ACFW Volunteering

The 2010 ACFW conference was superb. I missed each of you who stayed home for whatever reason, and pray that you’ll be able to attend in 2011.My two favorite parts of the conference this year were volunteering, so I figured I’d write a blog post about the experiences!

The first volunteer activity I performed was unpacking boxes in the ACFW Bookstore. For starters, the feel and smell of a new book—I ask you, HOW can Kindles take over? Really, tell me how?! Our flight got in on time and we were checked into the hotel by 11:30am. After running to Chick-fil-A in the food court for lunch, Lisa Carter and I stopped by the ACFW bookstore to see if we could help. We unpacked a ton of boxes along with a few other volunteers. Because we weren’t scheduled to help, Janna Ryan, Cara Putman‘s sister, was able to open the bookstore for business Thursday at 4pm instead of Friday morning. Let’s not forget that every penny the ACFW bookstore makes goes into the ACFW scholarship fund. It was wonderful to be part of that experience. And each time I walked into the bookstore I saw a stack of books I had unpacked. So cool.

The second volunteer activity I performed was registration on Thursday afternoon. It was great to see old friends and to recognize faces from facebook and blogs. I absolutely loved giving people their packets and answering their questions. The excitement at that registration table was contagious and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Of course, I had easy and rewarding volunteer jobs. The ones we need to thank are the folks that volunteer all year long to make sure this conference happens. Thank you to the conference staff. I am forever amazed at the details that are never overlooked by our volunteer staff as well as the conference hotel. Thank you to all the folks who make this conference happen every year 🙂