Catholic Techie Jeff Geerling
By - Posted on June 4, 2012
Jeff Geerling
This week, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to a new series we’ll have going for as long as I can find Catholic Techies who will answer my interview questions.
It’s appropriate that first in the series is Jeff Geerling, whose work in Catholic New Media is extensive and full of fun. He blogs at Life is a Prayer and works for FlockNote, but don’t let that fool you. You’ll find Jeff as the creator of Open Source Catholic (which is great for, well, everyone) and LOLSaints.
He’s the app developer behind Catholic News Live, too, and I’m sure there are at least a dozen other things I’ve forgotten or neglected.
Without any further ado, let’s dive into my conversation with Jeff!
Jeff, tell us about yourself in five words or less.
Married, Catholic, and loving life!
Of your pursuits, what’s your favorite?
I love creating things; right now, I’m focused on creating applications and interfaces for people to use on the web and on phones and iPads, but I also enjoy being creative in other ways. I’ve done a bit of drawing and painting, a little sculpting, and a lot of photography. In every case, I love manipulating some object with certain tools (whether they be digital or tangible) and transforming an idea into reality. So creativity in general would be my favorite pursuit.
When you think of the New Evangelization from your approach as a “Catholic Techie,” what excites you? What makes you want to continue?
I’m excited about the ability to interact with a diverse audience—not just Christians, but atheists, agnostics, and people from every walk of life. Twitter and the web in general are especially great tools for allowing me to learn from others, and for me to teach others. I have met many people online who would not have otherwise talked to a Catholic in real life, but who have opened up to me and allowed me to talk with them about faith and morality.
Having seen some of these relationships develop into conversions is what makes me continue. Learning how to (and how not to) interact with people who have very different ideas than me is always a challenge, and I love the diverse people I work with online.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?
When I work on a large project like Flocknote or the Catholic Diocese App, and see something through its completion, that’s what is most rewarding: seeing something I helped create being used by real people.
In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing? Do you have a gadget in hand or do you go native and screenless?
If I’m not reading something (most often a book or interesting articles I find online), I’ll grab my camera and take some pictures, or try to do something fun with my wife. I long for the day I’ll be able to share these moments and activities with some children!
Moments free of computers and portable gadgets are gifts to a guy like me, and I try to make them count!
Thanks so much, Jeff, for taking the time to join us here at CatholicMom.com!
Read more of our Tech Talk columns.
Copyright 2012 Sarah Reinhard
What a great way to kick off the series, Sarah. Jeff is always up to something interesting backed by his enthusiastic outlook. Appropriately enough, I feel like I’ve gotten to know the both of you online through technology over the years even though we’ve net met in person.
Mark, I agree.
I’m truly going to love this new feature Sarah! Having met Jeff in person, I can say that he is so humble about all of his abilities and expertise. Our Church is blessed to have someone with his skill base doing such amazing work. Great interview!
I’d also be curious to know which is Jeff’s favorite social networking platform and why?
Thanks for the kind words, Lisa and Mark!
In reference to your last question, Lisa, I’d have to say that Twitter is my favorite platform *for what I do*; I grew up using AOL Instant Messenger, IRC chat, and other chat-like platforms, and Twitter is very much like those communications mediums; I can have close-to-real-time communication with someone on Twitter to discuss something.
Of course, when things are more weighty than a few 140-character tweets, we’ll jump over to chat, Skype, or email, but it’s an excellent first-contact or ‘ping me if you need me’ platform.
On the flipside, it’s also quite a nuisance if I leave it open too much. I don’t even have Twitter on my Dock on my Mac; I typically only use it on my iPad, which helps me focus on work while I’m on my computer.
Facebook and Google+ are (for me) more of an extension of my blog; more of a broadcast medium with comments and replies. I still like using my blog as my primary tool for communicating, though, as it’s not in a silo or under anyone else’s control. I’ve kept it going since about 2004 (before Facebook!), and will keep it running for as long as I’m alive, most likely.
Jeff, I’m so with you on this. Twitter is a great chatty-type tool. For me, it’s like a lunchroom that you can pop in or out of. And blogging is, well, da bomb. (Addicted much?)
Thanks so much for being game for this interview and for chiming in in the combox too! Keep up the great work!