One interesting dude

To learn how a Jew from Kansas City worked with an archbishop from Baltimore to build a web site for the pope, you need to attend the RoundTable where you'll meet Brent Cohen.

Although that sounds like the setup for a joke, it's the true story of Brent receiving a phone call in 1995 from Cardinal Keeler, then Archbishop of Baltimore, leading to an ecumenical collaboration and culminating not only in a web site being built but also an opportunity for Brent to meet John Paul II in person.

If that story doesn't interest you, ask Brent about how Haley Barbour (now governor of Mississippi but then chairman of the Republican National Committee) at first didn't see a need for the RNC to have a web site. No doubt Joe Trippi would be highly amused. Brent did end up building the first site for the RNC after Haley saw the light a couple of years later and called Brent.

I was entertained by these stories over lunch with Brent on Wednesday. He now lives in the Los Angeles area, but was born and raised in Kansas City. He was back in town for a family reunion during Rosh Hashanah. He is a strategic thinker and friend of Rick Warren and Eric Busby and is beginning to explore church IT, ChMS, and how they relate to his new company, Circle Builder. You will enjoy meeting Brent and likewise he wants to learn as much as he can from all of you.

If you haven't registered for the RoundTable, do it now. Registration closes at the end of the day Monday, September 24.