We have been looking at the concept of catalyzing City Movements by being intentional before, during and after the GLS. Before the GLS we were focused on identifying what was moving, what needed to move and who was moving things. Now as we enter into the actual days of the Global Leadership Summit, we want to take that pre-Summit information and connect the dots.
Unity-Connect people at your site
There are some priorities in connecting the people that attend the GLS around catalyzing City Movements. The first priority is connecting sectors. What can you do to recognize the churches, the nonprofits, the businesses and the government leaders in the room? Maybe it’s interaction during the breaks, or recognition from the stage, but look for ways to create connections before during and after the GLS. Second, how can you recognize leaders specific to City Movement priorities? Maybe it is as simple as having a key leader come up and welcome the crowd or a 3-minute interview on their vision for the city, but strategic and brief connects throughout the GLS that connect City Movement priorities and people are important.
Throw out some lunch topics for interaction or even better have a lunch panel discussion around strategic City Movement topics. Connect people at your venue strategically.
Community-Share stories of the narrative in your city
We have some real heroes with this idea. The following are links to videos from GLS sites and cities that have been used in various settings including during GLS. Here is a great example from Danville, Illinois…
Other videos that describe the narratives os cities:
Intercession Group-Warsaw Indiana
Evansville Indiana-Left Turn 1, Left Turn 2
Brief videos or even stories about the narrative in the city or even local grander vision type videos are a great way to catalyze movement. A couple of cautions-Make sure they are brief and make sure they are high quality. The time is short during the GLS, but you can communicate a lot in a 5-minute video. And with the broadcast quality of GLS and your video gear, any video needs to be high quality which is not that hard to accomplish.
A brief testimony or story supporting City Movement topics can also be a strategic way to be intentional.
Opportunity-Provide on Ramps
During the Summit, leaders are learning fresh, actionable content that will help them in their everyday work, but they are also getting a Grander Vision for how everyday leaders are making an impact at higher levels. It would be highly appropriate to provide an outlet for the people at your site to connect to strategic opportunities that push forward movement in your city. It is important to note, this is not a “ministry fair”. Do not fill the lobby with everybody’s displays, this is about strategic opportunities to connect to what has been identified as significant in your city.
Here is an example of our city. You can see in the back of the room, “To Love Your City”. After we ran a clip on the city narrative, we pointed people to this booth where we had literature and resources from leaders of the local City Movement. An immediate on-ramp connection in the GLS.
I love this example of an early on-ramp in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They built a display for the lobby at GLS with chicken wire and metal roofing and used the hashtag “For Jonesboro”. The challenged attendees to write down their prayers for the city on a card provided at GLS and stick those prayers in the chicken wire in the display. A tangible next step in the journey of engaging in the city.
You can make your lobby, your venue and your relational moments during GLS to be strategic moments to move what matters in your city. Stay away from commercials, make these local opportunities to describe and move forward the narrative in your city.