History in the Making

Someone Get That Guy a Copy of 'Simple Church'

First Day Back in the Office

And let's just say I had a really relaxing time off after Catalyst...

And the Groeschel Video...

Forgot to add this one - a parody Q&A with Craig Groeschel:

Some Videos From Catalyst West

Just in case you haven't already seen these floating around the interwebs:

The video that preceded Ravi Zacharias:

The video that preceded Guy Kawasaki:

And, again, the CATALYST WEST OPENER, which is winning big brownie points in the theological world. =)

Killing Great Ideas Before they Go Bad

How do you duplicate your success without repeating yourself? I'm reading Mavericks at Work, which profiles HBO's business model. And it's brilliant.

Disclaimer: I think HBO is like training wheels for a porn addiction, but their business model is worthy of study.

They don't try to squeeze out their mini-series for as long as they're profitable or duplicate the popular shows. Rather, they discard great ideas before they're worn out and create new ones instead. It's fresh, risky, and radical.

Sons and Daughters of their Fathers

I'm amazed at the number of ministry leaders who have highly accomplished children. I think it has a lot to do with confidence, exposure, larger-than-life thinking... which, by the way, is not outside the reach of any of us. We put up our own limitations. Here are just a few:

Shauna Niequist - Daughter of Bill Hybels, former creative producer at Mars Hill Bible Church, author of Cold Tangerines, and now back at Willow Creek where her husband is on-staff.

 
Priscilla Shirer - Daughter of Tony Evans, author, founder of Going Beyond Ministries, and popular conference speaker.

Matthew Pope - Son of Randy Pope, who is the lead pastor at Perimeter Church in Georgia, award-winning filmmaker.

Naomi Zacharias - Daughter of Ravi Zacharias, founder of Wellspring International, which helps women and children.

Mariah McManus - Daughter of Erwin McManus who leads Mosaic in L.A., a truly great songwriter and singer.

Carlos Whittaker - Son of Fermin Whittaker, president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, blogger, programming director at Buckhead, signed to the Integrity label.

Joel Houston - Son of Hillsong Church's pastor Brian Houston, unofficial leader of Hillsong United.

Jay Bakker - Son of televangelist Jim Bakker, pastor of Revolution Church in New York City.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Joel Osteen - Son of Lakewood Church founder John Osteen, now pastor. I was watching John before Joel was ever on the map.

Andy Stanley - Son of First Baptist Atlanta's pastor Charles Stanley, founder of North Point Ministries.

Ed Young Jr. - Son of Second Houston's pastor Ed Young Sr, lead pastor of Fellowship Church.

Franklin Graham - Son of evangelist Billy Graham, founder of Samaritan's Purse, evangelist and humanitarian.

Who am I missing?

Calendaring Chaos

We tried scheduling "chaos" on several occasions at Catalyst west. Ridiculous, right? But if you've attended Catalyst east, these moments are your most unforgettable ones. The dodgeball team getting pummeled in the center of the arena, 12,000 people calling Lanny on his cell phone at once, pillow fight...

Well, we missed on two of the moments we attempted at Catalyst west. But there were two truly chaotic moments that happened unplanned: One was after the house band played "500 Miles" by the Proclaimers. The crowd got into the song so much that Brad Lomenick couldn't contain them. He could only orchestrate their energy. The second one happened after a parody Q&A video with Craig Groeschel. The crowd mimicked a sound Craig made all throughout his talk.

You can't harness the energy of a crowd if you'll only give them permission to express it.

What Surprised us at Catalyst West

Some more after-thoughts...

We recorded the names of every attender on a map, depicting where they came from. This sequence played as people entered the auditorium - we meant for it to be ambient, background. What we didn't expect was the entire audience to stop what they were doing and watch for their own names. It became quiet. It inadvertently became a programming element... by popular demand.

We also offered iMacs in the lobby for attendees to video chat with people from all over the country. We picked people in advance and had them standing by. What we didn't expect was for one girl to see her long-lost friend from Africa on the screen as she was headed to the restroom. It was truly a "You Are Here" moment.

Catalyst West Recap

So Catalyst west is over... and it was an astonishing success. I'm exhausted, wiped, worn out, taking off the next few days, but couldn't be more proud of the Catalyst team.

CatalystGreenroom.com was fantastic - Jeff Truitt and Brian Wurzell did a terrific job. But the site went to a whole other level when Brian's finace Promise Tangeman starting shooting the photos on Friday.

You can watch the breath-taking video opener [here]. It got a standing ovation, even before Hillsong United walked out on-stage.

The surprise success-factor was ParaTweet.com. We gave the audience a chance to ask questions and comment all throughout the event via Twitter... and it was amazing.

I got to be a part of an unforgettable moment between Ravi Zacharias, Nick Vujicic, and Joel Houston. I've never felt the spirit of God more powerfully than at that moment. Someone took a snap and sent it to me...

That's it for now. More coming...

Matt Upgraded me to 1st Class - I Love Matt

With Promise and Brian

The ROOV Guys

Special Guest Anjelah Johnson

Last Session Starting

Craig and Crew

DJ Maximillian

Catalyst Cupcakes

The Holding Room During a Special Moment

Craig Waiting to Go On

Don't Ask