Things I Didn't Learn At #MOPSsummit

I didn't get to go to a MOPS leadership training today that I had really been looking forward to. It's okay though, because God had other ideas and kept me in my own town this weekend for a woman's conference at my church (more on that later).

And even though I didn't get to go to Summit (the aforementioned MOPS leadership training), I was able to follow the convo on Twitter by using #MOPSsummit. Now that I've had a chance to catch up on my Twitter Feed, here's what I didn't learn at Summit, but what other moms did and shared with the rest of the Twitterverse.

(Caution, this post is very specific to MOPS and leadership. Don't feel obligated to read it if you aren't interested in either of these topics.)

  • It takes a lot of work to make a national event like this happen at locations all over the US. Not only do the paid staff in Colorado work hard, but volunteer Field Leaders (like @ShawnaLeeIrish, @TraceySolomon, and others) all over go through a lot to locate simulcast sites and make sure they are ready to host a bunch of moms loosed from their preschoolers for a day.
  • When it comes to leadership, we shouldn't get stressed if we don't have a full steering team. 
  • New moms need to connect with someone as soon as they walk through the door of my MOPS group.
  • Moppets (the childcare program that makes MOPS possible) is another way to reach Moms. Without it, I know I couldn't go to MOPS. And my girl's enthusiasm for MOPS is fueled by having a great Moppets program.
  • Um, apparently jeggings and cute shoes are common at Summit. I'm down with the cute shoes, the jeggings, not so much.
  • Ways to reach out to other moms include fliers in new baby bags at the local hospital/birthing center, going door to door in local neighborhoods, and ????
  • From @KlaBrost: essentials: lead your group, build your group, build relationships, support.
  • A great way to build relationship on your leadership team, from @RhoBaker, is to ask the Mentor Moms to host your Steering Team meetings at their house.
  • From @AubreyDoes, we reflect God  like a broken mirror - in pieces.
  • There have been 130 new MOPS groups charted in the past 8 months (including the one I'll be leading in Lakeland, FL starting in August) and 1200 new moms have signed up for MOPS in that same amount of time! That's a lot of community building!
  • All moms are created in the image of God, even the ones that don't look like me and talk like me.
  • I should be a scholar of other people, trying to discover what they love and how I can love them. Love is not a "drive-by activity," even if "speed friending" is a fun way to meet moms at other tables.
  • Finally, we can keep talking about what other people, who actually attended Summit, learned today at the MOPS Leadership Forums. I'm off to check it out now!
If you are involved in a MOPS group and also play around on Twitter, don't forget to follow this list of tweeters who are involved with MOPS or MOPSNext.

And if you're still reading at this point, why not leave a comment telling me about your MOPS experience and background.

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