One Time You MUST Upgrade Your Equipment (and the reason for the new site design)

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"We have been running on this mixer for 20 years." "It still works." "Most of the channels still work." "We've learned to work around that issue." "The musicians are used to it."  These are just a few reasons you might give for not upgrading your equipment, financial issues aside.  But refusing to upgrade equipment also comes at a cost.  And it might be the musicians or the congregation who are ultimately paying the cost each week. The stories of one web site, one church, one band and how [keep reading]

Creating Your First Equipment Loan Policy

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Opening the microphone case, I was shocked when I noticed a microphone was missing.  I checked another box.  I checked the sound booth.  I checked the microphone stands.  That's when I remembered the women's retreat.  The women's group held a retreat over the weekend and even though the retreat went from Friday night to Saturday night, they hadn't returned the equipment. That's not the only time my equipment had vanished on a Sunday morning.   Around the same time that happened, a [keep reading]

How to Protect Your Electronics

The very first computer I bought came with a power strip.  "You don't want to fry your computer during a storm," said my friend.  However, electrical protection is more that just ye ol power strip.  What happens when there is a voltage drop?  What if the electrical line is dirty?  I've cover these questions and a whole lot more.   There are a few topics I need to cover before we get into electrical protection; How Does Electricity Work? What [keep reading]

How To Get The Equipment You Need

You want better equipment?  Expect to hear some of these statements..."What's wrong with the equipment you have?  It's worked for all these years hasn't it?  Do we really need it?  It costs how much?  For that price, I think the church can live without it."  And my favorite..."ok, if you say it will help the church, then get it."There are three steps in getting better equipment for your church.First, you need to know exactly what equipment you [keep reading]

Catalog Your Equipment With This List

I spent time helping a family who were flood victims.  Part of my work involved cataloging their belonging, for insurance purposes, before we threw them out. That got me thinking about all the A/V equipment at my church.  If the church was flooded out, I would be the person responsible for answering the question, "How much money do you we have in Audio / Visual equipment?"  Therefore, I've compiled a list for all types of equipment.  With this list, you can add [keep reading]