Identification badges hold value on a number of levels.  First, the obvious, using other peoples names personalizes conversations and helps build relationships. Second there is a security measure built in. For example, a student ministry event, all the couloirs and support staff have lanyards and then students a special wrist band... The guy without either identification piece doesn't belong.  He ought to be checked in or asked to leave. Third you can include a quick reference for you staff on the back...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Nearly every retreat or event has some meeting sessions. And often it is difficult to get the attendance they deserve. If you want to get people to attend you need to keep it interesting. Successful speakers will keep participants engaged (and awake). Whether it is adults, youth or children, two hours of a speaker reading and droning on can be pretty boring, no matter what the subject. Attendees will become distracted, watching the clock, and thinking about 'when is this going to be over'. They will get nothing from the session unless they are PARTICIPANTS, not just attendees...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

A few weeks ago I was in Dallas when the terrible storms and tornados swept through the area. I was to fly home to St. Louis but the storms had dumped hail and battered the aircraft with high winds. Every plane on the ground had to be inspected before it would be able to ferry passengers to their destination. Like thousands of other travelers my flight was cancelled and plans delayed significantly. American airlines and the entire team at DFW served all of the weary, stranded passengers very well...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

When it comes to planning your event, you have to come up with creative ways to keep your audience engaged during meetings.  When you think about it, who really wants to sit through a two hour meeting?  Your guests' minds start to wander and watch the clock. You have to be creative in the way you think about your meetings.  Take the approach as if you were going to attend your event.  What things would you want to do...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

The team at Midwest Christian Retreats has assembled our best ideas for recreation activities! We have assembled these as we have helped planners facilitate these activities and as we have watched adults, families, and youth play on a beautiful summer day while we are stuck in the office working... We hope you'll find this guide helpful in planning a balanced schedule that utilizes recreation as a relationship builder, a memory builder, and tool to engage your attendees...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

In the early stages of planning an event you usually define your main goal for that event. You also decide who your target audience is – youth, women, couples, families, prospective church member, etc. Once you have determined the goal and the audience, then you start planning speakers, music, food, lodging, etc. From this point forward, as you are planning the event, you need to continuously consider wishes of the prospective attendees. If you want them to attend, you need to be able to answer "Why should I sign up, what's in it for me?...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Being an Apple enthusiast that I am... I have been playing with my new iPad since it arrived in the mail last Friday, and love it. The device captivated me all weekend long. It was fun to play and get it all set up, but my brain had turned to mush after a few hours. Physical activity is one of the best ways to refresh my mind and renew my ability to focus. I go crazy if I just sit around all day. In the chair in the office, in the chair at the dinner table, on coach watching tv... If you go by this track record when someone asks me what do I like to do, I ought to answer "sit around"...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Blue skies, warm temperatures, longer days...sounds like spring is near!  Spring is one of my favorite times of year.  The temperatures are warm enough to have the windows open but not too warm to have the air conditioner running.  Spring leaves me staring out the window of my office more and more...     Continue Reading | View Comments (1)

Recreation is a natural topic to think about when planning an event for students. The weather this week has been distractingly beautiful - spring makes sitting in a chair excruciating! Regardless of the season including activities in your retreat is especially important for young people. Just as we discussed in our entry about planning schedules last Tuesday, start with your event goals and evaluate how each activity (be a worship service or gym sport) will contribute to your event's success. It's likely your goals are going to direct many of the event's financial resources to support things like worship services and small group materials forcing you to be creative with planning recreation activities...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Whether you are planning a youth event, couples retreat, or men's conference, and no matter how long the event is, you'll want it to be memorable and/or productive event. So as you finalize that event schedule, check it over one more time to be sure you are on target, working toward your goals. First and foremost, ask God for guidance in making certain you have all that He has planned included in the schedule...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Somewhere along the line it seems a decision was made that adults go to meetings to be serious and busy. All I know is... I was not invited to cast a vote at that meeting because my age has not limited my fun quota. Retreats and conferences are really a collection of meetings with a collective message. It can be easy to get wrapped up in making everything purposeful and productive thereby, trying to input too much into our attendees. That is more likely to leave them feeling overwhelmed and confused than it is feeling like the event was value packed. Activities, especially a little recreation, can aid development of interpersonal relationships that are essential for productivity in those meetings...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

I have done planning for a variety of different events.  One of the things I learned is that recreation is always a big hit at any type of event. Recreation can ultimately be a deciding factor on whether a guest will attend your event or not...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment