Catalyst For Dummies: When You Get Home

12 posted on October 12, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Conferences

Coming home from an event like Catalyst can be a challenging experience. You’ve got a head full of ideas, a book full of notes and a bag filled with brochures and information from vendors. What do you do with it all? Here’s a few ideas that will help you put it all to use and prevent the post-event crash.

Catalyst For Dummies: Post-Event Tips

1. Turn Ideas Into Actions

It doesn’t matter how many pages of notes you take, if you don’t put anything into action you might as well tear up your ticket. Chances are that God used one or two specific sessions to convict you about something you need to change or do. Don’t put it off! Set a date to have it done by or talk to a mentor about keeping you accountable. The longer you wait after a conference is over to act on what you’ve learned, the greater the chances are that those important things you were supposed to act on fade from your memory.

2. Follow Up With People You Meet

For me, Catalyst is as much about networking and meeting new people as it is learning new leadership principles. If you were able to make it to the Bloggers Meetup on Wednesday you undoubtedly met tons of new people. Hopefully you were able to get contact information from the people you connected with throughout the week. Don’t let those cards just sit in your desk drawer. Send a short follow-up email this week to start developing the relationship while their face and conversation is fresh in your memory. Some of my best relationships have grown out of the emails or phone calls I’ve traded with people I’ve met at Catalyst.

Tip: When someone gives me their business card, I’ll often jot down a few notes on the back to help me remember details (example: met at Bloggers Meetup, he grew up in Florida, our mutual friend is John Phillips).

3. Tell YOUR Story

When you come off the high of an event like Catalyst it’s easy to come back home discouraged. You start thinking crippling thoughts: my leadership sucks, I could never do what they do, I don’t have the skills or resources to pull this off. It’s easy for thoughts like that to creep in after two or three days of emotional highs. However, as Jon Acuff reminded us, all of the stories we heard from speakers this past week – no matter how amazing they were – belong to them. You have your own story to tell. Don’t let the world be robbed of your story because you got too hung up comparing yourself to someone else. Take what you’ve learned, be encouraged and inspired, but tell your story. We need to hear it.

Were you at Catalyst 09? If so, what was your favorite part?

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1 Jason Yarborough said:

Brad, great tips. Always helpful to be reminded to follow through. I know its easy for me to sit back and think about doing things but never put them into action. My wife can definitely confirm that!
I missed Jon’s session of off the blog, but from what I hear was great, hopefully Catalyst will offer it.
Thanks again for organizing the Bloggers Meetup, it was a great opportunity to connect with the online community.
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October 12, 2009

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2 Matt @ The Church of No People said:

Brad, so true. The blogger meetup was great. And while it was awesome to meet a couple of bloggers like you who a lot of people know, it was equally awesome to meet a bunch of people I didn’t know. Everyone’s got unique voices and stories that need to be heard!
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3 John said:

Brad,

Love the “Catalyst for Dummies” book and the post-event tips. So much great content, it’s difficult to narrow it done to one particular comment or presentation. My greatest moment at Catalyst 09, however, was the raw human drama of the Compassion International presentation, when the young man from Africa met his sponsor for the first time. A truly powerful moment to watch! Take care!
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October 12, 2009

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4 Lindsey Nobles said:

Great advice Brad!

As exhilarating as Catalyst was, it was kinda like running a marathon and I got home feeling freakin’ worn out.

I am going to blog on several of the my favorite speakers’ talks so that I am sure to focus and reprocess.

Thanks.

Lindsey
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October 13, 2009

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5 Jessica Wagner said:

This was my first Catalyst and I will forever be changed by it. My favorite part was actually getting to sit and have a conversation with Jimmy Wambua. Which if you were there he was the gentleman from Kenya who had been sponsored through Compassion. Our time together will always be in my heart and I am so grateful for my experiences at Catalyst. Thanks for everything that you guys do!
Jessica