In honor of Tax Day the folks over at Simply Youth Ministry are having a special sale. Save 15% on any orders over $99.
I know I’ve had my eye on some of the Media products that are already marked down 50%.
The Igniter Backs are great. I’ve used a few of the volumes and have really liked them. The Tracks look really good also.
Yesterday Simply Youth Ministry and Worship House Media launched the Simply Youth Ministry Media Store, a new media store with a focus on media for youth ministry. It a huge collection of movies, backgrounds, countdowns, still images and software with youth ministry in mind. There’s also a great section of Easter stuff if you need any last minute videos or backgrounds.
They also provide weekly freebies that are great (check out the link on the homepage).
LINK: Simply Youth Media Store
I have been playing with the Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder
I think this camera is great for shooting quick little announcement videos, capturing highlights of an event, and an afternoon of fun. It stores up to 60 minutes of video so it’s plenty for most things, but over the course of a week at camp it might not be enough. One other improvement I’d like to see is the audio quality. It’s alright, but a jack to hook up an aux mic would be great. Another feature you should be aware of is it can only charge via a computer, so if you are on the road you’ll need you laptop to keep it powered up. I will say that I’ve found the battery life to be excellent though, I have yet to run it down, and even after a few days in my backpack, it’s held it’s charge well.
You can spend a lot more on a camera, but if you are looking for something small and easy to use it’s definitely worth taking a look at. It would be super easy to hand over to a student to film a video for you and you don’t have to worry about what they may do with you $1000 camcorder.
Here’s a short little video I shot a few weeks ago on a video shoot:
Plugged In
If anyone else has used one, I’d love to hear what you think.
I launched our very own Twitter account for YouthMinistryGeek.com today. You can find us as YMGeek. Follow us for updates from the blog as well as breaking news, and other helpful tidbits. I plan I updating it with little software finds and other articles that I find interesting or helpful, but may not end up as a full blog post.
Here are a couple other tech news twitters that I find interesting are:
We’d love it if you’d give us a follow: YMGeek
I am always on the prowl for good leadership resources: books, dvd’s, mp3′s, etc. When I attend a conference I often buy sessions and workshops that I could not attend at sites like these ($3.50-$30):
National Youth Ministry Conference (Now the Simply Youth Ministry Conference)
National Youth Workers Convention
Founders Week at Moody Bible
Maybe a conference is not in your budget but you still need to pause and refresh in the office by popping in a few good leadership dvd’s ($150-$200):
Willow Creek Leadership Summit
Catalyst
If you are willing to spend a little more and looking for a more versatile resource you should check out Catalyst Filter.com. For $144 you get a one-year membership to online content from Catalyst. You will have access to downloads, audio and video from Catalyst, and some perks (like 10% off at the apple store – that is better than the educational discount). FILTER also includes the quarterly “Aqua Box” containing all types of resources (pre-release books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and more).
Maybe your budget is to tight for any of the above. There are free resources all over the web. Here are some podcast and good online content (FREE):
blogs.efca.org/challenge
www.churchmediadesign.tv
These link will open up a podcast in iTunes (you need iTunes for these links to work)
Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast
Catalyst Podcast
Remember that many churches post their sermons for free online. You have access to the world’s best communicators at your fingers.
I can’t believe this special that Amazon mp3 store is running on the new U2 album, No Line On The Horizon
I think the stuff that comes out of the TED conference is some of the best on the net. If you’re not familiar with TED it’s a conference and the name stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. The talks are diverse and I almost always find them fascinating. One of the best parts is they are almost all around 20 minutes, so you can get through one quickly.
This years TED conference is going on right now and here’s the talk Bill Gates gave. The title is How I’m Trying to Change the World Now. It’s worth a watch:
If you liked it I recommend subscribing to their podcast (link opens iTunes). Or if you’re an iPhone user they have an app too.
I had a hard time picking my favorite Superbowl commercial this year. None of them were in the same class as Apple’s 1984 ad, but I think this is definitely in the running. It made me laugh.
If you wanted to view them all Hulu.com has them posted. It was a great game, but you know that people will still be talking about the commercials in the morning. If you want to engage your students about these commercials check out this great download from Walt Mueller over at YouthMinistry.com, it a set of questions to help think about them critically. Could be a great thing for Small Group this week.
Check them out here: Superbowl Commercials at Hulu & Discussion Guide
I don’t know how many of you out there are frequent GodTube visitors, but soon it will be changing it’s name. They didn’t mention what the name is, but Mashable quipped it should be GodBook . It seems they want to be the Christian mashup of YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, and other social sites I suspect. I’m not sure when the big change is coming, but I’m sure we’ll hear more about it in the coming days.
At least they got the SkitGuys to make the announcement:
I know Christmas was yesterday, but I couldn’t resist posting a link to one of the worst holiday specials ever made. It’s just sad that it had to be star wars related. Enjoy the opening scene of the Star Wars Christmas Special:
I realize this clip only shows the first nine minutes, but take it from someone that has sat through the entire 2 hours, 9 minutes is more than enough.
Chris
