NewTek in the Worship Space, Part 2

Sound & Video Contractor by Bennett Liles

Every church and congregation has its own personality and that’s being conveyed more and more on video. In part one we learned how Community of Christ Church is using the NewTek TriCaster, and Philip Nelson is here to give us the company’s side of the picture, coming right up on the SVC Podcast.

SVC: Philip, thanks for being with us for part two on the SVC Podcast, from NewTek where you’re the Senior Vice President for Artist and Media Relations?

Philip Nelson: Yes, sir. Thanks, Bennett, for having me. I’m really excited to talk to you today.

And a couple of weeks ago I was talking to Bob Haworth at the Community of Christ Church in Independence, Mo. That’s a big NewTek outfit. They’ve been through lots of NewTek gear over the years. They’ve had a chance to get used to the new features as they’ve come along. That’s a pretty big church but just because a church is big doesn’t always mean that they’re on top of things with the media side of it. Big churches can also have big AV problems. Philip, what in your experience seems to be the most frequent video problem that churches encounter?

Well, you know it’s funny that you ask because as you well know, “churches” is such a broad category that you have the big churches, the small churches, the medium churches, the megachurches, and so the problems that face all of those are so very different. But I think the biggest challenge in churches is the volunteers that are well-meaning, willing to help, and they need to learn how to become television producers very quickly. And also another problem that churches encounter is when they’re buying equipment, because they’re a non-profit and they have to stretch their dollar as thin as they possibly can, they need to buy technology that’s very flexible, that has a lot of different uses within the church, and that gives them a lot of value for the money they spend so that they’re spending the money wisely. read more...