James Rose
Question: Why is it important for youth leaders to plan and organize an event ahead of time, and what are some ways we can prevent overlooking details?
In the book we learn that full day events are not just an extension of our normal youth meetings. These are events that are different, and need to be special, these are the events that create the opportunity for regulars to invite others. These events are the ones that you are going to have to think about before you do them, you will need to do some major planning in order for the event to go smooth and be effective in reaching the goal you desire.
The book talks a little about how to do this and how to make it easy for everyone. The key is to be organized in the details, take enough time ahead of the event to plan out what will be done when and why it is being done. You need to consider the five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) along with how long, how much, and how many when planning. The book also gives us some other pages to help us make sure the event planning goes smooth... page 112 is called "fun with logistics" and page 114 is called the "task tracker" and finally to be sure the goal is being reached use page 109, the "praxis lens."
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John Losey, the author, was right on, on why we need to be planned an organized ahead of time. The more you prepare and have every detail that you can nailed down, the more you will be able to enjoy the event and you the less stressed you will be. During these full day events, there is a lot of activity and fun going on, and if you are prepared and not running around like a chicken with its head cut off, the more able you will be to form intentional moments of reflection and teaching and not miss the other moments of opportunity.
ReplyDeleteDetails can be easily overlooked, but with the resources that are out there, such as this book (Experiential Youth Ministry), there is no reason to overlook the details because they are put into these books. Naturally there might be some things that the book may miss, but I think through experience and using books like this, we can be more prepared each time we have an event.
Yes, planning is very important! Like Jake said, it relieves stress and you can enjoy the event more. Sometimes it is hard to know how to start planning for an event, but it's cool that people have published books to help. I also like the idea of the 5 W's to help in planning. It's also nice to know that in youth ministry there will always be someone willing to help out in events so that you can delegate the little details so you can focus on the big details.
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ReplyDeleteEmily Grubbs
ReplyDeleteI think it is safe to say that overall events that are organized and well planned ahead of time go the smoothest. I think taking the time to plan (using the 5 W's) is really important so that you know what you are doing and it's not so chaotic for the kids that are attending the event. I think it is really important to not only know what you are doing, but to also be confident in your plan. I agree with Jake that planning will be less stressful for you as a leader and you can actually take time to enjoy what you have planned.
Kristi Line
ReplyDeleteI agree that planning ahead and being organized is a good idea. It will make the day event go much more smoothly, and will make it more fun. The answers of how to get to where they're going, what they're going to eat, possible emergency situations, rules of staying together, and what to do if someone goes missing (which could happen) should be prepared in advanced before leaving. Also, if the event is outdoors the youth leader could be sure to have a backup plan if it rains. It could just be the idea of playing a couple of games. (Make sure they don't annoy the others at the event.)
I also think that there can be an overwhelming amount of planning. Sometimes children and teens like to do something at random. So I think that it’s okay for the youth leader to leave open spaces in the schedule to do something unplanned depending on what it is. But it would be an organized unplanned event.
Kristi Line
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I almost forgot.
The open spaces in the schedule can also be used for the youth to relax from the busy schedule.
Sometimes I think people forget that even regular meeting times are planned. If they are not based on the 5 W's, too, then they will eventually fall flat (unless some miracle happens). But I do agree that full-day events are obviously something different and I couldn't imagine someone thinking otherwise. Some people are kind of... wonky about planning. If they've planned something, they worry about how much they will deviate from the plan, thus giving them unbelievable stress. For these people, I would strongly suggest a planning committee. That way they can delegate their stress onto someone else.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what Kristi just said, only I will improve on it as such: You should always plan in time for your youth to relax. You may not tell them that's what it's for, but they'll get the idea when they see the blank spot on the schedule.
Being organized, planning ahead of time, and getting all the details are key to having great events. The 5 Ws help in planning but like Jake said there are o many resources out there that if you actually work ahead of time and plan you should reduce stress and develop a great event!
ReplyDeleteJessica:
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely important for youth leaders to plan and organize an event ahead of time. If this is not done, then some of the major details may be overlooked. Some practical ways to keep from overlooking some of these details are using books like this one and Youth ministry Management Tools. There are also many other helpful ideas and suggestions on the internet. The important questions to answer are the who, why, what, where, when, how long, how much, and how many. If the basics are covered, much of the event falls into place. Also, as suggested in the text, come up with scenarios that may go wrong or look at the even from different perspectives. This will allow for a reduced number of surprises in the event and will make it more enjoyable. If things are planned out in advance, stress is not an issue, most of the time, on the day of the event, and the students respond better. Also, it is vital to evaluate the event. Allow time for rest, play, interactions and try to keep a healthy balance.
I feel that the author missed the most easy way to plan out a whole day... develop a first time- line and a second time-line. The first should be a structured plan and the second could be a fall-back-on schedule. As far as organization, Losey gives a great overview of what to do for a day event. Perhaps there is a positive to being ADHD or OCD when it comes to planning an event for all day????? (Argh, too many ? marks)
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is very important for youth/children leaders to plan ahead of time the events and trips that they will be going on. I think that planning is a very important part of making an event be successful. If we do not focus on proper timed out plan and make sure details and ends are taken care of, the trip of event can be a failure or not go as planned.
ReplyDeleteI think that planning an event ahead of time is very beneficial to the youth group and to the youth pastor. By planning ahead you have time to work through the schedule of the day. You may need to book a band, or a speaker, which usually needs to be booked ahead of time. You may need to find volunteers for the day, which will need to clear their schedule to help out. To be able to have a fun day these types of things do need to be done ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteOne way to make sure you haven't looked over details is to sit down with a few youth leaders/volunteers that will be at the event and run through, this will help in case you've missed something, there will be more eyes to look at the schedule and ears to listen to you and you run through the day.
Planning an event ahead of time is very important because if you do not then you start to scramble to get things planned and may forget things. When I did my internship at my church one summer Travis and I sat down in April and started to plan some of the summer events. We made sure that we had everything lined up between forms, how much money we need, etc. If we would have waited till summer to start planning then we would not have been able to book some of our events, getting it done ahead of time was great because we could always cancle a reservation.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely important as everybody else has said to be organized. This for me is definitely hard and has kind of become my weakness as I have gone through the years. Like John said when you are organized well in advance you can really get better events and be less stressed about booking certain things. I think for me what I need to do is to get other people involved who have a strength of organization. When I can get with a person or people like this I will become more aware of everything that goes into planning for a given event or service or activity.
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