Podcast Episode 96: Episode 69: Special Edition with Jason Gibb

Description

In this special edition of Rockcast, we chat with Jason Gibb, a new Account Executive on staff at Spark Development Network. Jason is not only a long-time member of the Rock community and well-versed in all things Rock RMS, he's also really tall. Really tall. Welcome aboard, Jason!

Transcribed Content

This episode of Rockcast is brought to you by Rock partner Triumph Tech, a full service specialist partner. Rock partners provide crucial support for Spark Development Network and important services for the Rock community. Connect with Triumph Tech today at rockrms.com/partners. Welcome back to a special edition of the Rockcast podcast, where we get to introduce you to some of our favorite friends in the Rock community and on the Spark staff. And today, we have a very special guest with us, Jason Gibb. Welcome, Jason. Hey, guys. Thanks. So I know that many people who listen to our podcast already know who you are, Jason. You're the same Jason they already know. We don't have two Jason Gibbs the community. The one and only. That's right. But we do have some exciting information to share about why you're here today and why you're on the podcast. And so Yeah. Awesome. So I have joined the Spark team, and I'm incredibly excited to be here. It was, , been something that has been in kind of my head for a while and something I've been thinking about that's weighed heavy on me. Just being in the Rock community for so many years, , it's easy to look at the core team and be inspired by everything that's going on here. And, , I I saw a posting on on the Rock side about a job opportunity here and and it just weighed heavy on me. I felt God was really trying to tell me something that this might be where where he wanted me. And I think that that was a challenge because I felt I was where he wanted me and and so I kinda wait on that. I started conversations with with some of y'all here and, , through through kind of a unplanned series of perfect events kinda brought me over here and so now I'm here. And crazy excited to be here working with the core team and kinda bringing what I do best over here. And we're so glad to have you. Awesome. Very I'm super happy be I think that the the effort that you've put into the Rock community over the years just speaks volumes about your heart for the community, about your commitment to ministry, and that's we're gonna have a a great chance to to let that shine here. I'm I that's funny you mentioned that because that's one of the things I'm most excited about is kinda how much more I can be involved directly with the community here and seeing, , opportunities , oh, just the Rock Conf Rock Experience Conference and everything that we're gonna be able to do there. I'm just incredibly excited to be in a closer tie to that community and be a part of that even more than I was. So the reason that you're here with us today is because you flew in for a week from Houston here to hang out with us. I did. And we've already had some really great conversations, and we're getting really excited about all the forward thinking chapters here. At the end of this week here, you'll be flying back to Houston temporarily. What does your future look with location? Well, so Houston's where we've called home our entire lives, both me and my wife and all of our families live there. But about a year ago, we started conversations thinking about maybe Houston might not be it for us. And so we it's challenging conversation because we have family and and everyone that we love very much is in Houston, but we have made the decision that we will be moving to Colorado at the end of this next school year. So come April or May, we will be moving out to the Denver area, and we are incredibly, incredibly excited for that change in our lives. It's gonna be challenging, but we are in a unique situation and just really blessed to be able to kinda choose where you wanna live, and and we've been in the hot humid environment of Houston, so we're looking forward to that weather change. So polar opposite of that. Yes. Yeah. Quite a bit different. That's right. A big year of change for you. It will be a big year of change. I've I've been in a few big years of change. , this Rock community has grown so fast over these past four years. It's change is kinda what I'm used to now at this point. That is the new standard? Yes. Exactly. Well, tell us a little bit about your family. Awesome. Yeah. So I have two little dudes, Jonah and Owen. They are three and seven, and they are the polar opposites of each other. And, , they're punching holes in walls and falling down stairs and all the things a little boy should be doing. So they're awesome. I have a wife, Rebecca. We've been married for ten years, and we we have a lot of fun hobbies. So we are really big into cycling as a family and as kind of individuals. So Jonah's been doing some BMX racing and stuff that, and he's liking that. And I do road cycling and so does Rebecca. So we've kinda cycling's our little family hobby that we to do together. We ride bikes a lot, and so we're really looking forward to the weather change. Oh, for sure. Right? So we can be kinda outdoors, cooler weather, enjoy that a little bit more. That sounds a perfect fit for you guys. We think so too. I bet the community's wondering when am I gonna next run into Jason Gibb? Not to put questions in their minds, but I'm I'm sure that would be me if I were sitting on the other side of this. I can't blame them. It's exciting to run into Jason. I think so. I think so. No. So I will be at the Rock Experience and that's I'm really looking forward to getting to see a lot of the churches I already know and just all the churches we don't know. I mean, it's you guys know. We've all been there every year. It's just such an incredible experience for the community to come together and meet each other, put name put faces to names that we've all known. And so I will be there. I'd love to meet anyone who wants to come up and say hi. I stand out. I'm rather tall for those who don't know me, so you'll see me for sure. Yes. I can hardly stand next to you. That's true. I'm on the opposite end of the hype spectrum. That's funny. So definitely look Jason up at the conference. And if you haven't booked your tickets yet, just a little aside, do it. Soon. Mhmm. Yep. We have to get a head count for meals and t shirts. And you food and clothes, then you'll wanna book sooner rather than later. Did y'all book my ticket yet? Oh. Oh, shoot. Thought you were gonna ride your bike there. Oh, you're that kind of cyclist. Yes. That'd be a whole another podcast, cycling across America. I could blog it. You could. Yeah. That'd be fun. No. You will definitely be there. Very exciting. So what's next is a pretty bright future around here. I'm really excited. So I'll be kinda stepping in helping with the professional services team and getting to know the guys and the ladies on the team and and what all we're kinda working to offer churches and their needs and I'm really excited to get going with that. We're excited to have you do that too. Yeah. And I think, , you you you bring up community, and it's such it's a word we keep using over and over and over. But I think what's it's really unique in the in in the Rock instance because it's not about the product, it's about the community. We say that. I had a conversation with a vendor this week, and I was trying to explain to him our community and why he should be coming to the conference as a sponsor. And he's a it's a very well known secular entity that most people I think would would know. And as Kevin explained, hey, you gotta come see the community. He's , oh, yeah. We got a community too. And then he was explaining to it. And his most people, when they say community, they might as well just rename it tool. Right. They have this tool that they use to, , bring more sales in or or, , have them teach things, but it's not for us. It's, , so different. Yep. And it's hard to even explain that. And so when you are talking about community and and how that enticed and and just interests you, it's that's because we have real community. And it's it's not a tool most communities are. Yep. , you you you retweeted a post from Jim Michael. Jim Michael's a while back that he said, , if you're if you're not sending if you're on Rock and you're not sending at least one person to the Rock experience, you're doing it wrong. And and that's so true because you it's it's one experience to see the community and the tools that are out there remotely to experience the community, but at the Rock experience, it's it's where that inspiration and those friendships and those conversations of how they're using Rock and and what it solved problem wise at some churches that that's really where you get the feeling for really what this community is and what it brings. That is so true. I tell people that all the time when they come into a partnership with us or a new church that's thinking about moving to Rock, I'm constantly saying, if you're evaluating this, Rock is not a product. It's a product plus community, which is a whole different experience. If you're evaluating Rock and you are not coming to the conference, you're not really evaluating Rock. Mhmm. You really don't know what all the benefits are that you're about to step into. It it's kinda hard to describe. But you show up and it's the annual party. , everybody reconnecting and sharing all the cool stuff they've done all year. And I love the diversity of the community too. And there's a lot of groups or what they might call communities in the in the in the church, but they always always tend to be on denominational lines or at least same theological or background lines, and, , ours isn't. And I love the fact that the first question out of everybody's mouth isn't , oh, what denomination are you or what I mean, that I I don't know if I've ever heard that. Yeah. No. In chat, you'd never see that. No. And I think that's that's it's kinda unique, and I hope it becomes know, it continues to remain to remain a diverse community. And some of the projects that we're working on, we're starting to get some mainline denominations, adding really, really cool features into Rock and funding some of that. And it's really cool to see all of that all coming together. And I was on a call this week actually with the Catholic diocese, and they were asking, well, how does how does a Protestant mainline church do that? Or how do they how do they arrange their campuses? Because they were thinking how do their, , do their churches how how do within the diocese, how do they interact? Are they similar to campuses or not? It was just really cool to have that cross pollination, and and I think there's a lot for us to learn from how they do things too. Yeah. I just love that. Me too. A lot of times we put artificial boundaries on things that limit our impact. Right? And so we do that sometimes with a denomination or maybe a skill set or some other things. We just create these mental boundaries of what defines something and and, , box ourselves into a corner. So it's really cool to see that there's so much opportunity in so many directions inside the Rock community, and that's really only growing because everyone can contribute in different ways and each of those contributions is what's building this into what it's going to be, which is pretty incredible. So many of those contributions are gonna be on display at the Rock Experience too, which is really unique opportunity to get to see so many different inputs and directions and problems that have been solved all in one kind of learning experience. It's really unique. It really is. We work really hard on putting that conference together just from a logistical standpoint, and then we show up and we're continually blown away because we can't even anticipate the the things that the community is doing, the way the community interacts. I still remember last year showing up and 450 people coming through the door at me when there was an exit from one of the main sessions and thinking, I don't even know all these people. And they all know each other. They're all chatting around over there. They know what's going on. And that's just really cool. It's not about what we put on. It's really about what they're doing. Well, Jason, we're really thrilled to have you as a part of the ongoing community, as a part of the core team, that your efforts will be going to really build this in a in a monumental way, and we're we're so thrilled to have you. So thanks for joining us today and for the duration. You're very welcome. I am incredibly excited to be here and really looking forward to what we're gonna do together. Do a church that loves the idea of using Rock but hasn't taken that leap yet? With managed hosting, churches of any size can get access to Rock's amazing technology, hassle free. With just one click, Rock's managed hosting removes the roadblocks that might stop a church from switching to Rock by making the process simple. Churches get the ease of a SaaS church management system without losing any of Rock's powerful features. Are you ready to take the next step or share with another local church? Visit rockrms.com/hosting today.