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I’ve been thinking a lot about my friendships recently. No matter what I do from today forward, to know that I have such supportive friends is truly a blessing. They aren’t my friends because they think church planting is chic. They are my friends because of who I am, not what I’ve done.

When I think of my friends I am reminded of two things: 1) seminary; 2) The Idea Camp. Today I wanted to share a little bit about The Idea Camp. For the many of you that follow me on twitter or are my friends on facebook, you’ll know how much of an impact the very first The Idea Camp back in February 2009 has had on me. I can’t seem to say enough about it. Well, it’s time for The Idea Camp to spread its wings and travel to the east coast August 28th & 29th. Unfortunately, I won’t be attending this session which is being dubbed the ” justice edition,” but I am eagerly anticipating the updates from my friends that will be there. So many unexpectedly positive things come about when creativity and collaboration intersect and The Idea Camp is a perfect example of this.

Have you ever attended a Christian/leadership conference and gotten all hyped-up about all that the speakers proclaimed into your life and the crazy-good music that was performed? Then, even with the best intentions, you got home and everything sort of fizzled out a week later. As strange as this may sound, I have no idea what that is like as I have never gone to a ministry conference until my arrival at the first The Idea Camp back in February. That was six months ago and I still reflect back on that time and am amazed (and greatly humbled) at all of the relationships I am still actively involved in that came about from those two days back in February. As amazing as the interaction and discussions were at The Idea Camp last February, I experienced most of the meaningful aspects of the conference after I returned home.

creativity + collaboration = meaningful relationships

I have so many resources available as a result of The Idea Camp. Everyone that was there has made themselves available afterwards and have inspired and encouraged me to do my best and continue to be relational and relevant within this community. Most of my time on twitter is actually spent interacting with people I met during the first The Idea Camp. I’ve even since driven the 800+ miles round trip to the Los Angeles area three times since February to meetup with my The Idea Camp friends. I can only imagine what will happen as people converge in Washington DC in a couple of weeks to renew discussions and provide their insights into dialogs on compassion and justice.

The Idea Camp has presentations from some great minds and creative geniuses (of which I put Charles Lee–the facilitator & initiator of The Idea Camp–at the top of this list), but where it thrives is in the breakout sessions where leaders are asked to speak no more than a few minutes to introduce a subject and then open it up to free-flowing discussions from those in attendance. In essence, it’s not about the speakers–it’s all about you. Here’s how The Idea Camp is being officially described:

The Idea Camp is a collaborative movement of idea-makers who facilitate free hybrid conferences and develop resources for people who desire to move ideas toward implementation. Facilitated by a growing collective of innovative thinkers and practitioners from numerous disciplines, participants gather around topics of interest to encourage and inspire one another, share practical wisdom from the field, and develop intentional networks for idea-making.

What’s it take to be a part of this amazing open source collaboration? Just find a way to get there and then be prepared to listen, think, take notes, make (lots) of new friends, and jump into the conversations. The Idea Camp is provided to you free of charge. They just ask that you register in advance, which you can do by going to: http://theideacamp.com and clicking on the “upcoming events” tab. If you’re anywhere within driving distance, make time for this conference! If you can afford to fly out, your time there on August 28th & 29th will repay itself many times over. I can’t convey how valuable my time was in February and how important the relationships I made while I was there have been to me. I hope you’ll find a way to be there in Washington DC to learn more and offer input in regards to compassion & justice ministries and take away some powerful words of wisdom, time of worship, and potentially life-long relationships. This is even before knowing the list of speakers scheduled to present, which will include some high-level talent eager to share what has been placed in their hearts with you! Which reminds me. Know why The Idea Camp is free for you? Mostly, it’s because the speakers (past presenters include: Erwin McManus, Dave Gibbons, David Ruis, Matthew Barnett) agree to come out at their own expense…they pay for their flights, hotel, food, etc and take no honorarium because they believe in giving back to you.

Thanks to Charles Lee and everyone that has invested their time, money, and effort to see this event continue!

Event: The Idea Camp: Justice Edition DC

Dates: August 28-29, 2009

Location: Mt. Olivet Methodist Church, 1500 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22207

Number of organizations participating: 40+ (complete list at http://theideacamp.com)

For more information: http://theideacamp.com & http://theideacamp.ning.com

Main contact: Charles Lee – charles@theideacamp.com or 310-995-1445

If after reading this you find that you can’t make it to The Idea Camp this time, would you please consider joining me in praying over the event, leaders, speakers, attenders, location, etc? There’s a lot going on to get ready beforehand and a ton of things happening during the event.

Related posts:

1. Why The Idea Camp?
2. The Idea Camp: Post-camp thoughts…Q&A with Charles Lee
3. The Idea Camp…changing the shape of things to come!
4. The Idea Camp: Post-camp thoughts…art of networking
5. The Idea Camp Challenge

Tags: compassion, east coast, ministry conference, social justice, the idea camp, washington dc

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 4:04 am and is filed under friends, social justice, the idea camp. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.