Over the last few weeks I have had the privilege of meeting with other leaders of retreat ministries. It's a huge encouragement to go to a meeting with other people who are involved in similar ministries around the country because you get hear all of the great things God has produced through ministry events. Hearing stories is nice but I'm not one for the good old day's, for one, I was around for the real old days.... But two, I believe the best is yet to come! I hope that is your sentiment as well. In order to make an impact though, we need people to attend our events...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Your event is a couple months away.  You start to look at your pre-registration.  To your surprise, the number of attendees is way down compared to what you had projected.  What do you do now? The worst thing you can do at this point is panic.  Start looking back at the first stages of your planning process.  See where you may have missed some opportunities and try to cover the basics with your event...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

How are plans going on your upcoming event? Are you on track with anticipated registrations, activity schedules, etc? I recommend that early in the planning stages of your event...no matter now big or small, set up a checklist (schedule) with your committee. Include specific timelines,and be sure all committee members are on board with it and understand its importance. Include ideas to take care of the "what ifs"...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

For many of you in local church ministry this week is a incredibly busy week preparing for special services on Thursday, Friday, and your big Easter celebrations this weekend.  The pace slows down just slightly for us giving me a chance just to reflect a little bit. Over the last few days God has inspired a couple thoughts that really have encouraged me. They're simple but a solid reminder that God has his hand on the controls keeping me right on course...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

One of the first questions a host property will ask a planner is, "how many guests do you expect?" Whether an event planner formulates their response based on history, early interest, and slatted promotion activities or simply takes a guess. The estimated is based on the following: narrowing down the entire target population to potential attendees then determining the cross section who will actually register...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Reading through our event promotion blog posts you'll notice over and over and over again we encourage planners to share the basics about their event. The vital information that effects an attendee's ability to actually show up. That is: Who, What, When, Where, & How Much? Once you've passed that litmus test potential attendees are interested, some may have already begun registering simply because you're hosting a conference or retreat for them. Registered or not they want to know things like Where are we going? and What are we going to do...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

I have been going to my church for 10 years now.  It is a small church with about 50 members. There are pros and cons being in a small church.  There is a great sense of unity at my church and I love that.  But the problem comes to people being committed to helping with ministries and events.  We have a select few that always do everything. It has come to the point where some of the people don't want to help anymore because they are getting burned out...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

What goes into planning a successful ministry event?  I have been to events that were awesome and rewarding.  But I have been to a few events that didn't quite meet up to expectations. How do you make sure your event is going to meet its objectives?  You may think you have everything planned out, but how do you make sure you don't miss something...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

It is essential that the first impression your guests have of the event is a good one! A chaperon checking in a group of 50 students is likely overwhelmed from the long drive and wants nothing more than to get everyone settled and started. Make it a priority to clearly communicate about anything that needs to be accomplished prior to arrival, important information like directions, and be adequately prepared to start registration early. The object of the game is to prevent people from having to wait and anything that would be frustrating or a let-down...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Have you ever walked away from an event that felt more like an experience? I remember in high school, I attended several conferences for a committed I was on. Some were ok, but there was one that still stands out in my mind today. The event has amazing speakers, great dining experience, and had time for us to connect with other schools that were there...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

The temptation for creating insider language is real for every industry and organization. But within organizations who's primary purpose is to take in new members insider language is detrimental to achieving the goal. Let's put 10 seconds on the clock... I bet you can come up with 5 acronyms and insider terms used in your church...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment

Online registration is one of two things to planners: a lifesaver or a monster under the bed. Some have figured out that it is essential to their operation taking care of a ton of administrative junk that would otherwise keep them from planning the content of the event. Others are more cautious to engage with the technology for several reasons...     Continue Reading | Leave Comment