Archives For Technology

Do you need to say thanks to a pastor or leader but don’t have an ounce of creative juice flowing?

Yesterday I came across this video that a friend made. The video creatively let’s “Sam and Esther” know that they are loved and appreciated as leaders. This being Priscilla’s home church, I thought it would be cool to share it here on the blog:

Sam & Esther – These Words (I Love You) from Nick Chamberlain on Vimeo.

What creative way of saying “Thanks” have you seen lately? How would you say thanks? I’d love to know!

Merry Christmas

December 25, 2010 — 2 Comments

Did you get all your shopping done in time? Well, you can relax now – today is Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Priscilla and I would like to wish all our family, friends, and fellow bloggers a warm and merry Christmas!

[Did you download my Christmas gift to you?]

My Christmas Gift To You

December 16, 2010 — 3 Comments

Is your church in need of a nice warm “welcome video”? Are you looking for a creative way to say Merry Christmas?

Christmas Sunday is upon us and as my Christmas gift to you, I want to give you two After Effects files that I made for our church:

Welcome Video with Snow from Jon Manna on Vimeo.

I used this video during our Family Christmas Musical as people were walking in. We played music through the house as well. Please note that you need to loop the video in order for it to play seamlessly. We did this in our presentation software (i.e PropresentermediashoutSongShowPlus).

Merry Christmas Video with Snow from Jon Manna on Vimeo.

[UPDATED: *actual loop starts at 56 second mark. please ignore the first 56 seconds]

At the end of our Family Christmas Musical we showed this video as the cast came up on stage to take a bow. Again, please note that you need to loop the video if you want to let it run while everyone clears out of the auditorium.

My Christmas Gift to You

Download the Welcome with Snow AE file and the Merry Christmas with Snow AE file as my christmas gift to you!

[In order for you to use these AE files you will need two additional plugins from Red Giant Software called Trapcode Particular 2.1, and Trapcode Shine 1.6]

I’d love to see how you use these. So please post links in the comments. Enjoy!

I don’t consider myself a great graphic designer, but every year I somehow get asked to design our posters and tickets for our Family Christmas Musical. Here is what I did last year:

Heart Beat of Christmas -  Ticket

This year, I was given (told) specific instructions and had a more limited freedom to create. Nevertheless here are my offerings:

2010 Manger News Poster

2010 MANGER NEWS TICKETS

I decided to keep a similar background. I figured, why reinvent something that I already took time to do. So until further notice, that red background will be a trademark for our Christmas Musical.

So what was my inspiration as I set out to design? None other than Carrie Underwood and her stellar rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. (if you don’t see the video click here)

What is your inspiration as you design, plan your Christmas worship service, or just enjoy this special time of year?

Christmas Inspiration from Jonathan Manna on Vimeo.

(By the way, if you want to come and experience our Family Christmas Musical, completely written and developed in-house, come on Dec 10-11 @ 7pm. Click for directions.)

Using Lite-Brite and a few other magical tricks, the David Crowder Band has made a very clever stop-motion video for its song “SMS (Shine)”:

Made with:

  • 1,200 separate Lite-Brite® images
  • 700,000 Lite-Brite® pegs
  • 2,150 man-hours
  • 83 friends
  • 148 pizzas

Respect goes out to them for this creative masterpiece!

Back when I bought my first gen iPhone (which I currently still use), I needed a screen protector. As a loyal follower of the iPhone in Canada blog,  I took their advice and bought the Zagg InvisibleSHIELD. Some 2 years later and I’m still using it.


The great guys at Zagg are offering an unbelievable giveaway: “12 Weeks of Christmas”. You don’t want to miss some of these amazing prizes. Here’s a summary of their prize giveaways:

If you’re like me, you want in on this great giveaway. Click below to get started:


How to Afford an iPhone 4

September 27, 2010 — 2 Comments


iPhone 4

For the last couple of years I was always wanting to buy the latest iPhone. I was tempted when the 3Gs came out last year, but couldn’t swallow the minor changes the upgrade brought.

Introduce the iPhone 4, and I am itching to jump on board. With my current Fido contract (no data), I am only eligible for the upgrade on January 2, 2011. That being said, I like the low subsidized price of the 32GB iPhone 4 @ $269, but I don’t want to lock in to a 3 year voice AND DATA agreement. I feel I have enough connectivity with wifi at home, work, the mall, and my local Starbucks, that I don’t need to pay $1000+ over the next 3 years for data.

So when you take that into consideration, the only other option is buying it outright from Apple for $779.00 (unlocked). But how on earth would anyone be able to afford that? Here are my ideas:

*If you are with Fido and don’t care about paying the data plan over three years, here are two sweet alternative options to buy the 32GB iPhone 4 for $269:

Fido

  • Save up your Fido dollars. Start referring your friends and you get $20/friend – conditions apply.
  • Use your PC Points to purchase Fido gift cards. I currently have almost $300 worth of points – that would do the trick!

For buying it outright, unlocked from Apple for $779, here are some super ideas:

  • You can save your cash and buy it when you have enough saved up – which is wise.
  • You can ask family and friends to give you Apple gift cards instead of random Christmas/birthday gifts – this is smart. (you can donate to me too)
  • You can use your PC Points to purchase Visa/MasterCard gift cards which you can then use at the Apple Store to purchase.

As I mentioned above, I currently have $300 worth of PC Points and will probably use a couple of these ideas, combined, to purchase my unlocked iPhone 4 from the Apple Store.

How did you/will you afford your iPhone 4? I’d love to hear your story, ideas and buying strategies.

Conference Season Is Here

September 24, 2010 — 5 Comments

Register Now

EARLY BIRD RATES! REGISTER TODAY! LIMITED SPACE!

In these last few few weeks I’ve received several e-blasts for conferences. (Today – Sept. 24 – we can even watch a live backstage feed from Story2010). With the number of conferences happening, I believe some seriously get lost in the mix. As a result, I haven’t registered for ANY conferences in 2010. However, I don’t want that to be the case in 2011. (if you are attending a conference check out these 12 iPhone apps to help you make the most of your experience)

So here’s where you come in. I’m trying to funnel all these conferences down to the top one in these two categories:

  1. #1 conference for church leaders
  2. #1 conference for worship leaders/creatives.

Tell me which conference you consider to be #1 in each category and why!

I just might be joining you in 2011.

A while back, a friend from Montreal told me about a website that provides technology (hardware, software, etc..) at seriously low cost. TechSoup Stock brings technology donations to nonprofits.

From what I understand, Major corporations donate their products for qualifying nonprofits (i.e. the Church) and they only pay an admin fee for the product.

An example is Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 – Design Premium (CS5)

  • Adobe.com: US$1,899
  • Techsoup.org: US$160 (which is basically an admin fee)

My church is currently in the process of registering. I love it when I see this kind of stuff happening in the “business” world!

Is your nonprofit/church already on board with TechSoup? If so, I’d love to hear how it has blessed what you do.

For the last two years I’ve been using MailChimp to send out mass emails at my church.

Recently, I noticed an iPad app that they have launched to allow us to easily collect email addresses. In a church setting, I can see this being used in the lobby after a service, or at conferences and concerts.

Here’s what MailChimp has to say about their new app:

Meet Your New Signup Form

Make real-world connections with Chimpadeedoo, a simple signup app for iPad that makes it easy to collect email addresses in physical locations, like at points of sale, trade shows, and checkout locations.

Collect Addresses Offline

Even when you’re not online, Chimpadeedoo collects email addresses and stores them locally on your iPad. Next time you connect, Chimpadeedoo automatically pushes the addresses to your MailChimp list.

Customize Your Form

Choose from 10 different backgrounds, write your own copy, and connect the form to any MailChimp list.

Protect Your Data

Chimpadeedoo’s app settings are hidden in the upper-right corner of the screen, and you can add password protection for extra security.

All in all, how do you see this app making your life easier? Let me know!