Church Tech Conference Ideas

Posted on October 27, 2008 by Jim Walton

I received the following email a few days ago, which I responded to with some ideas, such as MinistryTech, but I thought I would throw it out here and see what you all might suggest.  Please leave a comment with any suggestions for him, whether it’s a conference or two or something else.

Jim,

This is budget creation season for us and I’ve got support from pastoral staff to think about making sure we have a grasp of what our technology alternatives are as move forward on an existing church building project and a contemporary worship space in the next 5 years.

I recall that there is a conference in May that might meet the need, but I wouldn’t suppose that there aren’t other things that would be more useful – but I don’t know what they might be. You as part of the CITRT community have a much better grasp of what these events might be and so I’d appreciate you taking a minute to identify what they are.

Thanks in advance,

 

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3 Responses to “Church Tech Conference Ideas”

  1. Darrell Jordan on October 27th, 2008 12:50 pm

    I guess it depends on what aspect of technology you are talking about. If all areas, ie computers as well as video, then you have CMN in the summer.

    dj

  2. augusta on October 27th, 2008 3:07 pm

    Why not make a competition? Can be continued with discussion panel among the nominated ones. Conference is too theoretical – but it depends on your “people” you serve.

  3. Kirk Longhofer on October 27th, 2008 4:45 pm

    Well… I was recently called “the conference guy” … so I’ll weigh in. I am lucky enough to attend a pretty good number of conferences each year. They range from media/creative, to technical, to the biggie trade shows like NAB and NRB. Here are my two recommendations!

    If you’re looking for a great overview of worship technology and building technology, you can’t beat the Worship Facilities Expo. I’ll be in Houston next week for this year’s version. WFX is a great investment for anyone who is getting ready to build a building. You will have an opportunity to look at all of the worship technology bells and whistles.

    As a bonus, you’ll have people there showing security systems and playground equipment and all kinds of stuff. It’s big enough to have the major vendors represented, but not so huge they don’t have time to meet with you.

    That’s also why I like the NRB convention. Even if you are not a broadcaster, consider the National Religious Broadcaster’s convention, if you are planning a major upgrade to your A/V/L systems. The show is pretty big… with ALL of the major vendors there. But… it’s not a monster like NAB. You won’t be able to talk for long with a Sony rep at NAB. They are busy talking with people who buy cameras by the dozen. At NRB, they have time to talk to you.

    I would also highly recommend MinistryTECH to you. It’s a small gathering. The content at the first gathering last year was very good. The best part though, is that it is so small you can’t help but network! You will meet peers and that has huge, huge value.

    Trade shows and conferences are a big investment. Travel isn’t cheap. But from my perspective, I can’t get where I need to go without making that investment. The ROI from a good conference is just huge.