Catalyst Labs begin tomorrow and the event kicks off in full on Thursday so that means that many of us are already either packing or already on our way to Atlanta. And so, as I’ve done in years past, here is another Catalyst For Dummies! This is the complete idiots guide about how…well, not to be an idiot at Catalyst!

Catalyst For Dummies: Before You Leave

1. What To Listen To

What is a road trip without stuff to listen to, right? As with any good trip, you’ll need a variety of listening material – upbeat tunes to wake you up in the morning and get you going, teaching podcasts to learn along the way and some worship music to prepare yourself. Here’s a few of my recommendations:

• Catalyst Roadtrip Podcast – every year they release a special road trip edition of the podcast for the drive
• Ragamuffin Soul – A great worship album from blogger and Catalyst contributor Carlos Whittaker
• Catalyst Music Project – a new release from last year (learn more at CatalystMusicProject.com)
• Noisemakers Sampler - phenomenal album sampler from Noisetrade artists helping to benefit the incredibly cool NoiseTrade service.
• Children of Light – This worship album from LifePoint Illuminate will blow your socks off. I especially love I See The Poor

2. What You Can Bring

Every year Catalyst puts together a list of things to bring that will be donated to Convoy of Hope and other ministries. The list this year includes gift cards, socks, towels, canned goods and NIV Bibles.

Donated items & gift cards will be collected in bins around the Arena as well as at the Convoy of Hope truck, which will be parked near the entrance to the Arena.

3. Tie Up Your Loose Ends

If you want to get as much as you can out of Catalyst, you’ll need to disconnect as much as possible from work responsibilities and pesky obligations. I’ve been to Catalyst before where I had to keep jumping out to take phone calls or return emails. It’s no fun. Set up an auto-reply on your email and update your voicemail to let people know you’ll get back to them on Monday. Get as much taken care of before you leave as you can and then let the rest wait.

4. Stay In Touch

You’re going to meet a LOT of people at Catalyst – at the Lab Sessions, during breaks or at special meetups like the Bloggers Meetup I’m hosting. It’s a good idea to have something that you can hand out with your name on it like a creatively designed MooCard or your business card. Or, if you’re of the smartphone persuasion, be sure to install the Bump app on your iPhone or Droid to easily swap contact info – it’s how geeks stay in touch these days.

Did I miss something? What are the essential elements for your Catalyst road trip?