Contact: Karen Bishop, Events Manager, Shelby Systems, Inc., 800-654-1605
SAN ANTONIO, June 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- Shelby Systems, Inc., the leading provider of church ministry and management systems, celebrates the successful conclusion of the 17th annual user conference, now known as ISC (International Shelby Conference).
Hosted by the Customer Development Division of Shelby Systems, Inc., the conference brought together clients (a record attendance of over 300 organizations and 700 attendees), business partners, industry experts and Shelby and Arena professionals, for training sessions, focus forums, and a time of refreshment and inspiration. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency on the famous Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.
International Shelby Conference (ISC) was previously known as National User Group Meeting. ISC reflects Shelby's increased geographic and technological presence. "Our client base is now global, with locations such as Africa, New Zealand and Guam," noted director of customer development, Alfred Johnson. "We've also crossed new, exciting technological waters with our recent introduction of Arena, a new web ChMS."
Clients attended over 550 training sessions, forums, and inspirational assemblies. This year's conference featured task-specific titles such as "Creating a Shelby Policy and Procedure Manual," and "Simplifying Your Chart of Accounts" as well as universal topics such as "The Lost Art of Communication", "Trends of the Fastest Growing Churches", and "Closing the Back Door."
Presenters, many recognized as experts in the faith-based community, offered a variety of educational topics. Steve Hewitt, Editor in Chief and Founder of Christian Computing Magazine, spoke about what's hot and what's not in technology, Dr. John Vaughn, author, consultant and church growth expert of Church Growth Today, spoke on trends of growing churches and megachurches. Nick Nicholaou, President of Ministry Business Services, Inc., taught several classes in personnel training, risk management and human resources. CPA and tax expert Gene Hill spoke about church tax issues and held an open "Ask the Tax Expert" forum.
The featured inspirational guest speaker was Charles S. Lowery, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Lowery Institute for Excellence. Dr. Lowery's disarming and insightful humor immediately resonated with the audience and set a perfect tone for the entire event. Guest artists Ryan Fonseca, Worship Leader at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, and Dove Award nominee, Andrew Peterson, were perfect compliments to the worshipful spirit and intent of the conference.
The prime directive of every conference is attendee edification and satisfaction. Interviews during the conference as well as subsequent feedback, attest to Shelby's success. "It was a very eye-opening conference for me and one that God has used at just the right time in the progress of our ministry... I would like to say beyond a shadow of doubt that it was extraordinary," offered Chris Kehayias, Calvary Melbourne of Florida. "ISC was outstanding… we considered it time and money well spent" said Gail Barzilla, Christ United Methodist Church of Texas.
"We celebrated ISC this year with excitement and thankfulness for our continued success and increasing sphere of influence" says Karen Bishop, Shelby's Events Manager. "The annual conference provides us a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from our customers. We always want to know their challenges and goals. They also want to know our vision and future plans. The transparency of our teams and the one-on-one opportunities of this event enable us to continue to offer the highest level of support and service."
