TimSchraeder.com

After a number of requests about Park’s Twitter policy, I decided to share it with the rest of you: we don’t have one.
I’m not a huge fan of policies. They take too long to write out and shouldn’t really be an issue as long as you are managing what you are doing well.
That being said, [...]

Texting has certainly changed the way we communicate. I’m notorious for not answering my cell phone. One of my friends’ voicemail  says, “Don’t leave me a message I don’t check them, send me a text.”
I think the only person I talk to on the phone for longer than 10 minutes is my mom. And that’s [...]

I’m going to old school here for a minute.
Remember rabbit ears?
No, not the ones your friend in high school or your Uncle Joe gave to people in pictures, but the rabbit ears that you used to have to use to get reception on your TV?
Yeah, it’s been awhile since most of us have had to [...]

I think all too often we see what other people [or in the instance of most of my readers, churches] do and think if we do what they did, it will work for us.
I don’t think anything could be further from the truth.
One of the cruelest games we can find ourselves in is the Comparison [...]

Gen X’ers are in their 30s, and are beginning to make an impact in their jobs.  When they go after a youth audience, they tend to think very differently than Gen Y.
What’s cool to a Gen X’er is not cool to a Generation Y’er.

Differences Between Gen X and Gen Y

Gen X are 1965-1981
Gen Y [...]

My friend @blainehogan has been doing a cool thing over on his blog… he’s been asking people to share what they are passionate about in exactly 100 Words.
I was nervous when he asked me to write about communication… it was definitely a challenge to wrap a concise idea around 100 words, but I think I [...]

John Saddington posed the question on ChurchCrunch in response to my “Case for Church Communications” posts (here and here) about how the web is changing the role of a church communications director and if the role is relevant and worthwhile anymore… or what would it look like to have a more team-centered approach when it [...]

So this is pretty weird to be posting my own notes… Download a PDF of the Slides here.
HUGE thanks to everyone who came and supported, I hope it was a beneficial session for you guys! And a HUGE thanks to Jarbyco for hooking us up and letting us take questions via text! And, if you [...]

Tim Ellens is a brand strategist passionate about helping clients “live” their unique story. Viewing everyone in an organization as a storyteller he facilitates and develops strategies that get the story out of the board room and into the back room. As a student of branding, he understands that people relate to brands in ways [...]

This video has been making rounds on the interweb the past few days…
And if you ask me, I think in under 4 minutes it presents a rather compelling reason why you, as a church leader, and your church MUST engage with social media.
The revolution is coming.
It’s already here.

A friend shared this link with me this morning from designer Bruce Mau… all I can say is WOW.
If you are a creative, designer, or anyone who tries to be, this is worth the read.
Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are [...]

I thought before I got too deep in ideas and thoughts about why church communication matters TODAY that we should put the conversation on pause real quick, take a step back, and get a solid foundation, one rooted in God’s Word… to lead the rest of the conversation forward.
There is no shortage of great ideas [...]