Musings - Ministry teams, CMN, my post count...

[voyager529]

Hey CMN!

As many of you know, I just celebrated my third anniversary with CMN. I've learned alot, and hopefully helped a few of you out during that time.

Over the last few months, my post count hasn't gone up nearly as much as it used to. The direct reason why I haven't posted as much is because most of the questions asked, I have few answers for. I figure that alot of what I have to say has been said already, and the new guests and lurkers need only go through the archives to solve many of their problems with Windows, Premiere, and Mediashout, my three strongest fields of expertise. It's a testament to the community that this is the case, because other forums are less archive-dependent, which leads to the same flame wars that we had last month. I salute the mods for doing their job, and all the lurkers who read before they post (thus making the job of the mods much easier).

Another reason I contribue this to is the fact that much of what I know about has been established. most of us have our workflows down, whether you use Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, Premiere, Vegas, Final Cut, Pinnacle, Sound Forge, or slice film with an Xacto knife, most of us have our workflows down. Thus, the questions tend to be more "next level", asking how to do even bigger and better things. Alot of the newer questions I've read have involved cameras and camera rigging, and I am very glad that so many have put alot of their shoestring budgets in getting more into their NLE than trying to squeeze out what isn't there.

All this got me thinking: where are the new church media leaders? Are they all lurking, just not posting? are they feverishly filming and graphic designing and too busy to post? are they doing their thing and just not coming to CMN? or is everyone here as guilty as I am about not recruiting and adding members to our tech crews? at that, if we are adding members, are we single-tasking them at the expense of opening them up to a new world of church tech that goes beyond spacebar pushing on Sunday mornings? or is it that since the last convention that church media has taken a back seat to graduating college and growing my PC repair and DJing businesses to the point where I've just lost touch with what's happening and in three weeks when I graduate, I've gotta put myself through CMN bootcamp again and dive back into church media full swing? I'm not accusing anyone of not doing what God has called us to do (that is between each of us and God), but am I out of it or do I really need to get more people "into it"?

Joey

[kbob]

I'm with you in a lot of ways. I've not had to post quite as much lately either, for similar reasons. Personally, I think it's great, if it's because the average reader is spending a bit more time researching before posting, though there still seems to be a lot of the how do I make my church look like a vegas production on a thousand dollar budget, lol. It may also be more that I know how much I don't know now...and therefore don't post as often as before...

[tedanderson]

One thing that you have to understand is that hard-core "interneters" still make up less than 1% of the population. Granted we have more people who are internet/computer savy than ever before but the majority of those people do not posess skill sets or interests that go beyond using email and shopping online for stuff that they eventually buy in stores.

So if you apply that 1% statistic to people who are in church, I think that it is accurate to predict that out of every 100-150 people in the congregation, there is only one person who regularly participates in an online forum. Then if you apply that statistic to the industry of Church Media, you still have a very sharp imbalence in the number of people who really embrace this compared to the number of people who share their love for the industry in online forums.

Also, if I were to use CMN as a microcosm for our society in general, I'd suggest that most people would rather observe from the sidelines and/or get everything and anything that they can take. There are people in my church right now who visit this site (and have even recommended it amongst each other) with the mindset of finding the answer to their problem but they aren't interested in being involved. They come to CMN, search the forums for everything related to their problem. If they don't find what they need, they just go elsewhere until they do.

This is even evident on just about every website forum when you compare the number of views to the number of replies on any given thread. Understand that this is not a rant but simply an observation of how our society as a whole operates when it comes to participating in "public" social situations.

And then I also consider that online forums are not everyone's cup of tea.

[WORDpictures]

Originally Posted by tedanderson

. . .online forums are not everyone's cup of tea.

Joey, thanks for throwing the tea party! From my own experience:

. . . feverishly filming and graphic designing and too busy to post?
YES

. . . single-tasking them at the expense of opening them up to a new world of church tech that goes beyond spacebar pushing?
YES

. . . church media has taken a back seat to [whatever personal diversion may apply]?
YES

[tedanderson]

single-tasking them at the expense of opening them up to a new world of church tech that goes beyond spacebar pushing

Oh my! You just said something very profound right there! I bet 90% of the media workers are space bar pushers.

[blonborg]

I’m a new CMN member and have been lurking (it’s my first post) for the better part of 5 days now. I'm a regular participant in a number of other online forums.

I’ve been the IT Director (volunteer) at my church for 19+ years. While I’m not directly involved with the media aspects, I provide hardware and software support for the pc’s, server, printers and network infrastructure. I came looking for information on a specific topic and will either resurrect an OLD thread or start a new one. Having been online since ’83, I know how to use the search button.
Where are the church media leaders? I wish I knew. The same goes for IT workers. Although I’m not paid, I give the church the same level of support which I provide in my full time job. Documentation, testing, problem solving, licensing, and so on.

[WORDpictures]

Originally Posted by blonborg

I’m a new CMN member and have been lurking. . .

Welcome to the forum - and glad you ventured out of hiding, blonborg! Appreciate what you do to serve through the church.

[JLR]

I ended up taking about a 2 year leave from church media and only recently have started helping out on a very limited basis. I poke around here, but at this time a lot of the threads are far above where I am at or needing to go with what I am doing. I have suggested this sight especially to the younger guys who are up and coming, but they just haven't bit on to the value that can be found here, (of course they haven't looked either). One thing I have noticed locally as I have talked to folks from other churches in my area is that they really are not looking to expand anything media wise. They are in a maintain mode. I'm sure economy has some to do with this but I also haven't seen any major progress in what is available or a next level to strive for (I'm sure others will strongly disagree, but it is just my viewpoint).

I participate in two online forums, this one and one other. The other site is very specific in nature but they are amazingly calm and easy going when asked the same question for the 100th time this week by a newby (and this is not a Christian group). I think we as a Christian media site should strive to be willing to answer with love and understanding even those questions that when searched pour hundreds of good and valid answers. One of the things that brought me onboard to CMN was the way people reached out to the new folk without putting them down or ignoring their simplistic questions.

I know of a local church who stopped in here from my suggestion and wasn't treated all that well when they asked a rather simple question (this is about a year ago). The guy who runs their sound has a learning disability and really was stepping out when he posted a very simple question. To him it was the biggest most urgent question in the world of audio because it effected him and his congregation of 60! The first two responses was why didn't you search, no hint of an answer. He has stated to me how wrong I was about this place that I have found so very helpful and that he wouldn't waste his time again.

So possibly, even if only by perception, we don't wish to help the simple already asked 1 million times before questions, we may very well not be willing to help those who find the question to be hard enough to take the time to ask.

I hope this didn't offend, but I do hope it offers a different light on why posting may be down...

JLR

[WORDpictures]

Originally Posted by JLR

One thing I have noticed locally. . . is that they really are not looking to expand anything media wise. They are in a maintain mode.

YES to this too - not just because of economy, I believe this impacts volunteer-driven teams especially as casually participating members "feel" they don't have the time, administrative support, authority or knowledge base to pursue anything beyond maintenance mode.

[[Admin] danroth]

I'll flip this around and ask what should be here that isn't?

Membership is up. PRO Membership is up.
The number of people visiting the site are up.

I know that you lament people asking the same old questions,
but that's been true of every online forum I've participated in (for 25+ years).
I think that's a sign of health, because it means new people are participating!

Certain people will slow down their participation, but others pick it up.

[JLR]

I'm really glad to hear numbers are up Dan, I don't spend enough time here to verify up or down in postings.

I tend to think that by answering the "same old question" it is often an opportunity for us to revisit the basics, the very thing that we should be teaching to the new folks in our churches. If all we are teaching is push this big long button, we are doing them and the ministry a HUGE dis-service. I know that reading some of the repeat questions has spawned me to be sure I had covered those points with those I have taught in the past. Unfortunately, I probably would have "assumed" that they knew it otherwise.

JLR

[[Admin] danroth]

While I certainly understand the impatience of youth in the repetition of questions (I complained about it all the time when I was in my late teens and my twenties), I also know where the church ends up (or where I end up) when tired of answering questions about salvation, or tired of reading the Bible, or tired of praying.