We don't do conferences - but we did do i3

So I have seen a lot of chatter via twitter and blogs about the i3 and thoughts such as “I will be there next year” or “Let’s do it again.”

 

While I thank folks for their good wishes, i3 was a one time deal. We don’t like to repeat ourselves.

 

A little history for those new to our work at Leadership Network.

 

We started some events for large churches in the early 1990s. They were called “The Church in the 21^st Century” conferences. They were limited to about 400 people and you had to be on the list to be invited. They featured a mix of business and church speakers.

 

While they were lots of fun to do, we came to the point where we thought to be repeating ourselves, so we stopped.

 

Plus several other great providers adapted and blew up the idea big time. And that was good. We were happy.

 

A few years later we did an event called “Exploring Off the Map.” It was a fully themed and integrated conference that set a new standard for experiential church conferences. Lots of folks took the materials and adapted them.

Again, we were happy about that.

 

And then in 2003, we did a conference called “Camp Improv ” about the importance of improvisation in ministry.

Not many folks copied that one, but we were pleased with it and that was ok by us.

 

We decided to do i3 for multiple reasons but we felt it was time to call together the tribe again and show how it has grown and changed. We wanted to mix it up, put some new faces in front of people, distribute some ideas and innovations we have been working on in the past 5 years.

 

We wanted to platform some of the varieties of leaders we have the privilege of knowing and learning from over those years. We wanted this one to focus on practitioners doing interesting ministry.

 

We think we succeeded in hitting those goals.

 

But we don’t really do conferences.

 

Leadership Network is more about helping people implement innovative ideas into practical, on-the-ground strategies for churches. We have been working quietly in our “Leadership Communities” programs for the last 6 years on those.

 

In most cases churches double their impact and reach by participating in those small, peer environments with mentors, coaches and support along the way. We measure real results, not just talk.

 

We want to be getting together the right people for real conversations that lead to results that matter. We want to be about building enduring relationships with our friends.

 

So, our conference ministry is sort of “one-off”.

 

Doing a conference with 100 speakers from 100 different churches is huge undertaking ON TOP of our other work, and draws our directors and support team into that mix for quite awhile, sometimes at the expense of our other programs.

 

We don’t like repeating ourselves. We want to make each experience unique and special for the participants. We want our participants to engage fully in that experience and not think, “oh, I will catch that later.”

 

While we tried to put as much of the experience online through live streaming, “back stage” interviews, and the dozens of live bloggers and thousands of twitters, nothing can replace the live experience and face-to-face conversations.

 

I know the technology is not quite at the point for all that to work smoothly just yet, but just wait, it’s coming. At least some of you grabbed some of the core ideas from those sources. And thanks to a bunch of twitterers and bloggers that helped us to do that. We thought that was great.

 

Yes, this time we tried some things that we think other conferences will steal, copy and adapt. We borrowed a few ourselves. And that makes us happy.

 

And we will continue to work with multiple providers of other conferences to lend them our support and goodwill and connections.

 

People like: Churchplanters.com conference, The North Coast Training Network, The Exponential Conference, Catalyst, the New Thing Network, The Healing Place Practicums, The Externally Focused Network just to name a few.

 

Great people doing great conferences for leaders. We are for all of them. We often help sponsor and share the word about their conferences.

 

Yes we do have some announcements coming about some small scale Leadership Network events and immersion experiences for this year. But in our usual style, these will be smaller conversations with more limited focus. They will be great times of learning and application but not like a speaker-driven conference.

 

We are always more about peers than presentation.

 

Later this spring we also have a big announcement about an entire new experience for our friends. We think it will change the game again. Or it could bomb out entirely. But we are going to try it because that is just our nature.

 

For those that came and were with us live and in person……thanks. We hope you found it helpful. For those that joined us “virtually live” – I didn’t get to participate with you much but we hope you were able to glean some things to help you as well.

 

And watch this space and our twitters about some content from i3 that we will release in a few weeks for you to remember, re-enjoy or engage with for the first time.

 

Stay in touch.

 

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

Dave.travis@leadnet.org