Archives For conference

D6 Happenings

September 25, 2012 — Leave a comment

D6

This week I’ll be in Frisco. (Frisco, Texas that is; it’s a Frisco just outside of Dallas.) I’ll be learning alongside some of the best family ministry church leaders from all around the world. I’ll be there to lead a pre-conference lab on Wednesday, but I’m really looking forward to interacting  with my new friends on Thursday and Friday. And this is where you could benefit…

There is nothing to replace the experience of being at D6 in person. But because many of you aren’t able to join me in Dallas next week, D6 wanted to give those of you at home a taste of the conference. That’s why they’re streaming six sessions from D6 for absolutely free. 
Watch D6 Live
All you need to do is go to d6conference.com/live to watch, chat, learn, and grow. Until then, go here for the full schedule of #D62012 online.
I’m also going to be live streaming some chat sessions from main sessions on Thursday and Friday, and you can follow along with all of that at www.jonathancliff.com/D6LIVE. And to take it up a notch, I’m not alone. D6 has invited some of my best friends along to share in all of the FREE sharing!
D6 Social Media Team
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Loving the Leaders Around You

July 2, 2012 — Leave a comment

I’ve been fortunate over the past 10 years to lead some really great leaders.  Leading someone with talent, skill, influence, and passion takes a special kind of love.  Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the years, with some much more important than the others; but all worth being put into practice.

Loving your Leaders:

  • Always start on time.
  • Never speak long when you only have something short to say.
  • Honesty is more important than flattery.
  • Give their kids fist bumps and high fives at every opportunity.
  • Pray for them.
  • There is still a place for flattery.
  • If they don’t drink Starbucks, then don’t take them there for meetings.
  • Compliment them on their shoes.
  • Keep the cynic away from them when they’re vulnerable.
  • Take the time to invest in learning their kids’ names.
  • Play a practical joke on them every once in a while, just to show them you care.
  • Make their time in the office worth it.
  • Let them borrow your stuff.
  • Never tease on them in front of the people they lead.
  • Cancel the meeting if you have nothing important to say.
  • Give them books.
  • Invite them to do things with your family.
  • Let them always go first, and second, and third, and fourth.
  • If they don’t like practical jokes, then don’t risk it.
  • Help them with a personal problem.
  • Laugh the loudest at yourself.
  • Take the seat farthest from the most important when leading a meeting at a board room conference table.
  • Keep the play-by-play on the obvious at a minimum.
  • Advocate for them when they are within earshot.
  • Let their ideas belong to them.
  • Speak well of them, in front of the people that love them.
  • Thank their wives or husbands for the gift of their spouses time that they willingly give away so often.
  • Surprise them with small gifts, at the most unexpected times.
  • Buy breakfast…often.
  • Share your blessings and gifts with them.
  • Give them some of your own opportunities to get the credit.
  • Clean out the fridge at work.
  • Pray with them.
  • Give them the close parking spots.
  • Say your sorry when it’s called for.
  • Always end on time.
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What I Want from Orange 2012

February 8, 2012 — 1 Comment

My name is Jonathan, and I’m a conference junkie.  It’s true.  It’s also true that I don’t pick sides in these debates about which conference is better than another.  I believe that conferences and the things we hear when we attend are all just different parts of the same conversation.  I attend many of them to speak into the conversation that is happening, and to listen.

In April, I’ll be at The Orange Conference.  I’ll be there to see old friends, meet new friends, and continue the conversations I’ve started since 2008.  However, the thing I’m most hoping to learn in Atlanta on April 25-27 is how to lead my team more effectively.  I’ve transitioned over the years into a role of leading some great leaders to children, students, and college-age people; and getting better at leading them is my #1 goal for 2012.

There are too many rich breakouts to list here on one blog post, but I’m looking forward to making Orange 2012 the conference that helps me grow as a leader of leaders.  Take the time to investigate this thing called The Orange Conference, and see if it’s something that will help you as a leader as well!

Where will you go to find new ideas to reach a new world and the old?

www.TheOrangeConference.org

 

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D6 Conversations

September 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

Today and the rest of this week I’ll be blogging, writing, and starting conversations with my new friends at the D6 Conference.  I’m really looking forward to hearing from some great leaders and meeting people I’ve only known from online interactions.

Will you follow along with me?  I know that not everybody can attend every conference under the sun; but through the power of the Internets you can be a part of D6!  Visit http://d6conference.com/live to see the schedule of ways you can participate even from a distance.  So hurry up and get your work done, cancel your dr. appointments, shut your office door, and join us at D6 Live!

 

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Conference Conversations

September 20, 2011 — 5 Comments

As I prepare to head out of town for a conference this week, my kids have asked me the question, “Dad, what is a conference?”  I’ve tried to give them an answer that I thought would make it easy for them to understand and my response was,

“A conference is where people that want to learn and grow to be better at their job go to learn and get better at their job.  But really, it’s place that I go to talk to people.”

Then began a conversation about talking to people at conferences; and meeting people I don’t know; and hearing from people I’ve never heard from; and all the other benefits of getting out of town and seeing what’s out there.  If I had to explain why you’ve heard me talking about so many conferences on the blog this year here it is:

I go for the conversations. I go for the dinners with friends sharing my own struggles.  I go for the one-way conversations I have with the people teaching as I’m listening.  I go for the one-way conversations I have with people listening to me as I’m teaching.  I go to meet people different than me.  I go to meet people similar to me.  I go to every conference for different conversations.

The Orange Conference // I go for the life long friends I’ve met through Orange.  I also go because it’s a rare conference that combines denominations, ministry leaders, youth leaders, volunteers, children’s leaders, and senior pastors into one space that creates fireworks of collaboration.  It’s unique.

The D6 Conference // I go for the new people I get to meet and see.  This next week I’ll be at D6 for the first time.  It looks to be a great environment for learning the best from marriage, parenting, and church leadership leaders.  I’m real excited to also not have to travel far to this one!

The KIDMIN Conference // I’m going to Kidmin because I love kids and those that minister to them!  Kidmin is trying really, really hard to reach those that minister to children in a community settings.  No green rooms, no hideaway meals, and relationship encouraged at every turn.  Not to mention Gina McClain laying down some awesome sauce in the main sessions!

Illuminate Conference // I love Illuminate because it’s all about volunteers.  Illuminate encourages me to learn from others, yet allows me the place to teach into those that are going where I’ve been.  I love the opportunity that Illuminate presents to church leaders in Birmingham, AL; Austin, TX; and Nashville, TN to bring their key volunteers together for a ministry investment!

Children’s Pastor Conference // I’ll be at both CPC conferences this year for a new reason.  I’m believing for a change in the way INCM meets and connects Kidmin leaders throughout the world.  CPC is a place that is changing, and I’m excited for the direction my friend Michael Chanley is taking INCM and CPC.

I’m not nieve and I understand that on some level all these conferences compete for the same attenders.  However, I am not an employee of any one conference.  I am just a conversationalist looking for more conversation.  Sure I have my favorites, and I could rank them in some arbitrary order.  But why? Conversations are what I’m looking for.  Not arguments.

Simple as that, kids. :-)

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