Click on a question below to go directly to its answer.

(Be sure to check out our recent email communication, What You Need to Know from A-Z, for any information that may not be listed here!)

General Questions

Why do we have a World Wide Conference?
Why should we go to World Wide Conference?
Why do we have to fly all the way to Asia?

Registration Questions

How do I know if my registration went through?
How do I make sure that my spouse is registered as a staff member if he/she is not our group’s main contact?
What do I do if I think I signed us up twice?
Why couldn’t I find my team name when I registered?

Payment Questions

What is the date deadline to cancel my conference registration without a fee being imposed? After that date, what will the fee be?
How will those without a CRM fund pay for their conference registration?
If a CRM staff person wants to use their credit card (points), can they pay that way instead of with a fund transfer?
What are the tax policies regarding reimbursements for conference fees?

Accommodation Questions

How do I know how many rooms I’m getting? How do I request adjoining rooms for our children?
What does an adult (shared room) vs. adult (single room) mean?

Travel Questions

Do I need a visa to get into Malaysia, or will my passport suffice?

Why do we have a World Wide Conference?

In addition to what Sam mentioned in the conference invitation, here’s a note from John Hayes on why it’s so important for us to have a World Wide Conference.

From John Hayes (Director of InnerCHANGE):

“Years ago, I ransacked the gospels for practical insights into sustaining dynamic community over the long haul since that was important for InnerCHANGE if we were to survive in our ministry.

“In the short term, I sensed community would come naturally and easily. . . as we were all pioneers thrown excitedly together in some difficult, challenging contexts. But I was concerned that we would fall prey to the deterioration of relationships that seems to mark so many movements or organizations with the passage of time.

“Luke 4:24, in which Christ references the proverb, ‘A prophet is without honor in his home town’ seemed to speak a warning to our hope of maintaining a close, relational atmosphere for the long haul. What we wanted was more than ‘team,’ more than ‘organization,’ it was family. And as family we enjoyed a natural intimacy. But with family comes familiarity, and with familiarity came the tendency to under-appreciate one another or even diminish one another.

“‘Familiarity breeds contempt’ is simply a more contemporary restatement of the proverb Jesus quoted that was circulating in His day, and we have wrestled with symptoms of that same contempt. One of the symptoms of under-appreciation I have occasionally noticed manifesting itself is a resistance to attending important functions like annual conferences or a cynicism about gathering at other times as staff.

“I believe that when organizations first begin they gather naturally with joy and eagerness regardless of the agenda. There is a tacit sense that gathering as family has value for its own sake. Families gather. They nurture one another. They sharpen as iron sharpens iron.

“However, with time, as the ‘prophet in his hometown syndrome’ begins to deflate our sense of one another’s value, a subtle transition can take place. No longer is it important intrinsically to gather together—we must know the agenda and know that the agenda of the gathering is ‘worth our time’ or ‘worth all this money.’

“I am not suggesting that agenda is not important or need not be discharged in an excellent manner or that costs are difficult to bear —I am suggesting that when our concern about the agenda of a conference or the cost supplants the value of gathering as our unique, apostolic expression of the Body, we are in danger of under-appreciating one another and ‘professionalizing’ our relationships.

“So I believe as we gather … as the CRM Family from around the world, we will be expressing again the value we have in one another’s lives intrinsically as a John 13:34 community over and above simply what we can ‘take’ from one another or from the conference presentation to advance our personal learning curves. For many reasons, being in [Malaysia] is important but this reason alone should be justification enough.”

Why should we go to World Wide Conference?

Attendance at World Wide Conference is required of all staff, but for a good perspective on why you should attend, we liked what Keith Webb had to say:

From Keith Webb (CRM-US International Staff):

“Lori and I are looking forward to the conference, despite the fact that it’s going to be a pain-in-the-butt to get to – we’ll be in Seattle next summer. We find these conferences valuable at a number of levels:

• It allows us to connect with people from all corners of CRM. I usually have a “hit list” of people I want to meet, learn from, or otherwise bother. Lori has a list of people she wants to touch hearts with…
• We like hearing and “feeling” the bigger vision of what CRM is about. Too easy to just see “my thing”. I’m always amazed at cool stuff others are doing and learning…
• We like hanging with CRM people. It’s just fun!
• Langkawi, Malaysia is a top tropical resort destination and going to be great. Lori was in the group that helped decide it and she says it was the best of the lot.

With this in mind, I’d like to encourage you three ways:

1. Bring your kids. Lori and I have committed to bring our kids from Seattle for the WWC. It’s going to cost us $3500 between flights and fees to bring them, but we think it’s worth it long term. Our kids feel an affinity with other CRM kids around the world that they’ve met. They’ve met kids at other conferences (Asia, US, WWC), CRM staff have visited us in Singapore, and we’ve visited them. Involving our kids has helped them to see the bigger picture of the ministry we (CRM and us) are involved in. It’s helped them make sense of things and feel connected. I think that personal connection is one of the keys to kids growing up admiring their busy ministry parents rather than resenting them.

2. Invite your key ministry partners to WWC. I will invite key people who minister with us in coaching training. My expectation isn’t that they join CRM staff, although that’s available to them, but rather that they interact with the larger CRM community for their own benefit and the benefit of CRM.

3. Get yourself registered. With all the work that Kevin Brown and his team have put into organizing the WWC, let’s make things as easy as possible for them by being timely with our part of all the logistics.”

Why do we have to fly all the way to Asia?

From Kevin Brown (2010 Conference Director):

“Asia houses the second largest concentration of CRM staff (North America being #1), and this substantial group has paid for high price airfares for the last two conferences. In addition, molding us into a worldwide organization with an expanded worldview is a high value for our leadership; holding each conference in a different country is a large step in promoting that value.

“I would like to emphasize that in Southeast Asia, the US dollar still goes a long way. For the same cost of a college dorm room in California at the 2006 World Wide Conference, we are using a beautiful site and facility in Asia.”

How do I know if my registration went through?

If you registered for World Wide Conference before October 28, 2009, you should have received an email confirmation of your registrations on October 28, 2009. If you register after October 28, you should receive an email confirmation for each person you register at the time of registration. If you did not receive your confirmation, please be sure to check your spam folder and add worldwideconference@crmleaders.org to your address book. If you still do not have an email confirmation, please check with Ginny Salas at wwcregistration@crmleaders.org to be sure your registration went through.

How do I make sure that my spouse is registered as a staff member if he/she is not our group’s main contact?

The registration form should allow you to select your spouse’s relationship to CRM once you select “Spouse” as their relationship to you. If you select the “CRM/CoNext Staff Person” option for your spouse, then he/she will be logged in our system as a staff member. A spouse doesn’t need to be the main contact for your “group” for them to be “staff”.

What do I do if I think I signed us up twice?

If you did register more than once, rest assured that we will find your duplicate record and delete it for you.

Why couldn’t I find my team when I registered?

This should only be an issue for CRM-US International and US Ministries Staff because of the number of specialized teams in those areas. If this applies to you, you will need to select either CRM-US International Ministries or CRM-US US Ministries as your team affiliation. Unfortunately there is not enough space on the registration form to list each International and US team.

What is the date deadline to cancel my conference registration without a fee being imposed? After that date, what will the fee be?

While it is strongly encouraged that all registration details be finalized no later than April 1st, the last day to cancel your registration without a fee being imposed is May 17th, 2010. Below are the details of the conference cancellation policy:

• If you cancel less than 60 days prior (approx. May 18) you will be responsible for 50% of the conference fee.
• If you cancel less than 30 days prior (aprrox. June 18) you will be responsible for 100% of the conference fee.

Cancellations inside of these dates due to a death in the family or a serious life-threatening illness will not be penalized. Other exceptions to this policy may be made on a case by case basis.

How will those without a CRM fund pay for their conference registration?

These people will need to pay by credit card. We will email you to for payment information at a later date.

If a CRM staff person wanted to use their credit card (points), can they pay that way instead of with a fund transfer?

Yes. We will email you for payment information at a later date.

What are the tax policies regarding reimbursements for conference fees?

CRM is committed to including and involving the whole family for World Wide Conference, we just need to be careful as to how we reimburse for those expenses – non-taxable vs taxable.  Reimbursement for non-ministry spouses and non-working dependents will be permitted on a taxable basis.  What the IRS is sensitive to is diverting funds to individuals on a non-taxable basis. If spouses or older dependents are involved in ministry or will be working at the conference, then their expenses will be reimbursable on a non-taxable basis with appropriate explanation.

How do I know how many rooms I’m getting? How do I request adjoining rooms for our children?

We will, at a later date, invite you to request the number of rooms you would like and whether you need adjoining rooms or rooms near to each other. Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee adjoining rooms to everyone who might request them due to a limited number on the Pelangi Beach property, but we will do our best to accommodate everyone’s needs.

What does an adult (shared room) vs. adult (single room) mean?

Conference pricing is based on double room occupancy. Singles who would like their own room must cover the cost of the double occupancy room (or, double the conference price). A shared room simply means there is a minimum of two adults (either two singles or one couple) in the room.

Do I need a visa to get into Malaysia, or will my passport suffice?

You do not need a visa to get into Malaysia. In fact, visa requirements are quite relaxed there. U.S. citizens are allowed to stay for up to 3 months without a visa.  If you would like to double check or research further, check out the link below to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.kln.gov.my/?m_id=53

Continue to check back for more Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a specific question that isn’t addressed here, please direct it to one of the people listed on the General Info page.