Echo Church Media Conference 2008
August 16, 2008 · Print This Article
Here we are at day three of the 2008 Echo Church Media Conference in Dallas, Texas.
This is the first year that this event has been put on. And even though this first year of the conference might be considered “smaller” then other conferences around the country, it is BY FAR one of the best if not THE BEST conference i have attended.
The team behind Echo really has their act together. Typically at conferences there is a disconnect between exhibitors and attendees due to placement of the exhibitors in some out of the way venue labeled “exhibitor tent” and many attendees never make it by and miss out on great resources. The team here at Echo coordinated everything so that the only way into the keynote sessions was to pass through the exhibitors area. It allowed us so many more opportunities to connect with Pastors, church leaders, and media creators than ever before. It was amazing just listening to the stories these individuals. All the successes, hurts and questions were just awesome. It really fostered a real sense of us all being in this “thing” together.
Echo also excelled in their pre-conference labs, great breakout and keynote sessions. Tons of relevant discussions on the use of media and computers in the church and ministry in general. I couldn’t believe the amazing list of Keynote speakers… one after the other. Names like Donald Miller, Brad Abare, Matthew Paul Turner and Mark Batterson, to name a few. I can’t tell you when the last time was that i felt so encouraged as to the role of story and arts in the body of Christ.
One final thing i would be remiss in not mentioning is the FOOD. I have never been to a conference where the food has just been so amazing! I mean come on, the quality of food at the conference is something that can impact your entire mood… this guys now it and hit the mark.
So, as we get closer to the end of the conference, i can only hope the Echo team knows how amazing they have done and feel encouraged at the success of the conference… encouraged enough to do it again next year and for many years to come, i hope.
If you missed it this year, don’t make the same mistake next year. Do yourself a favor and keep checking back at http://www.echoconference.com and pray they do it all again next year!
You forgot to mention the great class put on by Floodgate. I am sure your just being modest, but it really was a great breakout session. It is great to meet the people behind the videos that you see online, I got a sense that you were genuine about using you art as a ministry. You gave me some fresh ideas about how to use videos in our worship experience which is great for me, I am churning out videos every week for my church and sometimes you get stuck in a rut. Thanks again.
I totally agree. I only recently started checking out Floodgate Productions, but can tell you I’ll be doing it much more often. It was great to meet the faces and hearts behind the creations we purchase. How cool was it that we were dragging extra chairs into your breakout with overflow in the hallway! I love the idea of creating the videos we play in our church because then I know what they were birthed out of since I’m in on the planning process and know all the hearts involved. But after meeting you guys, I can trust the same passion and prayer has gone into the videos you’ve created. Thank you for the guidance on how, when, and why we use video elements. And a big thank you for coordinating the “Quench” project….our church has been affiliated with Living Waters for years….what a great idea! Thank you for being so generous.