FRONT OF HOUSE
ALL THINGS NEW | Kent Morris
January is an incredible month for new starts and fresh perspective . From white sales at department stores to Home Depot aisles filled with storage options , it ’ s a month for cleaning and clearing out the old and replacing it with the new . In church tech , January offers a chance to undo the Christmas clutter , strike out on a new venture into revamped lighting or any number of other worthwhile and meaningful projects . While there is joy in the process , the key is to know the end from the beginning . In other words , what is the goal of the work ?
Organization is not everyone ’ s forte . Some techs are blessed with the ability to see large-scale chaos and bring order to bear immediately while others struggle just to keep their car ’ s interior habitable . Wherever you fall on the orderly spectrum , you can make a demonstrable difference in the workflow , efficiency and functionality of your worship space by following a logical path focused on clear goals .
First , analyze what is not working . Take the perspective of the worship team and senior pastor and walk through a typical service through their eyes . What do things look like from the pastor ’ s seat ? How does the worship team ’ s physical path from backstage to platform flow ? Does the pastor look at a pile of cables off stage behind the curtain but in
their line-of-sight ? Is the pastor making mix judgements based on a small front-fill speaker with a blown 6 ” driver in a cabinet sitting behind a 2x4 brace ? Does the worship pastor have to negotiate a labyrinth of broken gear sitting in the unlit back hallway simply to make it to the platform ? Are the vocalists subjected to reading their lyrics off an ancient plasma foldback TV propped up on old red-back hymnals ? If the answer to any of these questions is yes , it ’ s time to get to work coiling cables properly , replacing 6 ” drivers and moving the cabinet away from obstacles and then Velcroing it down , moving broken gear to the recycle bin and buying or building a properly angled foldback mount and then getting a current generation TV .
Next , think about what went wrong during the recent Christmas production . Typically , either an expendable such as cable , battery or clip failed and then everyone panicked trying to find a replacement . January is the time to stock fresh batteries set out in a conspicuous place and organized by type , to purchase new cables and label them according to application and to secure several varieties of clips for violin mount , guitar mount , choir mount and body mount and store them near the person responsible for stage management . If the church doesn ’ t yet have a viable intercom system , its purchase should become a priority for the new year as “ com ” is vital for smooth production and the cost of such units has dropped dramatically in the last few years .
Then , clear out and reset the tech booth . Pull out the emergency cables thrown in during the Christmas dress rehearsal , vacuum all the surfaces , throw away the trash build-up and dust everything with either canned air or a blower made for electronics . Go ahead and inventory the items in use and have someone handy with Sketch Up or similar software lay out a diagram of how things are wired .
Finally , resolve to start thinking strategically instead of reacting poorly when new projects or endeavors are implemented . Look for ways to make repeating actions smoother and less complex . Consider how to reduce operational count for each service and where people or things can be taken out of the process and used more effectively elsewhere .
January is a cold and forbidding month , but it can also be the start of something new and creative that will reap benefits throughout the coming year .
Kent Morris Kent Morris is a 44-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge all technology is in a temporal state .
94 January 2024 Subscribe for Free ...