Nashville, TN November 18-21, 2010 Nashville Convention Center
San Diego, CA February 10-13, 2011 Town & Country Resort / Conference Center

The changes will allow Youth Specialties to better meet the needs and expressed desires of youth workers, both in varying the time of year, as well as offering two very different convention experiences. The San Diego convention will undergo a radical transformation in appearance and content, bringing brighter innovation and learning opportunities for youth workers.

“We love NYWC and all that it has come to mean to youth workers, and our fall convention in Nashville will work to bring the best and most popular aspects of conventions past mixed with new innovations like our Open Space Saturday,” says YS President Mark Oestreicher. “As our community of youth workers innovates, we want to have a highly collaborative environment for the knowledge of the community to surface, as well as taking a leading and facilitating role for those new to youth ministry.

“As we look to San Diego in February 2011, we want to re-imagine what a convention dedicated to those who serve adolescents can look like, and deliver an experience unlike any existing conference. While the details are being worked out with many partners, we know that this convention will encompass a global view of youth ministry, which includes significant aspects of young adult ministry as well as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural ministry. This new convention will provide collaborative learning environments for people from around the world to learn from each other how to best engage youth and young adults in their lives of faith. Plus, February is a great time to be in San Diego!” Mark has posted a video explaining the changes, which can be viewed here.

The fall date and time is traditionally the largest national gathering of youth workers, and will expand on YS’s 40-year history of providing the space for youth ministry’s conversation to happen. A wide-ranging event that offers practical training, inspiring worship as well as cutting-edge insight into the latest movements and innovations in youth ministry, the YS National Youth Workers Convention is youth ministry’s premiere event.

A more detailed announcement about the San Diego convention will be made in January 2010.

In addition to this weekend’s convention in Los Angeles, Youth Specialties will also be hosting National Youth Workers’ Conventions this fall in Cincinnati and Atlanta. More information can be found at www.nywc.com.

YOUTH SPECIALTIES
Youth Specialties, a division of Zondervan, is a world leader in youth ministry resources. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., YS is known for its bold creativity and has assisted Christian youth workers, both career and volunteer, of nearly every denomination and youth-serving organization for more than 40 years. Each fall, YS produces the National Youth Workers Convention, offering training, encouragement, and inspiration to over 10,000 youth workers from the United States and around the world. Annually, YS educates and encourages more than 100,000 people worldwide through training seminars, international conventions, online material, and bestselling and award-winning English and Spanish resources for teenagers, the workers who love them, and the professors who teach youth ministry (Youth Specialties Academic). Visit Youth Specialties at www.YouthSpecialties.com