Big Is The New Small

Let me get straight to the point.  I attend and speak at many church planting, leadership and ministry conferences each and every year.  Each conference has it’s own unique flavor and I have my favorites for a variety of reasons.

One of my favorites is the Velocity Conference put on by ChurchPlanters.com.  This conference is right outside of the ATL (Atlanta, GA) and it’s a jewel of a conference for church planters, ministry leaders, volunteers and anyone that wants to learn, grow and connect.  This years dates are February 27th & 28th.

The speaker line-up is amazing, including: Sam Chand, Jud Wilhite, Shawn Lovejoy, Stacey Spencer, Geoff Surratt, Pete Wilson, Tony Morgan, Ed Stetzer, Amy Bloye, Ron Edmondson, Derwin Gray, Mac Lake, Brian Bloye, Artie Davis, Patricia Lovejoy, Ed Stetzer, Brandi Wilson, Myself and way too many to name in one blogpost.  For a limited time the registration is only $79, yes only $79 and that’s for a limited time.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR BigIsTheNewSmall.com Readers: Starting now through January 15th Velocity Conference is going to offer a 20% discount off the #Velocity12 registration for everyone who registers with my special discount code: #velocity12Williams. (Only $63)  Click here for more details and click here to register.  Don’t forget to use #Velocity12Williams for your 20% discount.

I hope to see you there.

I have been to many leadership conferences and Catalyst is by far one of my favorites.  It’s only a couple of weeks away, (Oct. 5-7) in the ATL.   Here are 10 Simple Things That Makes The Catalyst Conference Great.

• 1. The BIGness – There is something refreshing and inspiring to see 12,000+ leaders from around the country pile into Gwinnett Center ready to be inspired, challenged, encouraged and changed.
• 2. The Hype – Catalyst is a hype machine, if you can’t attend you will still follow the discussions and read the notes of the various talks.  The #CAT11 Twitter stream and The Catalyst Hype Machine go hand- in-hand.
• 3. The Speakers – Seriously where else can you get Andy Stanley, Dave Ramsey, Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan and one of my favorites Cornell West all on on the same stage and all for one single admission price.
• 4. The Entertainment - Where else can you see a guy break a Guiness Book Of World Record by jumping 3 Stories from 35 feet 9 inches in the air into a kiddie pool with 11 inches of water or a man shot out of a canon right before Bishop TD Jakes goes up to speak.  Catalyst is just down right fun!
• 5. The History - This conference is filled with many years of history and memories.  Catalyst has experienced the longest successful run of any major Christian Conference in recent history.
• 6. The Connections – Catalyst is a great place to make connection with ministry leaders from every nook and cranny you can imagine.  Catalyst is a social media playground, as you are able to make first time and continued connections with your blogging, Twitter and Facebook friends.
• 7. The Unexpected - You can always expect the unexpected.  The unexpected will show up in the form of an emotional moment, a speaker not meeting expectations, a speaker making some uncomfortably bold statements, a rising star being born and the list goes on and on. Expect The Unexpected!
• 8. The Traffic – Catalyst wouldn’t be Catalyst without attenders being stuck in Atlanta Parking lot they call a highway.  You can try to beat it, but 9 out of 10 times you will come out on the losing side of the traffic battle.  It’s just part of the experience.
• 9. The Teaching- The teaching is always second to none and you are guaranteed to walk away with some new tools for your life and leadership toolbox.  You will learn or your money back.  I’m not sure about the money back guarantee, but I would be willing to bet not many people would request a refund.
• 10. The God Moments - There will always be those moments where you will find yourself day-dreaming about the BIGness of God.   It’s awesome to watch God orchestrate the collective hearts of 12,000 people in a room. You will experience those God-Sized whispers challenging you to dream BIG. think BIGGER.

What Makes Catalyst Great?  Share your thoughts and experiences on the Catalyst Conference?

Flavor Fest is the Largest Urban Christian Leadership Conference on the planet. It’s happening October 6-9 in Tampa Florida. My man Tommy Kyllonen aka @UrbanD813 and his team lead and host this conference every year. I’ll be there in 2012. Check out the promo video and invite your friends to Flavor Fest 2011.

What does it mean to be present in this hyper-connected, fast-moving, multi-responsibility, technologically-advanced, distraction-based, ever-evolving, multi-tasking, dollar-driven, multi-focused world that we live in? That’s a hard question, with a very simple answer.

The simple answer is “Be Present!”

Present is defined as being, existing, or occurring at this time or now; at hand; immediate or current.

To be present is to focus on the here and now.  To give focused and undivided attention at the current moment or place that you find yourself.  This is easy to get away from and takes focused attention to make it happen.  A few things that I do to try and be present are:

• I finish all cell-phone conversations before I go into my house, on the drive, in the garage… but not in the house.
• I try to complete all assignments, tasks, appt.’s between 8-5 and not allow them to carry over into family time.
• I put everything on my calendar, in order to make sure my priorities are straight and look back and see what kind of undivided attention I gave people, places & things.
• I answer e-mails in divided chunks of the day and not as they come in.
• I like to plan; however I embrace the tension of not looking too far ahead and I rarely look back.

I could go on an on with things that I’m trying to do in order to stay focused and be present; however the bottom line is it takes focused effort.  If you don’t focus on being present, you won’t.

The theme of this years Catalyst Conference in Atalanta is Be Present. Not just be present as in attendance, but rather focusing on being present in our lives.   I will be present and personally I’m looking forward to hearing the list of great speakers. I will definitely be present when Dr. Cornell West speaks.

In case you missed it, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz cancelled his speaking engagement at Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit held at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. According to several reports this decision was precipitated by activist Asher Huey of Washington, D.C., criticizing Schultz for agreeing to appear at a church with a longstanding membership in Exodus International, a ministry that believes homosexual behavior is destructive and Christians can “grow into heterosexuality.”  ”The church that is sponsoring the event has a long history of anti-gay persecution,” wrote Huey, who gathered more than 700 signatures at www.change.org.

In the video above video, Willow Creek Pastor Bill Hybels responds with wisdom, grace and candor the position of Willow Creek being Anti-Gay or Anti-Anybody.

What are your thoughts on Shultz Cancellation and Hybels’ response?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the International Christian Retail Show In Atlanta.  It’s the largest Christian retail event in the world. For me, it was a power packed day of radio, magazine & tv interviews, topped off with a book signing.  I met some great people and this post is a short clip of a live radio interview that I did with @bobcrittenden for his radio show on Faith Broadcasting called ”The Meeting House.”  Bob asked the question, “Why BigIsTheNewSmall.com & how did it get started?”

Thanks for reading, watching and being part of my online community.

There are many opinions about Church Conferences and whether or not they add value to individuals, teams or organizations.  In other words: Why Church Conferences? My answer to that question is simply this: they are absolutely valuable to individuals, teams and organizations. They are great to challenge thinking, inspire, educate and team camaraderie.  I have taken my entire team to several church conferences and it was always productive.  Disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of after a church conference, coming back home and scrapping everything that you currently do, in order to implement what the latest church conference guru shared.

In recent days my role has shifted from not only being a conference attender, but rather being a speaker.  I love speaking to leaders and I still enjoy attending the portion of the conference that I’m not speaking, in order to be inspired, educated and challenge my thinking.

This month I had the opportunity to speak at the Dynamic Church Conference in Dallas.  I spoke about leveraging Social Media and Church Diversity.  The Dynamic Conference is administered by the people at FellowShip Technologies. This conference is a great blend of ministry leadership and application, in addition to some nuts, bolts and application of F1 Church Management Software.

This years Dynamic Church Conference was held at Prestonwood Church in Dallas. Prestonwood is the most ridiculuous (in a good way) venue I have ever seen. Over a million square foot, located on 140 acres.  A few things that impressed me about The Dynamic Church Conference was:

• Attention To Detail- Program books, lanyards, speaker/topics, signage, t-shirts, meals, rooms… were all very well done.
• Interactive Elements- As I was teaching a break out session the chef busted in my room and yelled for Scott (not me but a session attender).  He then went on to say that everyone in this session won some candy because “Scott” had tweeted about the session.  They quickly served everyone chocolate on a platter and left. (Nice Touch)
• Varied Programming- The conference had a good mix of programming for support staff and senior leadership.  Met a couple of Senior Pastor’s whom were there with administrative assistants and support staff.  All attending sessions geared towards their particular role.

This conference will actually be the road this summer going to 10 different cities, and it’s called the Dynamic Church Roadshow, details and registration are located here.

You can check out the main talks from the Dallas conference here and pics. here.

Share your thoughts and experiences about church conferences and what you look forward to most.  What are some of your favorite church conferences?  Better yet, answer this question: Why Church Conferences?

You won’t want to miss the Catalyst Conference in Dallas, happening May 11-13, 2011, where 3,000 young leaders will converge, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler, David Platt, Christine Caine, Donald Miller and Craig Groeschel , along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like hip hop legend Rev Run, best-selling author Scott Belsky, International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen, long-time activist Dr. John Perkins, ESPY winner Scotty Smiley, and charity: water founder Scott Harrison.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Mark Batterson, Scot McKnight, Bob Goff, Mike Foster, David Kinnaman, Samuel Rodriguez, Amena Brown, Esther Havens, Shaun King, Dino Rizzo, Gayle Haggard, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Margaret Feinberg, Chris Seay, Bianca Juarez, Jo Saxton, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Tyler Merrick, Jenny White and others.

Best Rates on Catalyst Dallas tickets ended on Thursday, March 31st.  You can still save 15% off of the current rate using code FOB.  If you have any questions call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystdallas.com.

One of the many conferences that I will be speaking at and doing book signings is the Orange Conference. Orange Conference is the largest family ministry/next generation leadership conferences on the planet.  Some of this years speakers include Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Reggie Joiner, Sue Miller, Doug Fields, Jud Wilhite, Geoffrey Canada and others.

Would you like to go to attend Orange Conference?  Do you know someone who is deserving, but might not have the resources to attend?  Check out this special message from my friends at Orange Conference below:

Great news—we found three more AirTran tickets!

In April, our children’s curriculum will focus on the character trait of humility: putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve. We decided to put the virtue of humility in practice by asking you, our Orange community, to nominate someone you believe is deserving of a free plane ticket and Orange Conference registration.

Every year, we receive many requests asking for scholarships and assistance to attend the conference. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate these wishes in most instances. We truly want everyone to make it to the party, but sadly, it doesn’t always work out. And that’s what makes these little gems so exciting for both you and us!

Therefore, in the spirit of humility, please submit the person(s) who you feel are most deserving of this conference package* and why they should be chosen. These would ideally be people who couldn’t make it this year, but you feel like they would benefit by being at The Orange Conference.

Here are just a few suggestions:
• The senior pastor who is implementing the Orange Strategy to change his/her community
• The children’s minister who needs to be renewed in his/her vision
• The student minister who needs to be equipped and empowered
• The college minister who is searching for a solution
• The volunteer who deserves a reward
• The church staff whose conference budget was eliminated
• The parent who desires to better partner with their local church

Someone probably just popped into your head! The next step would be to check and make sure they could attend if they are chosen. After that, it’s up to you to be their champion and send us their story.

Submissions must be sent to occoncierge (at) rethinkgroup (dot) org by Thursday, April 7 at 5 p.m. We will notify the winner on April 11. Depending on the chosen submissions, we can divide the tickets into three singles, a pair and a single, or a group of three. Therefore, we could have multiple winners from multiple churches.

*Orange Conference tickets and airfare that have already been purchased will not be refunded. Hotel, ground transportation and meals will be the responsibility of the winner. Airline tickets are only good for AirTran, so please consider travel before submitting.

In addition to a chance to win tickets and airfare, I’m giving everyone the opportunity to win a BIG Orange Prize package.  The package includes:

• A one year subscription to a leadership curriculum called YouLead.  To find out more info go to http://youleadorange.com The subscription is worth $250 and covers 5 people at 1 church.
• 1 copy of the book Think Orange by Reggie Joiner
• 1 copy of the book Parenting Beyond your C

For your chance to win the BIG Orange Prize Package all you have to do is these 3 things:

• 1. Leave a comment below stating that you would like to win.
• 2. Share this message through Twitter or Facebook: Want to win tickets, airfare & prize packages to the Orange Conf. Click Here:  http://bit.ly/gScQAG #thinkorange
• 3. Go check out the Orange Conference website.

I will randomly draw from the comments for the BIG Prize Package.  Check back tomorrow to see if you won.  Thanks for reading and #ThinkOrange

Over the next couple of months I will be speaking at quite a few churches and conferences and I’m really looking forward to sharing the message of Church Diversity.  I’ll share more about the other events later; however today I want to share about one of the events that I’ve been invited to speak at and that’s the Dynamic Church Conference. The Conference is being held at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX :: May 11-13.

This is the conference created by Fellowship Technologies, makers of the leading web-based church management software, Fellowship One. In my sessions I will be sharing about Church Diversity and Social Media Strategy.

There are two-different tracks and many different sessions to choose from including the DC11 Return On Ministry Track, which is geared towards executive church leaders (over 25 sessions). There will be over 50 sessions focused on educating users of Fellowship One software.  . You can save $50 on your registration by using the special code “swilliams.”  You can get more details and register for the conference here.

If your church uses Fellowship One, this is a must-attend conference for your entire team.  I’ll see you at DC11.