NYWC ‘07 Day 1: Sensory overload
November 1st, 2007 | 
Youth Specialties owns St. Louis, originally uploaded by jakebouma on flickr.
As I was exploring the exhibit hall and all of the various booths, someone asked me how I was doing and I replied, “I’m kind of in sensory overload right now.” There is A LOT to take in here. So many orginizations pitching their “ministry transforming” software or mission trip or magazine, so many publishing companies selling the newest and hottest youth ministry books, so many NYWC staff members, and of course so many youth workers - I hardly know what to do with myself. I’ll settle in, I’m sure, but I guess I wasn’t really prepared for the spectacle of it all.
Anyhow, the traveling went smoothly. I sat next to a man named Michael Maddock on the way down here (if you’re reading this, Michael, thanks for visiting!). I told him that I was in town for the convention and he talked about how he and his wife attend St. John Lutheran Church (LCMS) in a suburb of St. Louis. I would visit it on Sunday, but there’s just too much stuff to do.
I’m trying to take advantage of my time here, and one of the ways I’ve done that so far is by signing up for a personal youth ministry consultation with Mark Riddle (a good deal, considering his company does this stuff professionally). We’ll meet for an hour on Saturday morning - I’m totally pumped.
I’m pretty tired from traveling today and there’s really not much to say yet, so I’ll just conclude the post by posting my tentative schedule for tomorrow.
I’m out.
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Hey Jake, if this is your first convention make sure to sign up early for the labyrinth - it’s amazing! This is our first year in 11 that we aren’t there - it’s so hard to hear about it and not be there. Enjoy!
Thanks, Heidi! I’m trying to do as much as possible… having a great time so far!
It can be overwhelming and there’s no way to do it all - so I always found the best way to to make sure I had some time alone, even if it was 20 minutes to just sit with my journal and a coffee to just kind of let some of it soak in every day. It’s always an awesome place to people watch too!
Of course I can’t do it all! Actually I am planning on taking a book with me tomorrow so I can get some alone time and just read. Thanks for your advice, though… you’re definitely a seasoned veteran.