Preparing for Annual Conference in St. Charles
News
This will be the first time Missouri Annual Conference Session will take place in St. Charles. It was in Branson in 2022 and in Springfield for 15 years before that.
The process of site selection can be a complicated one. There are several moving parts to the Annual Conference Session. With 1,200-plus attendees, including lay and clergy voting members, retired clergy, staff, exhibitors and guests, the event can swell to 1,400 participants for celebration, learning and business. Peer learning emphasizes substantial breakout rooms for workshops and smaller learning experiences.
The St. Charles convention center has hosted groups as large as 7,500 people and has had more than 2,500 people connected to its wifi network at once. It has 1,200 free parking spots and is directly off Interstate 70, with the entrance to the hotel and convention center just beyond the off-ramp. It’s less than a mile from historic downtown St. Charles.
The Annual Conference Sessions team initially determined a set of values important to the Annual Conference. Each proposal was evaluated against the following values: Accessibility, Flexibility, Community Witness and Impact, Cost and Hospitality.
