Sidebar —Trusting the Event

I know what it’s like to be told to “bring your friends to this.” Often my internal gauges are saying everything from “Well, maybe” to “There’s no way any of my friends would want to come to that!” No one will invite friends to an event if there’s any chance the event will be lame. So, leaders’ team, it’s your job to make sure that the event you want to sponsor is a quality event. And you’ll need to find ways to convince your flock of this. You’ve got to talk about it: tell them what they’ll see and why you’re confident about bringing your own friends. Acknowledge their fears and do your best to address them.

I did a performance in a small San Francisco area community that was sponsored by three churches and a local seminary. The church members did a fantastic job of inviting and bringing neighbors and friends, yet only one person there (a seminary professor) had seen me perform before. He was incredible at building trust in the performance as well as building the collaboration in the community. I was amazed.

Here are some ways to build trust:

• Show promo videos that present clips of the coming performance or speaker.
• Have knowledgeable students tell stories about the speaker or actor you’re bringing and about the production itself.
• Connect your students with the speaker or performer in person as soon as you can. Invite him or her to a chapter prayer meeting on arrival, and to meals together with students in the dining hall. Then students will get to know and trust the person you’re bringing to campus.

—Nina Thiel