More Orange Conference

Here are some more images from The Orange Conference which was held in Atlanta. There were some really cool things and some not so cool things about the conference.

The good:
• The main session speakers were amazing: Francis Chan, Donald Miller and Reggie Joiner rocked it.

• I enjoyed all of the music with the exception of Steve Fee's punk-ish 'We Are the Redeemed'...I felt like I was in middle school all over again.

• The main lobby environmental signs and booths. For some reason, I really dig cool signage.

The not so good:
• High production value with not so good execution. What seemed to be a blown circuit left 3800 people sitting in the dark...literally. The noise with the various speaker's microphones was a big distraction too. Also, lots of newer songs were sung and most folks did not know the words. Having the IMAG screens closer together rather than far apart would have been a much better setup and would have allowed folks to see what was happening on stage and see the words at the same time.

• Lack of adequate on-site food vendors. This is almost a deal breaker for those taking large groups.

• Lots of closed break-out sessions.

• Zero crowd control (i.e. 3800 people in a venue that really doesn't accommodate 3800 people very well).

Next year, Orange will be at the Gwinnett Convention Center which is a much better venue than the Galleria and should alleviate some of the issues from this year.

If your church is really into children's ministry (and it should be) or even if it's something that you want to get into, you should definitely check out Orange 2008! Overall, this was a great trip and I was really fortunate to be able to travel with some really nice people.

The Orange Conference slideshow (5 minutes 12 seconds).