by Tracie Shellhouse, MCLC, LAS, Vice President of Ministry Services, Heartbeat International
As you may know, the 2023 Heartbeat International Annual Conference sold out for in-person experience and had a robust list of virtual attendees. We understand that while we would love to meet you in person, it's not always possible for everyone in the pro-life movement. We're happy to announce the virtual experience again this year for our annual conference.
Don't let the obstacles of not attending in person keep you from joining us virtually. Since we offer workshops for every role in the pro-life movement, we've created options for you to "bring" your whole team!
Two Virtual Options
1. Basic virtual access that provides access to all of the virtual-only conference for 14 days, or
2. Expanded virtual access that provides access to all of the virtual-only conference content and select in-person recorded content for 21 days.
Four Fully Virtual Add-on Options
+ Individual Basic Access - $99 ( Virtual Conference Workshops)
+ Individual Expanded Access - $149 ( Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)
+ Group Expanded Access (up to 5) - $479 (Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)
+ Enterprise Expanded Access (unlimited) - $989 (Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)
Tips to Make it Happen
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Bring in extra manpower.
In 2020, an organization where I was Executive Director, was running at a lowered capacity due to the pandemic. Shortly thereafter, to allow staff to engage fully in attending workshops and creating connections, I would bring in extra volunteers to cover the office operations and only set appointments for the virtual attendees outside the conference schedule. Today, your organization may be experiencing a season where it's operating at a lower staff/volunteer capacity. If so, take the next couple of weeks to schedule some extra "manpower" to ensure staff and volunteers have the opportunity to garner the invaluable knowledge provided through our Conference experience.
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Empower and encourage volunteers to attend.
I’m convinced that encouraging volunteers to participate has the potential to strengthen your organization significantly. Investing in a few special volunteers willing to commit to the training, will likely produce greater commitment and engagement from them at our center. And, with training available for every role in the pro-life movement, utilizing our comprehensive Agenda, it will be easy to schedule workshops with staff as they pertain to their respective roles.
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Take full advantage of the training available.
With enough paid (and volunteer) staff registered, you can make sure they attend all the workshops they don’t want to miss. Next, you can debrief and identify workshops that can be used to train current and future volunteers. Then, order those workshop recordings and use them for in-services and additions to our training curriculum.
Most pregnancy help organizations can’t take everyone to the conference in person; some of us must stay home and keep the centers open and running. Justifying the investments for travel, food, and lodging costs for staff members can also be a challenge. There are still options! Providing training for your team through our virtual conference is a great way to re-inspire and re-ignite passion for the work they are doing. Affirming your teams in this way can transform your organization!
Finally, when we participate in workshops presented by those within the movement, it affirms that God calls whomever He wants. Our experiences, backgrounds, and methods are not the same. Yet here we are, unified by our callings and commitment to the mission of pregnancy help, where we belong.
And that, perhaps more than anything, is the true value of participating in the Virtual Conference.
