It’s that time again…time to make your New Year’s resolutions. I know, you’re probably thinking either, “I don’t want to make resolutions” or, “Every time I make a resolution, it only lasts about a month.” Since this is the tech blog, I’m not going to ask you to make a personal resolution. Instead, I’m going to give you some ideas of resolutions to make for your A/V department at your church. The end of the year is a good time to evaluate how things went during the last year, or even the last few years if you haven’t changed anything recently, and make some resolutions to ensure your team and your equipment are the most efficient and happy throughout this next year.
Resolution #1: Be Prepared!
Being prepared for your services, and for mistakes that might happen, makes a huge difference. First, you want to make sure you and all your team members know how to use the equipment they’re running. If you’ve been putting off training your team how to really run the sound board or how to use the projection software, now is the time to teach them. Be confident that they can handle anything that comes their way. It’s just a waste of time when you have to answer all kinds of questions in the middle of a service or to have mistakes happen because someone doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Have a backup plan. If someone doesn’t show up or if a piece of hardware goes down or quits working, have something prepared that you can switch to just in case. Sure, there are things you can’t control, like if the electricity goes out during the service, so just make the best out of having an electronic free service.
Resolution #2: Be Positive!
Things can get very hectic especially if you attend a larger church with a lot of people working in A/V, have live streaming, and all kinds of different things going on. Perfection is desired during these times and when we have someone yelling at us or we know they don’t have confidence in us, especially if we’re volunteers, it can drive someone to quit volunteering. Staying positive will help not only you, but the people around you.
“…encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – 2 Cor. 13:11
Resolution #3: Update your equipment!
This is definitely going on my resolution list. If you’re like me and have an old sound board in the booth with a few dead channels and unused cables running everywhere because you didn’t have time to run them correctly, you need to make this resolution. If it isn’t in the budget to update your equipment, ask to start a savings fund for your A/V department and save up until you have the money to fix the hardware. In the meantime, you can take some time to run the cables where they’re supposed to go, clean up the sound booth, throw away the trash, organize the small pieces like the batteries, mics, extra cables and adapters. Put them in drawers or buy something small that you can organize all that stuff in.
If you have an old computer that continually has problems or doesn’t run your projection software properly, it may be time to upgrade the computer. If it’s a PC desktop, you may be able to just upgrade some parts in it and make it as good as new without buying a whole new computer. If it’s an older laptop or the computer is just too old, getting a new computer will be a great investment to ensure your services run smoothly. If you’re using EasyWorship, do a checkup on your computer to make sure it’s up to par with our system requirements.
Resolution Idea #4: Update your projection software!
Whatever projection software you use, make sure it’s up-to-date. Each company spends a LOT of time developing new versions of their software to work best with the new Windows’ updates and hardware updates. If you’re using an old version of software, you may not be taking advantage of everything it is capable of doing for you. And, if you have updated your computer, you will definitely want to update the projection software to work best with the new computer. EasyWorship has a subscription available either monthly or annually that will automatically keep you updated with the newest version and is very reasonably priced. Staying on older outdated software will start failing and not working with newer equipment and even older equipment. Those older versions are also deprecated and are usually no longer supported.
Resolution Idea #5: Have FUN!
Don’t think of working in the A/V department as a job. Obviously you are doing it because you had some interest in it at one point or another. Think of it as a hobby. You are working unto the Lord and serving His church. Be joyful and excited to be there! You’re helping the congregation get involved in worship and learning through the message. It’s easy to get down and frustrated and to lose some of that joy, but when that happens, think about the hearts of those attending the service and what your work is doing to help bring the love of God to them at that time. The joy of the Lord is our strength!
Whatever resolutions you do or don’t make, or do or don’t keep this year, these resolutions help you get started on a track for a very successful year. Make the most of your talent and knowledge and have a wonderful year!
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