Defending the Faith Conference
Management and Setup

Answers in Genesis (AiG) and the local sponsoring organizations (churches, schools, individuals or groups) will work together to create a successful conference. AiG will be responsible for providing student materials (student manual and leader manual). The sponsoring organization(s) should form a committee of persons who will be responsible for the following:

Location
The sponsoring organization(s) will be responsible for providing a location for the conference (school, church, or local building) at no cost to Answers in Genesis.

Conference Room Setup
The optimum room setup is classroom style (table and chairs). In addition, there should be tables for setting up resources and snacks. The instructor area should contain a table and screen for projection.

Registration and Pre-Registration
There should be a local contact person to handle registration. This person should be responsible for handling all registrations prior to the day of the conference. It is recommended that an announced cut-off date for pre-registration be set at 3 days prior to the start of the conference. Registrations after this cut-off date will have a $5 added cost. This allows for the planning of food and other logistics as well as the shipping of conference materials.
Registration method is up to the sponsoring organization. Some formats include: phone, email, or mail-in form. It is recommended that the following items be included in the registration form:

• Name
• Address (church name or home address)
• Phone number (church or individual)
• Email address (church or individual)
• Paid (dollar amount or blank)
• Type of payment (check, cash,…)

In addition, there needs to be someone to do registration the day of the conference to sign students in and handle any walk-in registrations.

Registration Fee
It is recommended that attendees pay in advance and not wait until the day of conference.
Attendee Cost:

Someone on the local committee will need to handle the registration fee for the conference. Attendees should make checks out to the sponsoring church or organization. The cost of lunch will be taken from this amount. The sponsoring organization(s) can then make one check out to AiG from the remaining money which will be used to help pay for the printing of manuals and instructor travel.

Conference Size
The maximum number of attendees will be determined by the size of the facility.

Lunch and Snacks
Lunches should be handled by someone on the local committee. Snacks will be provided by the sponsoring church/organization. Monies spent on lunch will come out of the registration fee. A suggested lunch cost is between $4 and $6 per student. Lunch can be either through a local caterer, in which case someone on the local committee will need to arrange by purchasing food and supplies at a local food market or by ordering food from a local restaurant (subway, pizza, box lunches, etc.). Snacks will be provided by the local sponsors. Someone on the local committee will need to assist with lunch and snack setup. The following is a sample food menu.

• Friday evening: simple snacks
• Morning: juice, water, coffee, snacks (pastries, fruit,...)
• Lunch: cold cuts, cheeses, breads, chips, veggies, pizza, cookies, water, juice or pre-made box lunch
• Afternoon: water, juices, snacks (cookies, veggies, crackers and cheese)

Suggested Advertising
Announcements about the conference should be sent to local churches, schools, and other Christian organizations in the area. Answers in Genesis will provide a conference description that can be sent via email (or use the description on this web site: DtF Description) as well as color posters. Additional ways for advertising include:

• Radio – Local Christian stations can do a short announcement or they can have someone from AiG on their show to discuss the conference or talk about the creation/evolution issue. This can be done anytime prior to the conference (does not have to be in studio).

• Talking to local groups or handing out the conference description or poster (Sunday school classes, Bible study groups, teachers, or home school groups).

• Posting the color poster at churches and Christian schools

Answers in Genesis
AiG will provide an instructor and an administrative assistant for the conference. The AiG administration person will assist with registration the day of class, lunch, selling books/DVDs and other administration functions during the conference.

Conference Room Setup
The main conference room should contain tables and chairs for all attendees. The instructor area should contain a table for the PC and projector and a screen for projection. The screen must be large enough for all to see (minimum 10 x 10). The room should contain 4, eight foot tables (or 6, six foot tables) to set up resources (books and DVDs) for selling. If the conference room is not large enough, then a space close by needs to be allocated. There also needs to be two eight foot tables for setting up snacks.

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