Presenting #SocialMedia to our Church Parish- #Technology Changes Everyone, Everywhere

I wanted to share. Last night I presented the Power of Social Media to our Parish Ministry Chairs (a project I volunteer to work on off hours over the past year). 

Our goal has been to expand the breadth and scope of diversity for the young and young at heart. #LetsGetSocial Kudos to the inspirational and forward thinking leader Sister Katherine Arseneau for paving the way and being so open minded and adventurous in this technology journey. #TheBestisYettoCome

I know when you look at the picture you will see a lot of gray hairs in the audience.  "Don't judge a book by it's cover"- that goes 10 fold for this Parish community. We all know in our Tech industry, the only thing constant is change- Social Media is fairly new for people in our industry as well, and constantly evolving so kudos to this group led by a remarkable nun who is open minded to green light all sorts of technology

Sister Kate

initiatives Mobile app, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and more! Kudos also to the engaged audience of 50 ministry chairs who listened, laughed, and came up to me afterwards to say how much they learned and were interested in learning more!

Many work in tech, are chairs of schools, run 10k's or Marathons  and are extremely wise and inspirational! Do not let the gray hairs deceive you to know their vast level of knowledge and open mindedness to try something new (we ALL could use more of that!). Someday we all will age (if we have not already), and some teen will judge us – and boy would that be wrong.  :) With their years of wisdom and experience, they could teach us a thing or 2...or 10! :)

I told this one story and will share it with you now. My grandmother at a whopping 4'11. was a mom to six- 3 girls and 3 boys (The Italian Polish Brady Bunch of Brooklyn), and extremely filled with life and love. Until the age of 87 she was active in Yoga, Tai Chi, Line Dancing and calling out Bingo # and would go to church every day if she could. She was exposed to 9/11 and ended up being diagnosed a few years later with Pulmonary Fibrosis- a crippling lung disease which required her to wear Oxygen. She got winded going a short distance so she ended up having to go to a nursing room. It was at that time she could no longer go to her Parish church, and although she watched it on TV- she missed her faith leaders and church family.

My Grandmother Teresa Ragusa

My Grandma is now passed (may she rest in Heaven), but Sister Kate and a few of us had the idea of recording the Church Homily and Gospel... so we started a YouTube Channel and post them on our Facebook page. Now people like my grandma can watch even when their home-bound/in a nursing home and can no longer come to Church- such a blessing. Not to mention busy moms with young kids, people traveling, or people who just want to re-watch and listen to the lessons they share with us each week and meditate on the message.

If interested- this was my Preso: Easier to explain as some slides are pictures which I tell a story too, but in summary we have come a long way in a short period of time.

Getting Social with Saint Michael’s Church from Michelle Ragusa

I am inspired by their desire to reach a broader and more diverse audience, and to NEVER lose the desire to learn and grow. May we all be so wise! This is the POWER of Technology- it reaches ALL People, ALL Backgrounds, ALL Religions, ALL Languages, and it lifts them, it inspires them, and it brings us closer together.  As in the words of Cisco, There has never been a better time to do something Amazing.

On a side note- I understand public speaking is the largest fear in the world, surpassing Fear of Failure, Heights and even Death-... but not for me.  I genuinely LOVE presenting it is when I feel my natural high.  Sister Kate is one of the reasons I love going to Church again.  She is one of my mentors, she is one of THE BEST speakers I have ever heard present- her messages each week  our filled with humor, inspiration and the ability to make the complex easy to understand- truly top notch! So her messaging  affirms I am following my heart and passion and means so very much to me. "Michelle, Fantastic job last night.  You are a born presenter, believe me...and I have seen a lot of presenters and teachers!"  My husband, Jay - and I mean this honestly, is also one of the BEST presenters I have ever heard speak got to hear me speak for the first time in our relationship- shocking, I know-  but  I am usually presenting to work, customers, or young women/advancing women.  His comments, "... it was a great session and Michelle knocked it out of the park. Many of the people came by to talk to her after and were really motivated." meant so much to me,as did the resoundingly wonderful feedback I received on this and all of my presentations.  An ever present reminder (God-Wink) to follow my heart, and my dreams. For every journey we take in life-following our quest for knowledge, our passions and dreams, one step at a time...