I so wish I could have gone to last week’s Q conference in Atlanta. Several of my friends attended, and one of them spoke. (Read their thoughts here and here.)

One of the many cool things about the event is that every speaker—from Rob Bell to the executive vice president of CNN—receives exactly 18 minutes to speak. A huge digital clock faces the speaker and another one faces the audience, and both can watch the minutes tick down, for good or bad. It forces the speakers to distill their thoughts, communicating only the most important, and it allows attendees to hear from many more leaders than at a traditional conference.

With the theme “It’s Time,” this year would have been the perfect opportunity for the NACC to adopt a similar strategy. In the absence of a countdown device, however, part of my role on this year’s tech crew will be crawling to the front row and alerting the speaker—who is sharing that it’s time for church planting or it’s time to reach the lost—that it’s also time to get off the stage.