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18 Mar 2024

How does a youth pastor Sabbath?

By |2024-03-18T12:32:18-07:00March 18th, 2024|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Youth pastors lead busy lives! We run from event to event and youth program to youth program! We have meetings to attend, volunteers to care for, students we want to check in on, and other duties as assigned that get delegated to us fairly regularly. On top of that, having kids and a spouse can make finding the time for Sabbath almost impossible! So, how does the Youth Pastor Sabbath?

Block out intentional family time

Whether you have young kids or teenagers, it’s important to let them know that they are a priority to you. Spending time together as a family is an important way to observe Sabbath. It can be a meal, a hike, or playing a game together. You give your time to a lot of people. Make sure when you observe Sabbath, you intentionally plan time for your family! That includes your spouse, who will have difficulty finding Sabbath rest since they probably play a larger family role when you work the hardest. Show them they matter to you!

Disconnect from work

Put your phone away. Turn it all the way off. Don’t open your laptop. Flee the county. Do whatever it takes to disconnect from work. It’s tough when work is spiritual, and our rest can sometimes bleed into work. One way we can ensure that we are totally disconnected is by ensuring that the only people who can contact us are the people we are close to. If there’s a real emergency, we’ll find out about it.

Delegate responsibilities

Most youth pastors don’t get to Sabbath on a Sunday. It’s just not going to happen. So, if you are resting during the workweek, ensure your responsibilities are delegated to somebody else. If there’s some type of important information that needs to be disseminated, make sure the church secretary knows all the information that’s going out. If your church is small and you don’t have a dedicated admin, put the robots to work! An automated out-of-office email reply with a link to all the important information or the retreat discount code will save you a lot of time! Schedule posts to happen while you’re out and have a volunteer check in on social media to make sure nothing gets weird.

Find the spiritual practice for you

If you can’t read your Bible without preparing a lesson, maybe you need to try listening to worship music. If you have difficulty praying without thinking about reaching out to a student, maybe you should go on a hike without your phone. It’s tough when so much of our job is connected to spiritual practices. Find the practice that helps you reset, connects you to God, and doesn’t accidentally lead you back into work.

Connect with the community

Whether you are single or have a family, use your Sabbath time to connect with people who invigorate you. Find those life-giving people you can spend time with and plan a coffee or a lunch together. Talk about spiritual things and build one another up. Ministry can be lonely. Find someone with whom you can share life and invite your struggles.

What did I miss? Is there a way that you find to Sabbath that you feel is helpful?

Think you may be on the verge of Burnout? We’ve got a resource for you to check out:

12 Mar 2024

Empowering Group Leaders: Key Strategies for Ministry Success

By |2024-03-12T09:34:28-07:00March 12th, 2024|Youth Ministry Ideas|2 Comments

Group leaders play a pivotal role in the success of any ministry. They are the frontline ambassadors who carry out the vision and strategy, impacting the lives of individuals and families. However, to truly empower these leaders and ensure their effectiveness, it’s essential to provide them with clear guidelines on achieving success.

Here are 4 key elements we lay out for our leaders so they know if they are being successful:

  1. One of the fundamental aspects of effective leadership is facilitating faith conversations. Leaders must be encouraged to steer discussions back to matters of faith, especially in small group settings. By using provided discussion questions and consistently pointing students back to Jesus, leaders can create meaningful opportunities for spiritual growth and reflection.
  2. Follow-up is another critical component of successful leadership. Whether it’s reaching out to new students or responding to prayer requests, effective follow-up demonstrates care and commitment. By implementing best follow-up practices such as making personal contact after meetings, extending personal invitations for future events, and integrating students into group communication channels, leaders can foster a sense of belonging and connection.
  3. Building connections with students’ families is an often overlooked but impactful aspect of ministry. Leaders are encouraged to make intentional efforts to connect with parents or guardians, as they play a crucial role in students’ lives. Whether it’s through simple introductions, sharing positive feedback about their child, or engaging in social media interactions, these gestures contribute to building a supportive community and partnership.
  4. Engaging students beyond weekly gatherings is essential for building deeper relationships and fostering continuous growth. Leaders are encouraged to interact with students both in person and digitally throughout the week. By having faith discussions in various settings and leveraging digital platforms where students are active, leaders can create meaningful connections beyond traditional church gatherings.

Empowering group leaders requires providing them with clear guidelines and strategies for success. By emphasizing the importance of faith conversations, effective follow-up, building connections with families, and engaging students beyond weekly gatherings, leaders can make a significant impact in the lives of individuals and families. As leaders embrace these key strategies, they become catalysts for transformation and growth within the ministry, ultimately fulfilling its vision and strategy.

Need some resources to help empower leaders? DYM has got your back!

8 Mar 2024

Youth Min Roundup – 03/08/2024

By |2024-03-08T08:23:22-08:00March 8th, 2024|Youth Ministry Roundup|1 Comment

Here are just a few interesting finds this week from around the Youth Min Multiverse:

😂 From Our Online Community

Last week, we asked our Instagram followers and Facebook Group members to tell us about their worst youth ministry-related injury. They did not disappoint. Here are just a few of our favorites:

  • I had Volunteer Leader who didn’t want to wear the helmet in the Sumo Suit…fell backwards and cracked her skull.

  • Dislocated my pinky during dodgeball game and popped back in…unfortunately the tendons never reattached in the “healing process “ so now have a janky pinky

  • Leader hid on a roof for a game of capture the the counselor. Got too into getting away that he jumped (1 story about 8 foot) and broke his ankle. He didn’t have insurance. I did a duct tape splint to get him to a doc we knew… after he finished the game.

  • Just say no to the blob. You are in your 30’s, and landing on your feet because of a panic attack isn’t going to feel good. (Spoiler alert, you broke your leg in front of 75 students, parents, and children)

  • Ugh. We were playing marshmallow baseball at a lock-in. It inevitably turned into a marshmallow food fight. A 7th grader pelted me in the face with a jumbo marshmallow from point blank. So I picked it up and chucked it at him as hard as I could, as he ran away laughing. I missed him and tore my labrum (shoulder ligament).

  • Broom hockey. Metal handle broke. Girl kept playing with the broom. Sliced a girls finger almost off. Bad. No more metal handles. But we still play broom hockey. But only wood handles. Let that be a lesson to you all.

  • Going all in on slip slide kickball led to 5 months of intense pain, discovering a major herniation on my back and ending in surgery. Now I cheer.

  • Built a Karate Piñata Game 🪅
    Leader is blindfolded in the middle. He goes hard and kicks a piñata… kicks too high and the carabiner clip someone goes right into his calf muscle. He is bleeding. He can’t see anything, and keeps going. While attached to the mechanism, he pulls the arm down that’s holding the piñata. The game is now destroyed. Blood spewing everywhere. It’s a mess in so many ways. Leader needed to be taken to the hospital. Meanwhile I’m running a parent meeting in the other room.
  • Broke a students finger playing volleyball during a mission trip. Thought it was just jammed, and we kept pulling and tugging on it all week. We got home, and the student had surgery for a separate finger, and split bone. That’s only one

  • Brought a group to Alaska in 2021. Our pastors son broke his leg within 24 hours of being there. He had to have surgery IN Alaska… I still have my job and we’re going back this summer with the same kid. This time our pastor is coming too haha

  • We had a volunteer leader who was wearing a suit of armor for a VBS skit…a student whacked the helmet with a sword, the face guard fell off and split the volunteer’s lip and knocked a tooth out.

  • Jumbo beach ball, kid ran straight into it not seeing the kid on the other side. Kid on other side goes flying. Compound fracture to arm. Thankfully it was the child of a volunteer and the family was very gracious.

  • We were doing a massive slip and slide event, decided to use stakes to pin down the tarp. A student found one of them with his foot and severed the webbing between his toes. It was gnarly…

  • Set of twins. First 24 hours of camp.
    Twin 1 -Sunday night, one twin tries to jump a rope fence and his foot nicks the top, and he fell head first – concussion.
    Twin 2 – Monday Mid-day, tries to do a gainer off the diving board. Water pushes his legs back into his face on impact – he knocked one of his front teeth out with his knee and also gets a concussion.
    Needless to say, they hit their deductibles that year!

If you didn’t get a chance to contribute, don’t worry! We post a new discussion topic every Friday. You can find them on our Instagram feed and in our Facebook Group.

👀 Meet DYM Author Janelle Prenkert!

“I have been serving in youth ministry since 1998 in both volunteer and staff roles. Small groups have always been a passion of mine. From leading my own group to coordinating and training small group leaders, I love watching God work!”

See all of Janelle’s resources!

5 Mar 2024

How do I minister to parents?

By |2024-03-05T07:55:06-08:00March 5th, 2024|Parents|2 Comments

Parents are busy! They’re rushing their students around from one sports game to an extracurricular activity and trying to juggle all of their normal home life and chores as well. Oh, and they work full-time jobs. Additionally, one of their kids is probably sick, and youth group is going to happen in an hour, and they just remembered that their student has a really big project due the next day.

It can feel incredibly frustrating when we are trying to reach out to students, and their parents are all over the place. How can we, as youth pastors, minister to parents in a helpful way? I’ve got three quick tips that you might implement.

Plan a year in advance.

This doesn’t have to include every single detail, but you absolutely need to have events on the calendar at least one year in advance. Think of when schools hand out their yearly calendars. They’ve got spring break, fall break, the beginning of school, and the end of school all right there. Parents don’t typically plan a month in advance; they’re usually six months to a year out. If you don’t have the dates for the summer mission trip in their hands, their students are probably not going to go. Take advantage of some of DYM’s fantastic calendars and put them to good use!

Communicate frequently.

If a parent has 40,000 notifications on their phone, that’s their problem. You still need to regularly let parents know what’s going on in the ministry and what their students can do to be involved. Here’s some great news: you get to decide what works best for you and your parents! Whether it’s a weekly email where you explain the teaching series for the week and plug upcoming events, or Facebook posts letting parents know about upcoming deadlines, it’s essential to stay in contact with parents. Whatever you choose, stick to it. If you commit to delivering a weekly email, make sure you send it out. If you tell parents that the primary way you communicate is through your website, make sure it’s updated! You know what would be a really easy win? Making a podcast where you share what’s going on in the youth ministry on a weekly basis. You could share what you’re teaching, what parents need to know for the upcoming summer camp, and even tell a funny story or two. And parents can take in that information while they’re driving! Win.

Take them out to lunch or coffee.

Parents are busy, but they also have to eat food. Offer to get lunch sometime in the next couple of weeks with two or three families. You don’t need to have an agenda for your meeting; you can just ask them questions about their family and how things are going. If their kids haven’t been in youth group in a while, don’t guilt trip them; just ask them how things are at home. Ask them how you can pray for them. You would be blown away at how parents have reacted to me doing this; they feel so seen and supported when all I do is ask them to share how family life is going.

Ministering to students is a challenge! Ministering to parents can be a steep mountain to climb. But you can show parents how much you care about them by intentionally reaching out and communicating!

Did I miss something that you would add? I’d love to hear it!

Need a calendar to send to parents for the summer? Get ready with this fully editable calendar below!

1 Mar 2024

Meet A Sidekick Hero: Nick Clason

By |2024-03-01T08:51:02-08:00March 1st, 2024|Sidekick Hero Blog|1 Comment

From Doug:

Nick Clason is a national treasure. Not only is he one of our more prolific DYM authors (no seriously, go check out all the stuff he has created for the DYM Store), but he’s the kind of guy that never settles for things just being “good enough.” He’s constantly pushing the envelope and challenging youth workers everywhere to be more creative and to meet students where they’re at (which Nick will tell you is online).

Recently, I asked Nick what he thought about the new Sidekick, and he said that he’d rather show me than tell me. So without further delay, I present Nick Clason’s take on the new Sidekick:

And seriously, if you haven’t checked out Nick’s YouTube channel, you definitely should: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

1 Mar 2024

Youth Min Roundup – 03/01/2024

By |2024-03-01T08:04:53-08:00March 1st, 2024|Youth Ministry Roundup|1 Comment

Here are just a few interesting finds this week from around the Youth Min Multiverse:

😂 From Our Online Community

Last week, we asked our Instagram followers and Facebook Group members to tell help us come up with a list of youth ministry’s “unwritten rules.” They did NOT disappoint. Here are just a few of our favorites:

  • There is the deadline you set, then the deadline you’re working with for the “Is it too late to sign up?” crowd.

  • The Youth Pastor gets to keep all the points when the bus stops at McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell, or Chipotle. There is no wiggle room here.

  • Whatever time you actually need to leave, tell everyone you’re leaving 30 minutes earlier.

  • When you’re at camp with a few hundred middle schoolers and we pass out grape juice boxes for communion, you are NOT allowed to poke the hole in the top and SHOT GUN your juice box.

  • On the way to camp, when we stop at a gas station for a bathroom break you are NOT allowed to buy 2, 2-liters of orange soda and try to drink them on the bus, even if they were on sale for $2.

  • It would also be in your best interest if you also knew first aid, how to edit videos, broadcast online, run a soundboard, drive a bus, fix a vehicle on the side of the road, work a snack shop, lead worship, know everything there is to sound systems, live on 3 hours of sleep, be well versed n the law, this and many other things in the “other duties” section 😂. I feel very well-rounded now, though.

  • The students are where you lead them, if you are dissatisfied with where they are lead differently.

  • An eating contest is a pre-show for a vomit contest.

  • Hear me out: NO GLITTER OF ANY KIND… EVER…

  • Do not hand cash to the youth minister on Sunday. Give it to a mom in an envelope.

  • Don’t grow the kids ministry from the youth ministry.

  • The same number of people that leave on the trip come back on the trip. No more no less.

  • Don’t post negative comments about anyone in your church thinking they’ll certainly never see it and infer it’s about them.

  • Don’t take a life. Don’t make a life.
  • When you cross the border, NO ONE SAYS A WORD. For example, when the border agent asks. “Do you have any weapons to declare?” A student should not say, “just these guns,” as he tries to make muscles.

  • The person before you in the job had way more kids show up.

  • No licking your boyfriend’s face.

If you didn’t get a chance to contribute, don’t worry! We post a new discussion topic every Friday. You can find them on our Instagram feed and in our Facebook Group.

If you’ve ever had any questions about how to run the best Nerf War… Joe definitely has you covered.

Everything About Nerf Wars

Ever wanted to do a Cereal Bracket for March Madness? Then check out what Skylar made!

March Madness Cereal Edition

👀 Wild Youth Ministry Story of the Week

Identity kept anonymous because… JUST KIDDING IT WAS MICHELLE ANDERSON.

During a winter camp one year, it stormed like crazy. 5 feet of snow overnight! Our big white 15-passenger van (a youth ministry staple) was totally stuck.

“Grab something and start shoveling, we have to get this unstuck!”

We started using anything we could find: garbage lids, dustpans, etc. Well, a student took this to heart, and without me knowing, he climbed UNDER the front of the van and started using a dustpan to clear the wheels. (NOT SMART FYI) The other youth pastor had me get in the van to see if we could get some traction, and THANKFULLY, the student was in between the front wheels because I got traction and started rocking back and forth. The students jumped up from under the van, and it totally hit him and knocked him over and down the side of a hill.

We never saw him again…

J.K., he was fine. The moral of the story? Um..check under your van if you ask kids to help clear away snow. That seems extremely specific, but YOU NEVER KNOW.

29 Feb 2024

New Feature Alert: FREE CONTENT!!

By |2024-02-29T08:19:15-08:00February 29th, 2024|Sidekick, Sidekick Hero Blog|3 Comments

Let’s just say that February has been a BUSY month for the Sidekick team!

In the last month, we’ve released:

  • PICK ME! – Users can now create a random (or not-so-random) picker that (so far) can handle up to 200 names!
  • BULK ADDING for PICK ME and WHEELS! – Users no longer have to add each PICK ME or WHEEL item one at a time. Now, users can copy and paste a list from virtually anywhere (Apple Notes, Google Sheets, Excel, etc…), which makes the whole process that much faster!
  • DYM INTEGRATION – This is a biggie. DYM INTEGRATION allows users to import the resources that they purchased on DYM directly into Sidekick without ever having to download anything!

But that’s not all! We just couldn’t close out the month without adding one more little bit of DYM magic to Sidekick. That’s right, we’re talking about…

FREE STUFF!!!

That’s right! If you’ve used Sidekick in the last few days, you may have noticed that there’s a new toolbar at the top of the screen when you’re in “Overview” mode:

Now, sure. There are two buttons that should be pretty familiar by now. On the left, you’ve got the “🎹 Song” Button that allows users to import songs directly from CCLI using their SongSelect account. And then there’s the “🦙 DYM” Button that we talked about earlier that lets users add resources that they’ve purchased from the DYM Store.

But that about that magical middle button??

Yup! The “🎁 Free” Button does EXACTLY what you think it should. All you have to do is click on it, and it will bring up a window that looks something like this:

As of the time that I’m writing this post, there are currently 10 INCREDIBLE resources that are completely FREE for all Sidekick users (although you may need to upgrade your membership to accommodate the number of students you have participating in Live Voting.)

These FREE resources include classics like:

  • The Impossible Shot
  • Useless Facts Countdowns 1 & 2
  • Extreme Four Corners
  • Popcorn Story
  • Sword Drill

And interactive templates to help you get started like:

  • PICK ME! Templates
  • Emotional Llama Wheels

Plus, we’ve even got completely built-out, fully interactive games for you to play with your group like:

  • Wilderness Survival Guide
  • Swiftest Swifties

Actually, check out what one user has already said about our new Wilderness Survival Guide game:

I’m so grateful for everything you guys are doing to make youth ministry AWESOME. We just used the Wilderness Survival Guide game last night for our high schoolers because it was easy to just add to Sidekick. They lost their minds. It was a huge win. Thank you!

– Jeff

And you wanna know the best part? Of course, you do!

The absolute best part about the 🎁 FREE content on Sidekick is that we’re adding new stuff all the time! That’s right, be sure to click the “🎁 FREE” Button often to see what new resources are available from your friends at Sidekick!

We’ll be posting more about other new features in the coming days, but in the meantime, feel free to keep exploring Sidekick! And if you have any ideas for features that you think we should work on next, you should head over to our Feature Suggestion Page by clicking the button below:

Request a New Sidekick Feature!

That’s all for today, but if you’d like to see the other blog posts in the “How Do I…?” series, you can do so here: How Do I…?

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

26 Feb 2024

How to Start a Youth Pastor Network in Your Area

By |2024-02-26T09:32:45-08:00February 26th, 2024|Youth Pastor Life|4 Comments

If you’re serving in youth ministry, there’s a chance there are other youth pastors and youth workers in your area. Whether you are full-time, part-time, or a volunteer, there are tons of benefits to networking with other youth workers in your area! The question you might have is, how do you start a youth network if there isn’t one already going? Here are some pretty easy wins:

Take them out for coffee or lunch.

If you have a budget for it with your church, offer to take out a local youth pastor on your dime. Let them know the only thing you want to gain from grabbing coffee or lunch is to get to know them better and actually mean that! There’s a lot to be said for breaking bread with someone and just getting to meet them, exchange phone numbers, and sit across the table; it’s a big deal. Ask them what their wins have been recently. Ask them about their struggles. Pray for them. It’s a huge way to get to know someone, and it’s how we treat students and volunteers, so why not treat other youth pastors the same way?

Start a text thread.

Once you get to know a couple of youth pastors in the area, start connecting them! Introduce each other over text messaging and put them into a group chat. Since you’re all struggling with the same challenges and issues, finding some common ground and sharing a meme every now and then can provide your group with some fun and encouragement for reaching students!

Ask them to teach for you.

It feels like a lot of youth pastors want to be the one who goes and teaches someplace other than their own church. Just check out the DYM Facebook page. But what if you INVITED a fellow youth pastor to come and speak to the students you’re ministering to? That’s a move that will earn you some serious credibility with a local youth pastor. Why? It shows you’re on the same team. It shows you’re comfortable with the church down the street. And it gives your buddy a chance to speak to a different crowd. All great things. And a good way to grow fellowship with one another.

Be their friend.

Just be a friend to the youth pastors in your area. Reach out. Genuinely ask them how they are. Share funny videos. Brainstorm ideas. The start of a great youth ministry network doesn’t have to be an amazing joint youth ministry event with a thousand students. It can be a game night at your place with three other youth pastors who love students AND Settlers of Catan (or whatever your flavor of board game is). And you’ll find that you are mutually encouraged by others when you offer encouragement around as well.

Where do you go from here? Do whatever serves your group! Plan a monthly coffee time where you pray over your ministries and your students. Brainstorm how to tackle the combined biggest issues you are facing. Set up a retreat for a weekend for just youth pastors. The sky is the limit. Well, and your combined budgets, let’s be real.

What did I miss? I’d love to hear it!

Needing an event to rally around as youth workers? We got you!

23 Feb 2024

You Can CUSTOMIZE Content, Date & More for the National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training

By |2024-02-23T10:55:22-08:00February 23rd, 2024|Training|2 Comments

We are so excited for the 6th annual National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training! This video-driven and momentum building event, with practical youth ministry training, has already trained over 20,000 volunteers and we’d love to have you and your team join us this year!

You can count on high quality training and engaging fun that have filled this event for the last 5 years, but this year we’ve made a few changes to make training your volunteers easier than ever…

We’ll deliver the complete training “in a box” and you get to choose the date AND customize the content to best suit your ministry’s needs! Be as creative as you want to be or just press play.

TELL ME MORE ALREADY, I’M IN

Also new this year…

DYM Gold Members get 35% off ⭐

🎉 DYM Platinum Members get the National Day included in their membership… for FREE! 🎉

21 Feb 2024

New Feature Alert: Adding DYM Resources Directly to Sidekick

By |2024-02-26T09:34:41-08:00February 21st, 2024|Sidekick, Sidekick Hero Blog|1 Comment

Friends, the day has finally arrived. Today is the day that worlds collide in the best of ways.

That’s right, as of today, you can now add the many of resources that you’ve purchased on DYM directly to Sidekick! No more downloading. No more thumb drives. No more hassle.

Now, if you’ve been around the DYM world for any length of time, you know exactly what this screen looks like:

But before today’s update, the process of getting your DYM resources loaded into Sidekick was a bit… tedious:

  • Step 1 – Purchase a resource from DYM
  • Step 2 – Download that resource
  • Step 3 – Spend 35 minutes sorting through your Downloads Folder looking for the resource you just downloaded
  • Step 4 – Ask everyone in your family if they’ve seen your USB thumb drive
  • Step 5 – Realize that you left your thumb drive in your office
  • Step 6 – Drive across town…

Well, you get the idea.

That’s why the Sidekick team is so excited to finally announce:

DYM Integration!!

That’s right! As of this morning, Sidekick just got a bajillion times more user-friendly for every single DYM customer who has ever purchased a resource on the DYM Store.

So… do you wanna see it? Of course, you do! Why else would you have read this far??

Here is is:

That’s right. The resources that you’ve purchased on the DYM Store are now available to add to any Sidekick presentation without the need for downloading! Here are a few of my favorite scenarios where this will really come in handy:

  • You can now buy a DYM resource on your phone, and it’ll instantly be available to load in your Sidekick presentation.
  • You don’t have to keep your DYM resource files downloaded anywhere (no more taking up space on your hard drive!!)
  • Students and volunteers who have access to your Sidekick workspace can quickly add any DYM game or countdown that you’ve already purchased.

At DYM, we’re always trying to keep youth workers from wasting their time, and we believe this latest Sidekick update has the potential to free up hours every single week for youth workers everywhere! (Can you tell that we’re excited about this one??)

Starting today, once any Sidekick user connects their DYM account, they will see a little icon that says +DYM at the bottom of the left-hand toolbar in Overview Mode:

From there, simply click on a resource that you want to add to your presentation, and you’ll be good to go!

No more downloading. No more USB thumb drives. No more frustration. No more wasting time.

Want to see it in action? Just watch the video below:

Not seeing the +DYM Button? That means you still need to connect your DYM account. Here’s a brief tutorial on how to make sure you’re DYM account is connected:

And that’s it!  Once your DYM account is connected, you should see a bunch of your previous purchases ready to go in Sidekick.

Just a quick note: We’re in the process of rolling out a feature on the DYM Store that will show which resources are Sidekick Enabled, but here are the products that you can expect to be ready so far:

  • The 200 most popular products from the past two years
  • The DYM Gold Member resources from the past few months
  • Every resource that gets added to the DYM store from this point forward.

Plus we’re adding new resources every single day!

It’s really that easy! Thanks to the most recent Sidekick update, you can now add your DYM resources directly to any Sidekick presentation!

We’ll be posting more about other new features in the coming days, but in the meantime, feel free to keep exploring Sidekick! And if you have any ideas for features that you think we should work on next, you should head over to our Feature Suggestion Page by clicking the button below:

Request a New Sidekick Feature!

That’s all for today, but if you’d like to see the other blog posts in the “How Do I…?” series, you can do so here: How Do I…?

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

If you’re using Sidekick and you run into any issues, or if you just have a question, please feel free to reach out to our support team at: [email protected]. Or you can check out other helpful articles and walkthroughs at the Sidekick Help Desk by visiting https://help.sidekick.tv.

Finally, if you choose to use the new Sidekick… let us know how you do it and what types of polls you do because we want to highlight you. Our goal is to highlight a youth worker every week with different ways they’ve used Sidekick to help their students engage. If you’re interested in being recognized as a Sidekick Hero, just click the big red button below:

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