Tag: Mark Yaconelli

  • Quick check-in

    I’m always amazed at my inability to blog from NYWC. I think it’s a combination of my insane schedule and a lack of good internet connectivity. More importantly, I feel like I don’t have much to share while in the midst of NYWC since I’m soaking it in so deeply.

    So here are some random thoughts in no particular order.

    – I’m looking forward to getting season one of “NYWC as a YS staffer” out of the way. 2008 has been a major learning curve for me. I feel like I admit ignorance way too much. I look forward to 2009 because I’ll be more useful beyond what I was able to handle here. I know that is gray and fuzzy, I don’t want to bore anyone with details.

    – I’ve said this before but I want to say it again, people are people no matter what they do. I’ve had some stirring conversations with speakers and authors… but I’ve also had very similar conversations with people who don’t write or speak for a living.

    – Nashville is a great convention location. I love the arena environment!

    – A ton of people asked me if the convention gets boring having gone to all 3. No, not boring. Not really repetitive. If it were boring I would need to find a new job.

    – I have huge respect for convention volunteers. My only frame of reference is a PGA Tour event. I think it’s a lot like that. Simply put, if we didn’t have the volunteer we couldn’t do it. Thanks to our volunteers!

    – I’ve gotten more sleep than in Pittsburgh. The reality is that my body is just waking up at 5:30 AM Pacific time. My roommate, Andy Thompson, thought I was kidding. With no alarm I woke up at exactly 5:30 on Friday morning. Today I woke up at 5:27.

    – Security at the Sommet Center is a little crazy. They are diligent, to say the least.

    – Is it really Christmas shopping season?

    – It’s true. I’m staying over on Monday night so I can get a good nights sleep before going home. I felt like my recovery process after Pittsburgh was elongated by my lack of chillaxing.

    – I’m looking forward to checking out the details of Obama’s transition team when I get home.

    – Mark Yaconelli, pictured above, brought the funk today.

    – I am thankful for Ian [Dude] Robertson. Every time I do an interview I am praying I don’t ruin it. It’s happened, it’s embarassing and every shoot makes me wish I knew more about the camera.

    – Just heard this on the Nashville news, “NASA astronaughts are working on their hardest project ever, they are installing a device that will make drinking water out of urine.“

  • NYWC Sacramento Post Thoughts

    Let’s see. I am home from my first NYWC as a staff member. Looking back over the weekend I have a lot of things floating around my head. Here are some quick reflections.

    #1 People are people. This isn’t profound to me but I kept getting asked, “What is _____ like?” I don’t know a nicer way to say it than the obvious, people are people. I met tons of folks… both general session speakers and youth workers and they are all pretty much the same. Just normal folks.

    #2 I told the truth. It’s a little weird being on staff at YS because people will flat out ask you for the world. And while my ministry with YS is to encourage and resource people while building community I simply am not able to do everything I get asked. Typically, I’m a people pleaser and I have a hard time saying no. But this weekend I made sure I didn’t commit to anything I didn’t actually have the ability to do or the desire to do. And since I was often out talking to people, when they asked questions that I knew the answer to, I just told them the plain truth. A few times that was “I’m really not able or qualified to talk about that.” But a few other times it was more like, “Let’s go check it out together.”

    #3 I have all new respect for the events team. Wow. I mean WOW! I know that there were times when they were overloaded, but Tic’s team makes it look easy. I bow to Holli, Michelle, and Yost. On top of that there are the volunteers who pull off all the little details. Not only are they giving up their time, but they take so much ownership of the event. Plus, a lot of them are new friends of mine.

    #4 This year was profound-er than ever. Tony Compolo laid a smack down on us last night. I think Andrew Marin is the sleeper for those going to Pittsburgh and Nashville. I don’t want to do any more spoilers than we had on the live blog.

    #5 It’s weird being an insider. Yeah, that’s self-explanatory.