5 Reasons Why You Need to go to Catalyst

12 posted on September 12, 2008

POSTED IN: Conferences

Consider this my completely unsolicited plug for the Catalyst event next month. I’ve been a devoted fan of Catalyst since my first event back in 2005. That one experience single-handedly reshaped my perspective on leadership and the church’s influence in culture.

I’m just a blogger writing from my little corner of the blogosphere but if I were to sit down with you over coffee and found out you weren’t going to Catalyst, this would be what I would say to you.

The first amazing thing about Catalyst is their ability to attract the highest quality leaders, authors and innovators to speak. There are messages I’ve heard that are as fresh and applicable to me today as they were when I heard them years ago.

I’m constantly challenged by the amazing speakers I hear each year – leaders who are impacting the church and transforming culture. This year’s lineup includes Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Seth Godin, Craig Groeschel, Tim Sanders, Steven Furtick and Matt Chandler. Come prepared to be challenged and inspired to action.

One of the things I love about Catalyst is their ability to create a fun, unique experience. They know how to have fun. From the moment you arrive there is an air of expectancy as you wonder what’s going to happen next? Some of the highlights from past years for me include:

Participating in the world’s largest pillow fight
The always-amazing red-carpet experience where you’re treated like a celebrity with paparazzi snapping pictures of you as you step out of the stretch limos that pick you up
Watching an entire stadium throw thousands of miniature dodge-balls at the world-champion dodgeball team
Getting free massages during a break
Surprise visit and comedy show from Jeff Foxworthy
Amazing, dynamic, powerful times of worship
Digging through the bag of surprises when you arrive to see what crazy thing they’ve got planned next

Reggie Joiner and Lanny Donoho, the co-hosts of the event, always keep you in stitches and help make the event fun and memorable. I guarantee that at least once or twice during the event you’ll be calling a friend back home saying, “You won’t believe what we just did!!”

I’ve told people for years that the money you’ll save from meeting new vendors during the break is worth the cost of the ticket alone. If you’re involved in any aspect of church leadership – from worship to children’s ministry to youth – you will find and connect with new resources to save you time and money.

Catalyst attracts the best-of-the-best for their display booths in the corridor around the stadium. I make a new file every year when I come back of new ministries and organizations to follow up with. You won’t find a better collection of top-notch church and leadership organizations anywhere.

One of my favorite parts of Catalyst every year is meeting and connecting with other like-minded people.

You’ll have plenty of time during breaks or at the end of the day to hang out with new friends or re-connect with old ones. This will be my first year attending as a blogger so I’m super excited to finally meet some of you face-to-face! If you come When you come be sure to find me and say hi!

The best thing I walk away with every year is a new perspective about what God is doing in the church around the world. Catalyst describes the event this way:

The Catalyst Conference is the largest gathering of young leaders in the country, but it pains us to call it just a conference. Catalyst is more than just a three-day event – it’s a movement, a convergence, an experience where you find yourself fully immersed in learning, worship, and creativity. Catalyst brings people together – the influencers, the do-ers, the cultural architects, and the change agents who will reclaim our communities and culture for good.

This is the one event I look forward to every year to charge my batteries and inspire me to keep investing in the lives of those God has called me to serve. There is just something about sitting in a stadium filled with thousands of leaders – there is a sense of anticipation for what God has in store for this generation. We live in a time of unprecedented opportunity and Catalyst has helped shape a movement of cultural transformation in the church.

If you already have your tickets leave a comment and let me know you’re going. If not, click here to win a FREE Catalyst Event/Lab ticket!

See you October 8-10 at Catalyst!

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Conferences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Comments

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September 12, 2008

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1 brad cooper said:

I’ll be there… hopefully we can run into each other— safe travel!

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September 12, 2008

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2 rachel from the blog said:

Hey! I need no convincing, I’ve wanted to go to Catalyst for awhile now and I finally get to go this year! woo hoo. I look forward to following your blog through the conference.
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September 12, 2008

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3 Ben Arment said:

Wow Brad! Thanks. We’re like puppies getting our bellies rubbed on this post! You made our day here at Catalyst headquarters.

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September 12, 2008

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4 Devon said:

Dude I would LOVE to go. I can’t believe I missed my chance to go with you guys a few years ago. I should plan for next year for sure. Thanks again for your hospitality

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September 12, 2008

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5 Ryan Detzel said:

I went last year with 3 other guys. Going this year with 7 other people…I can’t wait.

What an amazing event it is. Maybe I’ll run into you there and meet you IRL.

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6 Adam said:

I so wish I could go to that… and Im not even a ministry leader at our church.. but it looks awesome.
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September 13, 2008

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7 klampert said:

looks fantastic…fingers crossed for the ticket. lol

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8 Rachel said:

Man! I soooo wish I could go. I know my husband and I would love it!!!!!

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September 14, 2008

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9 jud said:

Brad,

You probably know where I stand on this before the next sentence starts. The Church needs to simply get back to preaching the Gospel, expositing Biblical truth (from Biblical text of all places), exposing error, marking false teachers and equipping people for ministry (not just set-up tear down, coffee pouring, car parking and social justice projects).

The recent survey that showed that the majority of Americans who are professing Christians don’t have a clue about core Biblical doctrine is proof enough that the church needs to get out of the business of drawing crowd and get back to proclaiming Christ Crucified, Christ resurrected and Christ returning!

Such gatherings look much more like the people of Isreal building a golden calf in the desert than what we see in the Book of Acts.
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September 15, 2008

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10 Terrace Crawford said:

Brad, I hope to meet you personally at Catalyst.

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September 15, 2008

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11 Nick said:

@ Jud – Actually Catalyst is all about progressing leaders, they moved away from building Golden Calves back in the 80’s – 2 years ago when I was at Catalyst we built a Golden Dinosaur and it was a Brontosaurus! It was so cool.

Seriously, I was having a very difficult time as a leader in the church environment where I was serving. God truly used 2 of the speakers, who gave very Biblical messages at the event, to point me in God’s direction as a leader in response to the leaders he had placed over me. I don’t know if you have ever been to a catalyst event, but it really does little to promote coffee pouring and car parking, but it focuses on developing leaders, which is very valuable in my opinion. I don’t see Catalyst as a “Church” conference, but more of a “Leader” conference with Biblical values. I have heard of companies who carry their employees there for leadership development, and in the process they are getting Biblical principles for their leadership development.

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