For the most part, large Christian conferences don’t usually come to Austin. So, I was excited when Q Conference announced Austin would be this years destination. The past few years Q was held in Atlanta and NYC.

When someone attends a conference, usually the content/experience is only half the desire. The best part is getting to know some new folks. In the age of social media, it’s usually getting to know friends in real-life as opposed to the online version. Which is what happened! I picked up Erick from NYC, and Charles and Dan from LA. It was good to get to know these dudes, and it was also great to see them connect with each other. Social media has a lot of power to truly create real community and inspire action.

The conference kicked off Sunday night with an informal Tweet-up @Spider House. It was a last-second shindig, but I thought It was a great time to connect, get to know some new friends and give those from outside Austin a true Austin experience-which was my goal and I thought it went well.

Without going into great detail, I did enjoy the actual conference experience. The conference was held at The Paramount Theatre, which is a great place, but at times I wished we had some tables as I felt a bit cramped and confined. Anyhow, the goal of Q is to discuss ideas. It’s not necessarily a place for answers but discussions on new trends and ideas in all aspects of missional living, not just the traditional church conversations that most conferences tend to focus on.

To me the main themes seem to fall within the categories of justice, living fully human, creating culture and the gospel, I’ve decided not to do a run-down of each session or themes. Instead, I would encourage you to read John’s post. I will say this, Ted and Gayle Haggard did a session on their story and it was simply amazing. Go here for further details.

I was encouraged by the amount of female presenters, maybe its just me, but I feel like the female voice is losing ground in the church and I think if we are not careful we are going to only see God through an alpha-male lens, and that is not a good for the church. I know many have a theological issue, which is fine with me, I get that, but I think we still need to make sure that the female leaders/servants have a significant voice at the table and Q did a good job doing just that.

I was disappointed that there was a TOTAL lack of global voices. (Alan Hirsch is the exception) I’m hoping that Q will address this next year as I think more global voices will add so much value to the overall conversation, especially in our ever-shifting world!

I was also disappointed that the music was led by non-Austinites. I think a local musician would have added great value as Q tried to connect with Austin. That said, I throughly enjoyed Zach Williams, so much that I bought both of his albums on iTunes and I think you should too.

Moving forward…Q seems to create a total-package-experience. There was the actual conference, with thirty (ish) 18 minute presentations, (a few were longer) there was also talk-backs, which is a time to interact with the presenters and ask questions, etc. After each day, they had an after party at Buffalo Billiards and they even decided to throw in a concert with one of my all time favorite bands Over The Rhine, which was amazing.

I was really leery about the cost of Q. It’s really pricy, but I had to remind myself that this is not just a traditional pastor/leadership conference. We heard from thirty people on a wide variety of subjects, So all-in-all I was happy with the experience. You appreciate Q more, after you attend than before. They do their best to stay under-the-radar and build intentional community.

I did want to add some links that I think are important:

Two Futures Project deals with the current nuclear issue we are facing.

Cobblestone Project: Practical ways to confront domestic poverty.

A Land of a Thousand Hills: Drink Coffee, Do Good!

Tom Shoes: Buy a pair, Tom gives a pair.

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