UMR Communicators Conference-Day 1 Photos and Thoughts

Today was the first day of the UMR Communicators Conference. Here are some photos and thoughts from the first day.

Rainy drive up.

Welcome by Debbie Christian and lunch.

Opening session by Tim McLemore

Workshop.. How to get organized.. with Samantha Naeyaert

Thoughts-

We started with our keynote speaker Tim McLemore. First let me say, awesome jazz piano player. He used hymns, poems, songs, and humor to talk to us about how we look at things. Here are some quick notes.

- The biggest change we make in a situation is not what we do, but who we are.

- It is important to take time to take notice of the world around you

- Find time to enjoy everything

- Get out into nature, reconnect with the creator

This was so helpful as we began to talk about keeping our balance. I began to wonder how I can take time to step back, look at the whole picture and make sure I enjoy life. 

My first workshop was Getting Your Circus Act Together: Finding Peace through Organization

Samantha shared a lot of tips, and practical ways to get organized and stay organized. Here are some thoughts I wrote down:

-You cannot set your priorities till you know who you are-

- First choose the relationships that are important to you.

- Once you understand that every move you make affects a relationship,  you can manage your time because you'l know what time waters to get rid of, and which relationship growers to choose

- Find one thing to accomplish daily. Examples: Clean your inbox, wash your dishes, sweep the floor. Then you can say every day that you at least accomplished one thing.

My final workshop was Communications 201 with Liz Applegate. We talked about all the varieties of methods churches can use to communicate, and how we can use them effectively.

-Determine who you as an organization

-More than the church logo- What do people say about your church? What do you want them to say?

- Do we use our communications to proclaim the story of Jesus Christ, or to say "look what programs we have!"

- Your marketing may be the only invitation a visitor receives.. is it deserving of that honor?

-Determine in advance, which communication methods are used, based on priority

- QR codes.. the next thing?

Of course there are many pages of notes and thoughts to digest. These are just the beginning. 

Tomorrow I will learn more about volunteer optimization, and writing skills.

Remember.. follow what's going on using twitter hashtag #umr11