If you’re coming to the RoundTable, you best be gettin’ your registration in. Registration closes at the end of the day Monday, September 24.

The RoundTable is in two weeks! We need to start collecting topics now so we can get organized a bit in advance. Give me your ideas by commenting on this post. To jump-start your thinking, here are some posts by Tony Dye about what was discussed the last time:
http://tonydye.typepad.com/citrt/2007/04/hot_roundtable_.html
http://tonydye.typepad.com/main/2007/04/cit_roundtable_.html
http://tonydye.typepad.com/main/2007/04/more_roundtable.html

What burning questions do you have for your fellow church IT people?

Travis, Brian, and I are now in the thick of preparing our RFP to upgrade our Church Management System. We are in back-to-back meetings all day long, conducting requirements gathering interviews and getting demos from the short list vendors, not to mention planning a little event and trying to keep up with routine duties.

If you have tried to reach me by phone in the last couple of weeks, you have my sympathies. I strongly suggest e-mail to clif.guy at cor.org as a better way to get a response. Even then, it might be a few days before you hear back. Sorry to be such a pain.

To discuss anything about the RoundTable, contact Amy Facemire at 913-544-0743 or amy.facemire at cor.org.

To discuss anything about our Next Generation ChMS project, contact Travis Morgan at 913-314-6464 or travis.morgan at cor.org.

To learn how a Jew from Kansas City worked with an archbishop from Baltimore to build a web site for the pope, you need to attend the RoundTable where you’ll meet Brent Cohen.

Although that sounds like the setup for a joke, it’s the true story of Brent receiving a phone call in 1995 from Cardinal Keeler, then Archbishop of Baltimore, leading to an ecumenical collaboration and culminating not only in a web site being built but also an opportunity for Brent to meet John Paul II in person.

If that story doesn’t interest you, ask Brent about how Haley Barbour (now governor of Mississippi but then chairman of the Republican National Committee) at first didn’t see a need for the RNC to have a web site. No doubt Joe Trippi would be highly amused. Brent did end up building the first site for the RNC after Haley saw the light a couple of years later and called Brent.

I was entertained by these stories over lunch with Brent on Wednesday. He now lives in the Los Angeles area, but was born and raised in Kansas City. He was back in town for a family reunion during Rosh Hashanah. He is a strategic thinker and friend of Rick Warren and Eric Busby and is beginning to explore church IT, ChMS, and how they relate to his new company, Circle Builder. You will enjoy meeting Brent and likewise he wants to learn as much as he can from all of you.

If you haven’t registered for the RoundTable, do it now. Registration closes at the end of the day Monday, September 24.

Appian Way reader and RoundTable attendee Justin Kramp asks:

Clif — Thanks for putting so much effort into this. I’m really excited for the event. Any chance you’d post a list of vendors participating in advance?

Great question, Justin!

Vendors that have registered so far are:
United Methodist Communications Tech Shop
ACS Technologies
Circle Builder
Fellowship Technologies
MBS, Inc.
Ministry Management Solutions
Shelby Systems
The ACTS Group

I heard through the grapevine that some of you tried to register for the RoundTable but the registration site was down. Sorry about that. When we came in to the office on Tuesday after the holiday weekend we saw the site was down. We don’t know when over the long weekend it went down. It took our vendor a couple of hours on Tuesday morning to resolve the issues and get things working again. If you tried to register but were denied, please try again. You don’t want to miss the RoundTable because of a server outage. Computer geeks, of all people, should understand that!

So far 32 awesome church IT people and 10 amazing vendor people from around the country have registered. Wee hoo! We have heard from another 28 who said they are coming but haven’t registered yet. Come on and register, please! It’s difficult to complete our preparations when the event is only 3 weeks away and we don’t know if we will have 50 people or 80 people. 😉

So that we can get final counts to our caterers, etc., registration will close at the end of the day on Monday, September 24. Register now!

Tony is organizing an early morning walk before the start of each day’s RoundTable. If you’re a morning person, let Tony know of your interest by posting a comment on his blog.

Calling all my Kansas City area church IT homies. You are my “Local Organizing Committee” for the RoundTable. We need to meet next week to finalize plans. How about Thursday, Sept. 13 at 12:30 pm? How about Chili’s in Merriam again? Leave a comment here or e-mail me: clif.guy at cor.org.

Some people have asked about getting from KCI Airport to the hotel and/or church and then back to the airport at the end of the RoundTable.

The hotels we have arranged don’t have shuttle service. However, there is a KCI Shuttle that operates between the airport and many hotels here in the southern part of the metro area (Johnson County). To use this service, simply stop by KCI Shuttle’s ticket counter, which is in close proximity to all baggage claim areas in the airport, to purchase a ride to your hotel. Advance reservations are not required but are recommended if arrival time is after 9pm. Cost is $49 per person (each way); each additional person within the same party is then $7 to $10 ea. (each way). When buying your ticket you can schedule your pickup, too. KCI Shuttle’s phone number is 816-243-5000.

The hotels are 4-5 miles from the church. We want to bless you, serve you, and ensure that you have a great time when you’re here. In that spirit, I’m happy to help you get back and forth between the hotel and the church, but with 60 people coming in, I can’t fit you all in my van in one trip! Hopefully, only a few of you will need a ride. 😉

Most of you coming to the RoundTable will be flying in. The nearest airport is Kansas City International (code=MCI). The airport is on the far northwest side of town and we’re on the south side, so it’s a 45 minute drive with moderate traffic.

Directions from the airport:
South on I29
South on I635 (right exit)
South on I35 (right exit)
South on US69 (right exit after 75th street)
East on 135th street (right exit, then turn left on 135th) approx. 2.5 miles
South on Roe 2 blocks, church is on the right

Google map with directions is here.

Park in Lot B or Lot D. Campus map here, or print this post.

Enter the East Building near the SE corner. You’ll find the receptionists at the crossroads between the main east-west hallway and the main north-south hallway, next to the Memorial Garden. They will direct you from there. East Building floor plan is here (on the floor plan drawing ground floor is on the left, lower level is on the right). Conference check-in will be in the hallway outside Rehearsal Hall A on the lower level. It’s a big, confusing building. We’ll have signs up to help you as much as we can.