re:create 2009

[fmckinnon]

Feb 2-5, Franklin TN
More info:
http://seekersolutions.typepad.com/recreate/2007/01/will_convene_th.html

I know several of us here are going ... so let's use this forum as a place to discuss plans, hotel options, share rental cars, dialog, and plan our ways to connect!

[inworship]

I'll be there with my lovely bride.

Can't wait!

[snowjunkie]

My flights and car are all booked.

I'm flying in to Nashville on Monday morning and picking a car up from Enterprise.
I'm staying with friends I have never met before - pray for me! ;-)
I'm flying home on Friday late morning.
I'll be on track II.

Are any of you worship leaders bringing instruments?
Is there Wi-Fi in The Factory?

Any other tips for first time recreate people?
I've heard I have to bring an extra bag for all the goodies.

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Alastair.

[janowen66]

I will be driving up from Huntsville on Monday morning. I have no idea where I'm staying - where are you guys landing? I am not bringing an instrument, besides my voice. I'd love to sit around and sing and play though - that would be heavenly! It's my first time as well, so tell us what to expect. Is there any down time at all? I have a friend in Nashville I would like to get together with while I'm there.

[chrisfromcanada]

I will be there. This will be year 3 for me. Not sure where I'm staying yet but not at a hotel - makes the trip too pricey for me.

[chrisfromcanada]

Fred - Can you make this a sticky post and keep it at the top of the thread? We can gather questions and answers that will be helpful for people.

Are any of you worship leaders bringing instruments?
Most people don't - there really isn't a time when we all sit around and play music together. I'm sure some people bring guitars and have them back at their hotel, etc.

Is there Wi-Fi in The Factory?
Great question - I will ask Randy.
UPDATE: Randy says this, "oh yeah!!"

Any other tips for first time recreate people?

You know how that email said bring an extra bag? DO IT!
Leave your inhibitions at home - the four days you spend here will be the most valuable four days of your year in terms of meeting people, developing relationships, connecting with like-minded people and sharing ridiculously amazing ideas.
Do some extra exercise in the few weeks before you go. We eat like kings.
Listen, learn and laugh. Don't just take everything in - participate in the discussion and share your experience and insight. We are all there to learn together and have fun while we're doing it!



I've heard I have to bring an extra bag for all the goodies.
Yes. Every sponsor will give away CD's, books, goodies and other assorted things which actually will have some value for you and your ministry. This is not cheesy branded keychains that you get at every other conference - I think two years ago someone figured out that we got $900 worth of product over the course of the week.

[fbcjdrake]

I'm coming in Saturday (Jan. 31)
Plan to visite the famous PETE WILSON at Crosspoint on Sunday AM
Available to help Randy if needed
I'm picking ChrisfromCanada up on Monday--maybe Fred Mckinnon too.
Anybody else need a ride?

Suggestions: Everything Chris said is true
Come ready to learn and connect--NO WALL FLOWERS allowed. Mix it up and meet as many people as you can.

I'm departing Friday morning.


Staying at Quality Inn and Suites--4 miles from Factory.

[fbcjdrake]

I'm arriving early for CREATE... Saturday 31st.

I've reserved a ticket for Steeple PLayers production of Bye Bye Birdie (Hendersonville First United Methodist Church). Anyone coming early want to join me?

This looks like a group that is taking the ARTS to their community. I consider this a LAB experience for CREATE!

Let me know

Jim

jim@fbcsnyder.org

[Alison]

I would LOVE to connect with some of you while you are in town...Building 8 is actually The Journey's building, the church I attend...maybe over coffee or dinner or??

[fmckinnon]

Hey Gang,
Forgot to come back to this thread - so, yeah, I can't wait - it's gonna be awesome. We're staying at the same hotel, Jim (thanks for the tip) - sharing a room w/ Klampert ... flying in Monday AM and out Friday AM.

[pursuingyahweh]

Hey Folks, this is my second year attending. I'm driving down from the DC/Baltimore area the Saturday Before - carpool anyone? I can provide ground trans during the conference.

I would love to split a hotel room with someone. Any takers????

OOps - new to the forums, sorry.
Bryan Patrick
First Baptist of Laurel, MD
Twitter: PursuingYahweh

[fmckinnon]

Hey Awesome - what's your "real name" again?

[janowen66]

Hey, does anyone want to meet at The Factory or at Merridees in downtown Franklin on Monday Feb 2nd for lunch? I'll already be in town and I heard festivities don't start till 4?

[fmckinnon]

Jan,
I'd say count Joel Klampert and I in .. I hear about that place in Randy's tweets all the time ... we arrive in BNA around 10:30 AM. (I booked the 5:20 flight out of Brunswick, because everyone told me it was starting at 1:00 PM, and I shouldn't be late .. urggggggg!

[janowen66]

Fred, closer to time i'll send you my cell number via email and we can meet and I can take you to Merridees for a true Franklin treat. I don't drive near Franklin without stopping in!

[fmckinnon]

That sounds like a fantastic plan ... Joel and I are sharing a car (and hotel room), so we'll be all chummed up by then.

I should be able to at least drive to the Factory easily enough - I was just there a couple of years ago for the IndieHeaven.Com CIA Summit. Bldg. 8 - I think that's where we're actually meeting, perhaps - the Journey church or something like that, maybe?

[snowjunkie]

I should be in town too by then... let me know where you guys are planning to meet up for lunch.

[fmckinnon]

Alastair,
We'll do - we'll keep tabs here in the forum, and make plan accordingly.

[Klampert]

Yeah im def in ..Jan an alastair...

Jan...I just checked out your blog...great stuff. Looking forward to meeting you.

Fred and I will probablly settled into hotel before noon.

[fmckinnon]

Joel,
I'm guessing they don't let us checkin until after 4:00 or so - may stop by and make sure all is well, but probably wouldn't see that room until late Monday night ... our 5-star luxury penthouse suite will still be there. (haha)

[chrisfromcanada]

Jim is picking me up (I hope!!) at the airport at 11:00. Joining you guys at Merridee's sounds like a good way to kill some time before things get started.

[janowen66]

Kill time??? Don't you know this is the unofficial "pre-conference" conference???

[chrisfromcanada]

Busted! As soon as I hit 'post' I realized I shouldn't have written that :)

[janowen66]

oh i was just messing with you but we could entitle it "The Worship Community Pre-Conference Seminar"...... :)

[fmckinnon]

If Jim is gonna be around, count me out. That guy is ridiculous. (JUST KIDDING) - Jim Drake is awesome - he became our angel at the NWLC!

[Klampert]

Jim is an angel...WOW

im really getting my moneys worth meeting him then! :);)

[snowjunkie]

I arrive at the airport at 9.55am! What time will we all meet up then at Merridee's?

[fmckinnon]

Alastair,
Who is picking you up, or do you have a rental? Joel, myself, and you are all showing up around the same time. My flight arrives at 10:04 AM

[Klampert]

alastair....im in at 9:55...do you need a lift?

[janowen66]

If we met at The Factory at noon or so we could pick up our stuff, register or whatever we do, then drive down the road to Meridees (about a mile) which is in downtown Franklin, a really charming area.

That would make us meeting at Meridees around 12:45 - 1:00. They have lunch PLUS they have all these unbelievable home baked goodies. It's impossible to choose so we have to go back every morning so we won't miss something! haha

Additionally, Meridees is near to the place the opening reception is being held which is also in downtown.......

So we can do these times or if that won't work and we need to shift, let me know.

[snowjunkie]

Those times sound good to me.

[snowjunkie]

alastair....im in at 9:55...do you need a lift?

Hi Joel, I have a hire car booked at the airport. Thanks for the offer though. Might see you in the airport before I take off in hunt for the car hire booth!

[fmckinnon]

a "hire car"? wow - that's a new one!

[Klampert]

alastair...

hire car?

hmmm...that sounds illegal :rolleyes:

[chrisfromcanada]

Is registration happening at The Factory earlier than the 4:00 start time? There really isn't much to do about registration - you go, find your name tag, meet some people, pick up your package.

[fmckinnon]

Chris, I'm glad you're gonna be around to lead all of us new pilgrims around. :p

[janowen66]

i think i read in a previous email or something that we could register around noon - the 4pm thing is somewhere else. (down the road a little)

[snowjunkie]

a "hire car"? wow - that's a new one!


alastair...

hire car?

hmmm...that sounds illegal :rolleyes:

Hey, what's weird about that? What do you guys call it?

[janowen66]

a rental car......

[fmckinnon]

yeah - I'm going to "rent" a car. Hey, for now on, I'm saying hire, bro .. that's cool. Is that Ireland speakin?

[Klampert]

i agree...fred im gonna try to book our hire car today...:) :):p

[snowjunkie]

i agree...fred im gonna try to book our hire car today...:) :):p

You guys are hilarious... I'll be teaching you a few more Irish words if you aren't careful...! HAH HAH.

:)

[chrisfromcanada]

Official word from Randy - registration doesn't start until the O'More thing at 4:00.

[janowen66]

so is lunch at merridees at 1:00 still good or do you want to try for 12:00?

i'm open and will be there all day so somebody let me know what works best for those of ya'll flying in.

[fmckinnon]

dang, Randy - I booked the 5:10 AM flight 'cause I heard it was 1:00 PM registration. Oh well - lunch at Merridee's will still be worth it ... especially in light of the company!

[chrisfromcanada]

Let's say 1:00 lunch at Merridee's - how big is the place? Is it worth doing a twitter blast to see who else is around/available to come?

[janowen66]

it's not huge but we could do a table for 10 - 20. I can get there early and camp out with a book.....right now we have about 5 right???

I did one Twitter blast but feel free to do another.....

[fmckinnon]

Hey Jan,
I'd say let's make that the "hookup" place for those arriving early - if you're able to secure some room at 11:00, we could all just show up there - eat lunch, drink coffee, eat treats, etc.

I just say if we DO come and take up a bunch of space for a few hours, we should all remember to leave a hefty, generous tip! (and no, I've never been a waiter, just believe in it!)

[janowen66]

so we'll just be hanging there between 11 - 1 or so?

[janowen66]

i'm actually loving "Chasing Francis" btw. i want to go on a pilgrimage now!!!

[fmckinnon]

doh, thanks for the reminder - I need to order it right now!

[chrisfromcanada]

I don't get in until 11:30 so Jim and I won't make it there until 12:30? 1:00?

[fmckinnon]

we'll save you some crumbs.

[snowjunkie]

we'll save you some crumbs.

And the bill!

[Klampert]

I am really looking forward to hearing ian morgan speak...that was one of the big selling points to me coming...cant wait

oh and i get to see all you crazy people!!

I think God told me in a dream last night that alastair will pay for every bodies lunch :D

[russhutto]

MAN, I wish I could come. But it is dang expensive.

[fmckinnon]

Russ,
You're so right, it's expensive. I'm paying out of my own pocket, at my own expense, but I'm hoping and praying that it will be worth it - from what I've heard, it will be. Dang, man if you were there, we'd have a big "TWC" clan present!

[snowjunkie]

Me paying out of my own pocket too, so I may not be able to afford to pay for Joel's lunch.

[Klampert]

no problem..sounds like we will all be eating water and bread then...thats ok..i can hold out for dinner. :o

[chrisfromcanada]

It's expensive, yes. But it was expensive two years ago when I decided to go on a bit of a whim - if I didn't think it was worth it I wouldn't be going back. But yeah - it's alot of money.

[kbontrager]

Jumping into the conversation.... my husband and I are driving to Nashville and will try to land around Merridee's in time to meet whoever is there. That I recognize. As being re:create people. :)

For anyone new: this is my second year to attend. This experience last year was hands-down the most helpful, encouraging, energizing thing I've attended in my 9 years of ministry. Seriously. If you're prone to being intimidated, jump in to the conversations anyway. It's no fun and no good if it isn't collaborative!

and the food. The food. The food....

[fmckinnon]

Kim,
I keep hearing about the food - I've lost 10+ pounds the last few weeks on a Daniel Fast (of sorts) ... I better be careful not to gain it all back!

Everyone,
Hope you're getting the emails from Randy - have you done your Tumblr homework yet?

[janowen66]

i've done my homework and am about 2/3 of the way through "Chasing Francis".....

[Mark Jaffrey]

Well, you guys have no idea how much Cre:ate 07 was water for this dry and thirsty soul from a desert land, both physically and spiritually. It is SO worth the money, and I'm spending way more than you guys on flights etc!!! :-)

It is the best thing I have ever been to. End of story.

Anyway, can't wait to meet you all, and renew some old friendships and put faces to bloggerers and twitterererers. I'll try and make the Meridees hook-up (Jan is right, it's a fab place for cakes etc) and that'll just be the start of the gourmet extravaganza. If you add up all the meals provided in all the restaurants, the total might just be creeping up to that registration fee!

Can you tell I'm excited? Pork! Wine! I don't get much of that in Egypt.

Maybe the best thing though are the connections, relationships, friendships built that endure through technology and access to the hive-mind of Cre:ate alumni. Priceless.

Mark.

[fmckinnon]

Mark,
Man, after reading that, I'm ready to leave now!

[Klampert]

wow mark...that was a well painted picture..you need to let the create crew to add you to the marketing team...

Lets go now fred!

[chrisfromcanada]

Haha - yes, anyone who's been is an unofficial re:create ambassador :)

[rkweblog]

I can't wait to see you turkeys! :)

[fmckinnon]

From the sidebar, seems like there are lots of Level 1 and Level 3 folks, but only a few Level 2 like myself ... does anyone remember that the breakdown is for the "levels"? Seems like it was attendance - is that like, the whole church, or just adult services?

[kbontrager]

The levels are based on church attendance. On the registration info there was a place to note the size of your church, so you are assigned to Level 1, 2, or 3 based on what you wrote there. Last year we broke into those 3 groups for a few specific sessions that were set up for more interaction and discussion; I think there were 3 of these sessions, and each group had at some point the same 3 topics.

I hope that makes sense.

[cynthiacullen]

Hey guys,

I was stuck in head cold land past week while you guys were chatting about Recreate (Thanks Fred, for the twitter invite!) I have attended Recreate I think 5 or 6 times - I've lost count. I will tell you that I have never felt so welcomed and surrounded by such like-minded, yet totally unique creatives in my entire life. I've known Randy since my college days and he is the real deal. You will feel like you are drinking from a fire hydrant with all the ideas, creative discussion, and infusion of encouragement and laughter. My hubby is joining me this year for the 1st time and we are hooking up with some friends at Crosspoint's Dickson Campus for lunch on Monday. I will see you guys at the reception!

BTW - Level 3 discussion last year was awesome!

[chrisfromcanada]

Alright - Randy has tweeted about our lunch at Merridee's. He said 1:00 but I'm sure people will come in earlier than that.

[rkweblog]

My flights in at 149pm :(

Cynthia is right... this thing is awesome. I think this is my 8th time or something like that. My wife cannot come this year, but I look forward to meeting you other half.

[Mark Jaffrey]

It's Friday morning. Second service is running, Josh McDowell is preaching and I've got the closing song to do before I go home, have lunch with the family, pack my bags and get to the airport. Flight to London, stay overnight at the airport, Sat am flight to Washington DC and then a short hop to Nashville.

I am SO excited.
:)

[fmckinnon]

Hey Everyone - I've just setup "live blogging" for the event. You can follow the live feed at http://www.fredmckinnon.com - I'll probably create a new "event" each day - so check the site for the most recent event. If you're attending re:create, and you need a login so you can blog "live" to the post ... just let me know!

I'm in the ATL airport now - they just changed my departure gate from B22 to T7 - so I better unplug and take a hike.