My picks for personal & professional enrichment 2009...

It used to be a challenge to find continuing education in specialized disciplines from trusted sources. Now...we face the opposite challenge. There are so many offerings to choose from, the burden is on us as individuals to be deliberative about our objectives, season and scope before we choose.

• Sometimes I need a passive experience where I can listen and attend with no other responsibilities.
• Other times I crave an environment where I get to shape the experience as an active participant.
• Sometimes I need to sit under larger than life world shakers and leaders to learn from their polished presentations.
• Other times I need to roll up my sleeves in the trenches with people like me.
• Sometimes I need very individual attention.
• Other times I need tactical learning with my team.
• Sometimes I need to disconnect and completely immerse.
• Other times I need skim through a rolling pit stop for a tune-up.

A variety of experiences meet different education needs at different times. Too much of one or the other starts to get stale and I experience the law of diminishing return. I try to round it out and remember along the way ... I'm going to get out of it what I put into it.

Each year my needs are different and that affects my search. I recently shared my afterthoughts about my experience at the Q Conference. The format was unique and it woke up parts of my brain I didn't realize were asleep. There are a few more experiences marked on my calendar for this year and I'm eager to participate. I fully expect to leave each one different and better; personally and professionally.

• Leadership Summit (August 6-7), Worldwide Simulcast: A perpetual movement of men and women whose relentless mission is to develop authentic leaders for the sake of the local church and their communities. This one of a kind, world-class leadership tune-up is something I look forward to every year.
• Innovate 09 (September 24-25), Granger, IN: Whether you have a church gathering of 100 or 10,000 you can begin making innovative, strategic moves that will impact your community. It's a multi-sensory showcase of proven, real-life, practical steps that can help take your capacity as a leader, a practitioner and a church to a  new level. This year, I hear we're attempting some new approaches that's never been done before.
• Spur Leadership (October 1-2), Austin, TX: Serving those who lead at any level in every arena carries unique burdens. This conference is not about creating a new B-school management paradigm or moving merchandise. It’s about intentionalizing influence by combining the complementary interests of people and productivity, community and accountability, of ministry and marketplace.

And, new this year, two collaborative experiences in October are focused on different aspects of communication.

• Cultivate (October 27), Chicago, IL: Where culture, innovation and communication meet, this one-day conversation event is for leaders who influence organizational communications. More...
• Story (October 28-29), Chicago, IL: From the mind of the guy who created the White Board Sessions, this event is the first of it's kind creative experience for church leaders, pastors, teachers, artists and authors. I can't wait to see what new breakthroughs it reveals.

Comments

[Anais]

Thanks for sharing the list of different types of involvement. I personally get very overwhelmed at times with all the choices available out there that I just end up doing nothing. It is really hard to learn to remove clutter and noise to be able to focus. So thanks for your thoughts, I am just starting to head in this direction so guidance from blogs like this is always appreciated.

[Jenni Baier]

Do you have more info about Cultivate? Website seems to be a dead end (and part of the front page info is cut off no matter what browser I try).

[Dawn Nicole Baldwin]

Thanks for sharing, Kem. I'll be hitting the same.

And thanks for the heads up on Spur! What a very cool concept that wasn't on my radar until now :)