Directors Report April 2009

director’s report april, 2009 rev. todd buegler

elca youth ministry network - director’s report april, 2009

Dear friends and colleagues, Greetings! I’m looking forward to our time together in Chicago! This continues to be a good time to be the Network. As I look forward at the continued development of the Vision 1.0 initiatives, and the new possibilities emerging with Vision 2.0, I am excited about the possibilities. Certainly, like the rest of the church, we deal with challenges...largely financial and tied to the economy. These challenges are real, and I don’t mean to minimize them. However I still have a sense of optimism about the future of the Network. It feels to me like we continue to hover on “the verge” of something great...While I can’t describe that that something is yet, I believe it is tied to our sense of identity and mission. I believe that God is calling the Network to be on the front edge of the church. I believe that God is calling the Network to lead. I am excited to be a part of the journey. I hope you are too! The “table of contents” for my report includes the following: 1. The Box Scores 2. Extravaganza 2009 3. Extravaganza 2010 4. Finances 5. Online Training 6. The Regional Facilitators 7. Gathering in the East 1. The Box Scores:

2. Extravaganza 2009 I am very, very pleased with Extravaganza 2009 in New Orleans. I have a sense that it was one of the finest events that we have done, and I am very proud of the work of our Extravaganza planning team. The results of the evaluations from E-2009 would bear that out. Attached to this report is an executive summary of the evaluation report.

The only monkey-wrench in the event was around some of the finances. As I mentioned when we met, we sometimes found ourselves in a wrestling match with the hotel around them ‘nickel and diming’ us with supplemental fees, like we had not

Date: Membership:

October, 2005 676

October, 2006 562

October, 2007 647

October, 2008 716

January, 2009 725

April, 2009 676

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October,2005

October,2006

October,2007

October,2008

January,2009

April, 2009


experienced before. While we were able to mitigate many of these extra costs, there were some extra charges that we were not able to avoid. This totaled around approximately $12,000 in un-budgeted expenditures. This will, as you can imagine, have a negative impact on the current budget. This will be discussed further in the section below on the current financial situation. The E-Team was generally pleased with the new “Network Celebration”. We think the ‘vibe’ was very positive, that it was a great way to celebrate the growth and development of the Network, and to honor outgoing board members, RF’s and of course, David Scherer, recipient of the Tom Hunstad Award. We were pleased with the number of people who participated in the event. We believe that a large majority of Extravaganza participants were in the room for the Celebration, a vast improvement over the less than 50 who remained in the room the previous year. We were disappointed in the level of ‘background chatter’ an noise during some of the presentations. Since being able to wander over and get food (a sit-down, plated meal was out of our budget) was a part of the design of the event, I’m not sure how this would be avoidable. Interestingly, while there was noise during some of presentations, it did get very quiet, and great attention was paid when the Hunstad Award was presented. We think we have found a general concept that works...we will continue to work with it to improve it. An area that the E-Team believes needs significant improvement is the regional caucuses and receptions. We don’t think there is clarity around the ‘goal’ of those times, and want to work with the RF’s to figure out a more effective use of that valuable time. 3. Extravaganza 2010 We are excited about Extravaganza 2010. We think the property and the theme will lend themselves to a good event. 2 quick observations: A. The Westin family of hotels is owned by the same chain (Starwood) as the Sheraton was in

New Orleans. So we are very aware of possible ‘nickel and diming’ that might take place there as well. We are going into our conversations with this hotel with “eyes wide open.” We are making other arrangements to reduce some of our costs; for example rather than try to negotiate to remove the package receiving fees ($5/pound), we have made arrangements with Christ Lutheran in Charlotte that packages can be shipped and stored there, and then we will bring them over to the hotel. By “giving up” that negotiating point, we were then able to negotiate for other concessions.

B. We are also very aware of the economy. We have re-worked the event budget to be based

on a significantly smaller number of ‘paying’ participants: 350. We had approximately 474 ‘paying’ participants in New Orleans. We are trying to plan conservatively. We have asked all of the primary departments of the Extravaganza to reduce their expense budget accordingly.


C The E-Team is excited about the possibilities around the Vision 2.0 initiative and how it will integrate with the event. We are grateful for the partnership and support of the ELCA in this initiative, and the ongoing work of Nate Frambach and the Vison 2.0 Team. I believe that Nate will report on these developments in his report on Vision 2.0, so I won’t go further into detail here. 4. Finances We are, I believe, feeling the effects of the economic crisis. I will bring a more detailed financial update with me to the meeting. After analysis, and speaking with some folks that I turn to for business and accounting, I have some observations: • What we are experiencing right now is not a long-term financial crisis, but rather a short-

medium term cash-flow problem. Our goal then is to keep it from turning in to a long-term crisis.

• In the last 18 months, we have had several income sources that were lost, or additional that we have not been able to make-up. These include:

In addition, there is still $2000-$3000 in outstanding balances ue to the Network from exhibitors or individuals who have not paid their registration fees. Michael and Laurie are tracking these funds down. • To deal with this, we have taken the following steps:

• Cut non-necessary expenses as much as possible. • Done a special mailing to new potential advertisers for the Connect Journal and the

Extravaganza program book. • Will require full payment for registrations at the event. • Changed the Network Directory from a book to be mailed, to an online version. • In 2009, cut the Connect Journal from 4 issues to 3 (with plans to restore it to 4 next

year). • Initiated a new system to better notify people when their network membership

expires. • I’m initiating conversations with both Luther Seminary and Wheatridge about

renewing their financial support. • We are also in conversation with Thrivent, who this year expressed some interest in

expanding their presence/role at the event. Those folks (from my congregation) who I rely on for advice have been encouraging. I asked them “do we need to be cutting back? Should we cancel or

Amount For

$9000 Grant from Luther Seminary (2006, 2007, 2008)

$5000 Grant from Wheatridge Foundation (2008)

$12000 Cost overruns from E2009 (see E2009; Section 2)

$16000 Expense of paying full cost for board, RF’s and Vision 2 Team

$42000 Total in lost revenue or additional expenses that we were unable to make up elsewhere.


cut back our programs/products. Their advice was ‘no’, you need to continue putting out products...you need to continue add value to membership. 5. Online Training We are in the midst of the 3rd semester of the online training pilot. We are very pleased with how the first two semesters went. To ate, over 500 people have participated in the online training project. In the second semester, the number of ‘active’ participants dropped, but the level of engagement/participation increased. The same thing is happening to-date in the third semester. The next phase will be to pull together the advisory group for online training to give shape to the generalized program, beginning next fall. 6. The Regional Facilitators The RF’s are a great gift to the Network. They are working within their regions, and are promoting the Network. The 2 Network display boards are now out going from event to event to represent the Network at synod assemblies and other events. When the RF’s meet (Tues-Thurs) one of the major conversation points will be the beginning of a membership drive. We are going to brainstorm both new memberships and renewals for those whose memberships have expired. 7. The Gathering in the East We will be giving support to the Gathering in the East in the form of hosting their web site nested within the Network web site, and possibly handling their online registration. Other possibilities for supporting the event will, I believe, develop over time. In conclusion This continues to be a great time to be the Network. I received an e-mail from a youth minister somewhere on the east coast recently that was looking for the name of the person who ran the workshop in New Orleans on doing ministry with GLBT young people. The youth minister was looking for resources for work with a young person in the group. I had one of the E-Team members who worked in this area send the info. The youth minister replied and said “Thank you. These connections are why I belong to the Network.” Thank you, for all of the work you do on behalf of the Network, and for your wisdom, guidance and support. Peace

Rev. Todd Buegler

Extravaganza 2009 Evaluation Executive Summary

ravaganza 2009 Evaluation Executive Summary

Note: The feedback we received after the 2008 Extravaganza in Anaheim included a significant number of requests to place the evaluation form into the Extravaganza program book, so that people could fill it out as the event progresses, instead of making it available at the end of the event. So we did that for 2009. Unfortunately, our percentage of forms returned was significantly lower (approx. 12%) than has been in our history (25%). We then made the evaluation available online for people could fill it out from home. While we did pick up some more online, but this did not account for a significant increase.

Note: The feedback we received after the 2008 Extravaganza in Anaheim included a significant number of requests to place the evaluation form into the Extravaganza program book, so that people could fill it out as the event progresses, instead of making it available at the end of the event. So we did that for 2009. Unfortunately, our percentage of forms returned was significantly lower (approx. 12%) than has been in our history (25%). We then made the evaluation available online for people could fill it out from home. While we did pick up some more online, but this did not account for a significant increase. In 2010, we will publish the form in the program book, have ‘stand alone’ sheets available at the end of the event and will do an online form (we now have the ability to do directed e-mail only to the event participants).

In 2010, we will publish the form in the program book, have ‘stand alone’ sheets available at the end of the event and will do an online form (we now have the ability to do directed e-mail only to the event participants). Primary event questions: Primary event questions: Question: Question: Average

Score: Average Score:

Overall, this event was (1=dud; 10=awesome)

8.51

This event was worth the money spent (1=not a chance; 10=completely)

8.56

The schedule and format for the Extravaganza was (1=terrible; 10=wonderful)

8.21

The General Sessions 7.78

The Workshop Experiences 8.39

The Hotel

8.22

Regional and Networking Opportunities 7.70

The Exhibit Area 7.24

The Network Celebration

8.00

Publicity and Promotion 8.31

Communication after you registered 8.42

Sound/Lights/Production

8.85

Please evaluate “Jazz Chronicles” 8.71

Please evaluate “Lost and Found” 8.56

Themes that we heard from the comments:

• People had a strong appreciation that the event was being held in the city of the Youth

Gathering. • People appreciated the full schedule of the event; understanding that they could make

choices about what to go to, when to eat, etc… • Some people wished we had left “blank” spaces for meal times. • Synod staff people would prefer some obvious times for synod meals. • We had strong feedback that people appreciated the separation of worship from general

sessions. We think that this was partially because of the tremendous worship space available to us at the Sheraton.

• We received some negative feedback that a few of the general sessions had more of an ‘educational’ feel to them than an inspirational feel.

• The feedback on the ICC courses was very, very positive. • People appreciated the separation between the workshops led by ‘residential

theologians’ and ‘entrepreneurial servants.’ • People were generally happy with the hotel. The biggest complaint people had was that

the hotel didn’t have free wi-fi available. • People were also aware of the significant “fee-based” nature of the hotel. (So were we!) • People missed the Augsburg Fortress bookstore (on the flip-side, Concordia Publishing

was happy!) • It was clear that the regional receptions on the first night haven’t quite found their

purpose/point yet. • The opening night reception/party (“Late Night at the ‘E’) was extremely well received. • People loved the variety of worship experiences

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A B C D E

ELCA Youth Mninistry Network Budget Update 2008-2009Fiscal year: July 1 2008 - June 30 2009 Updated April 25, 2009

Income:Item: 08-09 Budget To Date: Coments:Membership Dues 54,125.00$ 45,224.94$ Orginizational/Institutional Gifts 46,000.00$ 34,260.00$ Individual Donations 20,000.00$ 7,942.46$ Extravaganza Registrations 122,500.00$ 99,214.24$ Extravaganza Revenue - Other 36,500.00$ 38,810.66$ Connect Journal Subscriptions -$ Online Training Registrations 2,000.00$ Grant Income (Training Goal #3) 110,000.00$ 35,000.00$ Misc Income 46.71$ Total 391,125.00$ 260,499.01$

Expenses:Item: 08-09 Budget To Date: Comments:Staff Salaries 85,440.00$ 26,021.86$ Network Directory 500.00$ Board & Facilitators Meetings 32,600.00$ 24,294.39$ Other Meeting Expenses 17,000.00$ 910.02$ Business/Operational Expenses 22,000.00$ 11,303.71$ Regional Networking 9,000.00$ 568.54$ Member Recognition 1,650.00$ 1,311.85$ Network Gear 500.00$ 1,013.06$ Bring a Friend jacketsExtravaganza 155,750.00$ 164,879.32$ Connect Journal 9,000.00$ 14,073.21$ incl spring 08 costsVision Team 2,000.00$ 2,999.95$ Development Council 1,800.00$ Database Project 2,000.00$ Hardware/Software (Goal 3) 40,000.00$ 35,000.00$ Shipping costs 1,200.00$ 2,724.74$ Misc expenses 174.56$ Total 380,440.00$ 285,275.21$

Profit (Loss): 10,685.00$ (24,776.20)$

Still awaiting almost $10,000 in payments for E fees.

Documents

Directors Report April 2009