Expert Series: Events

Expert Series: Events

February 28, 2011 by

There’s nothing people love more than events (or so it seems judging by the hashtag-laden chatter). We ask our panel of experts about their favorite events of 2011. You can also check out our Events Calendar for a full list of church marketing events in 2011.

What’s the best church marketing event to attend this year?

Katie Strandlund: I’m a big fan of the Echo Conference because it covers such a wide array of topics. Love being able to get a wide variety of pieces for the puzzle.

Brian Gaffney: My suggestion as to the best church marketing event to attend this year is not a marketing event at all, but a church and culture event, the Q Gathering, founded by Gabe Lyons in 2007. This year, Q will take place in Portland, Ore., from April 27-29, 2011.  The concept behind Q is to “create a place where church and cultural leaders could come together to collaborate and explore ideas about how the gospel can be expressed within our cultural context. Our method of learning is simple: exposure, conversation and collaboration.”  It is this commitment to “exploring ideas about how the gospel can be expressed within our cultural context” that, for me, makes Q’s concept so compelling.

Cleve Persinger: I don’t know the best church marketing event this year. Several conferences I try to attend semi-regularly, that aren’t necessarily church marketing specific, are Catalyst, Cultivate, Echo, Q and Story.

Danielle Hartland: Cultivate.

Paul Armstrong: Having never attended one (I know, I’m a hypocrite, but things cost money) I can’t recommend any on personal experience, but I hear great things about the Dirt Conference as well as Catalyst.

Shawn Wood: I think the best thing a church marketing person could do this year is really ask a question: “Why am I attending all of these events?” I find that often people are there to stare rather than share. They stare at what other churches are doing and they stare at the supposed “stars” of church marketing. What if we could all just get together and share best practices and struggles and stop pretending we have a clue. The communications world has changed (read: is changing) so quickly that no one is an expert.  The closest thing that I have seen to this is what my friends Dawn Nicole Baldwin and Tim Schraeder have done with Cultivate.

Post By:

Kevin D. Hendricks


When Kevin isn't busy as the editor of Church Marketing Sucks, he runs his own writing and editing company, Monkey Outta Nowhere. Kevin has been blogging since 1998, runs the hyperlocal site West St. Paul Reader, and has published several books, including 137 Books in One Year: How to Fall in Love With Reading, The Stephanies and all of our church communication books.
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2 Responses to “Expert Series: Events”

  • Dawn Nicole Baldwin
    February 28, 2011

    Thanks, Shawn :) That really is the purpose of Cultivate. So many people are doing some pretty amazing things… they just don’t always have a platform to share their stories.

    So this is a combo of bringing in some marketplace voices we don’t typically hear, plus allow time for people to connect with each other.

    [And for the record, I’m also a big fan of Catalyst, Echo & Q]

    ps: Danielle & Cleve–look forward to seeing you guys!


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  • Jim Gray
    March 1, 2011

    I’ve been to a lot of conferences in the past year. I like the feel of Catalyst West Coast, had a blast there last year. Also enjoyed Calibrate NW in Seattle. Another cool conference was All Access/ARC in Baton Rouge.


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