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In the wake of the Super Bowl Halftime Show and the Grammys, I have been disturbed by the shear amount of negative criticism I have witnessed with regard to major productions.  The majority of people that I “follow” thru Twitter and in Blog world are Tech’s that serve in churches in the same way that I do.  I think what I find so disturbing is that so many are quick to make a judgment on what they have witnessed on the television or heard in a mix.  One of the first things I learned in working production, is that all production is a series of compromises in an effort to come to the greatest possible outcome given an innumerable amount of variables.  Every week I am faced with at least one choice.  The answer is rarely “yes” or “no”, rather it is “yes/no, at the expense of X and Y.”  In the case of the Grammys, I know that in the twenty-four hours prior to the event, two acts that were scheduled to perform pulled out (Chris Brown and Rihanna).  Those are just two of the many variables that have been made public.  I am sure there are hundreds of others that aren’t news worthy, so we’ll never hear about them.

So here is my plea, 2 Corinthian 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.”

Now do not hear me say that I am not a proponent of constructive criticism.  I frequently ask others for their opinions.  The trap that I suffer from is that I am careful not to make excuses for why I did what I did, and hear the criticism offered as an opportunity to learn how to grow in my craft.  As I mentioned in my previous post, if production were simply black-and-white, there would be a step-by-step manual on how to do it.  The truth however, is that production is ever changing as new details come to light, and flexibility is the mark of a person that can succeed.  By blazing dozens of trite comments through Twitter, nobody wins.  The folks that might gain from your opinion, aren’t hearing what you’re saying because they don’t know who you are.  You may have noticed that you were not invited to be a part of the production you are being so critical of.  

Romans 14:18-19, “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.  So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up (NIV; make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.)”

In the past, I was definitely one to be a verbal critic of production, with my limited experience believing that I could do a better job than what had been done.  This simple truth caused me to change my tune.  I still fall victim to the practice, but by God’s grace I am growing through it.

Phillipians 2:3 says, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”

It may very well be true that you could have done a given task better than what you witnessed.  Instead of announcing to the world what you would have done differenly, take the lesson learned and apply it to your next similar challenge.  You will gain from the insight given to you as you critiqued a production, and you will have a voice in the future with others by not blasting to the world, and possibly compromising your voice with them as a follow of Christ.

That’s my $0.02.

Yesterday we experienced a few “one of a kind” incidents which most people never noticed.  I realized though, it’s those “one of a kind” moments, the anomalies of production, that make us better at what we do; the subtle mistakes and equipment glitches that occur, which enable us to learn how to avoid them in the future.

One of the steps we’ve taken to help things function more smoothly and with some consistency is create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for each of the positions for Sunday morning.  I was talking with Les, our Visual Director, the other day after a different “one-of-those-days”, he mentioned that one of our leaders felt we should “add that to our SOP”.  So the question then becomes, should we make every anomaly an SOP item?  Les keenly observed, that if we were to make every step or precaution we make a line item on the SOP; we’d do nothing but write, and have a pile of paper so big no one would even know where to begin.  I believe the old hymn described it like this, “Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade.  To write the [SOP] would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.”  (Please don’t judge me by my poor judgment and lack of a sense-of-humor.  That song, by the way, is one of my all time favorites.)

I submit that it is the anomalies that make us better at what we do.  We can take the time to make a checklist of steps, ensuring that all equipment is shut off, and that items are secured, etc.  It is difficult however, to put the “why” for each of the steps on the SOP.  The SOP’s that we have implemented, are really nothing more than a bulleted list with a time association. When a volunteer has been trained, the assumption is that the origins for each step have been communicated, and that the SOP is merely a quick reference guide.

Being a father of two, I have adopted a motto, “Object lessons are best.”  I have told my children numerous times, the reasons we have certain rules in our home.  In a similar fashion I have explained to our volunteers the reason why we take the steps we take, but it is when we experience the pain of a missed step that we remember.  Now in the case of the equipment at church, the pain is not always directly translated to the volunteer.  If a projector gets left on and the lamp burns hours unnecessarily, the volunteers don’t pay for that out of their pocket.  If a guitar amp doesn’t get turned off, and the tubes need replace prematurely, the volunteer isn’t directly affected.  It is my job as the team leader to communicate the error in a loving way, and remind the volunteer of the reasons we have the SOP.

And so, take the time to train well.  Create an SOP.  Communicate the reasons for each step on the SOP.  Hold your teams responsible for missed steps.  We have the responsibility to be good stewards of what we’ve been resourced with.  Understand this however, no matter how well you prepare, the nature of live event production will bring some surprises.  Grace should abound, but take the opportunity to learn from the mistakes and the anomalies; you’ll only improve your craft in doing so.  Learn from the one of kind incidents, to become a One of a Kind servant.

We recently added two new members to our tech staff, here at Watermark. In my time here, I have hired only one other person, and so that was an education unto itself. I thought I’d outline a few of the lessons I learned two years ago, and how I applied them to this most recent hiring process:

Define the Needs: Why are you seeing the need to hire more technical staff? Perhaps this is your first technical hire. It may be possible that the reason you require someone [else], is because the person or team you have now is not fulfilling their job description.

For the sake of this post let’s assume, that you do in fact need to add to your staff. Take some time to define the problems that you are encountering consistently. For now, do not list the anomalies, productions are full of one-time problems that may be the result of failed equipment, a last minute change of program, etc. Today we are focusing on the person that might help you grow your technical ministry. Do you require deeper knowledge and leadership in audio, video or lighting? Perhaps you’re looking for someone with a combination of skills (more on that later). Maybe you have a great team in each discipline, but lack an overall leader to help them all gel as one unit. Taking the time to put a microscope to your existing deficits will enable you to better define your needs and better promote the type of person you are looking for, no matter what medium you choose to advertise.

Experience ≠ Knowledge: I have found that when candidates begin to list a great number of past experiences, it helps to have them define their exact roles. For example, if a person claims to have worked on concert after concert, show after show, this does not mean they have the knowledge to lead. Many people have “worked that show”, so what makes that experience worthy of being placed on their resume? Look for a professional reference that can help to support their claims, if this is an area of concern.

Jack of all Trades = Master of None: I am reminded of the lyrics of a Ben Folds tune here, “Why you gotta act like you know, when you don’t know. It’s okay, if you don’t know everything.”

The natural sub-domains of AVL are far too deep for any one person to have an expert’s knowledge in each of them. For example, my special area of interest is Audio. I love it! The more I am involved in it however, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. Lighting and Video are the same way, and as we grow into more digitally controlled environments, the learning curve becomes greater. Now, not only do we need to understand the basic principals, we also require the knowledge to make those principals translate into 1/0’s. If your new hire is an expert in one area, seek a humble soul that can admit when a problem is out of his league. Seek a person that can identify gifted people in the areas he/she is weak in and staff to it with a team of volunteers, or if the need requires it, paid staff (That’s a blog for another day). If they claim expertise in all of the areas, put their resume to bed.

Models ≠ Knowledge: I am not at all impressed when a candidate lists all the manufacturers and model numbers of the equipment they have worked with. When hiring, I don’t merely want to know that a person can tell me the “what”, I want to know that they understand the underlying principals, the “how” and “why”, and can make the necessary translations no matter what equipment they are dealt with. Churches run the gamut when it comes to available resources for a technical budget. Producing with excellence has more to do with doing the best you can with what you’ve got, rather than needing to get still more. A very real concern in this area, is that the new hire will want to purchase gear unnecessarily once they’ve got the job. This doesn’t translate into being a good steward of what you’ve already invested in.

Time is Valuable: This one is really important in helping you keep your sanity in the hiring process. Two years ago I posted on two popular church employment websites. This was a huge mistake and I vowed to never do it again. I received one resume after another, and all but a few were speckled with the previous three offending descriptions. The pain associated with these posting websites, is the shear time involved in sorting through the large number of names, and then needing to reply to each in a polite and timely manner. Do yourself a favor, and in the posting make some kind of statement that will protect you from needing reply to every candidate. If you make it clear that not all candidates will be replied to, then you lessen the chance of offending one. Remember Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Honor the time of anyone that has thrown their name into the hat.

This time around, I used my existing network of peers to get the names of viable candidates. You may have read in previous posts about the value I place in friends and peers in your geographic area and responsibility. Many of them would love to hire, but are not able to because of budget restraints. This is very common, so if you are blessed to be able to hire, seek advice and names of folks you respect. If they’d hire someone, chances are it’ll work out for you too. Another “go-to”, is a rock-star volunteer. This is the first place I go when I consider hiring; I already know their heart, I’ve had the advantage of serving along side them, I know how they handle pressure, I know what they don’t know. Wouldn’t you like to start at the 50 yard line with every punt? (Please note the sports reference, you won’t see those very often on this blog.)

Christ-Follower: I’ve not forgotten the most important piece, I simply chose to save the best for last. When you’ve seen all the skills, considered all the experience, contacted the references; you’ve still got more to do. Speak to the person, get to know them beyond two dimensions, and black-and-white. Hear their story of Grace; and if they don’t have one, share yours…and by-all-means, don’t hire them!

I view my job as a ministry. I know I’m not a part of the Pastoral Care Team, but I still do pastoral care. The truth is, I will be the counsellor or pastor to those that serve with me, because I am on staff and I already have a relationship with them. I’ll be the person they come to first. I’ll never preach. I don’t want to, but I serve a God that uses people who make themselves available to Him. If I’m taking the time to spend time with Christ, then I’ll be ready when He allows me to have a “meaningful conversation” with anyone He causes to cross my path.

Make every effort to meet your final candidate(s) in person, and during that time expose them to others they’ll be working with. Have the candidate share their story of Grace, and what the Lord has been teaching them most recently. You’ll never wish you skipped this step, it’ll save you a ton of pain in the future.

I was reading Psalm 9 today and the first two verses really popped out at me.

“I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praised to your name, O Most High.” — Psalm 9:1-2

I am a critical person. I love Jesus, but my life often reflects frustration or criticism rather than joy. I, like many of the folks that read this blog, have an eye for detail, often showing itself in the form of control. These verses were a great reminder of why I do what I do; an opportunity to use my gifts to serve Christ, and to help make His name more famous.

So the next time someone comes to you with a last minute request. Think about how you can serve them immediately, and find another time to educate them on the “value of the ask”, sometime later that week.. The next time your feature vocalist misses a note, don’t cringe or give a smirk to the person sitting next you. Instead, pray right then, that they could recover and use their gifts to glorify Christ. Afterall, you may have noticed that you weren’t asked to sing that solo.

I challenge you to know and understand your gifts and passions. It is when you are using them for Christ that you will find yourself with an opportunity to, “tell of the marvelous things [God] has done.”. In the meantime thank the Lord with all your heart and let your song of praise be the joy with which you serve a mighty God!

If you are looking for a great plan to help you read through scripture, check out The Journey. This year we are working our way through the Wisdom Books.

I am becoming more and more aware of how broad the definition of “tech” has become in church circles.  When I hear tech, my mind goes to the Audio/Video/Lighting definition.  For others, it implies IT/Networking.  The CTC attracted both without a budget.  All advertising for the event was through Twitter and Facebook among other social networking sites.  I would guess there were about 150 people present.  I mentioned the event in my previous post, so you can follow those links if you wish to read more.

I sat in two break-outs in the afternoon led by @human3rror/@churchcrunch  The subject was blogging.  How do you do it well?  He commits to blogging approx 200 words, three times per day.  That sounds pretty daunting.  The keys to his blogging philosophy are as follows:

Purpose - You must have a purpose to your blog.  The more specific the better.  Effective filters in what you will and won’t post, will set your blog apart from the thousands of others that pop up each day.  What makes your blog different?

Authority -  What gives you the right to be heard on your subject (i.e. education, experience, existing communities)?  What are your credentials?  State these somewhere on your site, typically in the “About” or “Bio” pages.

Fears -  What are your fears of blogging?  Identify these, and move past them.  (i.e. lack of credentials, professional suicide, will it interfere with your family, no one will read it, etc.)

Identify - What are you passionate about?  (i.e. called to do, can’t sleep b/c your thinking about the topic, etc.)  What are you obsessed about. 

Audience - Who will be reading your blog?  Don’t spend much time on this…”if you build it they will come.”  The truth is you can’t control who will read your blog, but it is necessary to keep a target audience in mind as you write.

Motivations - What is your motivation for having a blog in the first place?

There you have it…my notes in nutshell.  Blog on!

As you can see, I’ve taken some time this weekend to give the site a facelift.  I attended Church Tech Camp Dallas (#ctcdallas) last week hosted at Irving Bible Church.  I was not entirely certain what to expect at the event labeled an “unconference”.  I was hoping to gain a little insight into what it took to start and successfully maintain an internet campus for a church, but as it turned out, it was not really a topic of discussion once we hit the break-out sessions.  With the afternoon now open, I spent my time in a couple breakouts lead by @human3rror/@churchcrunch .  The info was very helpful in offering ideas to make a blog worth reading.  More on that later.

We have had a very busy month. For three consecutive weeks, we’ve had three conferences on our campus. Two weeks ago we had corporate event, last week we were a satellite site for the Leadership Summit, and today we finished the ECHO Conference put together by the folks at RT Media Group (Collide Magazine, Igniter Media, and Worship House Media) The week was busy, but the gifts of everyone working together made it a huge success in my opinion. I am blessed to be a part of a great network of tech folks here in the Dallas area. Besides some of Watermark’s rock star volunteers and of course the ECHO folks, we were joined by Jason from Lake Pointe, Dustin from The Village,and “Bear” and Cameron with Irving Bible (be sure to check out Visual Worshiper website, this is Cameron’s passion). Other area folks that contributed or attended were Greg Atkinson with Bent Tree Bible Fellowship and Church Video Ideas. Brian with Fellowship Bible Church Dallas

The media and keynotes were awesome. If you weren’t able to come this year, I encourage you to check it out next year. I’m not great at summarizing speaker’s points, so I’ll send you to someone that did a much better job…HERE.

The crew that came to the conference were, very likely, the most “connected” that I have ever seen. We broke into the Twitter top 10 on their search page with the tag #echo, and that on a night that Phelps won the gold medal that pushed him past Mark Spitz record number of golds…stinkin’ impressive! Check it out to see what everyone had to say about the conference. Clint with ECHO built a program in Quartz Composer that displayed the most recent “tweets” in real time, and he did so at the last minute. What a great way to create a common bond amongst the attendees of the conference.

I met a lot of people, and everyone of them were really humble. If you’re one of them, thanks for coming to Dallas.

Looking forward now to slowing down a little. Vacation is in one month.

This week I have the privilege of taking part in the Texas Large Church Forum.  To be honest, I’m not sure how the idea originated, or who organizes the event, but it’s proven to be a real blessing.  Here’s the skinny.  Every two years, ten churches from Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, get together to share ideas, struggles, and the like.  The venue for the event rotates.  It just so happens that the last two times have been in Dallas.  I would guess we’ll be in one of the other cities next time.  We begin with a short time of corporate worship, then we break-out into our respective disciplines and have a very informal roundtable discussion.  This year I was charged with being the moderator for Technical break-out, but that has really been a formality that we’ve not required.  I was blown away by the input and humility of the folks that I had the chance to interact with.  Our time has been very conversational, and I’ve come away with some great leads on solutions to recurring problems, as well as being encouraged by everyone’s openness to share!  This post will sound very similar to my last one, but once again, I will tell you…if you buy some lunch for another person in your area, that has been charged with similar responsibilities as your own, it’ll be the best $10 you spend all week.  Christ is doing some amazing things, and I am humbled to play my small role in this thing we call "body life."

There’s a lot wisdom in the room I have been sitting in today, with folks that have different perspectives, experiences, and gifts.  These folks have miles on me, and not hint of ego.  My hope is to continue to meet with folks, and see first-hand how they do things. 

Some of the topics we covered have been:
Hiring Technical Staff, Wireless frequency coordination, "Video Venue" practices, How loud is too loud? (obviously this is relative), Technical Ministry as outreach, Staff structure, Volunteer recruiting/training/retention, Scope of Rehearsals, etc.

If you’re doing this type of thing already, please comment, and share the topics you found helpful to discuss.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some great time with other Technical Directors from churches here in the Dallas area [Jason Cole (Lake Pointe), Greg Atkinson (Bent Tree Bible Fellowship), and most recently Brian Davis (Fellowship Dallas)].  Each one of these guys blogs as well, and you can find their links right here under the Tech Arts heading.  This time has been very valuable.  I am always encouraged to hear what other ministries are doing; the good the bad, and the (sometimes) ugly.  The more I meet with others, the more I realize, how much there is to learn.  The body of Christ is an amazing thing.  Thanks guys for serving Christ with your unique gifts, and doing it with such passion.  Thanks too for encouragement to keep my blog current.

If you serve in some form of Technical Ministry, take some time to get know others that serve in a similar role in your area.  And if you’re in the  Dallas area, be sure to contact  me, I’d love  broaden the network.

If you have been charged with the responsibility of building teams for the purpose of church production, this book is well worth reading.  With years of experience, Curt Taipale packages a wealth of knowledge, with a focus on excellence.  I said excellence, not perfection.  There is a difference. The pursuit of excellence is honoring to God.   If you have been involved in a Technical Arts ministry for even a short time, you will find yourself relating to his many examples.  Your response might be, “Yes, that’s what I’ve been trying to say!” or “Finally, someone who ‘gets it’!” What I found especially refreshing is that the book is written not only to “techies” but to the Worship Director as well.  Lets face it, not everyone is aware of the value of an “ask”.  Not everyone needs to be.  Curt takes that time to gently educate those that our ministries support.  What seems like a small thing, sometimes brings with it a plethora of issues.  In moments like this, time is the enemy.  The book reminds us that our purpose is to serve with our unique gifts so that “…God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:9-11) I recommend this resource for any leader of a Technical Ministry!