Watch Videos from LDSTech Conference to Learn What's New and Upcoming in Church Technology

Contributed By Sharon Leslie Howell, LDSTech.org

  • 5 November 2015

Presenter Rob Jex talks about the Gospel Library mobile app during a session of the 2015 LDSTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 15. Watch this or any of the 29 presentations online on LDSTech.org.

LDSTech.org has posted sessions of the 2015 LDSTech Conference, which include examples and suggestions for using Church technology to the fullest and a preview of what Church technologists envision for the future.

Below are highlights from a few of the presentations. Click on the headline to see the full video. 

Leveraging Technology to Share the Gospel, by Kelly Gibson

Brother Gibson used the Book of Mormon Facebook page to demonstrate how the reach of a message can extend from friends to “friends of friends” in ever-widening ripples, showing clearly the impact of a message when comments are added and people draw their own inferences from scripture, videos, and authoritative quotes.

Using ideas from Elder David A. Bednar’s landmark talk, “Sweep the Earth as with a Flood,” he shared concrete examples of ways to share the gospel on social media, how to limit the negative effects of detractors, and how being motivated by love cements your intentions in positive and authentic ways. Simple expressions of doctrine, principles, and applications at your foundation are a guide to positive outcomes with online audiences.

A Peek at the Future: How Multiscreen and Personalization Will Impact ChurchofJesusChrist.org and Other Digital Products, by Jeff Isom

The Church has planned further changes to ChurchofJesusChrist.org to improve content and make resources more available, searchable, and accessible for many different screen sizes and languages and for low bandwidth environments. Looking toward the future, developers are connecting content with more social channels. They are listening to feedback to make sure your browsing experience at ChurchofJesusChrist.org is a good one.

Audience members listen during a session of the 2015 LDSTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 15.

The Media Library at ChurchofJesusChrist.org is undergoing revitalization and an app is under development that will allow users to aggregate media content into playlists and use set-top boxes with more personalization. Better support for “My Account” settings will deliver content customized to individuals so there will be less content to sift through but with more relevance.

What’s New in LDS Maps and Boundary and Leader Proposal Tool, by Bruce Hall

Significant changes are in beta for a release of LDS Maps. The new online interface has many filtering options, a friendly user interface, and new search features to help you locate meetinghouses, meeting times, and member homes within your unit boundaries. The connection to Google Maps shows street-level images of buildings and surrounding streets. The new boundary proposal tool is for leaders, but there is much in the new interface to help members locate and minister to fellow members.

Social Media Trends and How the Church Is Responding to Them, by Jared Covington

As the use of social media grows, the Church is responding in significant ways, providing quality content that meets audiences where they are in authentic and relatable ways. Brother Covington shared many statistics, including this one: “By 2017, 74 percent of Internet traffic will be video!” With that in mind, he demonstrated small snippets of content that are impactful, sharable, and unequivocal, without being overtly religious.

He introduced the new blog at ChurchofJesusChrist.org and explained its purpose and value. He also said the Church is looking at content that is available for a limited time period, mobile messaging, and how to better present online resources to help members with their Church callings, including information from the Church handbook in non-legal language.

View video streams from any of the 29 sessions here.

 

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