5 Ways to Get the Most out of the 2015 Pepperdine Lectureships (even if you’re not there)

In just a couple of days, I’ll make my first trip out to the Pepperdine Lectureships.  It’s been on “the list” for a while – and why not? Pepperdine offers it’s attendees just about everything – including scenic views of the Pacific Ocean!  I’m so pumped to be a part of this event and teaching one of the breakout sessions this Wednesday (“When Small Churches Make a Big Difference” AC 280).

Here are a couple of the reasons why I’m excited.  The lineup this year is rather incredible with the likes of Sarah Barton, Josh Ross, Dusty Rush, Terry Rush, Jonathan Storment, Antenor Goncalves and Jeff Walling, as well as a list of featured speakers that includes David Kinnaman, Nadia Bolz-Weber and Scot McKnight as the resident scholar for the week.

I love the idea of a group of people, leaders of all kinds, getting together around the idea of leaning more fully into what God is doing in this world.

I’ve never been to Pepperdine before, but here’s how I plan to make the most of this trip…and how you can to (even if you’re not there).

 

1. CONNECT

The value of attending a conference like this is not only found in the session you’ll attend, but in the connections you make.  It’s hard to imagine a place where you’re likely to find so many other people who care about the things that drive your ministry or life.  So, schedule time to (re)connect in person over coffee or a meal.

You may not be able to personally connect with those leading the sessions, but you can follow many of the speakers on Twitter and other social media platforms.  Be sure to post your insights from your favorite session throughout the week.

Keep the conversations going throughout the week by following @PBL on Twitter, tagging your posts with #PBL15, and searching for others who are doing the same.  Twitter is great for quips and quotes, but it’s also useful for sharing with your friends back home those one liners that connected with you.

 

2. DOWNLOAD

Pepperdine has put together a great App for the conference that puts all that the week has to offer in one place (information, schedule, speakers, maps, social media, and multimedia).  You can discover where authors are signing their latest books, where to grab a bit to eat, how to get to the location of your most anticipated breakout, as well as when and where everything else is happening throughout the week.

 

3. EVERNOTE

So many of you have heard of this wunder-kid app, but you might not know how to get the most out of it.  Let me just say – this app was made for conferences.  It’s a fantastic note taking app that allows you to store and manage all of your notes from one easy, cross-platform location (you can use and save your notes on any/every device).  I’m not exaggerating when I say that I use Evernote for everything.  I clip webpages, capture quotes from books, take pics of handouts at conferences and then annotate them inside Evernote, as well as just type in boring old notes for sermons I’m writing.

Evernote has put together this primer to help you get started if it all just seems a little too much.

 

4. TOUR

While there’s plenty to see and do at Pepperdine, don’t forget the rich resource that awaits you beyond the campus gates.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll hit a saturation point from all the great things you’ll hear.  If that happens, then hit the trails and enjoy the local scene and get ready for your next round of sessions.

 

5. WATCH & LISTEN

If you’re like me most years and you wish you could be there, but can’t, then plan to watch and listen in throughout the week.  Each Keynote Session has a live feed, and PBL will post videos to their YouTube Channel each day, and audio to their iTunes Channel.

Well, there you go, folks!  I hope this helps you get even more out the conference this year.  Let me know what you’re most looking forward to and what I missed out on for this year’s list.

And, if you find yourself at Pepperdine this week, then I’d love to connect.  I’ll be tweeting throughout the week – follow me @TRH21