Are You Ready to Engage?

To be kind of silly (though spot-on) about it, you can say that Engage is an engaging conference about engagement (on all levels), with plenty of opportunities to engage (with your peers and with some of the top fundraisers and consultants in the country).

You might have guessed that Engage is very near and dear to my heart. That's true for a number of reasons:

• Engage 2013 was FundRaising Success' first go at a hands-on, face-to-face, live event. And it was so warmly and enthusiastically received. Thank you for that.
• Engage takes place in my beloved hometown of Philadelphia, where the magazine was born and lives today.
• Engage brings together a wide array of fundraisers from organizations of all sizes and missions, as well as from the agencies and vendors that partner with them in their critical work.
• Engage is all about communications. The venue, the format, the personalities all work together to engender real conversations that bring the good, the bad and the ugly of fundraising to the table.
• Engage is a labor of love. Well, of course, it's a labor of profit too; we couldn't do it for free! But the two aren't mutually exclusive. The day's high-energy, good-vibey camaraderie is infectious, and we just love that that's as true for our staff as it is for the attendees, speakers and sponsors.

Look who's talking!
Wow, how could I have gotten this far into a blog about Engage without mentioning our stellar lineup of speakers? I'll write about them tomorrow, but if you want a sneak peek, you can get it here. One of the things that is really cool about Engage (and it represents a reality that sits at the heart of the fundraising community) is that everyone is so open and willing to share. It's as true of the speakers as it is of the attendees, and you might find yourself giving a seasoned pro a tip or two. They'll sure be open to learning from you too.