Churches are inundated every day with advertisements for conferences. Most of the ones that come through my office fail the “3 second test”–if they don’t capture my attention within 3 seconds, they go–unopened–into the trash. But for the few that pass that test, I have some questions I ask as I try to decide whether or not to attend.

Since we are a small church, and we have an extremely limited budget for conventions and training, and I have a limited amount of time I can invest in attending conferences. Consequently, to be a good steward of those resources, I have to choose carefully where I will spent those resources. Is the conference a good value for the dollars and time invested?

Conferences abound on any imaginable topic. It’s possible to fill up about 50 weeks every year just attending conferences somewhere on some topic that the literature promises to be life- and ministry-changing. So I also ask, What will I be able to take back home from this that I can apply this week?

Once I heard a retired college religion professor lament that “the pastorate is the graveyard of the mind.” At first, I was offended, but now I can see how he could say that. It’s so easy to get into a rut where everything runs on its on track and events happen by rote day in and day out. And it’s easy to look for conferences that will reinforce my current perspective. (Hey, I always like being told I’m doing it right. Don’t you?) But I don’t like ruts and I don’t like rote. So when I look at a conference brochure or website, I ask, Will these speakers confirm what I already think or will they challenge me beyond where I am now?

Once in a while a conference comes along that is so unusual, that promises to be so intense and so densely packaged that my overwhelming response is I GOTTA GO TO THIS! and EVERYBODY I KNOW NEEDS TO GO TO THIS TOO! Regardless of whether you are in a new church plant or an established congregation. In fact, I’m so convinced that it is worth the investment that I told my best friend (who is a youth pastor in Texas), “If you get yourself here, I’ll buy your ticket to the event.”

Well, one of those conferences is coming up May 22. It’s already getting a lot of buzz in the blog world, and I thought I’d add to that well-deserved buzz. It’s called The WhiteBoard Sessions. Ben Arment, a former church planter and uber blogger started pitching around an idea a few months back and it evolved into WiBo.

What makes WiBo so special? It’s designed predicated on the concept of 8 speakers with 30 minutes each, speaking on one topic. Simple concept. It’s going to be held at the beautiful Reston Town Center in Reston, Virginia. It has an absolutely astonishing line-up of speakers. Probably the most diverse line-up of speakers ever all on the same stage at the same conference anywhere. John Burke. Ed Stetzer. Mark Dever. Darrin Patrick. Vince Antonucci. Mark Batterson. Tim Stevens. Perry Noble. Worship music by Lashey & Joyner. Plus, Terrace Crawford is putting together a luncheon for bloggers which should be a blast!

You DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT! So click on over to TheWhiteBoardSessions.com and get your ticket today! You’ll be glad you did!