Boston Catholic Conference

2007 Boston Catholic Men’s and Women’s Conferences

Sign Up to be a Parish Captain

We rely on parish captains to invite attendees within their parish, request bulletin announcements, post/handout flyers, and help organize carpools/transportation.

InfoPlease CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BE A PARISH CAPTAIN

Role of the Parish Captain

The Boston Catholic Men’s and Women’s Conferences couldn’t happen without the hard work and generous service of many parish and regional captains. The main reason why men and women attend the Conferences is because of a “tap on the shoulder” invite from someone they know. Most of these invites will come within a parish. We would like at least one parish captain in every parish in the Archdiocese (and as many as possible in parishes in surrounding dioceses). There are no prerequisites or qualifications necessary other than a belief that the Men’s and Women’s Conferences are a good idea and the willingness to share that with your fellow parishioners. Please step up – we need you.

Activities of Successful Parish Captains

We encourage Parish Captains to take a high-frequency approach (try to ensure each person hears about the Conferences in at least 3 ways). Here are a few ways that have worked for Parish Captains in 2005 and 2006.

  • Bulletin announcement
  • Bulletin inserts (or handing out brochures or business cards) – best to put your contact info on the form.
  • Brochures/Fliers posted on bulletin boards in a church, parish hall, rectory, etc.
  • Personal word-of-mouth invites at Church and phone calls to friends you know – MOST EFFECTIVE
  • Asking others in your parish to work with you to invite a certain number of attendees each (“deputize them”)
  • Asking your spouse and family members to spread the word
  • Asking Priests to mention it as an announcement at the end of mass (if that is a custom in your parish)
  • Email with a link to the www.bostoncatholicmen.org or www.bostoncatholicwomen.org websites.
  • Put a mention in your local town newspaper if they have a “calendar of events”
  • Request time on your local Cable Access Channel and run a video of last year’s Conference (contact Conference organizers for more info).
  • Speak for 2 minutes at any men’s and/or women’s organizations in your parish (or organizations that have lots of Catholic men and women)
  • Make it easy to sign up immediately (have pens and registration forms)
  • Ask each person that signs up to try to bring at least one other person or to buy them a ticket as a gift.
  • Focus on “what were you planning to do for Lent?”  Many attendees find the Conferences like a great one-day retreat in Lent. 

We encourage parish captains to set a goal for parish recruitment and encourage men/women to join with you to try to meet or beat that goal! Possible parish goals:

  • Big parish – Fill 2 buses with 40-50 attendees each
  • Mid-size parish – Fill 1 bus with 50 attendees
  • Smaller parish – Fill a smaller bus with 15-25 attendees
  • Some big, active parishes might want to shoot to bring the most men & women to the Conference.

We also encourage parish captains to push for early registration (particularly with groups):

  • Pricing is discounted for early signup and for groups
  • Once people sign up, often they’ll mention it to others – so early signees usually lead to more attendees.
  • Some parish captains actually coordinate the taking of money and they place a big group order.
  • The Conferences’ logistical team benefits GREATLY from having people sign up early (so we appreciate any help you can give us from that).

We welcome men or women in parishes to serve as a captain for both conferences if there are no other captains in a parish.  Ideally, though there can be a few men and a few women working together in parishes to invite as many parishioners as possible. 

Parish Captain Signup

InfoPlease CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BE A PARISH CAPTAIN