I’m Smokey Row’n it today and processing/assimilating all of the good things that came out of the Story Conference in Chicago, IL this past Wednesday & Thursday. So much to digest.

One thing is for sure… Twitter has become a fascinating medium to meeting like-minded people. I met IRL (in real life) so many twitterati’s that I have gotten to know through twitter, and we began conversations – not like an awkward blind date, but like old friends meeting for a cup of coffee.

It is still strange to think online community can in fact translate into in-person community. Justin Wise, Drew Sams, Matt Knisely, Nathan Davis are just a few of the peeps that I got to hang-out with this weekend, all of which were initially twitter associations.

Crazy (the good kind).

Some highlights:

The Paramount Theatre is gorgeous… and Ben Arment took advantage of this fact by making the lobby conducive to the idea of Story, allowing the conference attendee’s to bask among hired actors dressed in different genre’s as well as puppeteers and other elements that made my first impression a memorable one.

Of the speakers… To me the most memorable was during Nancy Beach’s talk, she brought on the writer of a short story Willow Creek is basing their Christmas program on, Holly Laurent, who read aloud her 3 page story about the town of “Lack,” to the audience. It was a great way to emphasize the empowerment of artists and to embrace a story that tells truth through metaphor.

Donald Miller’s talk was fantastic, it seemed to be a concentrated effort bringing all of what he shares in his Writer’s Seminar DVD’s into a 45 min lecture. Very succinct and impacting, allowing the audience to clearly see ways in which conflict mold and shape our live’s into a story worth telling.

Thursday’s workshops were also very good. Giving the 500 or so attendees access to some of the most forward thinking writers and artists, in a more personal and accessible environment. Skye Jethani, John MacMurray, and Thomas Fluharty were my favorites, as they provoked stirring thoughts and incited my heart to dream creatively on how to proclaim the Gospel without losing the mystery of our shared story.

All in all… a very worthwhile conference and many things are continuing to spring out of me as I process and ruminate on the words, pictures, images and stories shared.

I’ll leave you with this picture, found on the Story ‘09 Flickr page… it shows a couple of us live blogging during one of the speakers from nearest to furthest: @surferdrew’s mac, @justinwise’s mac and legs, and @duregger’s mac, legs and arm!!