• By RJ Walters, Editor •
When West Michigan Conference Ministry Consultant Naomi Garcia broke her leg earlier this year it took her off the road and out of the churches she had regularly been advising.
But instead of waiting for it to heal or asking pastors and other church leaders to come to her, it was “virtually” a non-issue — as in one that could be electronically solved through the use of the Smart Room at the West Michigan Conference Center.
Utilizing a large high-definition screen and high-end Internet camera, Garcia has been doing several consultations per week with technology that is up and running in the Kalamazoo and Lansing Districts and should eventually be operating in the rest of the conference.
Utilizing Adobe’s Acrobat.com virtual conference application, districts have special access keys that allow clergy and conference leaders to set up an online meeting space almost anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Parties call in to an assigned conference line through their cell phones for the voice service and they can connect visually with the online application.
“When I think about the travel time it takes to get places and the difficulty of getting folks to me, it’s so much more convenient for them and I have everything I need with me and I don’t have to carry it anywhere,” said Garcia, who used to use the Smart Room sparingly, but now does several appointments a week via it. “If I just have my act together ahead of time I can (electronically) send them any handouts or documents I’ll be using and we’ll be all set.”
West Michigan Conference Director of Communications Mark Doyal said Smart Rooms can be a “huge cost savings for mileage the conference pays” and they are “helping us reach people better in a new way.”
Garcia said two churches who had never used the technology before were raving about it after meeting with her earlier in the month. They said they actually “preferred the Smart Room meeting and saw it as a good way to connect more often without having to talk for hours just because Garcia had made a long haul to visit.
Garcia said “actually seeing” people instead of just talking to them helps her be more perceptive about their needs.
“It helps a lot…and I can see their cues a little better,” she said. “(In a recent) meeting I had we just had the conference call with no webcam, but we were online for the notes I was taking, and it was much harder for me to read the silence and kind of figure out what was going on for them.”
Doyal said using Smart Rooms along with other conference amenities like the Michigan Area Resource Center is vital in keeping “the connection alive” among congregations.
