those using it are not towards those folks at the top of this listing – at least by proportion of activities, marketing and development.

When it comes to ministry, and even some recent affairs concerning it that I put myself for, there’s this unhealthy focus on what can be done with smartphones, what can be done with English-first users with smartphones. We aren’t always looking at the cultural dynamics that make up smartphone… mobile usage. And that’s a mistake. Yes, there’s something to be said about looking at mobile and its transitioning happening in those nations that have had a deeper history of communication technologies and behaviors. But those folks that skipped a few things… man, there’s something rich and valuable about what the faith looks like in the UAE, SK, and Saudi Arabia. Are we developing towards those perspectives too?

Or, is the lens of our smartphone just confined to whatever media is pushing? If its Google-based, then the perspective starts in Silicon Valley. If its iOS, then its one part California, another part China. If its BlackBerry, its Canadian with a heaping of Washington DC. If its Nokia, then there’s the Finnish experience, with a North American attitude. And that’s not even to talk about the lens if we went with the largest carriers instead.

I wear tinted glasses, but make sure to take them off or look around the edges. Sometimes, what the world offers has a better color than what I’m usually seeing.

A Few Items in the Tabs

For a little more than a month now, I’ve been using a Chromebook. And ironically, during the same time, I’ve been collecting a ton of links to post. Collecting because many of these were supposed to be published, but you know… there’s that issue with the main website. Ah well, here’s my attempt to cull a few things and point to a few happenings.

Some days ago, the folks at Pew Religion & Public Life published some of the questions from a religious knowledge survey they did. They postured this as a religious knowledge quiz in its own right. It’s pretty easy, but don’t be like me and get one wrong.

I’ve not really figured out exactly how to describe it, but the NSA/Snowden situation is a pretty major one that effects current and future prospects for mobile ministry (#mobmin). Of one of the things I’m thinking about is how we clothe ourselves with data, and what that makes evident in our dealings in ministry and beyond. Alan Moore put this part of the conversation in better words than I can (at this point); here’s his piece: Are We Naked Without Data: Edward Snowden Asks A Big Question.

Logos has a mobile education suite. For those of you looking at expanding your use of their content libraries, this makes a lot of sense. For those looking for something a bit more packaged and aren’t using Logos, this also isn’t bad. Gosh, and all the work I do to pull all of this together on various mobile devices… look how far things have evolved.

I’ve often talked about mobile opportunities that demonstrate living by the Gospel, not simply preaching/teaching it. MAMA – the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action – looks to be an excellent example of this. I really wish that I could say that other ministries are taking part with this (I’m sure there are a few), but this is the kind of approach that’s widely missing in my neck of the developed world.

We’ve got that discount code for Mobilista Rockstars – find out how to get it.

That’s all the tabs for now. Please keep MMM in your prayers. I’ve got a few trips coming, and looks like one of them is in major jeopardy for not happening. The site’s getting worked on, and things are being fleshed out here. And… well, there’s always more to come. Stay tuned.

Mobilista Rockstars, Discount Code Too

Some time ago, Tomi Ahonen (or maybe someone else) coined the term “mobilista” to describe some of those folks who aren’t just mobile fans, but literally are defined by their passion, activity, and spirit that goes behind all that is mobile. I’ve been called that at times by Tomi and a few others, and its one of those terms that makes you put your chest out a bit – and then run to your nearest device(s) to make sure that you are practicing what you are preaching.

Nevertheless, such a term has its own share of stars, rockstars. And these rockstars are doing something pretty significant. They will be sharing the stage on three continents in one week for 3 conferences. The conference is called Mobilista Rockstars and will be happening October 7 – 11 in Hong Kong, London, and NYC.

Now, such a conference isn’t something you just walk into. There is a limited number of seats for each of them, and right about now, the best deal for the conference is quickly becoming unavailable. That said, MMM is proud to be able to offer a discount code for those registering for the conference. Interested in getting that code? Well, let us know.

You can let us know in two ways: comment to this post (make sure there’s an email address to your Disqus account). Or, follow us on Twitter (@mobileminmag) and then send us an “@” mention or direct message (DM).

Real simple, and frankly, these are the kinds of things you can do right from your mobile device.

So, comment or tweet, and then let’s see about connecting at one of these.

MobMin.Info As the Real MMM

This time where WordPress has been acting up has given me a good deal to think about in reference to MMM. Part of that has had to do with the actual activity that goes into MMM – from research, to networking, to writing. That’s a lot of work. But, this site, or at least an aspect of how things have evolved, has been as a destination and “searching-from” point. That’s meant for several changes and evolutions over the years, and with one change in particular that seems like its a better evolution for MMM than some other items: MobMin.Info

MobMin.Info started as a response to a few comments and questions from the conversations and meetings that ended up becoming the Mobile Ministry Forum. While there was not a lot of information about mobile ministry (#mobmin) out there, there was a difficulty in finding that information and then acting on it. I took a look at everything that I’d done with MMM to date, and then cross-referenced it with the actions of a few other notable sites that specifically focused on mobile ministry, and then created this (simple-ish) page. Its actually a page that can sit on one’s mobile device until they clear their browser cache (aka, it acts like an app even though its a webpage). This made a lot of sense.

It is a good starting point. I was able to take that work and even evolve aspects of MMM into its own HTML web app (replacing the attention we paid to making apps for each and every platform out there). Making that page also seemed to endear some good-will towards other folks who are doing mobile ministry activities, but not quite at that place of having something that was ready to be released. In a sense, they know if it was able to be found by something on MobMin.Info, they’d be found.

Then, earlier this week, a friend poked that they had an issue getting to MobMin.Info. I had not realized that some of the server issues might have effected that page as well – specifically many of the links that pointed to MMM’s content on that page. That made for a deeper look into why things are down, and a refreshed look the reasons for MMM and why MobMin.Info makes a lot of sense from a key-destination standpoint.

Many people just want the answer now. They want it packaged. And in some cases, they want someone else to have already done the work. MobMin.Info was a lot like getting to that point. It makes sense for the person who just needs to get on board quickly and have a contact point to move forward. As I look at what it will take for MMM to get back on deck, perhaps I need to also pay attention to resetting the starting point of the conversation. From there, being not just info, but info that points to the purpose of moving the conversation forward more directly.

Speaking Updates, Partnership Refresh

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Just a quick note that some quick updates have happened in terms of the speaking/consulting page. Have added a link to Antoine’s Lanyrd profile for those of you who use that service to either find speakers or follow folks at various conferences. I’d thought this was setup already, but it wasn’t and is now quite updated (matching the other digital profiles that have changed recently).

This was prompted by a few conversations of the past weeks of folks looking to partner with MMM, or engage in consulting relationships. We’ve posted about the push in this space before, so we’ll just link to it again with the hopes that if MMM has been valuable to you, that you’d look to connect with us.

So, if that’s all good with you, let’s get mobile and get to work.

 

Mobile Stats in China Video

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GroupM China recently released a video (we found via Renaissance Chambara) that brings a lot of mobile statistics about China into view. While many of these numbers might not be surprising to regular readers here, there might be a few highlights worth paying attention to if you plan on interacting with China directly, or Chinese who might have immigrated to your areas.

Only real qualms about this is that there’s a mix of mobile stats between all mobile, smartphones, and mobile activity. Which isn’t bad in terms of presenting a story, but can be a touch confusing for some folks.

Might be worth finding videos like this for other countries. If you’ve got one, post it in the comments and we’ll add it.

Mobile Hierarchy of Needs

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The Mobile Hierarchy of Needs, Ben Thompson

 

In a recent project, one of the aims was to figure out where the idea of an application, service, or experience could fit – in other words, where was the best opportunity and how do you pursue it. Ben Thompson’s Mobile Hierarchy of Needs is a neat way of looking at this:

  • Hardware — At its most basic level, a mobile device needs to be functional. It needs to make and accept calls, maintain a data connection, have a functional screen and input method, etc.

    For more than two decades this was the center of all innovation in mobile, beginning with the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X in 1983, and arguably peaking with the Motorola Razr in 2004, a massive hit based on hardware alone. This era was ultimately dominated by Nokia, which offered the best technology in highly functional form factors. Some aspects of RIM’s success lay in hardware as well, particularly their keyboards.

  • Software — Software refers to the core operating system, and usually means two things:

    1. The enablement of functionality beyond phone calls and messaging, such as email, web browsing, and media playback

Regardless of your opinions on Maslow’s framework as a basis, this does give a decent leading question as to whether an app, service, or experience is worth pursuing. Greater still, it presents yet another way to take a look at current efforts and see if wheels are spinning, or if definitive value is being gained.

Resolutions Checkup for July/August ’13

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august 2013 calendar 1

Now here’s a feature that we’ve not done in a number of months. And even with the monthly videos kind of doing a little work here in terms of stepping into this, a resolutions checkup is well overdue. Its the end of July now, and August is just a few days away, we’ll just combine these into one summer checkup and rock from there.

As a review, here are the resolutions we set forth at the beginning of the year:

  1. Explain, emphasize, and demonstrate the theological underpinnings to mobile ministry
  2. Detail and expand on knowledge of Non-English Language/Cultural expressions of mobile ministry
  3. Increase number of and collaboration with ministry partners
  4. Refine and release v2 of the Mobile Ministry Methodology
  5. Embed Mobile, Not Mobile As Layer

Number one on the listing can officially be checked off now that we’ve done what’s probably the first fleshed out conversation/presentation of A Theology of Mobile Ministry (at ICCM USA in June). Any theology worth starting is worth developing further. I’m interested to seeing/hearing how others will be formulating similar as they travel through this mobile ministry space.

No question that we’ve got to pick up the pace on #2. That’s something which came up in a response to the Mobile Ministry Course at Cybermissions (that class is almost done), and definitely needs to be talked about a lot more – not just talked about either. With the conferences/workshops yet to happen this year, there’s a good chance they will be.

We’ve still been active connecting with local, regional, and global ministries. Slower than what a fully-funded ministry can do, but definitely not falling slack on the opportunities. Some of that fruit will hopefully come forward soon – even if some of the things happening didn’t make their way to an expected end. That’s a big challenge with this effort – connecting with ministries is great, but there’s also a need to make sure that no one is spinning wheels trying to see where those synergies are.

Number 4 is slower to happen. And there’s a good chance that it will get done before the end of the year. But, there’s a lot that has to put into that initial effort if its going to be as polished and useful as it could be.

That last one is not so much a resolution as its a perspective and intention. I’ve mentioned before how just with my personal devices, I’m moving to something more than just mobile as a window to things – when mobile can enable you to move forward, or push someone else forward, that’s when the tech is really magical. I think that with the depth of platforms and devices I’m using now, I’m seeing that mobile isn’t that layer – but also that there’s a lot that needs to be done with UX in order for a better reality with this to be realized.

So, that’s not a bad place with just over half the year done. There’s a lot of work in mobile ministry to be done, and MMM isn’t the only participant. Hopefully, you are moving well on the resolutions and vision-casting that you put forth for 2013. This isn’t a time to reset the journey, but it might be the time to get back in step with what was once so clear to you and God.