I have had some great events, like the Luau we had last night with our students and I have had some not so good events, too many to list here. The not so good events, were not so good for good reasons. Here are four of them
1. Do not plan well
If you want kids shaking their heads at you at your next event, be unprepared. Don’t spend the extra time getting supplies or walking through that nights schedule in your head to see if all the bases are covered.
2. Don’t communicate with your team
I must have sent out a dozen texts (that’s a lot for me) yesterday for our Luau. I sent texts to students and parents reminding them that we’d be off campus at someone;’s house. I included the address and the time for pick up and drop off. I sent a simple schedule of the nights events to our youth team and what they could do.
3. Under promote your event
You can’t say it, post it, tweet it, or text it enough. We all have to decide what the saturation level is for promotion, what is too much for our area. Most youth workers get no where near that saturation point. If you want to wind up in meeting talking about numbers and budges, just keep spending money and under promoting.
4. Do too much (get in the way)
I only had to games last night. Limbo and Hula Contest. Both lasted about 10 -15 minutes each. I could have planned more but that would have taken away from natural fellow ship time and swimming (what the kids came to do anyway). If I have to do too much I complicate they way I engage with kids. If I am always up front leading I cannot have any signifiant conversations with students.
How have you complicated your even or youth meeting.