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Are you a MOST or a SOME?

Most read books.  Some write them.

Most attend conferences.  Some create them.

Most fake intimacy.  Some live intimately.

Most love great design.  Some design.

Most listen to great music.  Some write great music.

Most point out problems.  Some solve them.

Most admire beautiful art.  Some create it.

Most receive generously.  Some give generously.

Most imagine what should've been.  Some imagine what can be.

Most criticize.  Some create.

Are you a "MOST" or a "SOME"?

Let's stop being afraid of those blank canvases that stare us down and scare the hell out of us.......and let's create.

The Orchard's New Logo

Six years ago, our 85 year-old church community changed it's name from "Aurora First Assembly of God Church" to "Orchard Valley Community Church."  As you can imagine, it was a tremendous move for us.  At the time we also created a logo and website that has served us well over these past few years. Here's the logo we've had up until today:

About 18 months ago, we started feeling it was time for another change.  Way overdue actually!  What was needed was a complete rebrand.  So with the amazing and generous (pro-bono) help of our good friends, Keith and Dawn Baldwin (fellow Orchard tribe, creative geniuses, and Aspire One pioneers), we began the process of designing a new logo and website that we are excited to share with you today!

Our goal was to create a logo that would reflect the artistic, missional, and organic culture of what The Orchard has become over these past few years.  While we certainly wanted something that looked "excellent" and "professional", we also didn't want to lean too far into a "corporate" or "trendy" look.  It was also important to us that the logo would look original and unique.  And I'm super proud and excited to say that I think we've accomplished it!  Here it is: We've also launched a new website that went LIVE today.  We've also changed our domain to: theorchardcommunity.com.  (Note: Our previous domain "orchardvalleyonline.com" will point to the new site today or tomorrow.  Emails are still "@orchardvalleyonline.com" for now.)

You can visit the new site by clicking here.

Here's a screenshot:

 

There are so many people to thank and I'll do that in a separate post.  I'm also hoping to get Dawn, Keith, and a couple people from our team to share more of what went into the creation of the logo and site as well.  Stay tuned for that.

Thanks for letting us share an exciting next step for us at The Orchard!

I'm calling it SHOCKTOBER.

Ok, so there are around 2.4 billion things that I'm excited about right now.  And I seriously feel like I need to pinch myself just to make sure this is all real.  Here's a taste.

STORY - It happens next week!  Can't wait.  Around 1,700 pastors, communicators, church leaders, writers, speakers, etc will converge for two days to learn and be inspired by an amazing line up of storytellers -   people like Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Mike Foster, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay, and others.  The first day happens on Wednesday, October 28th at the beautiful Paramount Theater in downtown Aurora.  The next day will be workshops (sold out!) happening at The Orchard.  Honored to host and be a part of STORY!

CULTIVATE - Seriously, Chicagoland is the place to be in October.  Cultivate is a highly interactive, conversational, collaborative un-conference that's all about church communication.  It's happening the day before STORY.  And the lineup of facilitators is just sick.  Wow.

DAVE GIBBONS - We are honored to have Dave speak at The Orchard's gatherings the weekend following STORY.  Not only is Dave a good friend, but he's someone God has used to impact my life in some pretty significant ways.  I'm thrilled that our church community gets to hear and learn from him!

THE NEW & IMPROVED....ORCHARD - The Orchard has had an extreme makeover!  Through the amazing "pro bono" generosity of fellow Orchard tribal members, Dawn & Keith Baldwin (Aspire One), we have a new logo and amazzzing new website that will go live later THIS WEEK.  I'll talk more about this in a later post...  STAY TUNED!

LOVE.SERVE.GIVE. - It's The Orchard's GLOCAL outreach opportunities this winter.  More about this later as well... But just know that we are going to have some amazing opportunities to bring beauty and hope to people locally in our city and globally in places like Uganda, Thailand, and El Salvador.  

ORCHARD ART INITIATIVE - Too much to type, but The Orchard is turning into an art gallery starting this month.  Our campus will be filled with art from local artists.  Huge dream come true, but only the beginning...

Ok, there's more, but I my fingers hurt and I need to study.  OUT.

Generosity Hearts = Generous Space!

I'm excited because we just completed phase one of our Orchard Kids environment makeover!  This is the space where our elementary aged students gather each weekend as well as our jr high & sr high students on Wednesday and Sunday nights. 

It's the second major makeover for this space since 2003 and I can still remember how amazing it felt when we changed it to "Wahabu Land."  Now....I'm feeling that all over again and we're not even finished yet!  The next phase will include new flat panel TV's.....theatrical style lighting.....new carpet.....new (larger) screen....staging upgrades, etc....etc.....  It's going to be incredible!

And of course, this is all the result of a whole lot of people's generous giving, creativity, labor, and lots and lots and lots and lots....of LOVE!  I'm telling you...the Ochard Community is an amazing place.  I'm so thankful to be a part of it.

Also - if you have any ideas for names for this space, let us know!  Leave a comment or email us at: info(AT)orchardvalleyonline(dot)com.  Think urban/SNL type feel when it's all said and done.  And oh yeah, if we use your idea we'll do something cool for you!

Here are some photos.  (Click for larger versions.) 

This, that, and the other....

Anthony Bourdain is hangin' in South Asia right now.  Kinda jealous.  Especially after what I just saw outside on my driveway.  Several inches.

Apple Insider's review of the new Apple iPod In-Ear Headphones.  I hate the standard headphones that they give with the iPhone and iPod.  C'mon, whose ears are shaped for those things???

Ben Arment has some good conversation happening on "mission statements" VS. "mantras." 

Found this new site.  If you're into design it's worth checking out.

Just downloaded a Christmas album called Advent Songs.  It's a nice, eclectic mix from the folks at Sojourn Music.  And it's free if you tell five people!

Have you seen this great new site?  It's called I Am Second.  Thanks to Jason Boucher for the link.

My foot is asleep right now.  Hate that...

Watch & hear Sol Sender talk about how they designed President Elect Obama's campaign logo.  Fellow Chicago folks btw.

I have no idea why I thought of this, but did you know they have Shakey's Pizza in Tokyo?  I remember walking through the Takeshita-dori district (I think...) and seeing one.  For some reason that blew my mind.  Apparently, they're all over there.  Anywho.

Lastly, I've linked to this guy before, but holy smokes.....his amazing food photos make me miss Thailand like crazy!

To bed I go.  G'nite.

Vince's Las Vegas Logo Contest

My buddy, Vince Antonucci, recently announced that he's going to be planting a church on the Vegas strip.  I was in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you........it could use as many GOOD churches as it can get!  And if you know Vince, you'll know that he's a guy who can pull it off!

Anyway.....Vince just announced a logo contest on his blog.  It's a great idea!  If you've got skillz and you're interested, go there now to read the details.

And btw.....if you haven't read Vince's book, I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, you should pick it up from Amazon.com today!

Font Conference

This one is dedicated to my fellow font freaks - especially my MinistryCom friends!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

(via Barton Damer)

404

Yes, it's a different picture than the original one.  I just couldn't take it anymore....

Trying to access a webpage that's no longer there?  Welcome to the 404 Error Page! 

And the creative folks at FrancescoMugnai.com posted the "best of" 404 Error Pages about a month ago. 

Check them out here.

Benched!

My buddy, Jeff Shinabarger, continues to inspire.... 

Check out what he's been up to in his East Atlanta Village neighborhood. 

Benched from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Side note: Jeff spoke at The Orchard last month.  You can download and listen here.

How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity

Just read a great article in Harvard Business Review on How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity written by Pixar's president, Ed Catmull.  Here are a few notes:

Pixar's Operating Principles:

1. Everyone must have the freedom to communicate with anyone.
   This means recognizing that the decision-making hierarchy and communication structure in organizations are two different things.  Members of any department should be able to approach anyone in another department to solve problems without having to go through "proper" channels. 
   
   
2. It must be safe for everyone to offer ideas.
   We make a concerted effort to make it safe to criticize by inviting everyone......to email notes to the creative leaders that detail what they liked and didn't like and explain why.
   
   
3. We must stay close to innovations happening in the academic community.
   It helps us attract exceptional talent and reinforces the belief throughout the company that people are more important than ideas. 

A few quotes:

Management's job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur. 

It must be safe to tell the truth.

We must constantly challenge all of our assumptions and search for the flaws that could destroy our culture.

Creativity involves a large number of people from different disciplines working effectively together to solve a great many problems.

Creativity must be present at every level of every artistic and technical part of the organization.

The view that good ideas are rarer and more valuable than good people is rooted in a misconception of creativity.

Our philosophy is this: You get great creative people , you bet big on them, you give them enormous leeway and support, and you provide them with an environment in which they can get honest feedback from everyone.