Release Schedule
v6.10:
Currently in Alpha testing; will be released to Beta testing on November 27. If you're on the testing team- thank you!

v7.0:
Features:

• HMTL Email templates - 3 templates will ship with the wizard in v7.0, demonstrating how to change colors, change logos, etc. Emily has been using, and helping us refine, these tools through her excellent use of it in communicating with the community recently.
• Power BI - this is an amazing tool you're going to have access to, but sometimes the most intimidating part of Power BI is starting. So we're shipping some Power BI templates as well. Once you see the power of this, your ideas are going to really start flowing. We think that many people are going to be able to become Power BI users without having to learn programming

We are expecting to release to Alpha on November 27. Please note though, this is a huge release. This isn't going to be a two-week alpha test. Our goal is to put out a beta release the first week in January. We don't want to release it right in the middle of holidays, and itʼs going to need that much time to really test thoroughly. So again, if you're an Alpha tester, be ready to help us out!

Also, v7 is going to be the first release available to Early Adopters before the community at large, more on that in this video.

New books coming with v7: HTML email, Power BI and Universal Search, as well as new RockU videos

Public Service Announcement:
Itʼs financial contribution statement time! Itʼs a great time right now to test and verify your contribution statements, before crunch time! Work with your financial team to make sure everyone is ready for January

RX2018 preview:
We've been spending hours planning RX2018 already. We want to increase the audience in 2018, so we're adding some new tracks. RX2015 was more technical, and 2016 and 2017 got less technical, which is a trend we want to continue. We don't want RX to be just for the admins (though we're not getting rid of that content for you technical people). So we're considering tracks we can add focusing on communications, best practices for ministry, best practices for ideas, so that this is a conference for pastors, ministry leaders, marketing/outreach teams, etc to connect, not just the Rock admins. To that end, we're talking with industry experts to come in and be speakers at RX2018, so that thereʼs content for all of you that we can tie back to Rock. That way it will be a team experience for your church as well, and everyone can approach your ministry strategies with a shared vision.

We want you to start planning for this now - since itʼs going to be a wider audience than years before. Please budget for additional people you'll want to bring from your team. Also, we're going to open up pre-registration before the end of the year, so if you want to pre-register some team members in your 2017 budgets you will be able to do that, then come back and register others in 2018.

We are just about ready to announce the date and location of RX2018, stay tuned in the next week or two!

Also, let us know if you have ideas on speakers to invite. And don't worry, we're not going to get rid of the community showcases demonstrating what your churches have done in Rock already. So if you've got an idea of what you might be able to share with our community, let us know, start packaging it up now, and be thinking about what content you might want to provide as additional content with the subscription system we used to great effect at RX2017

Year end donations to Spark:
If you've got some money left in your budget for 2017 that you're going to lose if you don't spend it, please consider earmarking some of it as a donation to Spark. This is the time of year we're looking at contributions versus pledges, and also planning for how we can package updates through 2018 - we want to release smaller updates, in larger numbers, next year, and we need to know what funding we're going to have available to facilitate that.

On that note, if you haven't pledged your contributions for 2018, please let us know if your existing pledge is planned to continue, or pledge at rockrms.com/pledge.

Rock'n Roadshows:

We've got 8 Roadshows planned for the first part of 2018 already, and more on the way. Get the details at rockrms.com/roadshows. These are free events for churches considering moving to Rock, but if you're already on Rock and don't feel like you can lead one yet, feel free to stop by as well, see how one goes, and help back up the host and provide another set of experiences to the conversation.

If your church is available to host these Roadshows, please let us know as well.

Rock Master Classes:

If you're looking for something deeper than the Roadshow - probably you're already on Rock but you're looking to go deeper, consider taking a Rock Master Class with some of your team. You can either come to one of our classes in Phoenix AZ at the Spark Headquarters. We also have a larger format class that travels to remote locations - churches can host this, and regional churches can access that much easier this way. Check out rockrms.com/masterclass for details on either of these options.

Sponsors:

3essentials
Rock Solid Rock RMS hosting solutions from Windows VPS Servers to Managed Hosting. 3essentials has been a leader in Windows hosting since 2001

iT1 Source, LLC
iT1 was established in 2003 with the goal of becoming a leading provider of Information Technology products, services, and solutions. More than a decade later, iT1 has reached and surpassed that goal by incorporating a relatively simple strategy that many of our contemporaries have missed. What is this simple strategy, you ask? WE LISTEN

BoxCast
Live stream your video content flawlessly with BoxCastʼs easy-to-use solution that combines hardware, software, and back-end services. Work with the only steaming company that has built its entire infrastructure from beginning to end, and you'll have access to compression, cloud transcoding, archiving, video-on-demand, pay-per-view settings, and a scaleable delivery platform.

DevObal
DevObal Technologies Inc. is a software and website development company based in Greenville, South Carolina that was founded in 2002. Among our clients are the Federal Government, State Agencies, Non-Profit Associations, Faith-based organizations and many other businesses. Our mission at DevObal is to become the most trusted, respected and preferred technology partner by providing quality service and products at an affordable price to our clients