The workshop was a success!

Well, the presentation at the diocesan workshop was a big success!  The morning session opened up with a brief intro, and led into a service of Morning Prayer, Rite II.  What made that unusual for a meeting of Episcopalians is that it was coming from the Anglican Cathedral in Second Life!  Well, not directly.  That is, the original plan was to actually log in to SL and hold the service in real time, but the logistics of that just didn’t come together.  So I arranged to have a service filmed (using a screen capture software program) and what was shown was a recording of a MP service that was staged for the event.  I did note to the folks in the room that this WAS a staged service, as there were only a handful of people in the virtual congregation, at which point the bishops in attendance laughed and noted that people always lie to the bishop about “average Sunday attendance.”

It was a very odd sensation.  I have been to many worship services, both in “real life” and in SL, but never in both simultaneously.  The folks gathered in RL didn’t quite know what to make of it at first, and there was a bit of nervous laughter to start, as they weren’t quite sure what was in store for them.  But as the familiar service began, everyone fell right into the rhythm of the responses.  Well, mostly.

First blog post!

Ok, my first post!  Ummm…. now what?  I”ve been threatening to start a blog for a long time now, so here goes.  I’m on tap to give a presentation this Saturday on “Social Media and the Church” as part of the God’s Web Workshop being sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio.  So my first task is to set up a page of resources for the presentation.

I am SO not accustomed to getting up in front of a roomful of people and giving a presentation!  So a bit nervous about the whole thing.  But little by little it seems to be coming together.

So I guess what one does on a blog is talk about oneself.  And it seems the best way to start out the presentation as well, so here goes.  I am so not good at talking about myself!  It occurs to me that a good place to start is with the fact that I never thought I would be one of those “social media” people.  You see, I am hovering near the top end of the age demographic of people who frequent social networking venues such as Facebook.  Let’s just say that I am old enough to remember when a game of Pong made for an evening’s fun.  Besides, I was a bit wary of meeting people online.  Aren’t there dangerous people out there in cyberspace?  I would have no way of knowing who these people really were.  Plus, I’m a bit of an introvert at heart, so the idea of going to a big party full of invisible strangers was not my idea of a good time.  But here I am, in the thick of it.  How did that happen?  One step at a time.  Which, I am mindful, is what people say about addictive behavior.  And of course, that is one of the “charges” leveled at such pursuits as Facebook and Second Life.

Yes, social networking can become a very compelling experience, and I can see how those with a tendency toward addictive behavior could get sucked in.  But for me, anyway, it is also a very rewarding experience.