A look behind General Conference - Part 1

I had the amazing opportunity to work for the LDS Church magazines from January to May 2008. During that time, one of the most significant things I got to help out with was General Conference. Any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knows how big of a deal conference is. These conferences happen twice a year and offer a unique opportunity for the modern-day apostles and prophets to address the Church as a whole--all 13 million of its members across the world.

So, this Saturday morning, when the 180th semi-annual conference begins, the speakers are not simply addressing the 21,000 attendees sitting in the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are addressing the millions of Church members who anxiously await the inspired messages from leaders. In Utah, members are likely gathered with their families and friends in their own homes where the conference is broadcast to the local television station. Throughout the world, members will gather in church houses to listen to the address, often with the dubbed language translations.

To pull off such an event takes a lot of planning and a lot of preparation--there is seriously so much involved! I was personally involved with the part involving the Liahona magazine, one of the Church's official magazines. You see, within 4 weeks from the date that the conference takes place, the text from the addresses is compiled into a 148-page magazine, completely designed with top-notch formatting, pictures, etc. Oh, and did I mention this is re-done for 166 languages, which requires the text to be completely reformatted each time? (Take a section of text and translate it into Italian, Arabic, or Greek (just examples) to see how dramatic the change is.)

And, again, that's all in 4 weeks. So I wanted to share a little bit about my experience working with the Church during this time and everything that it involves.

Continued on "A look behind General Conference - Part 2"