I feel like this is the week everyone is talking about conferences. With so many to choose from, I’ve committed to attending [and blogging!] a few: ECHO, Story, and Catalyst. All three are incredible opportunities to expand your thinking, sharpen your leadership, be inspired, and get amazing insights from some of the best and brightest.
I’ve blogged a bit about all three but wanted to share some exciting news as it relates to the Story Conference… I’m going to be speaking at it!… kind of.
If you’ve been reading my blog anytime recently you’ll know how much I love the book REWORK. I think that Jason Fried and his team at 37signals are legit, and they are local, here in Chicago, which only ups their cool factor. Through some pretty random connections I’ve had the chance to get to know them over the past year or so. They are the real deal.
When Ben Arment was dreaming up Story this year and plotting the new direction it was going, focused on the creative class in ministry, one of the things I loved was that he wasn’t going after the “usual suspects” on the conference circuit. The lineup consists primarily of people who work in creative fields outside of the Church [which is great!], and I knew we had to snag Jason to be a part of the event.
Sooo… as you’ve already heard, Jason is a part of the lineup and he will be interviewed by none other than yours truly. I am beyond words excited about the opportunity.
I know many of you have been reading REWORK (and loving it!) and this will be a great chance to have a discussion with Jason and think about the ideas in REWORK through the lens of what we’re doing in the Church.
There’s many other reasons why I’m excited for Story, too… it’s going to be at Park [BONUS!], Chuck Swindoll will appear via hologram [that’s so Princess Leah and C3PO!], and the lineup is incredibly unique…
- Richard Walter, UCLA Film School and Oscar-award winning screenwriter. Author of Essentials of Screenwriting
- Charlie Todd, founder of Improv Everywhere
- Princess Zulu, HIV/AIDS advocate, author of the book Warrior Prinecess
- Gary Dorsey, founder of Pixel Peach Studio
- David McFadzean, creator of Home Improvement
- Sean Gladding, New Monasticism, author of The Story of God: The Story of Us
- Andrew Klavan, author of best-selling crime novels True Crime and Don’t Say a Word
- David Hodges, singer/songwriter, formerly of the Grammy-winning band Evanescence
- John Sowers, president of The Mentoring Project
- Leonard Sweet, author and church futurist
- Dan Allender, professor of counseling at Mars Hill Graduate School
- Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines
- Musical guests: Carlos Whittaker, Kari Jobe, and Vicky Beeching
If you are a creative professional in the Church space, do yourself a favor and book your ticket for Story now. Tickets are going fast and I’d hate for you to miss out on what I think is going to be one of the most unique conference experiences this fall.
Hope to see you there!
