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Nikon madness
September 4, 2008Thought this was unbelievable, so you’ll have to check it out. Nikon has a movie mode integrated into the D90, which kicks out 24FPS clips that of course look incredible because you can use all types of lenses. You’ve got to love the shallow depth of field in the sample clips. Check it out here.
But, you’ll have to wait until October to get your hands on one…
Rumors among the Apple geeks
August 28, 2008I’m not afraid to say it, I am an Apple (Mac) geek. So when rumors start stirring about new product releases, or even stories of the Mothership (Apple Inc.) hinting to their retailers to not order certain products, you know something is up. That being said, I’m hoping for a Macbook Pro refresh, and maybe a new cinema display.
Presentation Skills
August 16, 2008I’m sure a lot of you have been in a position where you needed to present something to a group of people. Or, you were presented something and it was performed so poorly that it was just distracting.
Two presenters that inspire me are Steve Jobs and Al Gore. All politics and agendas aside, these guys understand how to get their points across. If you haven’t watched Steve present a keynote, you can download this one. The movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was essentially a keynote by Al, with really cool media as a supporting cast.
Back to that opening statement, don’t be afraid to go out and gain support by presenting your thoughts. That bad feeling you have, it’s just anxiety. Everyone has it. One last quick bit of advice, go out and gain some support before you present. It will really help you fine tune your presentation.
Leadership Summit – Day 2 – Catherine Rohr
August 8, 2008Catherine Rohr is the CEO and founder of the nonprofit Prison Entrepreneurship Program.
Catherine left a successful career on Wall Street, gave up everything to head to Texas and start a prison ministry, teaching prisoners about business. To empower them, and grow them up…
Catherine is bringing it: Society is contributing to the issues with prisoners not being able to get back into it (society). We send them to prison and ask them to pay their debt, but when we let them out, we call them ex-cons. We make them check a box on their employment application to call them out.
Catherine is a tremendous leader that has built relationships with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She treats the TDCJ as a shareholder, a customer, which fosters a terrific partnership. She calls the TDCJ out as being a great risk taker allowing the PEP to run in their system.
PEP states: 4 years old, 1000 CEOs as volunteers, a single digit return to prison rate, 98% employment, 47 guys that have started their own business. 400 guys are graduating this year, with a goal of 1000 a year. PEP currently has a budget of 3.2 million, with a proposed budget of 10 million.
About fundraising: One of the saddest sales statistic is that only 47% of people ask for the sale at the end of pitch. If you believe in what you are selling, and are sold out, then its simple.
Catherine challenged all the leaders in attendance not to be wowed about her story and what she gave up to start this ministry, but instead, to ask God to ‘bring it’ and respond to His will for our lives. To give up everything to follow His direction for us.
To wrap it up, we heard from over 10 gentlemen that have recently been released from prison, and with the help of PEP, they are taking advantage of a second opportunity, to lead society, give back, be great parents to their children, and lead like Jesus.
Leadership Summit – Day 2 – Chuck Colson
August 8, 2008Chuck Colson, known for his unbelievable prison ministries, is up now. When he started prison ministry, 229,000 people were in prison. Now there are over 2.9 million…
The job of a leader is not to pander to your people, but lead them.
Are we captive to the culture?
From his latest book, The Faith, there are a couple of questions/ideas to think about:
1) What is Christianity? - it is seeing everything through the eyes of God
2) What is wrong with us? the world? society? It’s us…because of the fall. Man chose the Non-Good path.
3) The birth of Christ is about God coming in the flesh to conquer Satan.
4) God is the Triune.
5) We are reconciled by the cross.
Christianity isn’t about imposing, but proposing. We believe in free will, free markets, free government, and human freedoms, the essential thought of the Gospel.
Lead your people and equip them, giving a vision that your people can’t help but follow.
Leadership Summit – Day 2 – Craig Groeschel
August 8, 2008We (Cornerstone Staff) are at the Summit today, over at CCCEV. Craig Groeschel (from LifeChurch.tv is up now talking about IT.
What is IT? How do we get IT?
LifeChurch.tv campus growth – Tenn campus up 30%, NY campus up 145%, Craig’s own campus down 3%. What is IT?
How do we get IT? Don’t know…
Looking at the old church – Acts 2:42-47 – Clearly these guys had it.
Looking across his campuses that have IT, there are 4 things that he has noticed:
1) They have a laser focus.
2) They see opportunities when others see obstacles
3) Organizations that have it are willing to fail.
4) Organizations that have it are led by people that have it.
Questions:
What are you doing that you need to stop doing?
What is God trying to show through your greatest limitation?
What has God called you to do that you’re afraid to do?
When Craig says he lost IT, he took a journey to find it. He stopped reading other Pastor’s books, and read the Bible only. He started fasting again. He went to a foreign country that held a baby that wouldn’t live a week after he left. He opened his heart and found IT again.
Craig wrapped up with a Franciscan benediction:
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
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Starbucks’ afternoon deal
August 5, 2008I’ve been hearing reports over the last months about Starbucks and their financial issues. You’d never know it, since you see one around every corner, but I guess their growth is flat. To add more ‘value’ for their customers, their Chief Exec said, they’re offering a $2 grande iced beverage after 2pm. The ticket to this deal? You must bring in a receipt from your morning Starbucks visit.
Does this motivate you to make another trip for Starbucks?
Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Back to School Event
August 5, 2008This past Saturday I was fortunate to see the Phoenix Rescue Mission in action with their Back to School Event. They helped families in the valley get ready for the school year by distributing school uniforms, socks, shoes, and sweet backpacks for the kids. They even gave out some ice cream for the hot ride home.
Another cool thing they did was minister to the parents and kids. It was really cool to see how much love and compassion there was flowing everywhere you looked. Kudos to them for a great event, and hopefully I can update with some stats later. Check out some pics from the event.
