Echo Conference

Matt is the Director of Communications and Media at Lawton First Assembly, in Lawton, Oklahoma where he develops creative solutions in communications, brand development, and technology for ministry. Prior to joining Lawton First, he worked for television stations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.  You can connect with Matt through his blog or on Twitter.

ECHO: Tell us about your background in digital media.
MK: For 14 years I worked in Broadcast News all around the United States and in United Kingdom. My work has been seen seen on all the major news networks in the United States and featured on SKY News and the BBC in Europe. I got my start as a TV Photojournalist in my home town of Harrisburg Pennsylvania at two local TV stations while in college. I then then ventured to Europe where I worked internationally as a photojournalist with the BBC in East Riding, England. After returning to the United States, I worked as a reporter in Springfield, Missouri.
In late 2002, I became the Director of Photography at a FOX Owned and Operated duopoly in Minneapolis, Minnesota where I was a mentor and leader to a group of 30 full-time photojournalists and 7 full-time editors.  In 2005, I was sent to Rome to cover the fragile Pope John Paul II and ended up covering his death, the mourning, and papal conclave for FOX News Channel and several other FOX affiliates around the country.
In 2007 I had the honor to lead my staff to national honors when the station was named runner-up as the National Press Photographers Association’s Station of the year as one of the best stations in the country for television photography.
My work alone has won many honors, including: Associated Press Southwest Press Photographer of the Year; 20 Emmy Awards; 2 RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards and more than other 70 Regional and National Awards.

ECHO: What led to your transition from working at TV stations to working at Lawton First Assembly?
MK: I have always been a person of great faith but never had the interest of working for or in a church. In saying that, I have always had a love for the kingdom and always felt communication and media should be focused and uniform in message. I’ve had what I like to call divine interruptions while working in TV, but a number of years ago there was a cataclysmic event that really got my attention.  While attending a church we never attended nor new anyone there someone interrupted a sermon calling me by name and delivering a word directed towards me, that I would use my gifts and talents in communication to help the kingdom one day.  Dude, that got my attention.  Another event happened like that almost 7 years later when I took some FOX VPs to the Willow Summit.
Those moments showed me I was desperately unhappy, I needed to change. Through that time God really began to work in me more through situation and the Holy Spirit and opportunities and conversations began to pop up.  Our move to Lawton First was not a flyby-night decision.  Matter of fact, it took almost a year-and-a-half for us to make the move.   Many would see the transition as bizarre or difficult, but it has be nothing but excitement and a blessing.

ECHO: What kinds of things are you working on at your church?
MK: I wear multiple hats at Lawton First, but I mainly oversee the Communications Department, including Print and Publication, PR, Creative Services, and Media.  My role is responsible for leading and developing the Lawton First strategy, increasing widespread participation and awareness of the overall vision. This includes capital campaigns to be conducted through various methods (e.g. donor events, grant applications, direct mail, online networking).
My true passion is simplifying and honing all communication corporate wide through the power of story.  We tend to make things a lot more complicated and more difficult than it really is. We are working on corporate wide re-brand and advertising to focus on being intentional about storytelling. We are reformatting the weekly Bulletin (yes we still have a bulletin) to include a storytelling element like a brief testimony and head shot. We are changing all promo videos to tell stories instead of just giving the four W’s. My experience and research finds that a good story is better than a good, factual promo video or someone telling you what they think you want to hear.
To put it simply we are going to stop recreating the wheel and go back to the tool of the Master which is “STORYTELLING.” In many ways, churches have focused to much on the cultural wave  that they lost their own unique voice. They lost their brand, their market place, and created fractured communication and presentation. Churches need to shift to less distraction and greater content. Or to put it another way, in the words of my dear friend Kem Meyer “Less Clutter, Less Noise”. Genuine communication that is simplistic wins.

ECHO: For people who are coming to Echo, what can they expect from your breakout session?
MK: Video production has changed; lightweight gear, no time…“make it good – fast”. Your ability to craft a look with digital cameras is more important now than ever. While there is a description for the session I want it to be kind of open and let the attendees direct where they want to camp the discussion.  But I’m planning on using live demonstrations with cameras and lights to teach simple, powerful techniques to use creative lighting in the studio and on-location to get dramatic results!  I hope to also show how if you don’t have the equipment, you can use everyday light to get the same effects.  If the readers on the blog want me to cover something different or specifically, please leave a comment, tweet me @mknisely, or send me a message on my website.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 9:14 am and is filed under About ECHO, Keynotes & Breakouts, Speakers, While at ECHO.... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.