Archive for 'Events'
Nashville Illuminate – Only 60 days away!
Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Kenny.
I can hardly believe it, but the greatest event for kidmin volunteers serving in the local church is only 60 days away. It will be here in not time.
So, if you live within 3-5 hours of Nashville, TN, I highly encourage you to check out Illuminate as a viable training option for your staff and volunteers. Technically, the early bird rate expired last Friday, but I’m extending it through this week. Anyone who registers by Christmas can save some money.
I know it’s just a few days before the craziness of Christmas Eve services, last minute shopping and good family time, but I’d highly encourage anyone within driving distance of Nashville to consider registering this week. I’ve actually got a great story that I’ll post later today that should encourage anyone.… Read the rest
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What’s next for Illuminate
Posted on 15. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
Now with the Birmingham, AL and the Austin, TX events over, what is next?
Well, on February 18th, we do have our Nashville event, but we have something else up our sleeves as well. It’s called Illuminate Online.
The central vision behind Illuminate is to offer high-quality training for volunteers that it both local and affordable. Unfortunately, Illuminate only has three stops this year which means it can only offer local training for a few regions. So, Illuminate is taking to the web. Although it isn’t the same, much of what you might experience at Illuminate will be available online.
Last Friday, we shot over 3 hours of video content designed specifically for Illuminate Online. I’m excited to make it available soon.… Read the rest
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Austin Illuminate was EPIC!
Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
I’m excited to say that Illuminate has year two behind it now with just finishing the second event in Austin, TX. Although we had a very high retention of churches come back again (in addition to many new churches), I was amazed by how many people were brand new this year. It felt like the whole room.
I’m incredibly blessed because everything went so exceedingly well. Other than the little tweak here and the adjustment there, there isn’t much of anything that I would change. It was a fantastic second year event. I’ll be sending out email evaluations later this week, but that hasn’t stopped the emails from coming in already. Here are what some people are saying:
“Again I wanted to say great job! … Read the rest
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Illuminate comes to Austin
Posted on 09. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
Today is Wednesday and the Austin Illuminate begins in three days. I’m so excited!!! We have over 50 churches from all over the state of Texas (and even one from Oregon) gathering at my home church this Saturday. Although the registration are not exactly where I had initially hoped, we have experienced very healthy growth this year over last year and I think we’re going to have a great crowd with some dynamic energy for this little event. So, let me tell you why I’m so stoked about this weekend.
- Connecting with people who I love and respect – I’ll be perfectly honest. There is some selfish motivation behind me starting the Illuminate Conference. There are several people who lead in the local church that I have gotten very close to over the years.
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Illuminate Updates
Posted on 01. Nov, 2011 by Kenny.
It’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything about Illuminate, so I thought I’d catch everyone up. It’s truly been a wild and exciting ride this year.
The Austin event is just 11 days away. I’m expecting about 500 kidmin folks to converge on the Gateway Church campus on November 12th and it’s going to be amazing. I’ve got a stellar line-up of speakers. Check it out:
- Jim Wideman
- Sam Luce
- Michael Chanley
- Gina McClain
- Dan Scott
- Amy Fenton Lee
- Jonathan Cliff
- Matt McKee
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Big Announcement: Illuminate is coming to Nashville
Posted on 15. Sep, 2011 by Kenny.
With two Illuminate Conferences under my belt, one thing is sure… Illuminate is like no other conference. At both Austin (2010) and Birmingham (2011) I heard the same thing over and over.
Amazing!
Incredible!
Inspiring!
Encouraging!
That’s what kidmin volunteers from Texas, Alabama and Georgia all had to say about their Illuminate experience. So, the only logical thing to do is more events, right? That’s what I thought too.
On Saturday, February 18th, 2012… Illuminate comes to the great city of Nashville, TN! Details are still coming together (like speakers and breakouts) but we do have a handful of great communicators already lined up.
- Jim Wideman (General Sessions and Leader Q & A)
- Jonathan Cliff
- Amy Fenton Lee
- I’ll be there too… plus a few others
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Why Illuminate was a Success
Posted on 29. Aug, 2011 by Kenny.
On Saturday we knocked out our first Illuminate of the 2011-12 year. It was a huge hit! Not only was it super successful, I learned so many things about hosting a conference, especially in a city where you don’t live. One of the biggest things I learned is that starting a conference in distant location is a lot harder than you would think. The Austin event came together incredibly well with seemingly little effort, but the Birmingham event required a lot more work to get the word out. Like I said though, I learned a lot from this first event which I hope to put to work in future events.
However, this last saturday was almost 100% void of stress. I had an immense amount of peace and I remember walking around at times thinking, “should I be running around or fixing an emergency of some sort?” Let me share with you two reasons why the Birmingham event was so successful (there are several other reasons as well, but these may be the biggest).… Read the rest
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Illuminate HashTag
Posted on 26. Aug, 2011 by Kenny.
Some people have credited me for creating the #kidmin twitter hashtag. I don’t claim sole credit, but I was involved. However, I am announcing a hashtag that I am claiming responsibility for (actually, that’s not the total truth as I did as Matt McKee for his opinion). Ha!
So, the official hashtag for Illuminate is #illumin8.
Those tweeting from the event will be encouraged to use the tag and if you feel the urge to tweet anything about Illuminate, feel free to add #illumin8 along with your obligatory #kidmin tag.
Thank you and happy tweeting!
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Plotting for the Birmingham Illuminate
Posted on 23. Aug, 2011 by Kenny.
Check out this recent post from my new friend Dustin Nickerson from Washington state. For several weeks, he and I talked about him being the officially back-up to the back-up in case any of my speakers got sick. I didn’t realized how seriously he was taking this semi-important (not really) assignment. Click here to see his evil plan.
Pray for good health for all the speakers, staff and attendees at Illuminate Birmingham!
What Dustin doesn’t know is that 3 of my 4 speakers got food poising last year. Of all the great places to take them to eat here in Austin… I took them to the place where the view is the best… and the food is gross. 
Dustin… I have a feeling that in the future, I’ll have you speak at Illuminate.… Read the rest
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Illuminate Birmingham is less than 10 days away!!!
Posted on 18. Aug, 2011 by Kenny.
Wow! One week from today, I’ll be flying out to Birmingham, AL to start getting everything ready for the first Illuminate of the 2011/2012 season. I’m really excited. I’ll admit it, there have been days where I thought I’d bit off more than I could chew, but God has been faithful and things have come together beautifully. I’ve got so many things to share, but I can’t until after this first event is over. Ha!
So, if you’re within driving distance of Birmingham, AL, please come on by and spend the day with us. It’s going to be amazing! It’s not too late to register. Click here for more info!
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