Josh Hunt | 10 Steps to a Great ConferenceFor a current list of scheduled conferences, see www.joshhunt.com/schedule.htm If you are interested in hosting a conference and would like to be emailed from time to time when I post new conferences, click here. If you would like sponsorship in hosting a conference click here. Overview/ cost 10 Steps: - Decide on a day of the week
- Decide on the conference content
- Compare your calendar and mine
- Contact me
- Mail in the contract
- Promote the conference
- Take care of the details
- Network with other churches
- Follow-up
- Pray
OverviewWe can take America for God by giving the ministry to laymen who are using their gifts to grow their groups to double their classes every two years or less. I would love with your church or Association toward the goal of a doubling group movement. It may take several conferences over several years to accomplish this. Here is what is involved in scheduling a conference. Conference length varies from 2.5 to 5 hours. Cost is $1100 for everyday except Sunday, and $1300 for Sundays, plus expenses. I offer a $300 discount if you include the Association as a major training event. If you would like your children's workers trained as well, my wife may be available. See www.joshhunt.kid.htm for details. Also, please contact her directly at missy@joshhunt.com if you would like for her to speak. I also do shorter keynote addresses at banquets and well as pulpit supply. The cost is the same whether I speak for 30 minutes or 5 hours. Travel expenses are as follows: Either Actual expense to your location from El Paso, TX If I am driving to several locations in your area, cost is an averaged $200 If I am on a tour, but it is a flying tour (that is, I get off at the airport, come to your event, and go back to the airport to fly to the next venue) cost is $300 for travel
These costs do not include hotel and meals. In addition to these costs, I would ask you to consider buying a book for all your teachers. It helps build familiarity and reinforces the message. Most churches that are having good success getting groups to double buy the book for all their teachers. 1. Decide on a day of the week.Conferences can be held on Sunday. I normally preach on Sunday morning, and/or meet with adults in a joint assembly. The conference itself is then held in the afternoon, usually a quick lunch, then about 12:30 - 3:00. Weeknight. Normally 6:30 to 9:00 Friday/ Saturday. Normally 7:00 - 9:00 Friday; 9:00 - 12:00 Saturday morning. The main difference in the longer format is that in addition to some additional content, there are a number of interactive elements where people discuss in groups the application of what they have heard.
Ultimately, I work for you, so if you have another idea, feel free to let me know. One other thing. There is a slogan in the seminar business: "If you feed them they will come." Attendance is nearly always better when the conference is accompanied by a meal. If it is a week night, this might mean a meal at 6.00 and start the seminar at 6.30. Some Saturday meetings include a breakfast or lunch. It isn't mandatory, but it does seem to build attendance. Even if there is a charge for the meal, it seems to build a crowd. 2. Decide on the conference content.I have the following conferences available: Normally, we start with one of these four: Other conferences are available as well, but normally we start with the three above. Click here for a summary of all conferences. My wife, Missy, is also available to teach one of two conference for preschool and children's teachers called K.I.D.T.E.A.C.H. or K.I.D.R.E.A.C.H. . See www.joshhunt.com/kid.htm for details. Also, please contact her directly at missy@joshhunt.com if you would like for her to speak. If you would like a separate youth trainer to train your youth workers, I would recommend our former Youth Minister--Kevin Glenn. He doubled the youth ministry in the first two years he was there. I had two of my children in his ministry and think the world of him. You can contact him directly at kevin@kevinglenn.net For more in Kevin's ministry, see www.joshhunt.com/youth.htm or his ministry web page at http://www.kevinglenn.net 3. Compare your calendar and mineTake a look at my calendar at www.joshhunt.com/schedule.htm. Pretty much any date not on there is available. If you can piggy-back on an existing trip, all the better. You will save some money on travel expenses and it is easier on me. If my schedule and yours don't work out, I would recommend a friend, Bryan Faus. He lives in the Dallas area and will do a fine job of presenting the Double Your Class content. For details, see www.joshhunt.com/bryan.htm 4. Contact meCall 575.650.4564 (that is my cell phone and it occasionally looses messages when I am on the road, so call back if I don't return your call). Or, email me at josh@joshhunt.com Once we agree verbally or through email on a date, proceed to step 5. I have a simple contract that spells out what each of us will do. Mail it in, along with a non-refundable deposit check. Note: If you wish to receive the $300 discount for involving the Association, enclose this form to qualify. 6. Promote the conferenceThe key word is promoting the conference is familiarity. The more familiar people are with my name, the the more likely they will want to come. People like to come hear someone they perceive as famous. People like to go hear people they have heard of. If you mention the Josh Hunt name and their feeling is, "Never heard of him" it is an uphill battle getting the conference promoted. I would suggest several ways to build familiarity. Better to do this slowly, over a long period of time than waiting till the last minute. Buy one of my books for your teachers. There are three big benefits of buying books for your teachers: It affirms that you value the teachers enough to buy resources for them. It puts the book in their hands and as they read it, it will help re-enforce the message of the conference. It builds familiarity. In my experience, most churches where the vision of doubling groups has really taken off have bought the book for all of their teachers and other leaders.
They make great Christmas gifts for your teachers. Another alternative is to subsidize the cost of the books. People love a discount. If you pay half, they will likely pay the rest. I offer books at a discount prices where purchased in quantities of 8. Copy articles and pass them out at your teachers' meetings. Feel free to copy and paste only the article portion of the online version. Please do give attribution to www.joshhunt.com. Also, consider forwarding them to pastors and/or Ministers of Education in the area. Get your teachers on the Teacher Tips weekly E-Newsletter. Sign them up at http://www.joshhunt.com/signup.htm or email me at josh@joshhunt.com. Alternatively, you can just sign yourself up and forward these to your teachers. Some of your teachers will have SPAM filters that might let an email from you through, but not from me. Again, if you can get Pastors and Ministers of Education in your area signed up, all the better. Have your teachers use my online lessons. I write two lessons a week that correspond with Lifeway's outlines. To sign up all your teachers at a discounted group rate, click here. Use a video. It might seem redundant to show the videos and then have me speak on the same topic. Trust me, the repetition will do people good. I did the Double conference twice in Corpus Christi recently, once this year and once last year. Someone came up to me at the second conference and said, "I think I am starting to get it." There is a reason Paul said, "I say again. . ." Repetition is the mother of learning. Plus, I change the conference every year so what I present now is quite a bit different than what is on the video. One other thing. You won't get everyone to come watch the videos. But, even for the ones who don't, it helps build familiarity. I have put together a rather extensive download page. (Also, see http://www.joshhunt.com/bundle.htm) On this page you will find audios and videos that you can download and distribute. Feel free to pass this along to pastors in you area, as well as your own teachers. Far better to allow them to sample the content than to just tell them how wonderful it is. This is based on a strategy outlined at www.pyromarketing.com Get your pastor excited about doubling groups. Nothing is important until the pastor says it is important. This is the law of PRIME TIME What ever you can do to get your pastor excited about doubling groups is going to pay off in spades. Download some audio content and burn some CDs for him. Sign up to my PODCAST Posters. I have some professionally designed posters available for download. It looks like this: .jpg)
What Makes Groups Grow graphic: click here. To prepare posters, bulletin inserts and flyers, and posters, consider using info from my bio page. I think a copy of the front of the book is the best graphic for posters and inserts. You might also use quotes from these commendations.
7. Take care of the detailsIt is best if we can match the size of the hall to the expected size of the crowd. Unless this is a major Associational or State event, it is usually best to be in the Fellowship Hall, or large classroom rather than the auditorium. This seems to be my #1 frustration in presenting. It is much more difficult to get people fired up in an auditorium that is only 10% full. Please, please, please, put us in the fellowship hall or a large Sunday School conference unless you anticipate we will actually be filling the auditorium. I will bring a laptop to do PowerPoint. I need a projector. i usually use some video clips, so if I can have my laptop near me, that would be great. I will bring a 100' VGA wire to help with this if needed. If Missy is speaking, she will need a projector and sound as well. I will need to get a audio signal out of my laptop into your house system. This is a standard mini-headphone jack. It is the same connection found in any standard portable CD player. I will bring an 1/8" to 1/4" wire (mini-headphone to standard head-phone) so if you have a direct box and an XLR we are set. You might want to copy and paste the above to an email for your tech person. All these specs are pretty standard and they will likely understand exactly what I mean. I will bring books and videos to sell. If you can have a table set up for this purpose, that would be great. I normally eat after the conference. If I get in by mid-afternoon and you want to share a meal then, that would be great too. This enables me to get to know you and your church before the conference. I don't like to eat just before I speak. Also, for Sunday meetings, we often get in on Saturday night in time to enjoy a meal if you have time for it. Call me on my cell 575.650.4564. I set up hotel arrangements myself. I normally stay in the closest Hampton or Holiday Inn. I normally show up to the speaking venue about 30 minutes before the meeting to do set up. I do my own travel arrangements. If I fly to the conference destination, I normally don't rent a car. If you are some distance away, I am happy to rent a car and drive myself. Most conferences are part of a tour. In this case, I will have a car. See www.joshhunt.com/schedule.htm to see what I am doing the day before or after your event. I don't do printed outlines, but Missy does. If you are having her speak, download her outlines here: KIDTEACH Outline - I have an evaluation form I would like for you to have copied and distributed to the participants. I will pick them up after the conference. Here is the link: http://www.joshhunt.com/Evaluation.pdf
8. Network with other churchesMy goal is to get the Capital-C invisible church doubling in the next 20 years by helping small groups double every two years or less. With this goal in mind, I am trying to get the message about doubling groups to as many people as possible. If you can network with your Association, State Convention, or other churches in your area and invite them to attend, it would be great. Many times Associations and or State Conventions will help sponsor events. Personal phone calls are huge. I had a host recently with 150 people outside his church who attended. I asked how he got that crowd there. His response? Five phone calls. A few personal phone calls to pastors and/or Ministers of Education in the area can make a huge difference. Email. Look through your email address book and email every Pastor / Minister of Education in the area. Mailings. You can purchase lists of churches within a specified distance from your church at www.americanchurchlists.com You Association or State convention may give you names for free. Piggy-back conferences. I will be working to set up conferences the night before or after yours in your area. If you can help me do that, I would greatly appreciate it. If you wouldn't mind emailing Pastors, Ministers of Education, Associational Missionaries and other interested parties, I would greatly appreciate it. You will save some money on travel if this is part of a tour. 9. Follow upIt really is possible to double a class in two years or less. But, for this to happen, it takes more than a one night seminar. Consider these steps in follow up: Lead by example. If you want your groups to double, set an example for them. Andy Stanley is a model for all of us in this. He regularly stands before Northpoint Church and says, "I am in a group that is committed to doubling; I want you to be in a group that is committed to doubling." See www.joshhunt.com/andy.mp3 Commit to ongoing training. I have a number of training conferences available that all support the dream of doubling groups. I am hoping we can have an ongoing, long term relationship in training your teachers to double. We may not get there in one night, but if you stay with me, we can get there. Whatever gets rewarded gets done. Reward what you want to see happen. When you have a group that doubles, get up on the stage and have everybody clap for them. Having a baby is a big deal. Reward it. Take them all out to dinner. Let the whole church know, "This can happen; this is the win; we want more of this." Move with the movers. You do more for your church by encouraging the runners than you do by nagging the lagers. Some will never get it. Invest in those who do. I have some follow up lessons that you can ask your teaches to use just after the conference. (This only applies to one of the "Double" conferences.) The idea is that for the three weeks following the conference, teachers would teach their class the Double Your Class principles. See http://www.joshhunt.com/DoubleLessons.htm I'd like to come back. I hope to form a long term relationship with you and your people. I really believe it is possible to double a class in two years or less. I also take it will take more than one event for most people to get it. If you are pleased with the first conference, please consider scheduling another six months or a year later.
10. PrayJesus taught us that without Him we could do nothing. I would like to wish he said we could accomplish only limited things. But, he said without Him we can accomplish nothing. No true, lasting spiritual benefit comes except that God chooses to bless our efforts. Bathe this seminar in prayer that God would start a mighty movement of doubling groups. Final note: If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at josh@joshhunt.com or call, home: 575.532.9693 cell: 575.650.4564 |
