I'm just heading out to Atlanta for the 2011 Catalyst Conference. Stay tuned for updates from the conference over the next few days. Based on the theme for this year's conference–Be Present–the upcoming participants have posted the following "reasons to be present" (with my thoughts in italics):

1. "Road trip, enough said."[Yep, me too!]

2. "The energy is absolutely contagious."[Hope I get infected.]

3. "Free donuts."[I'll be looking for free pumpkin donuts.]

4. "Have a reviving experience and take it to my community."[That's from Guatemala. Nice!]

5. "It's a great way to passively aggressively help your pastor be a better leader." [Sure hope that works out for you!]

6. "BECAUSE GOD IS ALWAYS PRESENT. Dios siempre esta present." [Si, es verdad!]

7. "Because last year we shot a dude out of a canon." [Sorry I missed it. I'm sure it made an impression. And I think it was actually a cannon.]

8. "Because Manila is ready for a revival." [God bless you, brother!]

9. "Live animals." [You mean besides ...