How many different production departments do you have.

[Greg Marshall]

Right now we have Media Team but that's it. The Media Team covers everything, with one incharge with three assistants. I've been thinking that maybe it's best to develop a Tech Support Team, Production Team, and Editing Team, etc...

The person that's now in charge, is not Tech or Computer savy what-so-ever. And I'm thinking its best to do things a little differently.

What do you guys do and how do you seperate them (what are there respected roles)?

TIA,

greg

[Steve G.]

I think the person in charge should know tech stuff, or be "teach/computer savvy.

[WORDpictures]

If you only have four people working with tech - not sure of purpose in trying to staff additional teams - just be sure your people are cross trained. I've been in a transition, helping at three different churches - all have different set ups.

Fifteen-Sixteen Member Team runs tech for both the 2 main services (2000 attendance). One paid PT tech director coordinates schedules & directs IMAG (not media savvy but a servant's heart), paid audio tech & lighting tech (but volunteers aren't cross-trained, so problems if either of these staff are absent). All others volunteer for monthly rotation in an area of specialty: camera operators, slide presentation, and switcher operator. Video production/editing is separate from this team, and to this point, has been pretty much a ministry staff role - I'm an exception coming into a new volunteer position of studio manager/video promotion & working directly with an assistant pastor & church facility manager. Slides for services are set up by the Music Minister's clerical assistant.

Show up 30 minutes prior to services. No rehearsals. Problems here are lack of cross training and limited training, with limited roles there's lack of professionalism & little sense of control over one's contribution to the services. Despite this, there is good cameraderie - I'm the only volunteer who is a media professional, so most don't mind a minimal place of service & just enjoy being part of the group. But it's very frustrating to the few who are serious about media tech.

Seven-Eight Member Team runs tech for services in a media-driven mission church (100 attendance). No paid tech staff, one director (audio background) coordinates & sets up audio for service, others rotate in area of specialty: sound board, light board, & slide presentation (we build these slides & input into MediaShout). Video production/editing again is done separately by individuals on per project basis through "Creative Team" planning of services (music, drama, video, set ideas for theme of services). Creative Team consists of both ministry staff and lay people. The tech, ministry & music teams work together very closely in pre-service - very invigorating atmosphere.

Expected to be at mid-week rehearsal, show up 1-1/2 hours prior to service for run-through/sound checks.

First Come/First Serve Approach perhaps four volunteers plus 2 staff members (500 attendance). Worship Minister is official head (interim situation for now), but there really is no leadership in this area. No rotation, whoever gets there first or shows up runs tech - couple staff members fill in if necessary or pull people from congregation to progress slides. One sound board operator & someone on slide presentation who also runs light board. Different operators for first and second services. Video production/editing is completely separate (this was a problem area for me, as the video expert, since ministry staff planned services it was virtually impossible to incorporate relevant video within services). Without clear leadership in the tech area, a tech-savvy (yet abrasively controlling) staff member became a source of turf war conflicts.

No sound check, show up when services start. Church secretary sets up slides. This is epitome of what you don't want to happen to your tech.

[NGRRFan]

Originally Posted by Greg Marshall

Right now we have Media Team but that's it. {snip} What do you guys do and how do you seperate them (what are there respected roles)?

It depends on what hat I have to wear at any given point in time.

[kisskillme]

I am the production director at my church. We have it split into 3 different departments. First our creative team which handles set design/construction, sermon theme development. Second is our media department. Oversees all things media from ProPresenter to video to bulletins. Finally Service Production which includes setup/tear down (We are a portable church of about 2,000) sound, lighting, and media. There are 2 full time paid staff (Both on the Media Department), one on stipend (technical consultant) and the rest are volunteers (including myself). It's challenging being portable and especially not being on staff coordinating all departments on Sundays can be tricky.

[remi]

Hi I don't know if this would help. I am in charge of the media & publiclity ministry and notice that it became a habit that people relied on my for everything and that is everything. Where are tapes kept? imagine someone who has been in the ministry asking me where the tapes were kept. I then divided the ministry to empower, develop and give them responsiblity. I have visual, design, audio, multimedi and publicity. I have also allocate section leaders. This year i have told each section leader to give me their goals for the section for 2008. Everyone knows how to record audio which is where the money comes in. Its sort of taking shape

[remi]

Sorry i forgot to say all our staff are volunters and the deparment is self funded. The church does not contribute towards the ministry

[cw4u]

At my church, we have only two departments (tech related) that are broken into FOH and Video Production. The FOH usually consists of one audio person, one PPT person, and one lighting/sermon recording person.

In Video Production, we have a director, video capture person, an audio person, (Production board) four camera operators, a CG operator, and at least two tech assistants.

As for cross-training, every one of our youth camera operators can operator lighting, audio, and PPT if needed. Most of our video production can fill in for FOH. Cross-training is essential to any ministry.

Every single person in our ministry is a volunteer.

[James]

For size reference, our church is about 2500 members, 1,000 seat main auditorium. We are in a building program for a 2500 seat auditorium as well. We have three departments here. I am full-time as the head of the Technical Production Department and Audio Engineer. I am the only paid tech individual in my department, which reports to the Worship Pastor. I have about 30 volunteers in all areas of Technical Ministry (audio, video, lighting). This does not count several youth volunteers who work under the youth and children's department doing sound for the youth and children's services while my team and I do the adult services (3 per weekend, 1 sat night, 2 sunday morning). Our church also has an IT Department (2 staff members) which handles all computer/network/web site issues. We also have a staff graphic designer who does all of the print and media design (slide backgrounds, bulletins, etc.)


James

[kick-ice]

To add to cw4u's post from a while back, we used to have 2 departments - kind of. They have never been officially separated, but there were unofficial "heads of teams". We are really 1 big team, because the goal is for us all to be able to "fill in" for any other position. It actually works well that way. The cool part is that the team is made up of mostly volunteers (one of the church staff members is part of the team) and we all love what we do.

The following positions are what we run each Sunday (in no particular order):

Front of House Audio,
Sanctuary Multimedia Projection,
Sermon Audio Podcast,
Sermon Video Webcast,
Lights,
Broadcast Video Director,
Broadcast Audio,
Broadcast Cameras,
Computer Graphics (for overlaying video with graphics/titles),
Tech Support (communicating with WLOX for transmitting broadcast signal, repairing cables, general electronics work),
Youth Auditorium Audio,
Youth Auditorium Multimedia Projection

[waynehoskins]

We have one department, if it's even a department at all. I'm the one staff guy, and not full-time, and that's fine. I've got several great youth volunteers, though I don't understand why anyone over the age of 18 isn't interested in this stuff. Oh well.

Here's what we do:
FOH Audio (also monitors from FOH)
Lighting/CG/Projection (this guy drives a Grass 100 and an old two-preset Lep lightboard)
Video Director and Cutter (drives an Echo SE-6)
2 Camera Operators

Video goes to the web and to archive, and its audio is straight house mix, and it's pretty stinking good.

For size reference, we've probably got 500 people who call us their church; sanctuary seats probably 300; two services on Sunday morning: the first is usually sub-100, the second is 250+ and getting fuller as we go on.

[Sysmom]

We have about 400 people (maybe more, I'm not at all up to date with how many kids and youth show up these days) on any given Sunday.

I'm full time staff for the church, and work 40 hours a week (... if I'm lucky, lots of times it's more). I take care of all communication, print, publicity, graphic and video. And then some. I coordinate the order of service on Sundays and implement Pastor's vision for Sunday mornings with the various people who do the various things to make Sunday Service happen.

We have a Worship Leader (volunteer) whose job is only the worship team - and he works closely with the Tech Guy (who had no official title that I know of, he's a volunteer) whose job is primarily solving the technical issues and purchases for the audio system. There are two other worship teams (with their own leaders) who rotate in and out from the main one. There are 2 volunteers who rotate on the sound board, and I have 3 (plus one vacancy) volunteers who rotate on the computers for audio recording and for the projection screens. There are 2 volunteers who rotate monthly for our meager lighting.

That's pretty much it. I don't think we have departments, per se, we've just not grown that far yet. But there is a clear delineation between worship/audio and everything else.

deb