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| Workshop Presenters-> | ParishSOFT Staff Presenters-> | ||||
In this thought-provoking address, Steve will inspire us to look at how leading churches use Information Technology TODAY to dramatically improve communication and engage their parishioners. He will review the use of video, texting, webinars, social networking, mobile applications, and more and wrap up with practical steps for you to get started. Besides founding Christian Computing Magazine in 1989 (see www.ccmag.com), Steve has pastored a church and, for the past fifteen years, reported weekly on the latest technology tools on the PrimeTime America radio show. |
Mission First: Aligning IT to Achieve Ministry Goals Learn how Information Technology (IT) is playing a vital and growing role in the future of the Church in the "Digital Age." Discover how parishes and dioceses have overcome the unique challenges presented by the structure of the Church to make clever and beneficial use of IT. Take notes on practical suggestions for how to get started, work with people effectively, and secure their “buy-in” and active participation along the way. |
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What’s New at ParishSOFT
Mike Cusick, Vice President – Sales & Marketing Bob Kozal, Vice President – Development Learn how ParishSOFT is applying new technology to help churches become more effective in their mission while saving time and money . . . while continuing to improve our existing software at the same time. Learn how you are vital to helping us understand the aspirations and challenges of your work and how you impact what we do at ParishSOFT. Be entertained as Mike and Bob demonstrate our new software in action. Bill, Mike, and Bob have each been with ParishSOFT for at least five years. Bill and Mike were previously with a company that grew to providing software to 50,000 public accounting firms, where they learned how to provide quality sales and services over the phone and through the Internet. Bob has almost 20 years of management and software development experience. |
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Mike Akers
Deacon Bob is from the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin and lives in Wausau with his wife Donna. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past May. In Wausau he is assigned as deacon at the Church of St. Anne, chaplain for a Catholic hospital and a Catholic nursing home. For 13 years he was director of the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, Arizona, and the diocesan system support coordinator responsible for standardizing computer software in 136 parishes and the curia in the Diocese of Phoenix. After moving back to Wisconsin in 1998, Deacon Bob served as deacon for three parishes in north central Wisconsin. Following a transfer, he served several years at St. Anne’s in Wausau as director of pastoral care before retiring in the fall of 2006 after over 25 years of full-time service to the Church. In March 2007, he was called out of retirement by Bishop Listecki to become the diocesan system support coordinator responsible for the standardizing of computer software in 165 parishes and the curia in the Diocese of La Crosse. He loves to fish, hike, read mystery books and travel with Donna in their fifth-wheel camper. Ron Appel
Roni Argetsinger Roni joined the technology department at the Diocese of Des Moines in August 2004 as a parish software systems project manager. She managed the conversion of all 82 parishes within the Diocese of Des Moines to the ParishSOFT software program. In addition to the church management software conversion, all parishes and schools within the Diocese converted to a standard chart of accounts and implemented the ParishSOFT Ledger & Payables/Payroll software program. The diocesan offices use the ParishSOFT AIM database program and also collect quarterly parish financial reports using the ParishSOFT Financial Consolidation Manager. Roni provides computer services and software training to the diocesan staff and coordinates the daily operation of the diocesan technology department. She also provides software support and training to the parishes and schools within the diocese. The Diocese of Des Moines hosts bi-monthly accounting forum and ParishSOFT user group meetings as a way to provide training, promote effective use of the software tools, and to encourage companionship among all parish and school staff. Roni was graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in English. She is married and has two children, ages 10 and 8. 
Vicki Bourg Vicki Bourg is a native Minnesotan, transplanted to Salt Lake City via Alaska! She is married to Oscar. They have one daughter, Zoe, who is a junior in high school. Vicki has worked at St. Ambrose for just over 10 years. She manages the books and finances for both the church and school, which together have 65 employees. Vicki has used CMS and ParishSOFT for many years. Vicki has a menagerie of animals living at her house, including two dogs and two ferrets. She enjoys knitting, scrapbooking, card making, and golfing.
Sister received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. She obtained her family counseling certification from Iona College in New Rochelle. In addition, Sister has done post-graduate work in adult and family faith formation at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Sister served for six years on the Executive Board of National Parish Catechetical Leaders (NPCD), and she was the 2008 recipient of the NPCD Religious Education Excellence Award.
Laura joined the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1993. She began using ParishSOFT in 2006 and looks forward to sharing the lessons learned from daily use of the software and showing others how to best use and reap the benefits of detailed data entry. A 25-year resident of Florida, mother, and soon-to-be “Grandma,” Laura volunteers with the Diocesan Juvenile Detention Center program, bringing the Word to disadvantaged youth. 
Christine Dandaraw In the summer of 2004, Christine was invited to participate on the Archdiocese of Atlanta planning team. The team was called to develop a set of data standards, create standard operating procedures, and define policies for the ParishSOFT church management system, which was to be installed in the 110 parishes within the Archdiocese of Atlanta. In fall 2004, Christine joined the archdiocesan staff as training coordinator. In early 2008, Christine relocated to the Diocese of St. Petersburg. In addition to her role of training, Christine is working closely with diocesan IT staff and the parishes to deploy data standards to the 40 parishes currently using ParishSOFT. It is her goal to assist the diocese in capitalizing on their efforts in establishing ParishSOFT and CMS as the system of choice in the remaining 37 parishes. Christine is an active member of the Diocesan Information System Conference (DISC) and the American Society of Training Developers. She has trained more than 1,700 people on the ParishSOFT software and has developed training tools referenced in four different dioceses. 
Melanie Elizondo Melanie is married to Jack. They have two daughters in college and one son who is a senior in high school. Melanie has worked for St. Ambrose Church for 11 years. She works with all the computer and technology aspects of the parish, including the website. Melanie has used ParishSOFT since 2004 and appreciates all the capabilities it offers to the parish. Melanie enjoys knitting, reading, running and golfing. She has one cat, Cinco de Meow, who talks more than most people. 
Bill Glover Bill joined the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1999 and is now the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of Information Technology. With his previous nine years of experience directing multimedia design and instructional technology initiatives in higher education, Bill began to lay the groundwork of stabilizing the operational components of the Archdiocese's telecommunications and information systems. He and his team have been successful in changing the perception of information and technology from a purely operational focused entity to a strategic enabler. Bill has presented on a variety of topics including: child & youth protection; internet safety; the importance of enterprise strategic information; and non-profit strategizing at a number of conferences including: the Diocesan Information System Conference (DISC), the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), the National Lawson User Group Conference (CUE), the Catholic Academy of Communication Arts Professionals Assembly, and MacWorld. Bill has a Master of Business Administration from the Loyola College Sellinger School of Business and Management and a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
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Carla Haiar Carla does applications systems analysis for the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. She provides technical and software support to the parishes and diocesan staff, including database integrity, reporting, training and application programming.
After an early retirement from a biomedical contract laboratory, Anne started volunteering at Saint George and later at Blessed Sacrament. She holds a master catechist certification in confirmation and youth ministry and has participated in a variety of ministries at Saint George during the last 30 years. In 1998, Anne and her best friend of 40 years built a house in a small town just outside of Worcester, which they share with their three yellow labs. She enjoys friends, traveling and just spending time at home with her four-legged guys.
Denise has been with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls for five years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Mount Marty College, and she has been certified as a public schools business manager by the state of South Dakota. Philomena Johnson
Vince joined the Diocese of Salt Lake City in February 2010. He has several years experience as a corporate training developer and data analyst. Vince is a Fourth Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus. He is currently studying to be a Lay Ecclesiastic Minister, and he is a member of his church council. Vince has earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Utah and is still looking to learn more. Vince has been a project manager for several major system conversions, and he has assisted in the conversion from Raisers Edge to ParishSOFT at the diocese. He has helped improve various processes in the development office. Vince believes that in these tough economic times, consistency and innovation are the keys to successful fundraising.
Ed has been an independent consultant for ParishSOFT applications since 2002 and has provided services for several parishes in the Chicago area. He is also a consultant to ParishSOFT and recently rewrote the PS Family Registration Form, which is planned for an upcoming release. He has 30 years of experience in Information Technology and spent seven years as a guest lecturer on data modeling and computer aided software design at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Ed has been a frequent speaker for the Society for Information Management (SIM), Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), and other professional societies, colleges and universities. Ed earned his Master of Business Administration,Quantitative Methods from Loyola University of Chicago. Patti Perna Patti first put her secretarial background to work for the diocese in 1998. She has served for 9 years as the Development Support Coordinator for the Office of Development and Planning at the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio. Patti’s office handles the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, Capital Campaigns and other special events.
Diane has worked in the Office for Pastoral Planning for approximately 2 years and was the project manager and primary contact for the Implementation of ParishSOFT for the Diocese. Presently, the Diocesan Modules for DioDirectory and Status Animarum are utilized by the Diocese of Fall River. Diane manages the relationship with the parishes of the Diocese for the Kenedy Reporting Process and Annual Mass Count. Diane came to the Diocese with a background in Strategic Planning and Project Management for Software development. She is primarily involved in the training and facilitation of Parish Pastoral Councils and the management of Sacrament statistics and Mass count data. 
Brian Smith Brian has worked at Christ the King since 1986. The parish is the largest in the city of Toledo with over 2,400 families, over 500 students in the school, and 80 staff members. Brian serves as facilities manager of the campus and administers the computer network, which serves the church and school. He has worked with ParishSOFT since 2003 and has expanded its use to include tracking of school alumni, Safe Environment Program (SEP) Manager, Online Giving, My Own Church, Address Quality, and Constant Contact.
Michelle has been the data analyst for the Diocese of Columbus for nearly five years. Her background includes 16 years working in the Information Technology industry, and she holds a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Studies.
Maureen has been worked in the accounting/finance field for more than 20 years at ENI Technology Inc., RMC Concrete, Wellcraft Inc., and Gates-Chili Central School District. She volunteers with several organizations, including St. Columba Roman Catholic Church, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of America, Daffodil Days, and breast cancer walks. Maureen earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Hodges University and has attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and Monroe Community College. Shannon Wiggins
Beth Wilson Beth was born in New York, and her family has also lived in Vermont and Maine. After high school, she served six years in the U.S. Air Force, where she met her husband. They moved to Council Bluffs, where he was born and raised, following his retirement after 23 years in the Air Force. They have two children. Beth has worked at St. Patrick since May 2000 and admits that she knew only the “basics” of working on computers when she started. In her 10 years at St. Pat’s, she has grown in knowledge about computers and software and is glad that ParishSOFT is so easy to work with.
Dawn has been with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls for fourteen years and has been the director of information systems for the last ten years. The technology office is a team of three and their responsibilities include the support and strategic management of the technology and telecommunication needs for the diocesan administration offices, various remote offices, over 150 parishes and more than 90 priests. Dawn led the initiative to standardize software in all of the dioceses’ parishes and schools and has led the implementation and training of that software for the last five years. She also implemented regular user group meetings to further understanding and facilitate better usage of the software. She regularly teaches classes on various technology topics across the diocese. When all training was cut from the diocesan budget, she and her department dubbed 2009 “The Year of Training” and held monthly “Lunch and Learns” for the chancery staff and surrounding parishes. Her “Top Ten Programs Every Computer Needs” for general users and “Internet Safety Jeopardy” class geared for kids are especially popular. Currently she and her team are working on a server virtualization project, synchronization and management of two central database files, and implementing a document management system. Dawn is a 1989 graduate of South Dakota State University and has certifications in Network+, Security+, and Microsoft® as well as Netware Administration. She has been married for the past 20 years and has been blessed with 2 children. When the logic of the technology field gets to be too much, she turns to beading and creating multimedia presentations to satisfy her creative side. |
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Technology in Churches: Where are We Going?
Deacon Bob Anderson
The Rev. Erik Arnold 
Sr. Kathy Burton, SSJ
Laura Clark
Anne Good
Denise Hanson
Vince McCormick 
Ed Muldoon
Sue Pershon
Diane Rinkacs 
Michelle Swiger
Maureen Vilcheck
Dawn Wolf
Stacey Anttila
John Biskner
Mary Breault
