what i learned at #echo11

Nothing.  I wasn’t there.  I was on vacation with my family.  It was awesome.  I suppose I  should have said “what I learned from all the other people who are at the Echo Conference”, and not just tried to get you to open up this blog post by mentioning #echo11.  It has been great to read all the Twitter traffic and the great quotes from amazing speakers.  It has brought to mind a few reasons why I like to go to almost any conference.

See what else is out there.

I love to go other places and see other things.  It is essential.  It reminds me that I have it better than I thought; or what I love about where I am; or to see someone doing something exactly the way I do and therefore I’m not as stupid as I once thought.  It is so easy to live in my own little bubble.  Going somewhere else helps me re-calibrate reality.

Be Inspired.

There is something about not being involved in an event that helps me enjoy it and even let it affect me.  I love seeing what others are doing.  I love to hear from people that understand me.  I love to be reminded why I choose to do what I do.  We all need to be inspired as technical artists and that generally doesn’t happen at events that I am the production crew for.

Network.

I need to remember that I am not alone.  There are others who struggle with similar issues.  There are people out that that understand the challenges of doing production in the local church.  #CTLN (Church Technical Leader’s Network) held a few meet ups and dinners during #echo11 as opportunities for tech people from all different kinds of churches to network and to help each other.  As a leader of tech people, I usually find myself in meetings with church leaders and other non-tech people.  There is nothing like hanging out with a bunch of people that speak my language and where I don’t have to think about how to explain something in “layman’s terms”.

If you are bummed that you didn’t make it to #echo11 like me, make yourself sign up for the next conference that you are on the fence about.  There are more options for church tech people than ever before.  There are people that have been down the road before us that have learned the difficult lessons and they want to share it with us.  Make the most of the opportunities out there.