AUMC AV Blog

Yes, I know that I haven't posted much recently, but I am on Christmas vacation, so I have a good excuse.

But I did want to post about our Christmas Eve services. We had it at Argyle High School because our current sanctuary isn't big enough (and because or new building isn't ready yet... still...). Both services went amazing!

Shh, don't tell anyone, but I had some tears in my eyes at Silent Night (my favorite Christmas song).

Pictures!

Before service:


During the second service:




More photos: Gallery

Matthew

The projector for the new church will be set to display at 1024X576 (widescreen), so I set up a preset for exporting videos at that resolution. Now, when I make a video (or download a video) and I want it to be the right resolution, I just run it through this preset. And of course I want the best quality video possible, so I turned every setting to "Best" in every possible way, I turned de-interlacing on, I turned on every possible thing to make it the best quality video...

Exporting a 2 minute video takes 8 hours.

Yes, I will make a preset that isn't set to "Best" in every possible way for those times when I don't have overnight to render a video...

Matthew

I have uploaded the latest photos to the photo album above. I have also posted them for easy viewing here: link

Matthew

For those that read this, I will give an update. We have been working hard at finalizing everything in the sound booth. Lots of finishing touches are getting made. For example, today we labeled everything... the sound board, the switcher, cables, the racks... lots of little sticky paper was coming out of that label maker.

Outside of that there isn't much to report. We are having problems with our aspect ratio with the projector and switcher. But that is all.

Matthew

Due to a job that had me working until 6 AM (plus an hour drive home), I wasn't able to get to the new church site this morning, but Thursday and Friday are clear for me, I hope to get lots of work done then!

Matthew

I just wanted to throw out a quick update. Due to Thanksgiving, not much progress has been made in the past week. However, there are a few things that have happened.

As you can see from my last post, the large front screen has been hung and the projector has been aligned to it. I haven't seen it in action, so I am looking forward to that.

Also, the new computer for the booth has been ordered (on Black Friday for extra savings). It should be in in a few days, and I look forward to playing with that new toy... err, umm, that new pice of equipment. Ya.

Overall, things are coming together. The computer is the last large pice of equipment that we will have to install, so from here on out it is the small things we have to worry about.

Right now, lots of thoughts are going through my head; about how I am excited that this process is drawing to a close; about how I am looking forward to our first Sunday; about how I am looking forward to leading a team of volunteers. So far, my involvement in the new building has been helping James install things and making decisions about where equipment will go. Soon, though, I will be busy training volunteers, testing the system, practicing with the band, and soon running services in our new building. I can't wait to praise God in our new sanctuary.

Matthew

Just thought I would post some quick pics of the screen in the new sanctuary:



From the sound booth:



Matthew

I hear that the big screen has been hung, but I haven't had the chance to make it out there to take some pictures... maybe on my way out of town tomorrow I can swing by for some quick pics for ye old blog.

Matthew

I have been thinking about our CD ministry. We currently mail out about 5 CDs a week to shut-ins, and every once in a while we will burn a CD for someone who asks. This process is tedious, because we have to get the audio files to people that will be burning the CD, then we have to make labels, mail out CDs... it is time consuming for several volunteers.

So how can we make this process better and easier? Well, for starters, we will have a CD recorder in the booth, so we won't have to record on the computer, then burn that to CD. (However, we are still planning on recording on the computer for internet/archive use.) From there, we will need a quick way to duplicate them. While there is no CD duplicator in the budget, one might have to be bought to speed along this process. Using the duplicator, it is easy to make lots of copies fast (It can duplicate a CD in three minutes. That means if you have a duplicator with three burners, you can burn one CD per minute.)

But what about labeling the CDs? I plan on buying bulk pre-printed CDs. This keeps the cost down while making the presentation very professional. The one not-so-professional aspect is that if we use pre-printed CDs we will have to include blanks for Date, Sermon Title, etc., and someone will have to hand-write those in. I hope we can find a tech guy with pretty (handsome?) handwriting...

As to how people will order the CDs, I have several thoughts. The main thought is to have a table somewhere (probably in front of the sound booth). On the table would be "ordering envelopes". These envelopes would be the same type of envelope that we use for tithing/giving, but it would be printed for purchasing CDs. It would have blanks for them so that people can fill out what they want, IE: date, sermon title, full service or just sermon, etc. The CD would be a "suggested donation" of three dollars (which they would put into the envelope). This covers our costs, but doesn't make it a hinderance if someone doesn't want to pay for it. We might even want to put out pre-printed manila envelopes that are big enough to mail a CD in. If someone wants us to mail it to them, they just fill out the manila envelope so that all we have to do is drop the burned CD in.

Another random idea: have a sign saying that peope could "sponsor a shut-in". For $200 they could pay for a year of mailing CDs to a shut-in. This would help cover the cost of this ministry.

Anywho, this goes under "some random thing that Matthew is thinking about way too much," but oh well. What do you think? Are these good ideas or bad ideas? How does your church do it?

Matthew

Today during the services, Pastor Kory announced that there is good news and bad news about the new building.

The good news: We have a projected "move-in date" of December 14th.

The bad news: This doesn't mean that our first service will be December 14th. We will need to move stuff from this church to the new one (like 500 chairs), we need to perfect the sound system, etc. Also, we decided that we don't want to rush everything to have Christmas Eve services (our second busiest day of the year for the church) at the new building. So our plans are to have the Christmas Eve services at Argyle High School. This will accommodate the hundreds of people that will be at the services. We will move into the new building soon after that.

Anywho, I just thought I would pass along the information.

Matthew

First, let me say that I should be getting to sleep right now, and I pray that God will see this time writing this post as a sacrifice, and that he would reward me with rest. =: >

Second, for your consideration (not only because it is a cool scripture, but because it is the scripture that I was reading that made me get up to write this post): Ephesians 6:10-20

OK, on to business. I have been thinking a lot about the new tech team, and specifically how I am going to lead the new tech team. A general idea has been beating around the bushes, and tonight it cleared up: I don't want to just lead a bunch of guys into working perfectly as an AV team. Yes, leading worship is a large goal that this team has, but I am now convinced that this is not what God is calling me to have as my main goal.

I believe that God is calling me to minister to the people in the tech team. And I don't mean "minister" like a pastor does, or "minister" like an accountability partner does. I feel that God is calling me to help people focus on God. Too often I see teams in churches get the job done, but not much more. For example, every Sunday morning at AUMC, long before any service starts, everyone involved in worship (IE: the staff) gets together and goes over the services; who is doing what, the topic of the day, any special announcements that need to be made, etc.. And then they pray.

This weekly meeting is effective because it gets things done. I realized that every Sunday our tech team will need a similar meeting to cover similar (but media focused) topics. But I don't want it to be a simple quick meeting; I feel like there is an opportunity to do more. See, in the staff meeting, everyone there is on staff and knows their parts well, but my volunteer team will be much less focused and aimed, ready to fire on all cylinders (sorry about the mixed metaphors).

Before I go on, let me backtrack a moment. As all three readers of this blog well know, we have been working on the AV system in the new building, getting things ready. About a week ago some painters were going though the building, re-painting all of the door frames. We were working in the booth that day, so we were constantly going in and out of the booth. If you have seen pictures of the booth or have been on site, you know that there are several steps right inside the doorway to the booth, so as you are walking out of the booth it is very natural and often necessary to put your hands on the top of the door frame to steady yourself. If you can't see where this is going, you need to go back to 6th grade: yes, we now have not one, but two lovely handprints forever embossed on our door frame. (And from two different people, neither one me, I might add.)

Anywho, the painted-on-handprints led us to start joking about football stadiums that have sayings over doorways, so that as players walk through the doorway they see the saying and reach up and slap it. We decided that we needed to put a sign over the door that people would see every time they left the booth, because they are already putting their hands up to touch the door frame.

When we were talking about it that day, I took it as a joke; but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. I like the idea of having something (probably a scripture) there to remind people of our purpose, our reason for being here (both specifically volunteering at the church, and our reason for being here on Earth). The more I thought about it, the less I could narrow down what I wanted to put up there. I soon had the idea of every week having a different scripture, just to give volunteers something to think about and to help them stay focused. I took it one step further: I was thinking that it would be a good idea for, every Sunday morning, before any service, us to get together as a tech team and first read over the scripture of the week, then pray. At that point, we could have our tech meeting, I would tell them what they needed to know for the services.

OK, bringing the two halves of this post together: I again took it one step further. The following is my hair-brained idea. It is the ramblings of a brain that needs sleep, but here goes: The two tech volunteers and I show up at the same time, probably at 7:45. I go to the 7:45 staff meeting, while the volunteers turn on the system and get everything ready. At 8:00 (or whenever the staff meeting gets out), I grab the two (or however many there are) volunteers and we head into a conference room (that is, if we can find an open one). In the room, apart from the hustle-and-bustle of everything else, we would have a 5 minute "Mini Bible Study." It wouldn't be in-depth or profound, but it would be enough to help people focus on WHY we are here volunteering, on HOW we can serve God, on WHO we are serving. (The studies would not be geared for these specific topics, those are the reasons for the study.) After the study, which would focus on the scripture that is hanging over the sound booth door, we would pray, go over anything about the service that needs to get covered, then at 8:10 head to the booth for final prep. This would give us plenty of time before our 8:30 service to have things ready to go.

Yes, I know that taking 10 minutes of busy time could be a bad thing, but I think that having volunteers (and of course myself) focused on God BEFORE we start leading worship for others could be an amazing tool to help us be focused and ready to glorify God.

Is this a good idea, or just a waste of precious time? I love to hear any and all feedback on all of my posts. =: >

Matthew

Well, we have a new header (meaning the photo at the top of the blog). Like it?

I love the back-lit cross!

Matthew

As our country decides who our next president will be, I am trying to get my mind off of the idea that we are picking the wrong guy. So, here is what I am thinking about for the computer and computer software in our new building. I put this here to get your feedback. If I am missing something, or you disagree with me, speak out and tell me what you think!

Hardware:
iMac: $2,368.00
24", 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB memory, 500GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB memory, price includes Apple Care.
Honestly, this one buggs me. I know that it wouldn't be smart, but part of me says "Wait until Apple updates the iMac" (which should be mid-January). See, my last iMac I bought two months before they were upgraded, and it still buggs me that I missed out on a better computer for the same price. I guess I am destined to do it again. Anywho, I want to get the top of the line iMac. If we will be doing video and other heavy processing, I figure it is worth the extra couple hundred bucks to get the best.

Some kind of mouse: $30-$100
Sorry Apple, the Mighy Mouse sucks, especially if you need precision mousing like we will need. So I suggest that we splurge on a different mouse. I personally own the Logitech MX Revolution. It is expensive (just under $100), but it is an AMAZING wireless mouse.

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter: $19.00
A monitor cable to hook the iMac up to our video system.

Kensington lock: $30
So the iMac doesn't walk away.

2 more GB of RAM: $30
Lots cheaper than the $150 Apple wanted.

Necessary Software: (IE: Software we will use on a weekly basis)
ProPresenter: $340
This will be the backbone of what we project. We will use it for projecting songs, scriptures, videos, etc. The more I use this program, the more I like it.

Microsoft Office: (already purchased)
For those times that we need to use PowerPoint, we will need Office. It has served us well so far, so we will have it in case we need it. (The sermon notes might end up being displayed in Office every week.)

Audacity: Free!
Audacity is a great app for recording audio. It will be easy to record the audio from the board so that we can easily put sermons on the website.

DropBox: $100/year
A great utility for moving and sharing files on several computers. I will probably pay the upgrade for 50GB so that we can store everything online... this will also serve as an off-site backup.

Not Necessary Software (IE: Software that we won't use on a weekly basis, but it will probably be installed on the computer anyway)
Quicksilver: Free
A great little app that can do just about anything. If you haven't used it, it is hard to explain what it is. If you have used it, you know why it will be on the computer.

Covenant Eyes: $100/year
Covenant Eyes is a program that watches what web pages you view and it reports to someone else what you have looked at. While mainly used for people seeking an "accountability parter", it can also be used for keeping track of what others are looking at on your computer. Not that I plan on the internet being abused on the church computer, but I think it is wise to hold people accountable when they are browsing the web.

Adium: Free
A multi-client IM program. We might use this to receive notices from the children's wing.

Meteorologist: Free
A great weather-in-the-menu-bar app.

Maybe Later Software (IE: Software that we will need one day, but probably won't get right away.)
PhotoShop Elements: $90
This is good for editing backgrounds and photos and stuff. There have been many Sunday morning where I was in the booth and just wanted to touch-up a photo so bad...

Final Cut Express: $200
For basic video editing and the like. However, iMovie will have to do for now.

Well, I am sure that I have left something out, in which case I will add it in later. Outside of things I have missed, what do you think of the list?

EDIT: I have added: Kensington lock, extra RAM, DropBox, and Meteorologist.

Matthew

Short work day today. We got the projectors installed, and built the two light bars that will hang over the choir. In the next few days, James will work on the punchdowns. Next week we will start the heavy working again.

Matthew

Well, before this morning I hadn't worked at the new church in two weeks, so it had been going slow... but so much has changed in the last 24 hours.

Without going into too much detail (as to not bore you), I have entered into an alliance with someone at church, someone that I should have been partnered up with a long time ago, but because of my personal problems I did not allow that to happen. Thankfully, I have forgotten the past, and now look forward to working with him in the weeks, months, and years to come.

We also got to work up at the new building today... WOW, what a difference a bit of carpet can make! (see the photo gallery above to see pictures) Because of the carpet, we can now start doing some real work, cleaning things up, attaching cables to things... all the fun stuff that I have been waiting for.

So anywho, things are (for real) now starting to get busy. I hope to soon give a "tour" of the place, to show off all of the new toys... but that won't be for another couple of weeks (I had originally planned on doing it by now, but now it probably won't be until near or after Thanksgiving). Please pray for us as we do these installations; please pray that we make the best decisions, that we are lead in everything that we do, and that God keeps us safe.

Matthew

Yea! Carpet is in! That means we can start having some real fun up at the new building!

Matthew

Yea, I finally got the photos updated. I added over 50 photos to make a round 200, including:

Photos from around the building,
photos of them installing the cross on the front of the building,
photos of the new cross (including one taken at night... the cross is back-lit!),
photos of the new carpet in the children's wing (taken today).

Anywho, I hope you enjoy them. Look for "Sept_28" on page 2 when you click on the "photos" tab above.

Matthew

For the first few months of this blog, I was taking many photos every week at the new site. I would go out on a Sunday afternoon and get 20 or 30 photos from around the building.

Lately, however, I have been lax on the photo taking. Most of my photos have centered around the booth/sanctuary. So yesterday, after church, I went by and took around 50 photos from around the building, including two panoramics of the sanctuary.

That is the good news. The bad news is I keep forgetting my camera in my car, so I haven't uploaded the photos yet. Don't worry, they will come soon. =: >

Matthew

Well, I told a bunch of people that this weekend we will be showing Part 3 of our Satan Interview series... but I lied. Because of time constraints and because this weekend's service will be special, we won't be showing the interview... hopefully next week it will be shown.

Matthew

AUMC is being covered with videos.

From two Sundays ago to three Sundays from now, we will average two videos a Sunday. This is a huge upgrade from before when we would play at most two videos a month. The videos these five weeks all fit into one of three categories: "Satan Interviews" (we still have one left), announcements, or "Giving Interviews" (a two week video series that will give the testimonies of people in the congregation).

This explosion of videos is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because personally, I am a video guy. I enjoy producing, making, and showing videos. And from every account that I have heard we are getting great responses from the congregation about the videos (which is good, because I was slightly worried that the older portion of our members wouldn't appreciate it as much). It is also a curse because it is a lot of work for me to do all of the pre-production, shooting, editing, finalizing, and everything else that goes along with creating videos. But it is a mixed curse, because while it is a lot of work, I enjoy the work; it is fun for me. One half of me regrets that I am doing this for (almost) no pay, while the other half is glad that I am able to use the talent that God gave me to glorify his Kingdom.

Today I was working on the "Giving Interviews" (as I am calling it, there is no official name for these videos). Below is a screenshot of the timeline. It is relatively simple (Actually more simple than the Satan Interviews because while both interviews were two camera shoots, during the "Giving Interview" both of the cameras were basically the same shot. Also, the audio is much better this time around, I didn't have to tweak every sentence like I did with the other videos.). The music is "In the Midst" by Russell Martin (permission pending, but I doubt that he will say "No").


(click for full size)

Anywho, I am off to bed. We will be working at the new building in the morning, hanging choir speakers and such. Wish us luck!

Matthew

So instead of going to sleep tonight (like I should), I am going to post here the layout of our new sound booth. Don't worry, most of this was typed out for a post at ChurchMedia.net (an amazing site, BTW), I just have to change a few things so it will flow here.

Anywho, on with the important (IE: fun) things. First the overlook, then I will explain:



(And when I say "Not Drawn to Scale", I really mean that! Click on the "photos" tab above for recent shots of the booth (remember to go to Page 2). They will give you a more accurate feel of the space.)

OK, here is the explanation. We decided to leave the "main rack" in the corner, and pull it out if we need to get to the back of it. This will allow the most space in the sound booth; it will also cordon off the back of the rack so that it would be hard to accidently bump something back there. I am not worried too much about the video guy needing room; we will buy stools for the booth, and there is plenty of space to sit/stand/move around (we were moving around it all day today and had no problems).

The audio mixing board will be in the booth, centered on the window. To the left there will be the lighting board. It won't be used much, but it is there. (On a side note: Good news! We will be able to control house lights from inside the booth... yea! Great job getting that done, guys! I think that this is a small thing that can make a huge impact when used well.)

To the right of the audio mixing board will be a short rack with audio stuff in it. This is so that the audio guy can have quick access to things he needs. To the right of that will be a short rack with video stuff, including the scaler/switcher. Above the video rack, we will hang the computer monitor(s) on the wall. This will be a great placement for the video guy, and it will give us more counter space.

We designed the space not only for the "now" but also thinking into the future. We know that there are some changes that we would like to make to make the system optimal, and while I hate not being able to make the system optimal now, I understand that it is not practical to make those things happen. So, the idea is to one day in the future renovate the sound booth to build it out into the sanctuary, basically adding another counter 5 feet in front of the counter that is there now. At that time we would move the audio mixer and other audio stuff to the new counter, freeing up lots of space on the back counter.

Once we free up all of that counter space, we could do something else: cut out the end of the counter and put the main rack where the "short video rack" is in the sketch up there. This would make even more room in the sound booth.

However, if we did that, we would run into a problem. The original plan was to run the wires under the booth and up the back wall to get to the rack (there is an access panel to get under the booth, so it is very easy to get under there). But if we move the rack to where the counter is now, then the cables would be strung the wrong way, we would have to re-punch all of the cables to the patch bay, and that is not something that I want to do.

The compromise is to build a "trench" along the back wall (it is the red line in the sketch above). It will be small (several inches tall, several inches deep), and because we are doing it now, it will be carpeted over, it will have a nice cover that is supported so if someone steps on it it won't break, and it will be easier to run cables instead of crawling under the booth every time we change something. Again, this isn't "optimal", but it opens lots of doors without closing any.

So that is the plan as it stands. I am confident that we have made the best overall decisions while limiting our loses. I am looking forward to getting in and actually installing some of these things in the space.

Matthew

I updated the photos!

I cleared out the album that had 100-odd photos that I hadn't updated since May. Out of 450+ photos of the new building taken since February, I picked over 160 to be in the current album. Many of the photos on the first page of the album you may recognize, but when you get to the second page, past May, those are all NEVER SEEN BEFORE photos!

Wow, saying that almost makes this all exciting.

Anywho, head on over to the photo site (link if you can't find the "photo" button on the top of this page) and see the latest photos of the church!

Matthew

Well today was another day of working on the new site, installing the new sound system. Today we installed the "trench", cut holes in the floor, untangled all of the cables that had been run before, and ran the cables from where they come out under the sound booth over and up into the trench, ready for installation into the main rack.

I don't have time to do it right now, but I have a few posts I want to write out. One is explaining the layout of the new system, IE: where everything will sit in the sound booth this will explain the "trench" mentioned above). I also need to clean up the photo album, and add the latest photos (I haven't uploaded any in a while).

Oh, and I want to welcome the third official reader of this blog: Welcome, James Nance. James is the guy who is installing our new system, so be nice to him!

Matthew

Here is part 2 of the AUMC's Satan Interview series. Enjoy!



Matthew

So today was my first "work day" at the new building. All we did was run a few cables through the conduit, but it was still lots of fun.

What was even more important was that we made a lot of decisions today. We finalized the layout of the sound booth, so now we know where everything will go. I don't want to repeat myself, so if you want to know about the new layout, head on over to this post where I described it all.

Anywho, thanks for reading. Just the thought that there MIGHT be someone reading this makes my ego flutter.

Matthew

So I was working on Satan Interview #3 today, and I saw this frame and just had to share it:



Oh, and here is another one:



Matthew

Last week I teased this a little bit, but this week we finally showed it: The video that we did of Pastor Kory Knott interviewing "Satan" (played by Joe Stobaugh). We had a lot of fun doing it, and it got a great response from the church when we played it this morning.

Anywho, I uploaded it to YouTube, so here is Satan Interview Week 1:



Matthew

PS: Just to wet your whistle a little, there are two more weeks to go!
PSS: If anyone knows how to get good quality YouTube video

Tonight we had a special service called "Soul Cafe". The theme for tonight was "Jazz", so it was basically an hour long jazz worship session. It was a load of fun for everyone! We had some great musicians playing, lots of great music, and everyone was worshiping God.

Anywho, I had a lot of fun. This reminds me why I enjoy Church Media so much. Sure I was running around last minute like a head with my chicken cut off, but it was all worth it. The praise, the glory lifted to God was amazing.

But what really got my adrenaline pumping was that it was different. Sure, Sunday church is fun, but it has become mundane and predictable. When I am having to run around and fix all of the small problems at the last minute, that is my forte. When I was in college, taking lots of Radio, TV, and Film classes, my favorite times were always when we were in the TV studio doing live production. The "it has to get done now or we fail" really gets my blood pumping.

For example, tonight we sang the song The Summons. When I had the last minute check-over-the-PPT-file-with-Joe, he pointed out that I didn't have the lyrics to the song, so I would have to add them (from this morning's PPT, a simple copy/paste). But leave it to me, I forgot. So, we are going through the service and Joe introduces the song... and I realize that I don't have the lyrics. So, while they start playing their jazz intro, I look on the hard drive for this morning's file... it isn't there. Not in the trash, not in the normal folder, I have no idea where it went. So I grabbed my USB thumbdrive and thew it onto the computer, opened the PPT file from the morning, found the song (at the end of the file, of course), and copied and pasted the lyrics into the currently running PPT file, all in about 20 seconds. And I got the lyrics on the screen only about three words late. If I never told anyone about me forgetting to copy the lyrics over, then no one would have noticed that I had just saved the song from total disaster (or at minimum a lot of confusion).

I was able to do that (and other such feats of awesomeness) because I have been doing the sound booth for well over four years at AUMC (and a year at another church), and I have lots of practice and experience fixing problems on the go. And I have to say, being able to save the day makes me proud. I try not to be prideful, but I do have pride in the work that I do.

I also want to point out that none of this is my doing. Joe Stobaugh is always telling me what a great job I do, and how much I do for the church, and I always want to reply: "I'm not the one that deserves credit for this, it is God!" See, I totally believe that God used circumstance and coincidence to bring me to AUMC and thus for getting me into the Church Media business. Today I can't imagine not doing Church Media, whereas five years ago I had never given it a thought. It is by God's grace and guidance that he has brought me here and has groomed me into being the amazing sound guy that I am. (This is why I can call myself "an amazing sound guy" and not be prideful, because it is not by my doing that I am amazing.)

So when you see me do hard work and pull something extraordinary off, know that I do have pride in what I do, but I also fully understand that it is by God's grace and love that I am able to do the extraordinary. Don't give me credit, give it to God (although, a "thanks" to me now and then won't hurt).

Matthew

I don't want to let the cat out of the bag too soon, but here is a screen shot of a project that will be shown this weekend at church (click for larger view):



Matthew

One of the main topics in the meetings that I have been in is "When we move into the new building, what will our worship schedule be?" We knew we wanted at least one contemporary service, but we also wanted a service with a strong chancel choir. The other question was: "Do we switch to those services now, or wait for the new building?"

Well, the decisions have been made, and they were announced via e-mail this week. Here is the e-mail that I got from Joe, our "Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts":

Greetings friends!

I hope this email finds you well! It is with great pleasure that I write you this evening announcing our new plan for the Sunday worship schedule at AUMC. Beginning Sunday, October 5th, the following will be the AUMC Worship Schedule:

8:45: The music at this service will be led by Joe, Anastasia, and various soloists. We will ask for some folks to help lead the congregational singing from time to time but the chancel choir will not be the primary worship leaders in this service. My hope is that in three years the primary choir for this service will be a youth choir.

10:00 The music at this service will be led by Joe, Anastasia, and various soloists until we move to the new building. Once we move to the new campus this service will be led primarily by Nathan Bryant and the evensong band.

11:15: The music at this service will be led by the chancel choir.

5:30: evensong (which begins Sunday, September 21st)

Occasionally all of the musical groups will sing at the various services but the primary leadership will fall as listed above.

Of course, there is no perfect decision that fits everyone's needs/desires but this schedule has been arrived at via prayer and months (literally) of discussion around the ideas of the identity of the various services, our ability to provide the highest quality worship leadership that we can, the mission of the church, and the future of the church as a whole.

If this schedule provides significant challenges to you, I would invite you to talk to me about it and we can find ways for you to participate other than in the mediums listed.

It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve as the minister of music, worship, and the arts at AUMC and I am so thankful that God has seen it fit to put us together at this point in our journey's! You are a blessing! May we all realize that we are blessed because God is going to bless others through us!

Have a wonderful weekend!

In Christ,

Joe

So, to say it again, the early service is cutting out their choir (they may keep a few people to add voice). The middle service will stand as it is for now, but in the new building will become the contemporary service, and the late service will continue to grow it's chancel choir. I think that this is the best of all worlds. Every plan that we talked about had pros and cons, and this plan had the most pros with the least cons.

I hope that come October 5th, everyone will agree that the new worship schedule will work out best for everyone.

Matthew

(I should note I wrote this over the weekend, so this information is about 5 days old.)

OK, so I teased you guys in my last post, so here is the REAL update about what is going on in the AUMC A/V world:

A few weeks ago the sound system's installation started. Granted, in the last two weeks only the speakers and some lights have been hung, but work has started! Sadly, I have a "real" job now, so my involvement in the project has become minimal (to my dismay). Oh well, life will go on.

A few pictures before we go on. The current sanctuary (from roughly the perspective of the sound booth):



The speakers (this is the right side array):



The lights (from the perspective of the pulpit):



And the sound booth (from the perspective of the door... not that the door can see things...):



Moving on...

We have been having meetings galore, which is great (I am new to meetings, so I still enjoy them). We had a meeting with the worship team about when we will be moving into the new building, and how that transition will work. We had a meeting about planning the worship services... but I had to miss that meeting (*sob*). I will be having a few more meetings in the next week to solidify some things. These meetings are not only are a wealth of information, they show me that things are starting to get interesting. I can say that our furthest projected move-in date is mid December. We hope to be in sooner than that, but that is our "we won't push past this unless something major comes up" date.

In about three weeks I will start forming the new tech team. I am throwing around ideas in my head, but I am thinking about having an open meeting for anyone who is interested. It would be at the new building after a Sunday service, and pizza should get lots of people there. I hope that we will have a nice sized group of people that are willing to become a part of our new tech team.

Over all, the ball has started rolling. Things are getting interesting, and in just a few months we should be in our new building.

Matthew

Wow, it has been a month with no update, and five months without updating the picture of the building... And now things are starting to heat up, things are happening, meetings are being met, and while the move-in date for the church has been moved back (again again again), the ball has finally started to roll.

Oh well. No one ever checks this blog, so why even post?

Which of course is not true. I get the smackling of random Google searches (who searches for "what will being a leader now do for me in the future"?), and I have one or two loyalists who check it regularly (Hi mom and Joe!). But outside of that, not many people swing by here.

And it isn't a problem, I don't mind. First, I never really update. Second, this is a very niche blog, speaking about an audio/video team at a small Texas church.

So why even post, or have the blog? Is it narcissism that keeps me posting here? (I sure hope not!)

Actually, the specific reason that I wanted to post today is two fold: A) so that I can get back into the habit of posting here, and B) so that in three months when I build up a ministry team that uses this blog, the archives won't be empty.

Anywho, I will (I hope) soon start posting about the goings on. I was going to add other updates to this post, but I wanted this post to be a random set of thoughts and musings from me, and I will get the real updates in their own post(s).

Anywho again, thanks for reading this. I hope that you will hear from me soon.

Matthew

Another random idea:

For our "new service" (IE: when we get into the new building), we could have a "Featured Ministry" video every week.

Each week we feature a different ministry of AUMC (or something in the surrounding area like the Food Bank). The video would be about a minute long, and it would include an interview with someone in the ministry which may be a testimonial about how it has changed someone's life, or how they are active in the ministry. Then it would give information about how to join/help the ministry.

I imagine this video being played after the "greet your neighbors" part of the service. It creates a nice bumper to help people get back in their seats, instead of Todd interrupting everyone's conversation.

Suggesting things like this is dangerous for me, because I will be the one doing all of the work! But I figure with a one minute video, all I need is half an hour for b-roll, half an hour for an interview, and an hour or two for editing, this could be an under-5-hours per week thing for me, and I think it would be a great ministry in and of itself.

What are your thoughts?

Matthew

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you... there just isn't a lot going on in the AUMC AV world. Really. The new building has been pushed back, so we aren't installing stuff yet... Don't worry, you will be the first to know when we do!

Matthew

Here is a random idea (thanks to Church Media Design):

When you want to advertise a special event, or even a normal event, use business cards! Business cards are cheap to buy ($17 for 500), and are a great handout for people.

(I am sure that I really want to say more about this, but my brain just officially shut down...)

Matthew

Fine, I will post!

There, I did it.

But, really... I think that the reason that it is hard to post here is because no one reads it. OK, two people read it, and one already knows most of what I will say, so it just seams easier to call the other person than to post here for no one. Hopefully, though, soon it won't be no one. In fact, I have great ideas for this blog. For example, it will one day be the weekly reminder as to who is working on Sunday, and if one person cannot make it, they just reply to the post.

But anywho, this blog isn't about me... OK, it really is (at least if it hasn't been, I will make it now). I am pleased to announce my new title at Argyle UMC: Director of Media Ministries! (actually, it is currently "Director of Media Ministry," and I am seeking clarification if it is "y" or "ies"... what do you think?)

But before I talk more about that, it is STORY TIME again! As I have hinted at before, the tech team at AUMC has never had a leader. It has always been a group of volunteers that stepped in when something was needed. For the small church, this was OK. But for the new church, this simply won't work. Each service will need several volunteers to help man the stations, and we need someone in charge of training and scheduling these volunteers (as well as be in charge of the well-being of the equipment).

Long story short (trust me, I could go on and on about this): Argyle UMC decided to hire me as the lead AV guy. That was about a month ago, but it was not all well. The problem is, many people in the church (volunteer and staff) are used to working without a lead AV guy. So even though I had the title, I felt that the position was not defined. I needed to sit down with someone and write out a job description, then send it to everyone so that when something needs getting done, they now know who to report to.

Therefore: I had a meeting this week with Joe, our "Associate Pastor/Minister of Music, Worship, and the Arts" (I am glad I don't have THAT as my title). (he is in charge of the entire "worship experience", and because "media" falls under that category, I report to him) We outlined the job description of the "Director of Media Ministries", as well as a discussion on where the position would be in the future. The meeting was great, and it helped me see both the great possibilities of this title, and the limitations of it.

I would love to talk about what is defined on the "job description," but it is still under review. I am sure that it still needs clarification and re-wording. Hopefully, once it gets done, I can post it here so that it will be a public declaration of what I do, so there won't be any more confusion.

Moving on...

Have you ever been interested in worship media? Have you ever been a part (volunteer or paid) of a church's media team? Have you ever been any king of leader in a church? If you answered "Yes!" to any of these questions, then you need Creative Synergy. No, this isn't a pill. It is a podcast directed to all of the leaders in churches. It is mainly about technology, but it is not only for "geeks". They try hard to make it interesting to both geeks and pastors.

For example, they had an episode devoted to copyright and copyright law. This may sound boring to some people, but it was an interesting discussion with (real) lawyers about the rights and wrongs of church using someone else's media. They talk about important issues for small churches (websites, for example) and important issues for large churches (how to go multi-campus). They even gave me the above idea to use a blog as your communication point with your volunteer team. It is an amazing listen for everyone, and I highly recommend it to everyone! (Creative Synergy homepage, iTunes link)

Well, that is about it for now. I am sure that there is more to say, but this is a big enough post as it is... after fasting for a while, you don't go eat a whole turkey, you have to eat small meals so that your body can get used to it again. Well, this is my "small meal", in hopes that I will start blogging here again.

Ta ta for now!

Matthew

Remind me one day to update you here. Oh, and remind me to update that picture up there... I have new ones, but I always forget to upload it.

Matthew

PS: I haven't been updating this because from what I can tell, there is only one regular visitor that checks this blog (hi mom!). So if you check via RSS or some such, open this actual post and surf around for a moment so I can see you on my tracker!

Hey all! I have three things for you today.

1) We have been having problems with the computer in the booth recording the service (the signal is peaking too much, leaving the recording useless), so I have installed a Behringer MDX-2600 COMPOSER PRO-XL COMPRESSOR. I read through the manual, and have a basic idea of what each knob does, but I don't know how to use the knobs to make a better (less peak-y) sound. If you have any idea, feel free to let me know!

2) I have uploaded more pictures into the gallery! I usually upload pictures every other week, so always check out the latest! If I have some free time sometime soon, I want to make an interactive map using the layout of the church so you can tell where the pictures were taken. If I have the time...

3) OK, this is on the personal side of things, but I still have to share it. The other night I had one of those dreams that you don't want to wake from because good things are happening. I dreamed that Liz (our children's director) met me at lunch and gave me what I have always wanted: an iPhone. And it wasn't even an iPhone, it was TWO iPhones! She wanted me to use them for the ministry. One was 2 gig and one was 8 gig, and I told her "I can tell that you bought the two gig a while ago because they don't offer the two gig any more, and you bought the eight gig recently because they just started offering that one a few months ago" (I know that this is not true, but that is what I said). So anyway, if anyone wants to buy an iPhone for the AUMC AV "team" (or just me), donations are greatly appreciated.

Matthew

Two things:
1) I am going out of town for a week on a mission trip to Washington DC. Because of this, there will be no updates until after Easter.

2) Here is something to think about this week while I am gone:
Luke 14:12-14
Then Jesus said to the Pharisee who had invited him, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite only your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. At another time they will pay you back by inviting you to eat with them. Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, and the blind. Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when all godly people rise from death."

Matthew

*whew* I don't want to ever see the PowerPoint window again! Or at least until tomorrow.

Because I will be out of town all next week on a mission trip, I had to create four PPT files this week: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. And because the Thursday and Friday services are full of liturgy/scripture reading, it took extra long to make those. I usually spend no more than 45 minutes on any given PPT file, but tonight, I have been working in PowerPoint for well over five hours...

And I am happy to say, that except for one item, I got everything done! That one item was a scripture reading: John 18:1-19:42, which is extremely long. It would have been 70 slides long, doubling the length of the PPT right now, and it would have taken me close to an hour just to get that one scripture put into PowerPoint.

Yes, right about now, I would greatly appreciate a non-linear presentation software, so that all I would have to do is say "I want John 18:1-19:42" and it displays it. Oh well, maybe next time.

And yes, I am still waiting to give you news about our new AV system. It was my understanding that people wanted to sign the contract last week, but still nothing has happened. Trust me, you will know when it happens.

Matthew

The AV system at the current AUMC is hodge-podge at best.

From the best I can tell, here is a brief history of the system (if I am wrong on a point, or you can add to the story, please let me know!):
My brother (Stephen) first got involved with AUMC because they needed a youth pastor, and he wanted to be one. While he was there, he and his friend Brandon became involved with the AV system. At that time, the sound board and computer were in the back of the sanctuary, and at some point, the computer was moved upstairs into the sound booth (while the sound board remained downstairs).

This is where I became involved. When I started attending UNT here in Denton, my brother dragged me along (somewhat willingly) to AUMC where I helped him run the sound/video. At the time, it was a two person job, one for sound (in the sanctuary) one for video (in the booth). Stephen finally graduated from UNT and went off to seminary, leaving me alone at AUMC. I tried having youth work the services with me, but they were un-reliable and under-trained (both my fault). At some point, the decision was made to move the sound board upstairs so that one person can run the entire service.

Somewhere along in here, Carter joined me in the quest for worship excellence. The two of us together could not find it, so we recruited David and Mike to help. Together, the four of us make a merry band of AV guys that fight the evil forces of dead batteries and blown cables... OK, I don't know where this is going, so I will move on.



The following is a walkthrough of our sound system, which for some reason, I feel like walking through it backwards. We start (or end?) at our speakers. We only have two working speakers in the sanctuary, even with the stage, one in each wall. You can see them on the left and right here:


(pay attention to the above photo, I will refer back to it several times) There are actually four more speakers in the sanctuary (in similar places in the wall, only towards the back of the sanctuary), but they are not hooked up, and are probably from when the building was first built.

Tracking back from the speakers we get to our amp, and before the amp comes our Mackie sound board.


It is a nice board, but because we never turn it off, it has developed a hum (at least SOMETHING along this line has created a hum). One AUX out goes to the computer, one goes to the hearing impaired system (rarely used), and one goes to the over flow room (the fellowship hall) (you can actually see this speaker directly below the sound board in the above picture through the window). Personally, I like the numbering system that is on there... but that is probably because I created it. Our wireless packs are on the left, channels 1-6 (designated W1-W6). Then two blank spots (one of them is now W7) and then the stage inputs, channels 9-20 (S1-S12). If you know where to look, you can see written on them "Podium", "Guitar", and "C-L" and "C-R" for the choir mics.

Moving on: we currently have 7 working wireless packs, six are Senheiser EW 100 series, and one Shure for the pastor.


Sadly, the Senheisers are in the 700MHz range, so I don't know if they will be good for long. W1-W4 are lapel mics, W5 is a hand held (which is lost), and W6 and W7 are what we call "Janet Jackson mics." These are the mics that fit around the back of your head and have a big black boom that comes out in front. These are used mostly by puppeteers when we have a puppet show.

Beyond taking pictures of the mic boxes on stage or the choir mics, that is the end of the audio portion of this tour. We will stop briefly to look at the lights, then move on.



Our lighting board is in a cabinet as we hardly ever use it. In total, there are twelve spotlights that point on stage, 4 on choir, 4 on mid stage, 4 on front stage (you can see them in the second picture behind the rafters). For the most part, we just turn these on and leave them on. Of course there is other lighting in the room, but that is all controlled by lighting switches in the back of the sanctuary. Like I said, that was only a brief stop, on to...

Video. As seen in the second picture, there is a large screen TV on stage and one hanging TV on each side of the sanctuary (you can't see the right one in the photo). There is also a large screen TV in the fellowship hall similar to the one in the sanctuary. These are controlled by a simple $50 RadioShack box:


Pressing each button will switch the S-Video signal between the camera (via the VCR), the DVD player, and the computer (the left hand button is broken). As you can see in the second photo, we have a little Sonly Handycam that does our live video. This is hooked via composite cable to the VCR which is hooked into the switcher. Our computer:


... runs through a TVator, which is a little box (sitting on top of the computer) that changes the VGA signal to S-Video. And yes, our computer is sitting on top of our old tape cassette recorder because the monitor cable to the right hand monitor is very short and I am way too cheap to buy an extension cable. The computer is running Windows Vista (was bought the week Vista was released because the old computer's power supply went out), and while I have heard about a lot of problems with Vista, we have never had any problems with it. It is running PowerPoint 2003, our presentation software of choice.

Well, that is about it! If you want to see more photos, click on the "photo" tab above and scroll down to "Feb_24...". Tomorrow I will be at church and will update some of the above information to be accurate (for example the product number of our Mackie board). If you have any questions/comments, please leave a comment below! We do our best with what we have, but if you have a suggestion to make something better, please let us know!

EDIT: Here are those product numbers I promised (hopefully this means something to someone, because they are just numbers to me):
Wireless Mic: Shure PGX4
Mixer: Mackie SR24.4-VLZ Pro
EQ: Rane ME 30B
Amp: Crown CE1000
Speakers: Yamaha

Matthew

OK, so I am tired of calling them the "old church" and the "new church". Can anyone help me think of better names for them? The names can be practical or non-sensical, but we need to name them something...

Like, name the old one "The Hill" (because it is on a hill), but what would you name the other one? It isn't in a valley, and "The Flat Place" doesn't sound good.

What do you think?

Matthew

I went out in the snow today and took a bunch of pictures and have added them to the web gallery. Click on the "photo" tab above, and scroll down to "May_06...".

Because they are putting up the outside of the building, I concentrated on taking pictures of what the textures are of the new building. Also notice that they have started putting up drywall. Trivia: The large dumpster with "TK" on it is in Kory's office.

OK, it is way too late for me to be up! I hope to bring good news about our new A/V system soon!

Matthew

I just thought that I would give people an update on the AV for the new building.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we met with a consultant that had several proposes for our new system. He has given us three proposals for the sound system, a proposal for lighting, and two proposals for video/projection. We talked with him for nearly two hours ironing out the details, asking questions, concerns, etc. After he left, we (staff from the church) continued to talk for another hour about the proposals and what we want to go into the new sanctuary.

So right now, we have a lot of decisions to make, decisions that will make a difference later on. Most of these decisions relate to balancing budget to necessity. Do we go with two projectors, or one? Do we need 6 SM58s and 4 wireless handhelds, or can we get away with less? Choir mics that hang from the ceiling, or put them on stands? Is a patch bay worth the money?

These are a few of the more trivial decisions. With most of the problems, if we make the wrong decision, it will cost more to fix later then it would be to install now. But we can't just install everything now; our budget is extremely tight, and every dollar that we can squeeze out of one item can go to pay for something else.

We are also on a time crunch. The quicker we make these decisions, the quicker we can sign a contract with said consultant, the quicker he can place the orders, the quicker the items come in and we can install them. (if we act soon, then the equipment should arrive just before the building is ready for it to be installed... right now we are in that "sweet spot" and if we wait any longer, then the building will stand empty while we wait on deliveries)

Please pray that we make the right decisions. There is no "right/wrong" decision in the idea that they won't work together, or that it won't look good (that is what we are paying the consultant to do). The "right/wrong"ness is related to the future: what will be good for us, what is exactly what we will need, so that we won't have to go back later and add something, and what is too much, so that we don't waste money. While we can have meetings and talk about what we want to do as a church, a lot of the decision-making-information comes from God. Only He knows what will be perfect for us six months, a year, six years down the line. I pray that God would lead us to make the right decisions now, so that we won't have problems later.

I also pray that we would be reminded that with all of the numbers, figures, products and ideas being thrown around, everything is being done for the glory of God. I pray that we remember that while it is easy to get into the mind set that "we are getting new toys to play with," we should be in the mind set of "these are tools that will be used to glorify God's kingdom."

Word of the week (thanks to our consultant): value engineer verb a derogatory term meaning to cut expenses so that the end product is no longer usable. "If we value engineer our AV system now, we will have to pay to fix it later."

Matthew

PS: Yes, I know that in the Welcome post I said that I would sign my name as "AVBlogger." Well, I have dropped that idea and will just sign my posts "Matthew". Apparently, when I wrote the welcome post, I was being optimistic.

A few weeks ago I wrote an essay (of sorts) that explained in detail how I create the PowerPoint files each week for church. If you are interested, head on over and check it out!
Linky

Matthew

Leadership.

In my life, I have always tried to be a good leader. From being patrol leader in Boy Scouts to being a good role model in band, I have done my best to be the best leader that I could be. But I have failed. I know many people that know me would disagree with that, and I am not saying that I failed at being a leader or that I was a bad leader. I am saying that I had high hopes of being this amazing leader person dude, and I was just a mediocre leader person dude.

But even at that point, how do you define a leader? What constitutes a leader, and what are "good" leadership skills? (and no, I don't want to take a seminar to find out) The obvious definition of a leader is someone in a leadership position, such as a boss, manager, SPL ("senior patrol leader" for those not in Boy Scouts), most elected government officials, etc. In my opinion, I am not this type of leader. Case in point, I was not a good patrol leader. I think that this is because it is hard for me to gain respect from people. I tend to be goofy, silly, rambunctious, and sarcastic, so when I try to directly lead people (AKA: be serious), I don't have their respect.

But there is another type of leader; one that leads subtly. A big brother, a good friend, a stranger walking down the street. Each of these people do not have leadership positions, but they can be a leader to those around them. For example, at our LifeGroup (small group) meetings, even in a social setting, you can tell the leaders and those looking up to the leaders. I fancy myself as this type of leader. One who does not lead by position, but one that leads by relationship. I find myself being friends and leading those that I am around. In my LifeGroup, I try to support others as we talk about tough issues. I cheer them on when they are up, and cheer them up when they are down.

So far, I have been able to keep myself out of direct leadership positions as much as possible, but soon that may not be an option. I have recently done a one-eighty, changing the way that I thought about my life. Six months ago I wanted to go out into the (Christian) movie industry and help make films. I had no disillusions that it would happen, but I had high hopes. However, now, I do not see that in my future. I am not saying that I don't want to do it, but there is something else that I would rather do: church media. I have found a new passion to help others worship. Just as the choir director leads worship while he/she is on stage, I lead worship in the sound booth. It is an amazing feeling to help hundreds of people worship God without them knowing I am there. This is my new passion in life.

But there is a problem. Before now, working at AUMC, I have not been a leader. Sure, I have recruited volunteers and I train them, but they don't work under me, they work along side of me. However, going forward, AUMC will need more than one person to lead worship. We will need three people minimum during any given service. And to do that, there will need to be a leader in charge of getting everyone on the same page. Now, I will say that AUMC has not appointed anyone to be this leader yet, but I fancy myself to be said leader. If I am not, then the whole point is moot, you can disregard this post, and I can go on with my life.

But if I am that leader, then I will have to transition from being a subtle leader to being in a leadership position. This is something that I both look forward to and dread. I look forward to having this opportunity, to finally being that leader that I wanted to be when I was a kid, to be able to lead a group of men and women in a cause, and win! (and by win, I mean pull off a good church service) But I also dread the times that I will make the wrong decision, the times that my mouth fails me and I start to stutter, the times that I let others down. Those times, I will wish that I had just stayed a volunteer.

But it will be worth it. The first service that we have at the new building will be amazing. Our volunteers will be trained, all of our toys... err, new equipment will be installed and ready, and the service will be a big hit (even through a few glitches). But at the end of that day, I will be so amazingly proud; proud of my team, proud of myself, and proud of God for bringing me to this amazing place in life. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

So, those of you reading this that will be (or are) a part of my team, know that I may be struggling, but I am giving it the best that I have. Also know that I am a work in progress, that God did not bring me here because I am currently perfect for the job, but because the job will help make me perfect. Know that I am doing my best, and I will only get better.

Oh, and my future self who is reading this in several months when the new building is moved into, ya, I know I was optimistic about the opening day running smooth, don't worry, it will only get better from here.

To my future self who is reading this a year from now: OK, so it didn't "only get better from there," but that's OK, you are doing your best, right?

To my future self five years from now: OK, really, you can stop laughing now.

Matthew

PS: Thanks to Greg Atkinson at Church Video Ideas. Your topics inspire me and lead me.

Just to let our tech guys know: I have re-wired our wireless mics. We had one body pack in the shop, but we got it back, so it seamed like a good time. They are all the Senheiser mics except for W1 (which is Kory's new body pack). They are as follows:
W1: Kory
W2: Tod
W3: Liz
W4: Joe
W5: HH
W6: Janet Jackson mic
W7: Janet Jackson mic

Theoretically, all of the receivers have been renamed, all of the body packs have been renames, and they are all working. However, I could not find the Senheiser wireless handheld (it used to be W4), therefore it still has the old label on it. Anyone know where it is?

Matthew

Hey, and welcome to the AUMC AV Blog.

This blog will feature news from the AV team at Argyle UMC in beautiful Argyle, TX. We are currently building our new sanctuary on Highway 377, and our team is in the development phase of the new AV system. As we progress, our status on the project will be posted here, as well as other thoughts or ideas we have, and maybe a few quirky links from the web.

If you don't know me, my name is Matthew Kelling. I have worked at Argyle UMC for over four years now in their AV department. You can tell posts are from me because I will always sign my posts "AVBlogger." (OK, I must say not always, because I have forgotten every time so far... but maybe sometime I will remember and not sign with my normal signature of "Matthew") I hope to have a few guest posters come in as well, so be watching!

This blog is multi-function. Sometimes I will post information for the Argyle Tech Team, and I won't explain more than what they need to know. Sometimes I will post for general information/updates on our building project, and I will expand as much as I can. And sometimes I will post my thoughts and ideas. If you ever have any questions, ideas, or want me to explain more, just leave a comment and I will reply!

Well, come in, and enjoy your stay! To continue to the blog, click "blog" above.

AVBlogger

1, 2, 3, testing...

AVBlogger