If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you hear a lot about ICCM this time of year. But perhaps you’re not quite sure what it is, or why we talk about it so much.

International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) is a conference for missions-minded people who are passionate about using technology in missions and ministry. This year, eDOT is hosting.

Being new to the mission field and the eDOT office overall means that I, Miette, have a steep learning curve. I have never hosted a conference before, so when the project started a few months ago, I was a bit overwhelmed. I did not know what I was doing. However, after asking help from the previous hosts and learning the programs that we use, I am now much more confident in my tasks for hosting. Here is a snapshot of what it means for me to host this conference:

Each day I check the ICCM registration website to see who recently signed up. I send out emails to new registrants letting them know we received their information. I also check to see who paid and send receipts of payment. Throughout the day I answer questions that arise in emails from attendees and my supervisors. Then I update my master spreadsheet which will be used to organize everyone during the conference. I must admit that logging registration data is definitely not the most exciting work. It takes a long time. But it is worth the effort because it will make the week leading up to ICCM manageable. What I do like about this process is that, in a way, I am “meeting” the attendees before the conference. I will be able to associate faces with names once we all get to ICCM. (Since I am not good with remembering names, hopefully this will help!) On my spreadsheet I enter the all the pertinent information. I log the countries from which the attendees are traveling, as well as their organizations and ministries. Also, those who are volunteering to help have shown talents in music, audio or visual technology. I note the technology strengths, interests and which workshops are preferred. All this data I organize and log on my spreadsheet. The ICCM leadership team has monthly Skype meetings where we discuss everything pertaining to the conference. Here I give updated statistics about the information I gathered and let everyone know how the hosting is coming along. In the office Jacob and I chat regularly about our tasks and decisions during the week. He helps answer questions when I do not know what to do. I never thought there could be so many factors involved in running a conference smoothly! Next week we will have our work cut out for us as we prepare all the paperwork and packets, and begin packing for our drive up to Mosbach Germany, Monday the 1st of February. I cannot believe the conference is just two weeks away!

Visit iccm-europe.org for more information.