One week from today over 200 creatives, communicators, and media gurus from churches all across the country will be descending on Park Community Church for Cultivate.
Unreal.
While most of you know what it is, some of you may not know how it all happened.
Back in January, Kem Meyer and her team from Granger and Dawn Baldwin and her husband Keith came to Park to check out one of our services. Afterwards we were being anti-social, all on our iPhones or Blackberries,… er, at dinner… and were talking about the fact that there were a lot of conferences out there for church communications/media/web people, but very little conversation.
In his infamous blog post, Seth Godin talked about how conferences are really all about the conversations that happen in the hallways… the people you meet and the connections that are made. Let’s face it, at most conferences you’re a small fish in a big sea and interaction with the speakers is slim unless you buy their book and stand in line to have it signed.
In fact, the three of us… me, Dawn and Kem… all met and connected at a conference five years ago and have been friends since. That’s what it’s all about.
So, one of us, I can’t remember who, said, “what if we did something… what if we created a conversation?”
And there it was.
Over some chips and guacamole, the idea for Cultivate was born.
It’s been so crazy to see the momentum and excitement that’s been building for this and the countless people who have stepped up, offered help and support, and I love that this whole experience has truly been a group effort. Countless people have offered insights and ideas, offered help, pitched in, and what’s going to happen a week from today is truly a collaborative effort.
The team at Park is thrilled to be hosting this event and we are praying that this event will create conversation that will help the church understand and the role of media and technology and how we, as the Church, can steward it to point people to Christ.
We had a final planning session yesterday with Dawn Baldwin, Jason Widney, JR Kerr and LosWit… and I tell you what, I think it’s going to be an incredible day. We’re doing all we can to make it more personal and face-to-face. People won’t be talking to you, they’ll be talking with you.
The list of churches and organizations being represented here is unreal… here’s a short list:
- Desiring God Ministries
- Mariner’s Church
- Willow Creek Community Church
- LifeChurch.tv
- Fellowship of the Woodlands
- Heartland Community Church
- The Chapel
- The Fields Church
- COLLIDE magazine
- ChurchRelevance.com
- ChurchMarketingSucks.com
- Bloom Church
- Ziglar Inc.
- … and so many more.
The cool thing is… you’ll be able to connect with people from all of these great ministries. You’ll be able to swap info, share stories, get ideas, and share thoughts. We’re even throwing an after-party that everyone is invited to, so we can keep on talking!
It’s not too late to register… and in fact, if you can find a way here, I’ll pay for your ticket… one of you, that is.
If you want be a part of the conversation, leave a comment below. I’ll pick a lucky winner on Wednesday afternoon.
Can’t wait to see all of you and if you haven’t decided on whether or not to come, don’t take my word for it… hear what these guys have to say about it…
