Mack Academy Weblog

I crashed hard last night at about 7:30 PM local time. Now, it's 3:43 AM local time and I'm wide awake. I'd rather be on this side of jet lag. Anyway, I enjoyed a nice quiet time, reading my Bible and listening to my favorite hymns and worship songs in my hotel room. I'm normally a late night person, and while getting up early for a quiet time has long been a desire of mine, it does not happen as often as I would like. So, I'm thankful for opportunities like these when I actually get up before the clock sounds.

Focusing on the outcome
This conference has required so much work and preparation that's easy to forget the purpose of the conference itself and focus on mechanics and delivery. The purpose of this conference is about helping people. I desire to be a part of that process, by sharing some of what I have learned in the past 25 years in business with the hope that others will find some of it useful and learn from it, too. I'm really excited about the vision that Pastor Sumrall has for these conferences that he does each year to help the people of Manila and I'm honored to be invited to be this year's featured speaker. It's an awesome responsibility and opportunity.

The power of collaboration
Despite all the teasing that Michael and I enjoy about the Macless one (me) Michael is a great friend and I deeply respect his knowledge and experience in the field of collaborative technology and on using technologies as tools for effective knowledgework. In fact, when David Sumrall first contacted me to speak in Manila, my first thought was to invite Michael to co-present with me. When I approached Michael, he shared that he had an eighth reason why he would not be travelling far from home in November/December. However, Michael's been a key player since the first conversation and his imprint - yes including "made on a Mac" - will be evident in the conference planning and delivery, Perhaps, in a future conference, Michael and I can shar ethe stage again.  

Great hymns of praise & worship.
I'm listening to George Beverly Shea, right now. I purchased several of my favorite hymns off iTunes before I left. You may not know the
name George Beverly Shea, but you would recognize his voice from the Billy Graham Crusades. My favorite hymns of all time are:

• Amazing grace
• The Old Rugged Cross
• Holy, Holy, Holy
• How Great Thou Art

These seem to best express for me the emotions of a redeemed individual worshipping the almighty God.
What a great way to start the day!

What are your favorite hymns?