Volume 4, Issue 7 — July 27, 2015
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The Future of HOW The Future of HOW
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Thou Shalt Know Thy Audience
By Anthony Coppedge House of Worship Technology Consultant
A casual perusal of the house of worship facilities and technology magazines is enlightening: the majority of advertisers push marketing pablum to reach every church, yet fail to identify with almost all of the audience. Their failure is not the inclusion of church lingo or boring stock photography, but in missing the first maxim of advertising: know your audience
Perhaps the volume of swing-and-a-miss advertising is a direct result of two factors: the marketing team creating the content is not associated with a church and doesn’t understand the cultural nuances, and/or the firm doesn’t yet understand how their products best fit within the house of worship market.
Mismatch of Ads & Audience
There is a statistically high likelihood that the designers creating the advertising and marketing designs for the vendor are young, more liberal than conservative and not involved in a local church community. This isn’t good or bad, but it’s a common reality that seems to manifest itself in outdated, irrelevant or outright hokey marketing material for the church market. And while this may be true in your firm, it doesn’t mean hiring older, conservative church-goers; a simple education of attending a few churches and asking questions of their staff may be a helpful primer in understanding the wide variety of church sizes, denominations (or lack thereof) and cultural demographics.
In corporate/business marketing, the ads needed to reach an enterprise-class organization are quite different from those that identify with the small business owners. Identifying the organization type is the first of several steps that also include the scope of the business, the size/number of locations, the cultural vibe each displays to their clients, and ultimately the influencers and decision-makers of the organization. Your marketing team likely has these personas created for vertical markets such as corporate, education, and government, so it’s logical step to create these for churches, too. In fact, I’ve written an entire article here on rAVe about understanding church buyers and their personas.
Track Sales & Product Registration
The easiest person to sell to is the person who’s already bought from you. Chances are, your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software has a field for identifying the vertical market or type of business. However, beyond the logical grouping of corporate, government, education, church, there needs to be a few more fields to accompany the customer profile when church is selected. In particular, consider adding these:
- Denomination – Choices should include at least the most common denominations that invest heavily in audio, video, and lighting. Baptist, Charismatic/Pentecostal, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Non-Denominational, Presbyterian.
- Size – Defined not by membership, but by attendance. Helpful groupings include: 1-100; 101-300; 301-500; 501-1,000; 1,000-1,999; 2,000+.
- Multi-site – A simple yes/no field is all that is needed.
Why those three sub-classifications? Because each has a number of unique differences that will show up in how your products are (or are not) used). Targeting your advertising becomes more intuitive once you begin tracking the trends of your church buyers over time, which will lead to more focused and effective advertising to pique the interest and engage a church that is a likely candidate to purchase your technology.
It is a worthwhile effort to have your inside sales teams follow up with previous church buyers and leads in order to fill out those new fields. Once completed, your marketing team can craft customized emails and marketing promotions to re-engage previous leads and buyers with greater focus.
Advertise Realistic Solutions
It is interesting to me how the photos used in the church trade magazines are almost exclusively of 1,500+ seat auditoriums or of sub-300 seat venues. Remember that of the 300,000+ churches in the United States, greater than 90 percent of them have less a good deal less than 100 people in weekly attendance, while less than 1,000 churches have greater than 1,500 in weekly attendance. So while it’s nice to show the bigger venues that maxed out their technology budgets, it’s also unrealistic to the average medium sized (250-500 attendance) church, if not outright alienating.
If your target audience is the large church (1,000+ in weekly attendance), then surely highlight the larger venues. But it is statistically safer to assume that the majority of your church clients will be in the medium to mid-range of church attendance; show them photos/imagery that is contextually applicable to their venue size.
So, why the focus on attendance? Two reasons: First, membership has little value when those who show up are the ones who give money to the church, so focus on those showing up as the real barometer for size; second, attendance has a fairly even relation to budget, depending upon the location and growth/decline rate of the church. Typical weekend attendance is perhaps one of the most helpful bits of data for your sales and marketing teams to know when selling into the house of worship market.
Know Thy Audience
When you truly get to know your church buying audience, you will undoubtedly find better ways to align your products to the unique needs of church sizes, budgets, and venues. As any good salesperson will tell you, quickly and readily understanding the buyer’s sentiment is key to knowing when to close or move on. Knowing who to sell to — and who not to sell to — is important in both marketing spend and sales follow up. And, just in case your marketing team hasn’t yet done so, get the data on how people are navigating and clicking through your website. I’ve long been an advocate of creating vertical market sections of the website to focus on various markets, and think that churches are ideal prospects for subdividing your product website into persona-driven click paths.
Once your marketing team has paved the way, your sales team will benefit from consultative selling techniques for the house of worship market. There’s an end game here beyond making a sale to churches: getting repeat sales. The data won’t lie, so begin by ensuring your marketing team is in touch with various church styles and needs, creating personas, following up with previous clients and leads and aggregating your data into meaningful information for reaching the right kinds of churches for your products.
BONUS: Take a look back at what I thought were the best ads targeting churches at the end of 2014.
Do you find the church market hard to understand? How well do you feel your organization markets to churches? Share your thoughts and opinions below, as we actively look to hear from you!
Share your views and opinions in the comments below and be sure to click the share buttons for social media to put this in front of your church clients. Leave a Comment
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Fewer Large Installations — More Frequent Small Iterations
By Anthony Coppedge House of Worship Technology Consultant
I used to make my living as a consultant focused on the large building programs of churches investing millions of dollars at a time. It was not difficult to allocate 10 percent to 15 percent of a $20 million dollar budget on audio, video and lighting and make a very comfortable living. Many of my peers and those who have come after me still chase these big projects, but I saw a change back in 2007 that I have followed until now (as of this writing, 2015): the day of the 2,000+ seat auditorium is probably coming to an end. It shifted my focus and my business and I’m confident it will do the same for you, too.
Interesting, the shift in the house of worship market has not been a decrease in the number of churches adding in technology — quite the opposite — but what’s changed has been the size of the venues and the frequency with which they are built or renovated. This trend has led me to prognosticate a future of fewer large A/V/L installations and more frequent, smaller installations done in nearly continuous iterations.
Mega-Sized Church Venues Out
The upside of massive venues is the number of people that can attend and volunteer at one time. Logistically, the upside is that it’s potentially easier to get people to attend and serve for a few hours on Sunday than it is to have them spread out their time to accommodate multiple services. However, the downsides of huge venues are numerous: they cost more to build, require a larger on-site staff to facilitate services, and are difficult to use efficiently for most other gatherings due to their enormous size and the tremendous cost of heating and cooling. They sit empty the vast majority of the time.
In these large venues, there’s a tipping point where the technology has to take an exponential leap in performance, flexibility — and price — to accommodate the difficulties of a very large venue. And that’s just for the hardware. Consider, too, the higher demands upon the staff and volunteers, and these complex systems require professional-level training and experience to operate — and the staffing costs to do so increase right along with the system. Though the overall cost of technology has decreased somewhat, the sheer volume of technology required in a huge space more than tips the scale towards the higher end of the building-to-technology budget ratio.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to build a mega-sized venue. What I am saying is that there are less compelling reasons to do so than ever before, at least here in the United States.
Repurposed Spaces In
The trend of using medium to mid-sized venues (500 attendance to about 750) has spiked due to the lower costs to build and maintain, the fewer staff and volunteers needed to facilitate events and the opportunity to repurpose the space for other events that are not swallowed up by the enormity of a mega venue. For most mega churches, couples looking to get married often have to find a wedding chapel elsewhere since the main venue is simply too large and expensive to use. Likewise, the footprint necessary for the main venue often limits the amount of facility space that can be allocated towards smaller meeting spaces for other ministry events. Unless the church already has a massive campus, the larger the venue the less flexible space available.
From a technology standpoint, the shift to these “less big” (they’re not exactly small at 500 to 750 seats) venues provides both a lower cost of entry and a simplification of operation. Add in some basic automation and even a non-technical staff person can use presets to host small group meetings without the need for trained A/V/L personnel – something not possible in a mega venue.
Beyond the initial purchases are the iterative purchases that allow for future growth and flexibility as the venues purposes shift and change with the needs of the church. In this model, a friendly relationship of church-to-vendor is reciprocated by the vendor-to-church solutions over time. Of course, this leads to the opportunity for more frequent maintenance contracts (cheaper than full-time technical staff) and a dependable schedule for replacing consumables, which will be used more often since the venues are available for more than weekend services.
Multi-site and Portable Church
Perhaps the most obvious representatives of the trend away from mega-sized church venues are the explosion in growth of multi-site churches and portable churches.
Multi-site has been the biggest trend of the church market. The most recent data by Leadership Network revealed over 5,000 multisite churches in the United States — and that was back in 2012. The very nature of the multi-site church has been to put more local venues to make it easier for people to attend not only on the weekend, but to be involved with opportunities throughout the week; something that is a limitation of mega-sized venues which typically see people drive less than 20 minutes to attend an event during a weekday.
The proximity effect of a local campus is a huge draw, and with the resources of a large church behind them, these satellite campuses represent a significant opportunity for selling and installing duplicate (or at least similar) systems time and again.
Likewise, the portable church market is a system integrator’s dream: pre-designed, zero-engineering required per project, as one sale. This is the epitome of simple selling. The opportunity to not only provide ready-to-go packages, but the documentation, color-coded connectivity, and pre-determined cable runs is a huge win-win scenario for the church and the integrator.
Both represent a rise in the medium to mid-sized church venue and a shift away from mega-sized church auditoriums and building programs. I see the next evolution of this including purchasing and revitalizing older churches that have dwindled in attendance or incorporating these congregations into the the life of the growing churches.
What say you? Does the shift away from mega-size church venues herald a new era of technology solutions for your company to provide to churches? Leave a Comment
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Da-Lite Unveils New Product for Large Venue InstallsWhen designing large venues, ballrooms or architecturally appealing rooms, a consultant, integrator or architect may feel conflicted when installing a traditional screen in a room with high ceilings that will require a lot of black drop to accommodate the AV needs and an appropriate screen viewing height. The Wireline Advantage from Da-Lite is the aesthetic solution to this design challenge.
The Wireline Advantage is a projection screen for large venues that uses thin steel cables instead of black drop to lower the viewing area to an appropriate height for the audience. The result is stunning with a large screen that is almost invisibly suspended at the right viewing height, leaving the architecture of the room exposed.
The Wireline Advantage housing can be ceiling recessed and features the easy installation brackets and self-trimming edge that is inherent to the Advantage line. The Wireline Advantage will feature cable lengths up to 29 feet, and will be available to order in November 2015.
Here are the details from a video we shot at InfoComm. Leave a Comment
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EIKI International Intros 8,000 ANSI Lumen Projector With Built-In Edge Blending and Image WarpingEiki International has introduced the new EIP-UHS100 single chip DLP projector, with a specified 8,000 ANSI lumen brightness and a 2400:1 contrast ratio. Featuring a native WUXGA (1920×1200) resolution, the new EIP-UHS100 supports analog and digital video inputs, including 3G HD-SDI and HDMI, in all color standards up to 1080p.
The new EIP-UHS100 projector has built-in edge blending for combining multiple projected images into a single seamless image and image warping, which facilitates digital image manipulation for either corrective or creative purposes. Additionally, the projector incorporates a lens memory feature with as many as ten saved settings. This makes the EIP-UHS100 ideal for venues where, for example, there are movable walls — enabling the focal settings to be memorized in advance for each projected distance.
The new EIKI EIP-UHS100 also includes horizontal / vertical lens shift and corner keystone correction allowing for versatile placement. Optional lenses for the EIP-UHS100 cover a range of 0.76 (with lens shift) to 8.25:1 throw ratios.
Available now, the EIP-UHS100 carries an MSRP of $16,995. More information is here. Leave a Comment
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Fohhn Adds LX-60 and LX-61 Compact Line Arrays to LINEA LX loudspeaker RangeFohhn Audio has announced the release of two new models in its LINEA LX range of compact line array systems. The Linea LX-60 and LX-61. The compact LX-60 is specially designed for installation applications in more challenging acoustic environments. The 200-watt, two-way system is equipped with four 4″ high performance low-mid drivers (arranged in a column) and a 1″ compression driver with Fohhn Waveguide. This combination forms the basis of Fohhn’s unique Hybrid Line Array Technology (a feature of all LINEA LX systems), which is widely renowned for delivering excellent reproduction of speech and music, superb dynamics and even audience coverage. Speaker adjustment is done via an integrated crossover with Intelligent Protection Circuit (IPC) to guard against overload. Components are enclosed in an elegant, lightweight aluminium housing, with slender dimensions — 64 (h) x13 (w) centimeters — that enable the unit to integrate unobtrusively into a range of venues. The system offers a dispersion range of 140º (w) × 30° (h) and is equipped with Phoenix terminals.
The new Linea LX-61 loudspeaker is designed for mobile applications. Incorporating the innovative technology of its LX-60 sibling, it is equipped with the same 4″ high performance low-mid drivers and 1″ compression driver with Waveguide. Its compact dimensions make for easy transportation and quick set-up. The unit is fitted with two Speakon connectors.
For even more powerful sound reproduction, the LX-60 and LX-61 can also be combined with a range of Fohhn subwoofers. LX-60/61 housing is available in all RAL colors.
For more information, go here. Leave a Comment
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Aviom Ships the D400 and D400-Dante A-Net DistributorsAviom is already shipping its new D400 and D400-Dante A-Net Distributors. The D400 and D400-Dante A-Net Distributors are designed to distribute power and digital audio data to an Aviom personal mixing system and provide users with an easy and affordable way to get into Aviom personal mixing for live performance or recording applications.
The D400-Dante allows up to 32 Dante channels to be routed to the personal mixing system, which makes connecting to a Dante-enable digital console or audio network as simple as plugging in a Cat-5 cable.
The standard D400 has an A-Net input for those using an analog input module or a digital console card as the front end of their system, while the D400-Dante has Dante I/O instead of the A-Net input. Up to eight personal mixers can be connected to each D400 or D400-Dante’s A-Net outputs, and an unlimited number of distributors can be used when creating larger systems with more than eight performers.
The D400 and D400-Dante are compatible with both the original Pro16 version of A-Net and the new Pro16e version of A-Net, the technology driving the A360 and A320 Personal Mixers which allows multiple 16-channel banks of monitoring content to be delivered over a single Cat-5 cable. The new distributors can also be used with Aviom’s legacy products including the A-16II Personal Mixer.
If you want more details, go here. Leave a Comment
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Community Introduces BalancePoint Flyware for I Series LoudspeakersCommunity Speakers has introduced the BalancePoint Flyware, a new flying hardware system for the I SERIES of arrayable loudspeakers with matching-height subwoofers. BalancePoint Flyware allows systems designers to create planar or isometric arrays and add rear, top or steered subwoofers. Individual loudspeakers can be precisely aimed and arrays can be quickly assembled in the shop or on-site. BalancePoint Flyware complements the appearance of I SERIES loudspeakers in black or white with a low-profile design that hugs the ceiling and eliminates unsightly aircraft cables.
For more information on BalancePoint Flyware, click here [PDF]. For more information on the I SERIES, go here. Leave a Comment
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Yamaha Launches MonitorMix App for iOSYamaha today announced the availability of the MonitorMix app designed to simplify access to the company’s new TF Series digital mixing consoles. Available as a free download in the Apple App Store, the MonitorMix app offers individual wireless AUX mixing from up to 10 iPhone, iPad or iPod touch devices simultaneously, giving performers control over the AUX buses assigned to them, without having to master complex settings or parameters. They can also create personal Group settings for even easier adjustment, including the ability to set all levels on just one fader, for example.
Since up to three devices running TF Editor or StageMix and up to 10 devices running MonitorMix can be connected at the same time, even large bands can have the personal control they need, reducing demands on the sound engineer.
For more details, go to the MonitorMix app page here. Leave a Comment
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Genelec Ships 7040A Ultra-Compact SubwooferGenelec is now shipping the new 7040A, an ultra-compact subwoofer. Designed to be used with Genelec’s 8010, 8020 and M030 active monitors, the 7040A features Genelec’s Laminar Spiral Enclosure (LSE) technology. This enclosure design claims a high sound pressure level (an essential property for a subwoofer) and move high volumes of air without distortion.
Small rooms have limited floor space, and Genelec engineers have optimized the 7040 subwoofer enclosure with this in mind. With external dimensions of 16.125 x 13.75 x 8.125-inch (410 x 350 x 205 mm), the 7040A has a footprint that is smaller than that of a small practice guitar amplifier. It is also narrow enough to fit in a 19-inch rack and weighs 25 pounds (11.3 kg).
Calibration of the Genelec 7040A subwoofer to the listening environment is done using DIP switches located on the subwoofer connector panel. These controls address typical monitoring placement configurations.
The 7040A is spec’d to produce 100 dB of sound pressure level (SPL) using a 6 ½-inch woofer and a powerful Genelec-designed Class D amplifier. At the lowest frequencies this SPL is radiated from the bass reflex port by channeling large volumes of air movement through it. The LSE enclosure is made from a spiral-shaped strip of steel, providing maximal mechanical stability for the large pressures generated inside the subwoofer. The spiral forms the bass reflex port as well, enabling linear airflow also at the SPL outputs. Genelec says this flow-optimized construction provides extended low frequency capacity and low distortion resulting in precise bass articulation.
Here are all the details. Leave a Comment
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Audio-Technica Ships BP40 Large-Diaphragm MicrophoneAudio-Technica is now shipping its BP40 Large-Diaphragm Broadcast Microphone, a dynamic vocal microphone designed for applications including radio, overdubs, post-production, podcasting and live events. The mic’s hypercardioid polar pattern provides isolation of the desired sound source, and maximum off-axis rejection when working in close production environments. Its optimized capsule placement helps maintain a commanding vocal presence even at a distance, while the multistage windscreen provides superior internal pop filtering. It also includes a switchable 100 Hz high-pass filter to provide even more pop protection.
The BP40’s large diaphragm features patented floating-edge construction that maximizes diaphragm surface area and optimizes overall diaphragm performance, while the humbucking voice coil prevents electromagnetic interference (EMI) (e.g., from video monitors, AC power, etc.). The mic’s design, inspired by the visual representation of a waveform, features rugged, all-metal construction for dependable use in professional broadcast environments. The BP40 comes standard with the AT8483 mounting clamp, and for additional protection from noise, shock and vibration, the optional AT8484 shock mount is available separately.
BP40 specifications include:
- Element: Dynamic
- Polar pattern: Hypercardioid
- Frequency response: 50-16,000 Hz
- Low frequency roll-off: 100 Hz, 6 dB/octave
- Open circuit sensitivity: -48 dB (3.9 mV) re 1V at 1 Pa
- Impedance: 450 ohms
- Switch: Flat, roll-off
- Weight: 632 g (22.3 oz.)
- Dimensions: 164.0 mm (6.45″) long, 56.0 mm (2.20″) diameter
- Output connector: Integral 3-pin XLRM-type
- Accessories furnished: AT8483 mounting clamp for 5/8″-27 threaded stands; 5/8″-27 to 3/8″-16 threaded adapter; soft protective pouch
The $349 BP40 can be found here. Leave a Comment
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For all you REGULAR readers of rAVe HOW out there, hopefully you enjoyed another opinion-packed issue!
For those of you NEW to rAVe, you just read how we are — we are 100 percent opinionated. We not only report the news and new product stories of the ProAV industry, but we stuff the articles full of our opinions. That may include (but is not limited to) whether or not the product is even worth looking at, challenging the manufacturers on their specifications, calling a marketing-spec bluff and suggesting ways integrators market their products better. But, one thing is for sure, we are NOT a trade publication that gets paid for running editorial or product stories. Traditional trade publications get paid to run product stories — that’s why you see what you see in most of the pubs out there. We are different: we run what we want to run and NO ONE is going to pay us to write anything good (or bad).
Don’t like us, then go away — unsubscribe! Just use the link below.
To send me feedback, don’t reply to this newsletter. Instead, write directly to me at gary@ravepubs.com or for editorial ideas, Editor-in-Chief Sara Abrons at sara@ravepubs.com
A little about me: I graduated from Journalism School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where I am adjunct faculty). I’ve been in the AV-industry since 1987 where I started with Extron and eventually moved to AMX. So, I guess I am an industry veteran (although I don’t think I am that old). I have been an opinionated columnist for a number of industry publications and in the late 1990s I started the widely read KNews eNewsletter (the first in the AV market) and also created the model for and was co-founder of AV Avenue, which is now known as InfoComm IQ. rAVe [Publications] has been around since 2003, when we launched our original newsletter, rAVe ProAV Edition.
Everything we publish is Opt-in — we spam NO ONE! rAVe ProAV Edition is our flagship ePublication with what we believe is a reach of virtually everyone in the ProAV market. rAVe HomeAV Edition, co-published with CEDIA and launched in February 2004, is, by far, the largest ePub in the HomeAV market. We added rAVe Rental [and Staging] in November 2007, rAVe ED [Education] in May 2008 and then rAVe DS [Digital Signage] in January 2009. We added rAVe GHGav [Green, Healthcare & Government AV] in August 2010 and rAVe HOW [House of Worship] in July 2012. You can subscribe to any of those publication or see ALL our archives by going to: https://www.ravepubs.com
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