Whats Up With Grumpy Volunteers?

So, whats up with grumpy volunteers? Why do they volunteer if they are going to have a stinky attitude? Maybe you should bring in an "expert" to set them straight? Are you expecting too much of volunteers? Are we killing our volunteers?So, whats up with grumpy tech arts volunteers?

I recently sent this email to a friend who asked me to come in and do some training with their volunteers.

Cool Tools

This one is quick.  And self explanatory.  But really cool...
http://www.laptoptripods.com/
These are a must have.
On location recording with a laptop? eating lunch in the studio and want to keep the food parts out of the faders and knobs?  Need to throw up a temporary desk for a laptop for a client or yourself?  Need an additional monitor stand you can sneak in right beside your console for editing or Melodyne tuning? Dude.  These rock.  The Classic and the Ultra have enough space for a mouse on the side.

Unethically Frugal?

Is it possible to pursue frugality to a fault? Dictionary.com defines frugal: “economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful: a frugal manager.”

When trying to save the church money and be good stewards of God's money churches need to be careful to mind some important ethical rules (some obvious, others a little more abstract) and consider a wider scope of what it means to be frugal.

"Correction" - the HPF

The EQ the most abused/neglected section on a mixing console.  I always try to teach people at square one that the EQ should primarily be used to subtract, or "sculpt" the sound.  When have you seen a sculptor pack material on to create a statue?  Yet, I still walk into our student Chapel every couple of weeks and find almost all of the vocal channels with low-mid and high-mid frequencies boosted.  Thats a muddy mix, and its asking for feedback.  I rarely boost EQ on any source except for some playback channels or to accent transients on drum channels.  

On some old Neve audio consoles that were built to “military spec”, the term used for this section on the mixer was “correction”, instead of “equalizer”.  That gives a little bit different picture of what this section of the mixer does, right?

Master Reset

I'm going to give away the punch line of this blog early.  Its my blog, I can break the rules if I want.  In fact, I could name my blog "Fred" if I want - its my blog.

So here it is, I was thinking about how blessed I am to get to reset things and that I get to go do things that I know I was made for.  Its a "Master Reset" to my "manufacturer's default" if you will.

Announcement

Dear Friends,

Effective December 31^st, I am resigning as AVL Manager at Colonial Baptist Church (don’t worry – I’m here full bore for Christmas Sweet).  After much prayer and consideration, I have concluded that this is God’s clear direction for our family.  I would like to thank my fellow co-workers, church members, and most importantly – the tech arts volunteers for the last 3 and a half years of shouldering up together in kingdom building work for the Lord. 

d&b audiotechnik

Last week I attended an audio workshop hosted by d&b audiotechnik in Asheville, NC.  Gracious people.  SMART people!  I thoroughly enjoyed that.  And, as a result, I am now a certified d&b audiotechnik technician.

Event Production troubleshooting & thoughts on the Roland M-400

This week I got a call from a local event production company (Creative Visions) that came up short handed because of multiple events scheduled in a perfect storm.  They needed an A1 sound guy, and since I know the guys there, they called me to ask if I could help.  I was glad to because they have been a big help to us at Colonial, and to me personally when I've been stuck and needed a quick answer, and it was a chance to kick the tires on the little Roland M-400 digital mixer.   

New Avid Venue & Pro Tools stuff spotted in the wild

iPad app, "Venuelink" for Pro Tools, and AVB in this video

VenueLink:
OK -so, the thing I'm MOST excited about here is the "Venuelink" feature.  Wow!  If I could go back and reclaim all the time I spent setting up patching, and marking and naming the beginning of each song on a 2 hour long session...

Part 3. Recruiting: How To Fire A Volunteer

Don’t Judge Me!

You’ve recruited, begged for help.  Now, when that operator shows up, don’t be afraid to judge them.  Check references.  Make sure they measure up.  Can you fire a volunteer?  Well, if they don’t show up, walk off with headphones, sneak up into the tech fridge at other times during the week to “refresh” themselves, or just have a generally critical and stinky attitude towards the “talent”… sure!

Part 2. Recruiting: Newbies

Newbies

Part 1 was all about the FASTEST way to GROW a tech team.  This post is about “newbies”.  We were all "newbies" at some point, and we really don't have a desire to create a secret handshake club.  In fact, one of the most fun things about doing this tech arts ministry is seeing someone "get it".  Whether its understanding signal flow or creating their first lighting cue, seeing someone excited to learn a tech arts trick is pretty satisfying.  And its even more satisfying to see them down the line become an integral part of the team. 

Recruiting (part 1of 3) - You Get What You Ask For

Recruiting: You Get What You Ask For? (pt. 1 of 3)

I don’t claim to have recruiting tech arts volunteers all figured out, but I have some thoughts I’d like to share.  And before I start in on this, let me just say that we have a terrific volunteer team at Colonial, made up of a mixed bag of volunteers both with years of professional or other experience in the tech arts, and those who just came on board wanting to serve this body in whatever way they were needed.  In this post, I’m specifically dealing with recruiting from the beginning, and what is the FASTEST way to grow a tech arts team.