Poets, not Programs

From The Work of the People

"If you demand of an artist they justify "a project" before starting out, you have killed his or her spirit, you have killed what he or she can do. In particular, you have killed what he or she can do and you can't. That's why they're artists and you aren't. Artists don't do programs, they explore. They explore by doing and making...

...Artists deal with what can be, so they don't know what it is yet. They can't tell you about a project, in order to justify it, in order to get permission to do it.

Please, if you lead creatives, read the rest right here!

How to Ask a Question - Church Tech Version

Mike Sessler over at Church Tech Arts has some great thoughts today on being willing to ask for help, and knowing what you don't know.

I really zeroed in on one portion of the post where he talks about the most effective way to ask a tech question.

Option 1: Which kick drum mic should I buy?

Option 2: We’d like to upgrade from our existing Beta 52, and we have a budget of around $350. Any suggestions?

Option 3: We’d like to upgrade from our existing Beta 52, which we don’t like because it just sounds like mush, to a new mic that will give us a little more snap and definition. We’ve tried the D4, and while we liked the tightness, it lacked oomph; and when we tried the ATM250DE, we liked the condenser element and the snap and definition it provided but weren’t impressed with the dynamic capsule as it overloaded often. Our drummers are really good, and the kits are in excellent shape. Our style is pretty progressive, Crowder, Brewster, Tomlin, as well as modernized versions of hymns. Our budget is around $350. Suggestions?

Big differences there. I've been thinking about this for the past few weeks with reference to some discussions over at Church Sound Check, where some have been criticized for offering solutions that are too expensive, or for discounting those "cheap or free" solutions.

I think a lot of the responsibility lies with the person asking the question. More information is always better. If there is a boundary that can't be crossed in the solution (like a fixed dollar budget), that information should probably be in the question.

WFX Houston - Digital Signage Options

This is a leftover from the Worship Facilities Expo last month. Never got around to finishing the post! Sorry about that.

One of the things on my list to check out at WFX was options for digital signage. Specifically, I was looking for a management and scheduling solution that will allow me to control signage remotely, without having to be on site. I was a bit surprised to only see a couple of options on the floor, but they were both interesting.

Visix looks to be an extremely comprehensive solution, pushing digital messaging not only to displays, but also to screensavers on computers on your network, and even to cell phones and other connected devices, via an RSS stream. It will even generate and send text messages via SMS. Their content creation software looked nice. Lots of options for backgrounds, and creating a graphic was not difficult. There are several playback appliances, arranging from very small for mounting on the back of an individual display, to rack mounted for feeding multiple displays throughout a facility. Visix is a pretty high end solution, a very comprehensive product that could be used even in the largest convention facility.

Carousel from Tightrope looks like it might be a more appropriate choice for us. It is scalable, starting with single channel playback, with the ability to go to 200 channels if desired. The media creation tools were simple, and put out very nice looking graphics. The system will handle playback of virtually anything, including live video which is a must-have for us. The display can be divided into as many independent zones as needed. As with Visix, updating the system is accomplished through a web interface. We'll be looking closely at Carousel for our needs.

Gifts from Worship House for Christmas

The great guys at Worship House Media will be kicking off their annual Christmas giveaway next Monday. Worship House is probably my favorite of the online worship media vendors out there. A great big library that you can spend hours in!

Daily Freebie Promo - "Marketing Ploy" from Worship House Media on Vimeo.

Marketing ploy or not, you don't want to miss it. Every day, a new piece of video, and they're all free. It might be a great moving background. It might be a cool mini-movie.

Daily Freebie Promo - "You Can't Say That" from Worship House Media on Vimeo.

They've done this for the past couple of years at least, and it's a great way to build your media library at absolutely zero cost!

Here's another way, just for you loyal TechnoPraxis™ readers and subscribers. If you're buying product from Worship House, use the promo code "techno30" and you'll get a 30% discount at checkout! That's a deal however you cut it!

Thanks Worship House, for the gifts, for the discount, and for being a great resource for tech folks in the church.

The Rule from Mike Sessler

Mike Sessler over at Church Tech Arts has a rule. It is a good rule. If followed, it will save a lot of headache over time.

"Don’t change things once rehearsal/run-through is over. Unless you know exactly what you are doing, and exactly what the outcome will be, without question, leave it alone. And event then, you’re taking a risk. "

Wise advice. I'll take it one step further. No software updates on Saturday morning. No major equipment projects on Friday. Things break when technical support is either not available or costs extra because of the time of day or the day of the week.

We work in an odd "industry." Even more odd than the entertainment business, because for the most part, they aren't running their "big show" on Sunday morning. Vendors, generally, just aren't set up for a panicked call at 8:30am on Sunday.

Just something to remember when you finally get around to making that software upgrade on your character generator (which I did, unsuccessfully, one Sunday morning) or mess around with the power supply on your router (that was on Saturday night about 8:00 p.m.) and cause yourself a problem that will be tough to recover from!

Stupid Crooks - Church Edition

The Associated Baptist Press reports that a Florida man was arrested for robbing a church in Lakeland Florida of their weekly offering.  Authorities were able to track the criminal down, because he filled out a visitor card with his first name and his mother's address the previous Sunday! 

Oh, and the little old lady who he grabbed the money from? Yeah.  That would be the Polk County Sheriff's step-mother.  Nothing like choosing your victims carefully.

Craig Groeschel at Catalyst One Day

Wish I was in Indiana today, despite the fact that they're  a ton of snow and ice.  It was the first ever Catalyst One Day experience, at Granger Community Church, with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel speaking.  There are lots of folks are blogging it today. One guy left early! Here's a snip from Craig's talk.

"Don't delegate responsibilities, delegate authority. Delegating responsibilities creates followers. Delegating authority creates leaders."

Uh huh.  That about nails it.

Servant or Superstar?

Take a minute and go read Greg's take on "Superstar" pastors.

"If Jesus Christ could be humble, a servant and spend time with people of all types, shouldn’t He be our example? Shouldn’t we try to model after Him?"

One other thing.  I'm sure it happens, but personally, I've never seen the humble, stumble.

Delegation, Empowerment and Leadership

Tony Morgan's coaching group has been working on the

differences between delegation and empowerment.

Delegation of tasks is simple. Tony says empowerment is messier, but builds a healthier organization. 

Monday Resource - FreeFoto.com

We've talked a lot before about resources for images that you can use legally.  Some of them are free, and others are cheap.  Here's a FREE one, at least for web and worship projection use.

FreeFoto.com has a great library to choose from.  There are some restrictions.  You can use these images on the web, and for any other non-commercial and non-derivative purpose.  That mean you can't use it as a basis for an ad piece and photoshop your church into the background.

Still a great new resource.  HT to Greg Atkinson for the find!

Thanks For the Earloops, Telex!

Sometimes, I'm so much of an audio snob I shoot myself in the foot. I pass up easy, great solutions, looking for the cool way to do things. Micing actors for theater is probably one of those cases. I do musicals fairly regularly, from high school to professional.

For year's I've known about the Telex AEF2 ear loop. They're actually made to hold the little earphone elements for hearing impaired assistance systems. I've also known that with a bit of tape, they'll hold a lav element in place over the ear of an actor.

I've used them once or twice in the past, but never extensively. It just seemed like cheating. Why use them when you can just tape the elements into place.

That changed this week. I used them on every actor in a high school show. Wow! What a difference. Micing the actors was much faster.

High school shows are sometimes hard. They're kids. They act like kids. They also are not experienced. The clips eliminated problems with positioning. The elements started in the right place, and then stayed there. For the whole show. We had like, zero issues with elements coming loose or falling off actors. The mics were very unobtrusive. Really pretty much invisible.

So, I'm just stupid, I guess. I'll never do another show without these little helpers. If the mic's not in the hairline or in a wig, it will be mounted to an ear loop. Not just for high school shows. I'll use them every time from here on out.

Why Believe in God?

Check out the bus billboards that are going up in Washington, D.C.

Stand by for ridiculous overreaction.

How about, instead, we just follow my friend Michael's suggestion and send them a thank you note. It's a perfect opportunity for conversation with someone who might be different than you.

Assuming, that is, that you're up for that.

What if God was on Facebook?

Created by Andrew B.

The Door Nazis

Brian Davis has an interesting post today on the topic of folks who come late to worship. His church has decided to only allow folks to be seated at particular places during the service to prevent disturbances.

I don't know. I can see that this might be an issue, but I think I want to come down on the side of someone new, who is unfamiliar with the place.

I am reminded of a recent experience, at a certain monster mega-church in Dallas. It's a church I respect, very deeply. I am acquainted with more than one staff member there. I was attending on a Saturday evening, and loving the service.

A few minutes after the start of the message, my cell phone vibrated. It was a call I had to take. An emergency, and to be polite, I stepped out. I was sitting on an aisle, toward the back, and disturbed no one. It really was an emergency.

I was stunned when an usher told me I could not re-enter the service. Stunned enough to leave, actually. It was quite, quite off-putting. I still don't understand why someone couldn't go back into the service, and sit at the rear.

I would never want to have that happen to someone at our place.

Seth Godin: Tribes

Tribes is another airplane book from Seth Godin.  Lots of Seth's books are great airplane books.  You can finish them on a single flight.  The great thing about Seth's books, though, is that they're always packed full of little nuggets of wisdom to chew on.

His latest, Tribes, is no exception. A tribe, he says, is any group of people, connected to one another, a leader or an idea.  For years, geography and time have created the boundaries for our tribes, but the Internet has blown that to pieces.  Now, tribes can form at an amazing rate.  Thanks to the web, like minded people can find each other easily. 

What is needed, Seth says, are simply leaders.  With leadership, a tribe becomes a movement.  A movement can change the staus quo, and become remarkable.   Individuals, he says, have far more power now than ever in the history of the world, and he says the only thing holding you back from making change that matters is a lack of faith.  Leadership in today's world is never about ego, but about being willing to serve.

Tribes is a great read.  And here's a great deal for you.  Be the first to leave a comment here on this post, and I have a free copy that I'll give you.  How's that for a deal!

WFX Houston - New and Cool from AKG

AKG has recently released the C214.  This little brother to the C414 Series features the same construction and same basic design as it's big brother.  The single diaphragm is also the same, offering just a straight cardioid design. No switchable polar patterns like the 414, but at about half the price, that seems to me to be a great deal.

WFX Houston - New and Cool from Shure

Shure Inc. has recently released their new UR1M Micro bodypack for use with their UHF-R wireless systems.  It's tiny,  aimed primarily at broadcast and theater applications where small is good.  It measures less than 2 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide and is only about 2/3's of an inch thick.  That's tiny.  The transmitter includes switchable metering for use with alkaline, lithium or NiMH batteries, and offers dual power settings for 10mW or 50mW of transmitter power. It is powered by three AAA batteries and is all metal, so it should be durable as well. 

WFX Houston - New and Cool: The Vista CM500 Display Stand

Ever wish you could put a pan and tilt control on your portable flat screen displays?  How about getting it up in the air so that people at the back of the room can see it? 

The VistaMount CM500 does just that.  It's a massive beast, capable of supporting up to 155 pounds.  That's beefy enough for a 63 inch display.  The coolest thing is the remote control ability raise the display, pan it to the correct viewing angle and even tilt the display up and down as needed.  And you can really get the display up in the air.  Like having the center line of the display a full SEVEN FEET off the ground.

The size of the base makes it more stable than most traditional rolling display mounts I've seen, but the unique arrangement of the legs makes it easy to get through a standard door.  They're not cheap, listing at $4000.00, but if you need to be able to move a large display safely, and get it up in the air so folks can see it, the CM500 is a great option.

WFX Houston - New and Cool from JBL

JBL is out with an update to their EON portable powered speaker  lineup.  The EON 500 Series shaves a bit of weight off from the G series, as well as improving the ergonomics of slinging these very nice portable speakers around.  

Once again, they're offered in a 15 inch and 10 inch full range version, and an 18 inch subwoofer.  Power is kicked up a notch, with the 15 packing 450 watts of Crown power. The 10 inch checks in at 280 watts, and the sub kicks with 500.  The full range version include some minimal mixing onboard, and have a built in high pass filter for use with the subs.  They've also added some threaded mounting points, making it possible to suspend the boxes safely, or to wall mount them without additional hardware.

I've been a fan of the EON line since its introduction 15 years ago.  This new generation brings some great enhancements to an already solid product.

WFX Houston - New and Cool from DPA

DPA was showing off their new 4099 supercardiod sub-miniature microphones.  There are specific models and mounts for trumpets, saxaphones, guitars and violins.

I've used the DPA 4061 omni's pretty extensively, for strings, piano, guitar and other applications.  I love them.  The DPA folks were showing off the 4099's with an acoustic guitar, and it sounded great.  The same uncolored, transparent sound I'm used to from the 4061's. 

I'm guessing the 4099's will be particularly valuable in high stage volume situations where you might need or want more isolation that you get from the 4061's.  The gooseneck mounting system is pretty slick, although I'm guessing string players won't be as accepting of it as they are of the bridge mount for the 4061.

WFX Houston - Lakewood Church

Lots of folks are amazed when they see the massive 16,000 seat Sanctuary of Lakewood Church in Houston. Let me tell you the truth. TV doesn't even begin to do the facility justice. It is amazing. There's no other word for it.

On Thursday evening Lakewood hosted WFX attendees for a nice tour and Q&A with the staff, including the man with the smile, Pastor Joel Osteen.

Yes, that's a waterfall. There are two water features in the room. The water flow stops when Joel is speaking.

This is the famous globe. It rotates, and travels up and down on its own lift. It's an auto lift, interestingly, like from your neighborhood mechanic's garage.

This is one of two center line camera positions. They use volunteers as camera operators, but did say that for their primary service, where they are likely to record for broadcast, they are generally paid staff.

This is a spectacular room. It's not an arena anymore. It's a performance and worship space. While it's huge, at least on the lower levels, it doesn't feel as large as it ought to. The renovation was designed by Studio Red Architects, the same folks who did FBC Houston, where we visited last night. Amazing work again, particularly in warming the room, using unique ceiling treatment to perceptually lower it and bring the room down in scale.

And for the record, I found Joel Osteen to be a genuine and humble guy. He was quick to give credit to his team, and seemed to be warm hearted and approachable as a person. That was pretty refreshing.

WFX Houston - Shure's Chris Lyons on the FCC Whitespace Device Ruling

I had the opportunity this afternoon to sit down with Chris Lyons, who along with Doug Gould has been a point person for Shure, Inc. on the whole "white space" issue.

Details of the ruling are still not available. It will be about a month before the full text is available. But, his assessment of the current situation, based on the press release and individual comments by FCC Commissioners may surprise you.

Overall, Chris said, wireless mic users "came out pretty well."

That's right. The FCC, while they didn't adopt the proposal that Shure put forward to reserve channels specifically for wireless us, did pay fairly close attention to the needs wireless users, and too the concerns of churches specifically into consideration.

"This worked out better than we expected," he said.

According to Chris, the new rule will require both geo-location and spectrum sensing. Shure believes that geo-location will be helpful to wireless mic users. According to Chris, there are strong indications that organizations, including churches, will be able to list wireless gear in the geo-location database. There aren't any details available yet.

As for the spectrum sensing, Chris noted that in the tests, there was improvement from one round of testing to the next, and he expects it to get better as time goes on as well.

"We need to hear more details," Chris said, "but at least their hearts are in the the right place. Their intent is to protect venues."

There is one additional win in the rule. They did leave some protected channels. Fixed devices may not operate on channels that are adjacent to occupied TV channels. Further, portable devices may not operate in channels 14 through 20. That leaves at least several unoccupied channels for wireless use in just about every market.

One thing Chris says is clear. Wireless installs are going to require more care in the future. There are a lot of poor installs out there, with bad antenna placement and other poor practice. They will be the first to have problems.

"This will force everyone who uses wireless mics to pay attention to the basics," Chris said.

Manufacturers, too, will need to step up their efforts in education and training. That is a good idea, and would have been a good idea even without the current situation forcing the situation.

Thanks to Shure, and Chris and Doug for their leadership through this worrisome and confusing time.

WFX Houston - CSC Lunch Bunch

Had a nice time at lunch today, chatting with Church Soundcheck members Tim Zednick of Central Baptist Church, Jacksonville and Aaron Poff of System Solutions.  Anthony Coppedge and Mark Newton from HOW Marketing Service joined us, as did my buddy Brian Davis from Fellowship Dallas, who had Mike Sessler from the Upper Room Community in the Minneapolis area in tow!  Great to meet Mike.  I've been a fan of ChurchTechArts.org for quite a while.  Great time at lunch.  Thanks to those who made time to attend.

WFX Houston - New and Cool from Yamaha

Stopped by the Yamaha Commercial Audio booth to bother my buddy Jeff Wilson.  He was out goofing off, so Mike Eiseman showed me around.  They're offering their introduction to digital audio class at the show.  It's a great class, and an opportunity to put you hands on the M7CL console, if you haven't had a chance to drive it.

Just out from Yamaha is their SB168-ES Stage Box.  Pretty cool addition to their digital console and accessory line up offering 16 inputs and 8 omni outputs via a single Ethernet cable, in 3 rack units.  The fact that it includes 8 additional omni's is a plus for DM2000 users like me.  It will use an expansion slot, but it you're an AVIOM user, Mike pointed me to a protocol converter from Whirlwind that eliminates the need for a dedicated Aviom card.

Also got to take a quick look at their NEXO boxes.  They were showing the 10's. I'm interested in the 8's as a potential wedge solution.  So tiny!  Hope to get to hear them soon.

WFX Houston - Dave Ferguson Keynote

Dave Ferguson is lead pastor at Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL.  He spoke on innovation, and the process and dynamics of leading innovation.

Dave says God is an innovator.  In the beginning God CREATED.  God is doing a NEW THING.  The father is ALWAYS AT WORK. We are created in the image of God and he needs us to partner with him to create and do these new things.

• The God thing comes before the vision.  The key is to recognize it and say yes when the God thing occurs.  "Find out where God is at work and join him in it."
• It should fit on a napkin. If it won't fit on a napkin, it's probably too complicated. The concept and strategy must be so simple, it can't be forgotten.
• Money ALWAYS Follows Vision. Even in tough economic times, people will give money to a compelling vision that is executed with a solid strategy. Don't allow the vision to shrink.  "Vision is free. It doesn't cost us anything."
• Take Risks on Emerging Leaders and Artists. To attract creative people,  and to keep them, give them a long leash.  There are leaders in your congregation with tremendous capacity if you will take a risk on them.
• The Future is in the NEW. God is at work in the new.  New churches and campuses are simply more effective.  They grow faster, have more conversions, and have more effective outreach.  People now value the risk at the edge, rather than the safety of the center. Existing churches need to figure out how to embrace the new to stay effective. "We are rediscovering the values of Jesus.  We value the lost more than the found."

WFX Houston - First Baptist Church

WFX attendees had the option Wednesday afternoon to hop a bus and get a tour of the newly renovated worship space at Houston's First Baptist Church. It's a lovely space.

Aesthetically a lot of oak and those warm tones carry over to the taupe and blue seating and wall coverings. The 3300 seat room was built in the 70's, and in five months was transformed into a fully modern worship and performance space.

A few things stand out. First, the renovation lowered lighting positions, and added catwalks. They then lowered the ceiling using stretched fabric between the catwalks. The result is attractive, and made more so with the use of LED fixtures located on the back of the catwalks that are used to color paint the ceiling, and the use of a half dozen moving fixtures for more patterns and color. It's very effective and attractive, and conceals acoustic panels above that were not attractive in the original room, but are necessary to control reflections and reverberations.

Two large brick walls on the sides of the space serve as additional canvases for Cameron Ware's Visual Worshiper techniques. Both the moving lights, and an additional pair of projectors are used to project motion loops, video and color on these walls. Done well it's spectacular. It's not for the faint of heart. Done not so well, I'm sure it could be a huge distraction.

The sound system features dual Meyer Melodie line arrays. One for vocals, the other for instrumental. Sounds great, if you have the bucks to buy two. A Yamaha PM1D is at FOH, with ProTools HD3 and a Control 24 desk for recording.

The impressive part of this project is the timeline. The entire renovation was pulled off in just five months. Architects Studio Red worked with Church Solutions Group to accomplish this project. And, it was just a renovation... not an expansion. The tight timeline forced the use of a "design on the run" with a lot of improvisation and shared problem solving as construction was underway. Again, not for the feint of heart, or light of wallet, but necessary in a project where you only have five months. They used volunteer labor extensively to help keep costs under control. 500 folks worked on projects ranging from hanging lights to pulling cable.

All in all, FBC Houston is probably the most visually attractive contemporary worship space I've ever seen. This is not your typical boring auditorium so many churches have built. Love the use of the natural wood finishes. Love the fabric ceiling. Love the thrust of the stage into the seating. For all appearances it's a great execution of a creative and attractive plan.

WFX Houston - Video Projection in the House of Worship with Glen Collinge

Glen Collinge works tech with the Atlanta Vineyard. He’s also a regional sales manager for FSR, Inc.

Glen gave a nice, wide ranging presentation with a broad overview of the elements that go into the use to a projection system in worship.

He also offered a nice overview of the benefits and pitfalls of IMAG. Great advice on avoiding IMAG in rooms that really don’t require it, as well and a good “video primer” ranging from projection fabrics and surfaces, to video signal types and types of switchers and scalers available. Glen wrapped up a discussion on aspect ratios and the merits of HD.

If you’re new to the world of video, a CD of Glen’s session would be a great investment of your time and dollars. And, if you're at the show, FSR is giving away an FSR Eagle 100 scaler switcher.  Stop by their booth to register.

Comments, Comments, Comments

I've had a couple of conversations recently regarding comments, both on blogs and stories on online news sites. It's easy to be upset and suffer a lot of angst over a few nasty comments.

Here's my bottom line. They're just not much to worry about.

Why?

The simple answer is, nobody really reads them. The only folks interested in comments on a news story or blog entry are the insiders. They're unlikely to be influenced by any comment. The comment will either confirm their view, or confirm their belief that people on the other side of the issue are wrong.

I picked up the phone and called Nick Jungman recently to ask him about comments on the the Wichita Eagle site. According to Nick, comments are something they struggle with.

To start with, they really don't want to have to defend what they do with regard to comments. So, they tend to leave them alone. "The less we do the less we have to defend," he said.

He said there are a few things that will trigger a response, and may get a comment deleted. Things like profanity or personal attacks, and at least to some extent, comments by folks who are obvious trolls just seeking to foment conflict.

So, when it comes to comments, here's my advice.

Keep them in perspective. Remember... no one really reads them.

Worship Facilities Expo: Heading for Houston

This is going to be a fun week! I'm headed for Houston, Texas on Tuesday for the Worship Facilities Expo.

As I've said here before, WFX is a great show and a great value. It's put on by Church Production Magazine, and Worship Facilities Magazine.

Here's the really cool part! This year, I'm excited to be covering the show as a guest blogger for Church Production magazine!

That's right. I'll be hitting the show floor, the keynotes, the special backstage tours, and educational sessions, and bringing all of the fun back to you, on the Church Production Magazine website, and right here on TechnoPraxis™ as well.

I'll be looking for cool new products and new uses of existing products. I'll be listening hard and taking notes furiously to bring you the tasty tips and tricks from some great teachers on a variety of topics. There will be lots of pictures. I'm hoping to have a few interviews to share with you, too.

This should be LOT of fun, but I need you help! Drop me a line here in the comments, or by E-mail if you want me to do some specific research for you. So, tell me, what are you looking for?

Steven Scott: The Greatest Words Ever Spoken

Ever wished you could just sit down with Jesus, and ask him a quick question about a specific topic?  Wouldn't it be great to have a quick and easy way to find out everything Jesus had to say about a specific topic? You could certainly dig out the concordance and other reference volumes and dig in, but wouldn't it be cool if all of the statements of Jesus were somehow pulled together by topic so that you can get immediate help on any particular problem or question your are faced with?

That's what Steven Scott has done with "The Greatest Words Ever Spoken."  It's a big volume, bible sized, which makes sense.  You might be tempted to look at this as just another topical bible.  It's really not, since it's limited to just the words of Jesus.

The list of topics is pretty comprehensive... Anger, Money, Mercy, Truth, Fear, Unrighteous Leaders,  Adultery, Murder, The Family.  They're all there.

In the forward for the volume, Gary Smalley tells the story of how this book came to be.  Scott was working on the project, but not with the intention of publishing. It was simply for his own growth and study.  Smalley read his work on two of the four gospels and encouraged Scott to continue.

This is a book that will be on my "easy access" shelf, next to my desk.  I've already grabbed it several times, just to read the words of Jesus on whatever topic I happened to be wrestling with at the time. "The Greatest Words Ever Spoken" is a great study aid, and a valuable addition to my devotional library.