Upgrade Please!

When working with media in a church setting you are always faced with an ever-changing technological market that you can’t necessarily keep up with because of budgets and fear of change. But when the church has growing needs especially in the area of sound you find that you need to upgrade your sound gear without breaking the bank. The question is what are needs now and in the future? We are finding that with the direction our worship is going that maybe we should look into going towards the digital route with the soundboard. Upgrading to a digital board can be expensive especially when you consider the additional accessories and plugins that would be needed to work with any existing or new equipment.

X32, courtesy of Behringer.com

The key to determining what kind of upgrade you are willing to do is research. Research is vital when dealing with media and technology because it gives you the knowledge you need to determine what is going to fit with the needs and budget. Our Youth Pastor recently was at Guitar Center and had chatted up the Pro Sound salesman about soundboards. The salesman was telling our Youth Pastor about the new Behringer Digital Mixer X32 that has all the features that we are looking for without the bank-breaking price tag. Of course as a team we have to look at all the specs of the board and compare it to other digital boards to see if this is the board that will work.

Whether your church is considering an upgrade or a major over haul in your audio/video department, having the needs of the church figured out especially the future needs will help determine what equipment should be purchased. Don’t hesitate to research products, ask other churches, and seek out professionals who work with the equipment. As they say, “knowledge is power,” and it is true because knowledge can save you money and keep you from settling with less than par equipment. 

What is a Video Production Manager?

Courtesy of eHow.com

As a Media Director for my church I am constantly in managing mode from scheduling volunteers to setting up shoots to overseeing the production of our live services. In a video production company or film studio this job would fall under the production manager. Since our church is not considered to be a mega church and I definitely do not have a huge production staff to where I can assign the video production manager role to, I have to play the part. There are a lot of churches out there where the staff play multiple roles including in the area of media so it is important to know the details of the roles that are to be taken on. In researching the job description of a video production manager I came across a great video on eHow.com that gives a simple description of the job. Basically, a video production manager helps enable the vision of the producer in any way, whether that involves video, sound or lighting (Kenny, n.d.). In a church setting it usually means facilitating the vision of the lead pastor, like creating an end of the year video montage or setting up for broadcasting a service over the internet, and pulling together what is needed to make the vision come alive. Majority of the time it is scheduling volunteers to help run the camera, sound or PowerPoint for the service but it can also be maintaining equipment or purchasing equipment. One of the most important jobs a video production manager has is overseeing the creative aspects of the production, whether it is a video illustration for a sermon or a Christmas production. Ensuring that the production runs smoothly, on time, and as closely to the script or storyboard as possible is all part of the video production manager’s job.

The role of a video production manager is important especially in church media, so understanding that role is key to having a successful team and production. I encourage anyone interested in knowing more about the video production manager role to watch the video on eHow.com, to check out VideoMaker.com, and do research. Also, I have earlier posts that talk about working with volunteers and budgeting that will help anyone having to take on the role of video production manager in church media.

Read more: Video: What Does a Production Manager Do? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/video_4774278_production-manager-do_.html#ixzz1zQyK5i00

Handling Negotiations

We all negotiate at some point in our daily lives but how well do we handle those negotiations and do we get what we want out of those negotiations. It is no different when working with media inside the church. We negotiate with our suppliers and with our lead pastors concerning products and what we can accomplish with what we have. I recently found an article about negotiations on the 360 Digital Artist website that has an interview with Verna Miles, formerly the A&R Manager of Epic Records. Her interview had a lot of valuable insight for anyone who has to handle negotiations. Ms. Miles talks about how to separate the people from the problem, why it is important to have a BATNA (Better Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement), how important building an affiliation with the person is, and how emotions can play into a negotiation.

Separating the people from the problem or issue in a negotiation can be a difficult thing to do especially when emotions are high. Verna Miles offers some advice as to how to separate the two.  She suggests staying calm and focused on the key points in the negotiations. She also suggests to compromise enough to get what you want without giving completely into all the demands. 

Ms. Miles talks about the importance of having a BATNA in your negotiations. She states that she always have a plan b that offers the main aspects of the deal that can’t be compromised on and other aspects that can be compromised on. Having a plan b she says helps show her clients that she has their best interests in hand. 

Building an affiliation or a relationship with the person you are negotiating with is an important part of the negotiation according to Verna Miles in her interview. She talks about that if possible try to build a relationship prior to the negotiation.  She suggests being creative in how you develop this affiliation with the person. Ms. Miles also talks about emotions in negotiations, especially with creative individuals. Handling emotions effectively in a negotiation can keep the negotiation going on track. One of the ways Ms. Miles suggests in handling emotions is to try to have an understanding of where the person is coming from and his/her vision and offer positive outcomes that can facilitate that vision.

These are valuable insights to keep in mind when in a negotiation situation that can in turn benefit both parties. Knowing what to do when negotiating a vendor contract or even negotiating more money for your media budget helps you get that much closer to achieving your objectives. 

Kids In Videos

Recently we did a Facebook promo for our Mother’s Day service, the video featured one of our Pastors’ kids saying a short message to his mom. The video itself was around a minute long but it took ten takes before getting it right. This got me thinking of how can I successfully create a video using children without having to take up half of my day recording. First, I thought maybe it was because he was put in front of green screen and studio lights and was distracted. Maybe, it was the people in the room that distracted him or the concept of the video was too difficult for him to grasp. These are all legitimate factors that can come into play when working with kids in a video production setting. In taking all these factors into consideration I thought I would try making a video using our preschool class as the subject. I thought it would be a cute idea to have the graduating Pre-K class make a video for their graduation program. I had two kids sit at a table playing with Play-Doh and ask each other two questions and it worked! I was able to record 16 kids in less than ten minutes, which was faster than the Mother’s Day session. 

I learned that kids have to be eased into a video production setting, especially if they have never done it before. Staying away from fancy equipment like the green screen the first couple of times and keeping it simple helps them get comfortable being in front of the camera. Originally, I wanted to use the green screen for the preschool video but after seeing the frustration of my cameraman who did the Mother’s Day session I quickly had to rethink my strategy for the video. Keeping the kids in their own environment made it comfortable for them and less stressful on myself, and it made the video fun. 

Here are some tips when filming short videos with kids:

1.     Keep the environment simple and fun. Have them play with toys or games or have those items in the background.

2.     Keep the script short and conversational for the kids. This makes it less stressful on the child and it brings a really fun element into the video.

3.     Keep it fun and be flexible. Kids respond better to you if you are not frustrated or yelling at them. When you’re having fun so are they. Kids can be a bit unpredictable so having flexibility comes in handy. 

Where are the Volunteers?

In the nine years I have been involved in media ministry I have noticed how hard it is to find people to help out. I began as a volunteer for close to six years before moving into a staff position and during those volunteer times I remember thinking that I wish there was more help. Of course now as a member of the church staff it is imperative that I find those who are willing to help us out with every aspect of the media ministry. 

Back in October of last year we did a recognition service for our volunteers as a way to kick off our quarterly volunteer appreciation meetings. All of our volunteers except in the critical areas like children’s church were asked to take the weekend off and everything was ran by the ten staff members of the church as a dramatic way of saying that the church needs volunteers. At the end of service we had an appeal to those who would like to serve to put their names in the desired ministry’s bucket. Later in the week I looked at my list of those who said that they would like to volunteer in the media ministry and began calling them to set up training, not one person responded to my calls and emails.  I began to ask myself why is it so hard to find people to volunteer in media at churches. The one reason people do not want to volunteer in the media ministry is fear.

People are afraid to volunteer because of the fear of complicated technology and the fear of messing up because a lot hinges on the media aspect running smoothly. So, how do you get people past the fear? Being relational with them. I found that when I gave ownership to my main volunteer in our live streaming area he immediately went out and started recruiting people. Although, some volunteers didn’t work out there are many that have and we are currently training new individuals every month. What if you don’t have a very outgoing volunteer that won’t take ownership? This is a question that I am asking myself right now. I have another volunteer in a different area of the media ministry who is willing to train but not willing to help find people, so how do I add volunteers to this area? I read in a non-profit blog, called Notes for Non-Profits, about how to find and engage volunteers through social media, which I think is a good idea. We have used Facebook on some occasions to solicit help for events and it has yielded some good results. This is an idea that I am planning on using this month as I begin to build a reserve of volunteers for the summer months.

There are many methods out there to help gain volunteers the trick is developing an arsenal that can be used to target volunteers for your specific need. Good luck in volunteer hunting.

What's Your Passion?

I am always on the lookout for inspiration and motivation when it comes to leadership and business. I recently found a video on Ted.com of Gary Vaynerchuk, owner of Wine Library TV, talking about doing what you love and building a business on that passion.  Despite the strong language in the speech, what he has to say is really good and motivational.

Courtesy of Yourlifeyourway.net

Gary talks about how doing what you love helps you build your business because of the passion that you have will drive you to connect with your target audience and build what he calls, “brand equity.” The other point he makes is positioning yourself to succeed in your business. Vaynerchuk mentions that yes you are going to lose money in the beginning when you start doing what you love but to get to the point of making money you have to spend the time. He gives an example of already working a job but you want to start your own business. Gary says that you should continue to work that job, come home and spend time with you family, then start spending a few hours every night building your brand using social media and other avenues.

For Gary Vaynerchuk running the family liquor store wasn’t making him happy but making videos about wine does and in the process of making the transition he lost millions of dollars. But having the patience and the passion to build Wine Library TV he recouped the money that he initially lost and more.  Hearing his story is inspiring to me because on some level I can relate. I love working at the church that I am at but I know where my passion lies, having a company that can help many churches, schools, ministries, and corporations with their media needs. I am fully aware the time it takes to build my business and reputation that is partly why I started this blog as a way to put myself out there. I also volunteer myself out to other local churches that call asking for media help as another way to put my name out there.

I know it seems weird to talk about building a business on a blog that is about bringing media to churches but I feel that in a way the two relate. Vaynerchuk talks about patience and passion in his video and those are the two qualities that are imperative to have when working with media in a church environment. If you don’t have those qualities you will burn out quickly. Towards the end of his speech, Vaynerchuk says that you need to ask yourself one question, “What do you want to do or what do you like to do?” Basically, what are you passionate about and how can you build on that?

Vision can bring out passion and passion can build patience. The question I would like to end with is, what is your vision?

Watch Gary Vaynerchuk's video: