Today is the first 70 degree day of the new year in Columbus, Ohio. Yes, I know, Orange County and San Diego have sun and 70 degrees all winter long. And yes, I'm somewhat envious.
With the warmer weather, I am reminded that Easter production season is also arriving quickly, and with the increase in technical complexity comes the need for someone to think about how today's needs fit into what you hope to do in the future.
From the February blog post, you can see that we're working with a few churches on large-scale planning and strategy. When we enter into the strategy sessions, it's common to find that there's not a lot of planning going on. With a piece purchased from here and two from there and another from another place, proper integration and operation can become a quick casualty.
That fact has led me to enter into discussions with a handful of people about becoming part of a "Virtual Tech Director" network.
In short, a "TD" typically oversees the use of technology (most often audio, video, lighting) at a worship facility. Many churches don't have a tech director. In fact nearly all churches don't have one. But all churches can benefit from better planning when it comes to equipment integration.
Helping you with those decisions is a role that fill every day, at least to an extent. In smaller churches, we often talk directly to the pastor (who didn't learn a thing about technology in seminary), so we serve the role as TD. In somewhat larger churches, it's the worship pastor or music minister who most often gets tasked with the audio, video and lighting system. This person also didn't learn much (if anything at all) about technology and its use during his or her preparation to fill their role. Only at the largest churches do you find professional tech staff. These are the people who are as proficient at technology as the pastor is at pastoring and the music people are at leading worship.
Would you like to be able to connect with people who have specific expertise that you need? Even if you can't hire a full-time TD with 20 years of experience, would you like to know one who could help you? Could your team use a training day on audio basics? Might you benefit from one-on-one familiarization with ProPresenter? Could a monthly video conference meeting help you keep your tech strategy in check? Would your church host a regional training day for other churches?
In the last 20 years of business, we've come to know a lot of people. We know highly experienced audio techs, video production techs, lighting designers, lighting operators, video shooters, tech directors, systems contractors and integrators – all over the country. And what we're exploring is whether you'd find value in being able to connect with them when you need them.
This idea is in its infancy, so if you have thoughts on how having a Virtual TD might be helpful to you, or if you'd like to become part of the "network", drop me a line to let me know what you're thinking.