Some exciting news and a chance to win a trip to England!

We’ve all heard the phrase, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”  Those of us who follow Jesus really believe the story of the Gospel is so powerful, and I love when people take seriously communicating it in a powerful way.  Today I want to tell you about a one-of-a-kind experience that’s coming to Chicago this fall that is all about creatively communicating the Gospel.  It’s called Story, and it’s the brainchild of Ben Arment.  When I first heard about this, I got really excited, and as more details emerged, I got pumped!  I’m glad that today we can officially tell you about it!  

 Here’s the official blurb:

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns – CS Lewis’ home in Oxford, England – at www.StoryChicago.com.

Story is going to be a powerful discussion with communicators from all over the country- all committed to exploring powerful ways to sharing the gospel within our culture.  Ben has lined up some great communicators to help lead the discussion, and I’ve heard he’s lined up a pretty awesome emcee as well!  Again, I’d go right now and register at www.StoryChicago.com .  Early bird registration will save you some money!  If you’re into architecture, Story is hosted in a beautiful old theatre right in downtown Aurora- next to the river.  Love that place!

Now if you can swing it I’d plan to spend the whole week in Chicago- on Tuesday you can attend the Cultivate conference in downtown Chicago (click here to read what Dawn Nicole Baldwin has to say about this awesome opportunity!).  Then head to Aurora for Story Chicago on Wednesday- attend the Story workshops on Thursday at The Orchard, (we’re honored to host the workshops!) golf or explore the city on Friday, and come out to The Orchard on Saturday where we’re going to be having a very special guest speaker at our weekend gatherings.

One final plug-I’m pretty sure Ben’s web team one-upped Disney on the Story website- It’s better than the Narnia websites hands down!  When I first saw it it gave me that awe-inspired majestic feeling, the way Narnia did.  Just looking at the website grabs me and makes me want to be a part!  I’d love some feedback on what you think of the site!

Hope to see you and your team attend Story with us- you won’t regret it!

 

Online communication vs. face-to-face

I nearly went to grad school for Communication stuff.  I had it all planned out until God intervened and changed my plans  I had an idea of the research project I wanted to do for my Master’s… essentially it would have studied how online communication has affected the way we communicate in person.  I definitely think it has and still would love some solid research on this.  I think it makes us 

• expect answers quicker
• want information NOW
• use different language than we did several years ago
• get deep faster in person because often we have gone deeper in our online communication so we can dive right in when we are communicating in person

Now, I’m not advocating that we begin saying things like LOL and ROFLOL and BRB and etc in actual conversation.  I’m just curious for your thoughts- how has online communication affected 1. the way you communicate with people in person and 2. your relationships with people you communicate both online and in person with? 

Tell your friends and link to this post, I’d love to hear your response!