I've had an amazing time this week at my ccc ministry director's retreat (the picture at left is from our rented beach house).
One of the hottest topics for discussion was promotion for our Winter Conference.
The disconnect many leaders experienced in promoting for the conference was the gap between what was being "sold" (program) versus what most students valued (relationships--current ones with friends from their campus & past ones with those whom they have gone on a summer missions trip with).
I'm not advocating either program or experience in promoting for a ministry event but raising the observation that often times those leading see the program as much more valuable than those attending because they have invested time, energy and resources into setting the program up.
I've been to MANY conference in my ministry career and to be honest 95% of what I valued/remembered was what the conference/program facilitated--not necessarily the program in and of itself.
As you think about your largest ministry event what percentage of the promotion is program vs experience?