STMLC Preparations

As you could probably guess from my lack of quality posts, I've been busy here at work. We are gearing up for STEM's annual Short-Term Mission Leaders' Conference (STMLC). I won't even attempt to describe all of the roles others have taken to get this conference up an running, but here in the STEM Press department, it has become number one on our "to do" list.

STEM has been hosting the conference for several years now and the attendance continues to increase every year. Off the top of my head, I believe we were at or near 160 attendees from three different countries last year. And despite the recent "recession" here in the U.S., we hope to increase our numbers from last year.

Back to what STEM Press has been up to. The STMLC is an ongoing process. Even though it only happens once a year, we are already brainstorming themes for the next years conference. The initial 2008 advertising (which includes ads and postcards) went out to the public in October of 2007.

For the conference itself, there is the 40 page notebook which everyone receives at the door. It includes a schedule of events, different speakers bio's, maps of the surrounding community in case a visitor would care to get a bite to eat, a place for notes for their individual workshops, and sponsors ads. Multimedia is another area which needs attention. PowerPoints need to be compiled and readied to go. On screen announcements need to have this year's branding done to them. And that was only STEM's internal media. We need to produce our sister's STEM Share display and brochures as well for the conference. I could go on but you get the picture.

Thankfully there are two designers here. Dena (bigD) Swenson is taking the lead on the production side of things. Her plate seems to grow with projects almost every day. As for me, I am dealing with the immediate IT needs in the office. ie. Email's not sending, computer's crashing, and other random "quick" fixes. Busy, busy, busy.

I can't end this topic without at least inviting you to the conference. If you are interested in missions, this is always a great conference. No matter how long people have been in the missions business, we continually receive comments on how much they learned and how much they enjoyed the event. There's still time to register, and without trying to be biased, well worth your time.

POP QUIZ:
Who is she?

CLUE: She'd like to teach the world to sing. (No, it's not Simon Cowell's sister.)


I'll have the answer for you next week.

—b