Those who have attended past ASI conventions may remember 3ABN’s booth, which has remained virtually unchanged the previous eight conventions that have passed since I’ve been at 3ABN (and probably longer than that, but that is beyond my time). It was basically one and then later two traditional tradeshow displays, each with space for 3 or 4 backlit Plexiglas panels. The only difference year to year was the choice of panels used, and of course the handouts and the faces present at the booth.

For the past several years, some of us at 3ABN, such as Greg Morikone and myself, had been suggesting something different — something bigger, more immersive, and more professional. In fact, 3ABN already owned a larger and better looking tradeshow display, which we suggested could be used for parts in a new design. However, year after year our ideas had been turned down, mainly due to finances and not wanting to project an image of extravagence.

However, this year someone with more say-so than myself decided that 3ABN would be benefitted by a larger booth, and so this dream finally had a chance to move forward. It turned out to be a complicated process, since the idea for the booth included a space where on-location taping could be done. There were so many people involved in the planning, there was a lot of waiting; and because of that, there was a lot of last-minute rush to complete the project.

Ultimately the structure design fell on Jason Wilhelm, who works in our Program Development department. (Jason is a 3D whiz, which was certainly handy for this project.) The graphic design for the booth panels mostly fell on me.

Using SketchUp and Photoshop, we mocked up a number of designs. The final design that I created on a whim, taking cues from our 3ABN bag which is ubiqutous at such events, used large swatches of primary colors, reflecting the colors common on the flags of the world. Flags from many countries adorned the pillars on top. I was also inspired to decorate the pillars with words that would represent the “pillar” principles of 3ABN — although the actual choice of words would be decided at a later meeting.

The multicolored international theme turned out to be the overwhelming favorite. With our administration’s approval I finally got the go-ahead to finish the project. Unfortunately, at that stage we had about 2 or 3 weeks until the truck that would transport that booth would depart for Tampa. Not only that, but I also had my other projects such as a 3ABN World magazine to finish — a project that could eat up most of that time by itself.

The biggest frustration was that the Photoshop files we were working with were so large — up to multiple gigabytes in size — that just opening or saving the files took enough time for cookies and a nap (which I never got to do, unfortunately). It was also the first real project on our new wide-format printer (we produced everthing in-house). And at the outset we did not really have a clue how exactly we were going to mount these things on the trusses that made up the booth structure. Fortunately our truck crew helped solve many of the logistical problems. Needless to say, we finally finished it, and I must say it came together pretty well.

In Tampa, we had quite a crew working to assemble the thing, essentially for the first time. Between us and the “Church in a Day” exhibit adjacent to us, that part of the hall looked, smelled, and sounded like an assembly plant.

I’ve posted pictures from ASI on my Facebook page, including quite a few photos of the booth construction (most of which were taken by my friend and coworker Idalia Dinzey).

The globe in the center rotated, and we had three satellites orbitting it:

Another view from the front:

An astounding feature of this year’s ASI was the Sabbath donation by the several thousand people present: more than $8 million in gifts and pledges! This seemed to be largely in response to the new “Church in a Day” project that was pushed this year.

One of the most touching ministry reports was from a ministry reaching out to the poor, abused, and widowed/abandoned women of Peru. It was really amazing.

It was great to see many friends at ASI, and to meet some new ones. Although my brother and Heidi were not there this year, my mom was able to come; and she had a good time. Of course, the whole event passes too quickly.

PS: If you ever get the chance to eat at a Sweet Tomato restaurant, try it! It’s like the best all-you-can-eat salad bar ever!

Our ASI event on Facebook has taken on a life of its own, with other people inviting friends, beyond my circle of friends that I personally invited. Although the number of people who have indicated their intent to attend is relatively small, it is still good to see regular additions to the numbers just about every week. A frustrating aspect of Facebook is that you can’t simply invite fans to an event (or so it seems); the most you can do is send an update to the fans, and invite your personal friends.

Most of my photography was of the live events. Here are some shots from the main auditorium:

3ABN did a short intro to each of the live events. Here John and Angela Lomacang greet our TV audience:

We had great music, most or nearly all of it with live instruments (I think instrumental accompaniment is much classier than canned music!) — some of the vocal pieces were outstanding:

We had lots of visitors at the 3ABN booth:

My bro and his wife Heidi:

It was great to see Diana and her bro Adrian, both of whom came from hours away, in opposite directions, to be there:

Claus and Theresa, friends from Sweden, enjoy a relaxing moment in the back of the auditorium (and yes, those kids are playing Monopoly!):

As could be expected, I saw many friends at ASI, as well as some family, including my brother and his wife, and my cousin James and his family. I met some new friends. I volunteered a little at 3ABN‘s booth, which is always fun (at least when one doesn’t have to do it!). And I volunteered a little at the Health Expo booth that was put together by my friends at LifeStyleTV.

Since this was the 60th anniversary of ASI, there was a strong emphasis on the history of ASI, especially its roots in the Madison school, and the ideals of E. A. Sutherland and Percy Megan. (The story is also vividly told in the book, Madison: God’s Beautiful Farm, which I highly recommend.) It was neat to hear this history repeated for the thousands of attendees, especially in light of the many parallels between their difficulties and what other ministries face today.

There were many inspirational testimonies of people sharing Christ “in the marketplace” (ASI-speak for “on the job”) as well as in innovative mission projects and other forms of evangelism. We also heard inspiring messages, and some awesome music. It was also interesting to see the new projects and products in the exhibit area, which is always a major highlight of ASI.

ASI is one of my favorite events of the year, the other being GYC. Both are events where God’s presence seems especially near, and the personal blessings are abundant. If you want to see where Seventh-day Adventist evangelism is headed, as well as hear powerful stories of ministries on the front lines, ASI is the place to be.

I also had a chance to visit Southwestern ColorGraphics, in Keene, one of the presses that 3ABN does business with. It was great to see their facilities and learn about the new technologies they’ve installed recently.

The Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, site of the convention, was awesome. The indoor atrium, seen below, was air conditioned (the atrium was very large, impossible to capture in a single photo; this is just one corner of it). I’m glad I don’t pay their electric bill!

The atrium at night (a stream runs by the base of the palm trees):

The roof of the atrium was adorned with the star of Texas:

My main assignment at ASI, other than meeting with the 3ABN Book Committee, was taking behind-the-scenes photos of 3ABN production.

Joel in the truck audio room, and Bobby in the truck control room:

Nicole Parker (left), long-time friend and former coworker, visits 3ABN’s booth in the exhibit hall:

Adrian gets into the Texas spirit: