This document provides information about the Twenty29 event, which brings together young people and older speakers to encourage intergenerational collaboration. The 3-day event will feature 50 speakers giving 18-minute talks to 500 young attendees. Speakers will include leaders from various fields and generations. The goal is for youthful strength to be guided by wisdom and experience, and for wisdom to be aided by youthful energy. The talks will be recorded and shared online to spread the messages. No honorarium will be provided to maintain the purpose of encouraging impact over monetary rewards. Attendees will be exceptional young people selected based on character and competence. The venue is a conference center known for its country inns and meals.
3. 01 VISION Young people have energy and passion but
lack resources and life experience. Older
people have resources and experience
PROVERBS 20:29 “The glory of young but often lack time and energy. What if
men is their strength, but the splendor youthful strength was guided by wisdom.
of old men is their gray hair.” What if wisdom was aided by strength?
What if young and old came together and
worked together, each group supplying
what the other lacks?
They could make history.
4. 02 INTRODUCING TWENTY29
Twenty29 is a community of passionate individuals drawn together in partnership to face the
greatest ideas, opportunities, and obstacles of our day. It is the great coming together of two
generations — the transition point between present and future leadership. Twenty29 is about
character, competence, and collaboration. It is an experiment in quality over quantity. The best
venue. The best audience. The best speakers.
THE EVENT Three days, fifty speakers, eighteen minutes
each to give the talk of their lives to five
Twenty29 is modeled after highly hundred of the most committed and capable
successful event called TED. young people in the world.
Get a taste at TED.com
BILLY GRAHAM TRAINING CENTER AT THE COVE
Ashville, NC • August 1-4, 2011
5. 03 FOUNDERS
At fifteen Alex & Brett Harris were national
speech and debate champions. At sixteen
they launched the most highly trafficked
Christian teen blog on the web. At seventeen
they served as the youngest interns on record
at the Alabama Supreme Court. At eighteen
they released their bestselling book, Do Hard
Things. At nineteen they founded the most
successful independent grassroots organi-
zation of the 2008 Presidential Primary. At
twenty they enrolled at Patrick Henry College,
joining the smartest freshman class in the
country based on incoming assessment tests.
Not surprisingly, mainstream publications
“Alex and Brett are the real deal — young
men of character, depth, and eternal from The New York Times to WIRED Magazine
perspective.” — Randy Alcorn have labeled them “evangelical prodigies.”
Now twenty-one, they are launching their
most ambitious project yet: Twenty29.
6. PLATFORM
WEBSITE: Nearly 40 million page views from over 5 million unique visitors since 2007.
CONFERENCE: Over 40,000 teens, parents, and youth workers reached in two years.
BOOK: 250,000+ copies sold with translations in more than a dozen languages.
MEDIA
SUPPORT
Dr. James Dobson Charles Colson Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Focus on the Family Prison Fellowship Ministries Revive Our Hearts
Doug Fields John Piper Albert Mohler
Purpose-Driven® Youth Ministry Desiring God Minstries Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“ I have watched Alex and Brett take on new and daunting endeavors with resolve and determination
and, as a result, mature and develop into leaders for this generation and an example for all generations..
Justice Tom Parker
Alabama Supreme Court
7. 04 SPEAKERS
Our speakers are opinion leaders, influencers, captains of industry, creatives, content generators,
and social entrepreneurs. They are bestselling authors, college presidents, political gurus, and
ministry leaders. Ultimately, they are men and women with a heart for the next generation —
willing to set aside time to purposefully invest in deserving young people.
JIM ELLISTON
DR. ALBERT MOHLER
FRANK PASTORE Co-founder of CloverSites, a
“The reigning intellectual of
Former pro-baseball pitcher Web 3.0 company providing
the evangelical movement”
for the Cincinnati Reds. Now churches and ministries with
— according to TIME.com —
hosts The Frank Pastore Show some of the best looking and
and President of the Southern
on KKLA 99.5 FM, the largest best working sites on the web.
Baptist Theological Seminary.
Christian talk show in the U.S.
8. 05 AUDIENCE
Twenty29 features an invitation-only audience of the most exceptional young people in the
world — based on their godly character and practical competence. Our attendees are future
pastors, filmmakers, CEO’s, politicians, authors, and missionaries. Many of them have already
started making their mark on the world. You get to make your mark on them.
CHRISTINA DICKSON
CHLOE ANDERSON
25-year-old founder of The ZACH HUNTER
22-year-old film producer and
Revolutionary Media Project, 18-year-old abolitionist and
director for Epicenter Picures.
a growing cadre of young global spokesperson. Speaks
Congressional Award Gold
activists looking to change to hundreds of thousands
Medal winner and specialist
the world through art. each year about God’s heart
in youth development.
for the hurting and oppressed.
9. 06 FORMAT
The 18-minute format was first introduced at TED1990. This communication revolution helped
speakers deliver the talk of their lives by focusing on what was most important and polishing
their presentations. Today, TED’s approach is used at cutting edge events around the globe, and
their talks, available free online, have been viewed over 100 million times by 15 million people.
DELIVERED CAPTURED SPREAD
Every speaker from the most Every presentation is caught Every video is long enough
well-known to the unknown professionally on video and to be meaningful and short
speaks to the same audience made available for free on a enought to share — a recipe
for the same amount of time. state-of-the-art website. for global (and viral) impact.
VISIT TED.COM TO SEE THE POWER OF 18-MINUTES.
Then, imagine the same approach in the Christian and next generation contexts. That’s Twenty29.
10. 07 NETWORK
Twenty29 fosters collaboration by drawing together exceptional individuals and providing loads
of stimulating subject matter and intentional space for interaction. We encourage speakers to
join us as participants, both before and after their presentations. An 18-minute talk might get
someone’s attention, but the conversation afterwards can be just as important.
CONNECT
LEARN
INVEST Make sure you catch at least
Everyone grows at Twenty29.
Twenty29 makes meaningful one of our “Speakers Only”
Stick around to enjoy some
interaction easy, with ample breakfasts — a great chance
exciting and fascinating talks
time for spontaneity, as well to interact with your peers.
from great thinkers and doers.
as strategic, structured times.
15. 09 COMPENSATION
Every speaker receives an all-expenses paid opportunity to speak to one of the best audiences,
in one of the best venues in the country. We cover all travel costs, up to four free nights in one of
The Cove’s famous country inns, and eleven scrumptious meals prepared by The Cove’s kitchen
staff. Following the TED model, Twenty29 does not offer any honorarium.
WHY WE DON’T PAY OUR SPEAKERS
Not only could we never afford to pay normal fees for fifty speakers of this caliber, but we also want
to make sure our speakers come for the right reasons. This approach allows us to identify those who
truly share our ethos — speakers who are willing to sacrifice earthly rewards for heavenly ones.
16. 10 CLOSING If the vision of Twenty29 appeals to
you, please join us at The Cove. Our
THOUGHTS speaking slots fill up quickly so the
sooner you confirm the better.
CONTACT US:
Our invitation to you is simple. . .
speakers@twenty29.org
Help us pass the baton.