CBE 2009
March 27, 2009 | Books,Ministry Life
Many wonderful things happened at CBE 2009. First, I want to send a shout out to the organizers. It was interesting. Well set up. The speakers and musical artists were outstanding.
But few attendees showed up, which broke my heart for those who worked so hard. It was a first major ECPA event. I believe with a little tweaking it can be a huge event next year. We’re talking about it over at The Writers View.
My drive to Dallas was my first real venture out since I broke my collarbone. I was still in a sling and brace, but Richard was on point, helping me every step of the way. But I honestly forgot that I was injured when I stepped into a world of books and authors.
I needed this.
I saw friends. People like Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31, who is always ready with her N. Carolina twang and warm hugs to pull you in tight. Author Mary DeMuth who knocked it out of the ballpark on a Christianity Today panel with Don Miller and others on their thoughts about post-Christianity.
I was intrigued by what Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) had to say about our faith. Do I agree with everything he said? I’m not sure, but I do know he’s asking the tough questions and a lot of what he said resonated. The Harris twins, Alex and Brett, authors of Do Hard Things shared how they wanted to inspire teens to change the world. It was interesting to hear how God used two 16-year-old bloggers to motivate teens to rebel against low expectations.
A sweet moment came as I sat at the book table and a young girl approached me.
“Did you break your collarbone?” she asked.
I said I did.
She explained that she broke her collarbone twice and knew how painful it could be. “Can I pray for you?” she asked.
Then came the sweetest prayer every spoken. She took my hand, bowed her head, and asked God to heal me and take away the pain. It was a powerful God moment.
Being around other writers and readers is invigorating to me. I left exhausted, but happy.
I’m taking a couple of days off to recuperate, but I’m so glad I got to go.
But I’m still disheartened for the organizers. I was shocked that so few came to this conference where awesome speakers, authors and musical artists like Michelle McKinney Hammond, Donald Miller, Henry Blackaby, Janette Oke, Nicole C. Mullen, Max Lucado, Jerry Jenkins, Don Piper, J. I. Packer, Randy Alcorn, Stormie O’Martien, Stephen Arterburn, Kevin Lehman, Thelma Wells, Sheila Walsh, Jennifer Rothschild, and many others, were in attendance. There were so many great workshops and services.
Talk to me. Are you attending conferences? What draws you to a conference? What makes a good conference? What is your favorite conference?
I really want to hear what you have to share.
Suz
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Hi Suzie,
So glad your collarbone is improving, having broke mine when I was in high school, I relate to your pain and frustrations over being forced to slow down.
I would have given alot to go to this conference, but I live in Illinois and with my husband unemployed there was just no money to do so. My parents owned Christian bookstores while I was growing up, so CBA and ECPA events where on our calendars, and I really miss going to them. I have read several posts in various places about the event, and my observations are that it was wrong time of year (spring break), charging addmissions, and wrong location.
From what I have heard from people who did attend, was how great it was. I think it was planned “too big” for an inaugural event (even though Dallas does everything “big”). I have been to that convention center and it is not very well liked in the local area.
I would hope that ECPA would take what they learned and revise it to maybe smaller regional events so that more people would have the opportunity to attend. I realize that not all authors/artists/speakers could be at all of them, but I think spreading it around would be a better idea long term.
I am not attending conferences because of our financial situation right now, but what I look for in a conference is the subject and who is speaking. I need it to be relevant to my life with speakers who make the subject they are speaking about interesting and are knowledgeable. It doesn’t have to be big and showy, but it needs to give value to it’s attenders, and have the speakers accessable. It needs to value my time too. Too many breaks and down time where there is wasted time is frustrating to me.
Anyway, hope you have a good day and continued healing.
Karin
March 27th, 2009 at 2:33 pm