Business or Personal?

Are you traveling for business reasons or personal reasons?

Regarding this fall--I don't know how to answer that question.

Because--I'm taking four cross-continental road trips...to Anaheim, Austin, Cincinnati, and Charlotte. I get to travel for work? I get to hop on airplanes for work reasons?? Stellar! A few months ago, I was feeling trapped in the Northwest, like my grand adventure was isolating me from exploration...and now, my job is morphing into a 2-month travel whirlwind!

Why? Because YD is renting a double-booth in the Exhibition Hall at all four Youth Specialties Conventions. Youth Specialties is like, the mac-daddy guru of Youth Ministry...and they host the most wonderful youth conferences in the world for thousands of youth workers. We're making a huge push this fall to recruit a slew of new staff! So, why not show up at a place where thousands of people are volunteering their time in youth ministry and talk to them about working for us?? (Including David Crowder...maybe he wants to work for YD?!)

I'm going to be at all four conventions to set up, run, and oversee the booth in the Exhibition Hall...I'm going to design it, train the staff how to man it, and be present for the exhibition times to make sure everything's running smoothly. I went to the convention last fall (click here) and had a blast! So--now I get to take it to the next level and figure out how to market to that same group of people I was in-the-mix with last year!

Suddenly, I feel like I've spent years preparing for this...because as kids, Sean and I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours running around Exhibition Halls at Grocery Conventions. Then I remember the three years I spent learning about PR and Marketing in the Admissions Office at Taylor University...and I feel like a pro!

Okay, actually, I'm nervous, because I've never run a booth before, and we're spending thousands of dollars, and so much of the responsibility is on my shoulders!! Blah! But I'm thrilled at all that this implies...mostly, that it's requiring me to be a leader, a teacher, and a brainstormer.

Stay tuned...I'll probably be bugging you with feedback on marketing ideas soon...