AV Specialist - Africa Edition Vol 91 - (Page 19)

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But regardless of the season, access to churches can often be problematic since events are scheduled at various times of the day. Finding contiguous non-intrusive time slots can require diligent scheduling. Lighting is another concern, as light sources for virtually all houses of worship need to provide subdued illumination levels, even at maximum power. As a result, AV professionals should be prepared with additional stand-alone light sources. A key question facing all AV projects for a church is whether it represents a new installation or a retrofit. Each approach requires its own type of planning, equipment and, sometimes, personnel. However, whether an installation is brand new or a retrofit, the acoustics in a church have to be designed to accommodate the spoken word, congregational singing, choir or group singing, and electronic audio. In addition, such factors as the normal apex of a church roof, smooth and highly polished surfaces, wood benches, choir lofts, and private areas create untold opportunities for feedback and/or poor audio interactive spots. The sheer complexity of church structures makes it essential to have an acoustic engineer draw up a detailed acoustic plan. boards and white boards. Each of these visual technologies face challenges involving poor viewing angles and enormous amounts of ambient light. Stained glass windows will always be prevalent in churches for their beauty, but the morning sun filtering through these windows can create havoc with projection screens. Other devices frequently deployed in churches are networked PCs, DVD players, microphones and, of course, speakers. AV professionals will always want to conduct a physical review of the facility to help him or her correctly assess the installation’s needs, one of which is that electronic invisibility is almost always a key objective. Consideration should also be given to local code issues concerning conduit, as well as plenum cable and tray cable requirements. Ease-of-access by a multi-generational user group to certain controls systems can also be built into the overall plan. Plates and panels are another often overlooked element in designing AV projects for churches Most AV installers underestimate the functional need churches have for “plug-in” locations. This is the perfect part of the installation to plan for more capacity, rather than less. Managing Costs Given the rate of increase in component costs, managing project budgets is another challenging aspect of AV installations — especially given the lag time between when a contract is signed and an installation begins. It is always sound business to contractually talk about potential increases in the cost of such necessary items as electronics, speakers, and wire and cable products so that you and your business are protected from cost increases. One way to manage potential cost increases is to review whether a fiber or copper cable based infrastructure is the right choice for a project. In a simple installation, for example, fiber would not be cost effective. However, fiber might make more sense, if a facility is large or has multiple locations in, say, a campus environment. Managed correctly, church installations can develop into an annuitytype business to the AV professional. In addition to the basic service plans AV professionals usually offer, many of the more successful pros that service churches contractually build in 36- and 60-month check-ups. These strategic sales calls allow church directors and AV professionals to evaluate, recommend and plan for system expansion and future upgrades. Working in churches and other houses of worship can often be challenging, but it can also be unusually rewarding in a way that AV professionals rarely otherwise have an opportunity to experience. Paulsen records 'Let's Talk' broadcasts in Cameroon Ghana some 40 years ago, retains a personal attraction to the continent and its people. Visiting Cameroon provides an opportunity for a tangible expression of that interest. During his visit Paulsen applauded Cameroon's government for allowing freedom of worship, enabling many groups to flourish. Commenting on the importance Adventists assign to education, he said, “next to the [Roman] Catholic Church, we operate the largest private education system in the world and some 40 universities are in Africa - some small, some large, but that education is good for the well-being of the community at large. Education instills integrity, honesty, nobility and can be one of the ways to fight corruption which is prevalent in many countries. Education produces good moral, law-abiding citizens.” Pastor Paulsen also visited some of the church's institutions in the city including its Cameroon headquarters, the FM radio station, and offices for its’ media ministry. Looking Ahead In planning the AV design and layout of a church, the AV professional should also identify future needs, and talk to the facility’s leaders about how to plan for the installation’s life span. Being a proactive business partner is one of the best ways to build your business while remaining both competitive and profitable. Apart from the central spiritual uses of any church, each facility will also likely have a number of connectivity needs that cover such activities as meetings, recording sessions, teleconferences, even unique tele-services. Partly as a result, it is not uncommon for AV bid applications to incorporate proposals for communication and control systems, lighting and sound systems, even Internet and broadcast systems. Display devices typically used in churches run the gamut from projectors and monitors to plasmas displays, smart With 2 thousand Seventh-day Adventists at the airport, and another 3 thousand waiting at a hotel 15 miles away, Pastor Jan Paulsen could say he was truly and warmly welcomed to Cameroon, when he arrived in the country during midAugust. His visit marked 80 years activity of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Cameroon and included the recording of two ‘Let's Talk’ television programs, which were successfully recorded on August 17. Forty percent of the Adventist world church membership is in Africa and Paulsen, whose missionary career began in 19 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AV Specialist - Africa Edition Vol 91

Table of Contents
Mobile TV set to challenge viewing habits
Planning for the multimedia church
Is Jesus the next killer app?
Will sports on mobile TV compete with the big screen?
IBC Awards for Innovation
SA doccie scoops Emmy

AV Specialist - Africa Edition Vol 91