Thursdays are tough days. We start at 9am with a Production Meeting and go until at least 9pm (we have rehearsal on Thursday nights). It’s just a long and very full day. Yesterday was tough for a number of reasons. Tough/draining meetings. Tough, but needed conversations. Stage setup for rehearsal. And many other things that I’ve blanked out of my memory.
On a positive note, we had 2 new audio guys training at rehearsal last night. One guy was on his 3rd week of training and will be running monitors on his own this Sunday morning. The other guy came out for the first time and still needs a few more training sessions before he can go “solo”. We also have a Video Director shadowing our best Video Director this coming Sunday, so I’m pretty excited about that. We’ve also assimilated a few others on camera, lights and graphics in September, so all in all, it’s been a great month. Lots of new faces, which is great as we gear up for the move to our new worship center (which now looks like it will be January).
I’m curious, though – every church is different, yet we have much in common. What are your struggles? What frustrates you in your role? What would you like to see change in your tech ministry?
To the left, you’ll see a column entitled “Books I’m Reading”. I just ordered and received 4 new books (I LOVE to read). Here are the books I’m diving into:
“Unleashing Web 2.0: From Concepts to Creativity” – This is research for my “Church 2.0″ book.
“Communicating for a Change” by Andy Stanley – I speak on communication, so I’m constantly reading about it.
“Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples” – The book title intrigued me, so I bought it.
“The Ten Faces of Innovation: Ideo’s Strategies for Beating the Devil’s Advocate & Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization” – I’m really excited about this book and can’t wait to read it.
Have an interest in one of the books? Click on the book to the left and it will take you to Amazon.com, where you can order it. My question book for the day is: What book(s) are you reading?
Blaine Hogan has a new project that is launching this week. It is a Faith, Hope, and Love t-shirt series. Blaine’s been studying a great deal about the concepts of faith, hope, and love at school and has been working with these icons for months now. He’s selling them to help raise money to pursue other artistic ventures as well as seminary expenses. Check them out HERE.
I love Fall – it’s my favorite season of the year. My birthday, Sept. 22, is actually the official first day of Fall. With Fall comes football (praise God). I enjoy “Friday Night Lights” (I went to see a local high school team play this past Friday night). I enjoy college football and I love the NFL. As I mentioned yesterday, the cowboys are looking pretty good.
The other cool thing about Fall are the TV shows that are back in action and the new ones that are just starting. Last night I watched Heroes and Journey Man. I’m a sucker for time travel shows or movies. I love Back to the Future. I loved Quantum Leap. Something about time travel fascinates me. Anyone else catch Journey Man? What did you think?
Of course tomorrow I’ve got to play catch up and watch one of my favorite shows: Prison Break, as well as the brand new Chuck – which looks pretty cool. Anyone catch Chuck?
BONUS:
Speaking of Fall, check out my article entitled “Fall Ideas for Media Ministry” HERE.
I’m working on a book called “Church 2.0″ (at least that’s the title for now). It’s a collaborative conversation with several great Church leaders and thinkers. You can check out the book’s Facebook group HERE and join the conversation. I’ll be posting more info in the near future.
Speaking of collaboration: How many of you have checked out YouVersion?
I recently heard from the cool people at Glow Box Media. They are a new producer worth checking out. You can find their products HERE.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
The first issue of Collide Magazine just came out. Did you get your copy? Collide is a great new resource for Church leaders. I wrote an article that has been getting positive feedback. I was a little nervous about the article (where I reviewed 3 media clearing house companies) due to having to say something negative about each company. I use, respect and know the people behind each company that I reviewed, so I was a little worried that they’d be upset with the article. The truth is, I simply gave my best shot at being objective and the feedback I’ve received so far is that people respected that and agreed with my comments. If you haven’t subscribed yet, go HERE to sign up.
People that know me, know that I love networking and I love food. Therefore, I do a lot of lunch meetings – a TON of them. Monday, I went to a luncheon with several Dallas worship leaders and learned more about a new company called Interactive Worship Live. I had seen them at some conferences that I was speaking at, but I got to know the product better.
Yesterday, I attended another lunch with metro worship leaders, hosted by the Gospel Music Channel. They are doing a 12 city tour and wanted to get a few key leaders together to hear from and bounce ideas off. I don’t have cable, but if I did, I would watch GMC often. It was good to see their programming and know that someone out there is doing Christian television without the cheese.
BONUS:
Get a cool new countdown from Igniter Media Group for FREE at WorshipHouse Media. Go HERE to download it.
EXTRA:
One of my favorite up-and-coming producers is FortyOneTwenty. They’ve just come out with some new products. Check them out HERE.
I’ve mentioned these 2 polls before. One is for the most innovative churches in America; the other is for what worship presentation software you use. If you haven’t voted yet, please go vote.
BONUS:
Looking for some simple, usable and fresh backgrounds? Check out my Fresh Backs Vol. 1 HERE and search under Wasteland Media.
