Here a conference, there a conference

I read with interest a recent blog post about planning a conference by Justin Wise. Wise talks about planning and having a social media conference in 2010, and mentions that it almost didn’t happen. Why? Let me quote:

We had no budget. I literally started this with $0 in the bank.

Less than 60 people actually attend the event.

It was in Des Moines. As much as I love this glorious city, it’s not exactly a hotbed of tourist activity.

My son had a near nuclear meltdown on stage, effectively ruining the most heartfelt of introductions from my wife.

Two out of the three presenters appeared digitally. Our wifi was shaky (at best) and there were times where I wasn’t sure it would hold up for our presenters.

I particularly took notice of the line “less than 60 people attended,” because in the traditional church music arena, that is a typical size conference. And no matter how you slice it, 60 people, whether at a conference in a church, or in a sanctuary during worship, just doesn’t feel like it is a success. That’s because of the American need to have everything bigger and better (see, Cars: Detroit).

Here’s the interesting thing, though, Wise goes on to say:

the ripples from that small, Des Moines-based event led to so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had any other way. The [conference] itself was small, but the impact was bigger than I ever imagined.

And that reminds me, again…sigh…, that things don’t have to be bigger to be successful (see: Appleseed, Johnny).

Wise concludes by saying “What would you start doing today if you knew you couldn’t fail?”

And all of this is important to me because I’m in the early stages of planning a Creator conference. We’ll see how it goes…

If Creator held a conference, would you come? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Ipod shuffle status: 3174 (Chasing That Neon Rainbow – Alan Jackson) of 7875

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