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Author Topic: Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling  (Read 4420 times)

Nick Bair

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Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling
« on: January 29, 2012, 05:07:52 PM »

Hey, folks.

Our church has about 8-10 faithful folks who help out with our sound and video ministries. Turnover is not an issue--I've only had one person leave in 2 years and that was because he moved away. In those 2 years I have been able to determine which people excel in which areas (video, sound, computers). During worship services I have two people scheduled--a video operator and a sound operator. I schedule only a sound operator for Sunday school and Wednesday prayer meeting.

We are currently in the process of reconfiguring/upgrading our equipment, and it seems like now would be a good time to revisit our ministry schedule. I'm looking for advice and opinions on how to set the service schedule so that everybody gets an opportunity to serve somewhere. I also want to schedule folks with enough frequency so that they stay in-practice.

We have a traditional, 4-service-a-week calendar. It's also worth noting that most other ministries in the church are on monthly rotations.

I'm looking forward to your input!

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
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brian maddox

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Re: Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2012, 07:28:22 PM »

Hey, folks.

Our church has about 8-10 faithful folks who help out with our sound and video ministries. Turnover is not an issue--I've only had one person leave in 2 years and that was because he moved away. In those 2 years I have been able to determine which people excel in which areas (video, sound, computers). During worship services I have two people scheduled--a video operator and a sound operator. I schedule only a sound operator for Sunday school and Wednesday prayer meeting.

We are currently in the process of reconfiguring/upgrading our equipment, and it seems like now would be a good time to revisit our ministry schedule. I'm looking for advice and opinions on how to set the service schedule so that everybody gets an opportunity to serve somewhere. I also want to schedule folks with enough frequency so that they stay in-practice.

We have a traditional, 4-service-a-week calendar. It's also worth noting that most other ministries in the church are on monthly rotations.

I'm looking forward to your input!

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

not sure what 4 services a week means.  1 on wednesday night, 2 sunday morning, 1 sunday night?

anyway, not sure if you're using an online scheduling tool, but you should be.  planning center online is awesome.  there are others as well.  i know that wasn't the question you asked, but i thought i'd mention it.

i've found with my teams that the trick is to schedule often enough that their skills stay fresh, but not so often as to burn them out.  i've tended to shy away from 'everybody serves once a month' kind of systems because people are all different and some really can serve very well more often than others.  you've had low turnover, so you may already be doing a very good job with this.

you didn't mention the size of your church, and depending on that, what i'm about to say may not work for you.  but i'll share anyway.  :)  when i started running our tech teams at our church, everyone did every job.  i come from a professional production background where i learned that the only way to get really good at something was to specialize in it.  the general A/V guys i came across just weren't as proficient in a show environment as the guys i worked with who specialized in one area.  which really is pretty logical.  so i changed our system such that most of my people specialize in one particular area.  so sound guys do sound.  ProPresenter techs do PP4.  video does video.  lights do lights.  i got a bit of resistance when i started this from people who said that everyone would get bored with this arrangement, but that just hasn't happened.  instead, i've got volunteers that really can do their jobs at a near professional level, and they take great pride in doing so.  and the quality of all our tech has dramatically improved.

again, that may be totally stupid for your church.  we're a 1500 member, total contemporary church with full production, including IMAG.  it works well for us.

hope thats helpful.  all the usual caveats apply.  YMMV.  IMHO.  you know the drill...

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"It feels wrong to be in the audience.  And it's too peopley!" - Steve Smith

brian maddox
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Savannah, GA

'...do not trifle with the affairs of dragons...

       ....for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup...'

Nick Bair

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Re: Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2012, 11:36:43 AM »

This is a very helpful response. I had not considered separating the video and presentation duties, but that makes a lot of sense. I agree that it would be better to have crews dedicated to each medium rather than a revolving door of responsibilities where nobody is an expert at anything.

Our church seats about 400 in the auditorium and 100 in overflow. We don't use IMAG but we do broadcast live video throughout the building to the two overflow areas, which is just as mission-critical. Worship style is entirely traditional. You were correct on the 4 services schedule.

Maybe I shouldn't try to coordinate the sound, video, and program crews myself, but allow crew leaders to handle that under my oversight. That would certainly make my job easier. It would also ensure that each area received the proper attention.

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brian maddox

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Re: Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2012, 10:20:17 PM »

Maybe I shouldn't try to coordinate the sound, video, and program crews myself, but allow crew leaders to handle that under my oversight. That would certainly make my job easier. It would also ensure that each area received the proper attention.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

that's exactly what i do.  i'm also in charge of [and play with] the music team and i do all that scheduling myself.  but i've got 'department heads' who lead every area and schedule for that area.  i know i mentioned it, and i'm not trying to sell the idea i assure you, but using Planning Center Online really helps in this.  i do have a few people who cross department lines and since those areas are all scheduled in PCO, any conflicts are caught easily.  it's also just a great way to get all the info in one place...

let me know if i can be of any more assistance.  it's always nice to talk to someone that can 'feel my pain'...  :)
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"It feels wrong to be in the audience.  And it's too peopley!" - Steve Smith

brian maddox
[email protected]
Savannah, GA

'...do not trifle with the affairs of dragons...

       ....for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup...'

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Borrowing Brains: AV Team Scheduling
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2012, 10:20:17 PM »


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