Tag Archives: Christmas
Crazy Christmas Countdown Review
Posted on11. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
Back in the Fall we experienced some lower than normal numbers that have been attributed to the flu that was so widespread. To say that we had lower than normal numbers was an understatement. We had over 300 kids who didn’t attend once in October that were regularly attending in August and September. We had leaders and volunteers call the families of every kid. We also began to promote the holidays with something we called the Crazy Christmas Countdown. Here’s what we did.
We totally decked out the Kids building two weeks before Thanksgiving and started 5 weeks of Christmas celebration. Every week was crazy sock week where kids with the craziest socks were recognized and maybe even won prizes. We had crazy and fun games in both early childhood and elementary that tied into the Crazy Christmas theme. Then as a cause for everyone to get behind, we gathered presents for families in need. We put a tree in our lobby covered with socks and ornaments (just simple laminated circles with Christmas socks on one side and a list of items for the gift bag on the other). By the second service of the first Sunday, the 100 ornaments gone which was very exciting.
All gifts were due two Sundays before Christmas which was just a few days before the Christmas party for refugees and families in need where the gifts would be distributed. That Sunday, the Kids lobby was filled with gift bags. It was pretty awesome.
By all appearances, the Crazy Christmas Countdown seemed successful. Although I think the leaders and volunteers had more fun with the socks, lots of kids were excited to wear their crazy socks. We provided more than enough gifts for the families in need, so that was great too. What was most important was that the trend of growth returned. I don’t really know if it was due to our efforts of Crazy Christmas Countdown, (actually I’m not really sure how we could measure it) but where October had been a month of decrease compared to the previous year, November and December jumped back to the 10-17% growth range over the previous year.
I’m still giving what we do for outreach a lot of thought. Not only do I want to help the community, but I want to transform the character of kids as well. But overall, I think we’ll do something like Crazy Christmas Countdown again. Anything that builds momentum during a time where attendance tends to sag is a great thing.
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A new holiday classic?
Posted on12. Dec, 2009 by Kenny.
Last night Sara and I watched “Prep and Landing.” It’s a fun Christmas show by Disney.
I’m not really sure what it is though. Hulu says it’s Episode 1 of Season 1, but I’m not sure we’re going to see more episodes before Christmas. Regardless, it’s a great flick.
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Crazy Christmas Countdown postcard
Posted on11. Nov, 2009 by Kenny.
My team and I came up with an emphasis for the holidays called the Crazy Christmas Countdown. Partially it is to provide a little momentum going into the holidays that we lost from our dip in October. We were rushed with the design, but I’m pretty happy how it turned out. I think that if I had a little more time, I would have worked on the back of the card (socks in the circles) at the bottom. They look good, but it still feels a little awkward to me. What do you think? Any thoughts or suggestions?
I’ll write later about details (like why we’re using this, when we’
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Near Christmas disaster
Posted on28. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.
I’ve had a fantastic Christmas, but it almost didn’t happen!
Many of those who follow me on twitter knew what was going on and were praying for us. They saw the whole ordeal unfold.
For the past few weeks, Titus has been fighting off colds and stomach bugs. Last Sunday he was hit hard. We’ve never seen him so sick. He was throwing up, congested and downright lethargic. He’d just lay in his crib or or arms… so sad. We had plans to drive from Austin, TX to Atlanta, GA after our last Christmas Eve service. I wasn’t too concerned about Titus being sick since it was still several days away. Since he was so sick, Sara wasn’t feeling great and Sara had a lot on her plate as well, I kicked into over drive to get us ready. I tried to sanitize our house and catch up on laundry. On Sunday I did 6-7 loads. Monday and Tuesday came and Titus wasn’t getting any better. He hadn’t kept down solid food since Saturday afternoon and our trip was defiantly in jeopardy.
By Tuesday night, we knew we wouldn’t be driving to GA the next day. My brother (incredibly generous) offered to fly us out the next day instead. However, Titus was in no condition to fly. He was just so week. On Christmas Eve, Sara and I talked about what we wanted to see to even consider traveling. We wanted to see Titus eating solid food again and sitting up and playing. He still hadn’t eaten since Saturday and hadn’t played since Sunday.
Well, just before bedtime, he ate a jar of baby food and started babbling. A ray of hope. Then at 5:00 in the morning, he woke up screaming. He was HUNGRY. He downed two big jars of baby food before falling asleep again. Sara and I woke up at about 10:30 and by that time Titus was up and running around the house again. Go God! My brother bought our tickets and within two hours (it was a very stressful and crazy two hours) we were on the road to DFW to fly out to Atlanta. By 11:00 that nigh, we were hanging out with family in the mountains of North Georgia.
So, that’s pretty much what happened. It was a crazy week, but a great Christmas nonetheless. I think next year we’ll just stay home.
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Predicting Christmas and Easter crowds
Posted on13. Nov, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay everyone. I need some ideas and suggestions.
This year, we are having five Christmas Eve services. Two on the 23rd and 3 on the 24th. In years past, we’ve had some services fill up more than others, but none of them packed to the gills. We’re providing programming for kids up to Kindergarten.
As a church we’ve been throwing out the idea of ticketing the services. Families will have to pick up tickets before the service to “reserve” space. We will open the doors to the auditorium 30 minutes before the service for people with tickets and it is open seating 15 minutes before the service begins. From what I’ve heard, Gateway has experimented with ticketing before. Some people on my Kids staff have indicated that they planned on more kids than actually showed up. Although that is good, they didn’t feel that the tickets really helped them know how many to plan for.
What do you think? Have you used “ticketing” or something like this before? Are there any things you’ve done to predict the number of kids who will attend? I’ve got my own idea of something I was moving forward with, but I’m not sure I can do it along with ticketing. I hope that some of you who experience massive crowds for Christmas and Easter can throw out a few ideas.
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