WFX Conference

October 26th, 2009 § 0

Reasons I’m excited to be attending WFX (Worship Facilities Conference & Expo) this week:

1. I’ve never been

2. I’m a geek

3. Great chance to network with a LOT of people from hundreds of churches

4. I have a resume and no job

5. I have a box of business cards that needs to be handed out

6. I like conferences

7. I want to end up as a church tech director one day

8. I found a sweet $200 off discount code

9. I have a free place to stay with friends for the week

10. All the FREE stuff exhibitors hand out. Definitely gonna take my backpack.

i’m going on tour this fall

September 21st, 2009 § 0

Almost a full one-third of Belmont students are majoring in Music Business. About half of those are focused on production, and half of those are interested in live production. Of that small portion of the student body, only a hand-full ever get to go on the road. Most end up doing something else. There are a few that are great at live sound and have no trouble landing gigs before graduation even comes and there are some that have to work for a production company for a few years trying to meet the right people.

Then there are people like me that get lucky. I went to Belmont with a background in sound (meaning I had been the sound guy at church for several years). I ended up learning how to produce and be a production manager/stage manager more than I did how to do more with sound. But I did learn a thing or two about sound while I was there, so it wasn’t a total change of plans.

What I wasn’t planning on doing was touring. I never expected to get a gig with a band. I figured I might go to work for a production company, learn some things, then land at a church as a technical director. However, through a complex chain of events and a cold, rainy festival in Bilings, Montana, I ended up landing a touring FOH gig with Decyfer Down on Skillet’s Awake & Alive fall tour.

These are my bosses:

decyfer(Left to right: Chris, TJ, Josh, Brandon)

And these are the show dates:

September
9/24/09 Embassy Theater Ft. Wayne, IN
9/25/09 Grace Brethren Church Columbus, OH
9/26/09 Awakening Music Festival Leesburg, VA
9/27/09 The Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
9/29/09 Freedom Hall Johnson City, TN

October
10/1/09 Washington Avenue Armory Convention Center Albany, NY
10/2/09 Manhattan Center Studios – Hammerstein Ballroom New York, NY
10/3/09 The Palladium Worcester, MA
10/4/09 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
10/6/09 Salem Civic Center Salem, VA
10/8/09 Minglewood Hall Memphis, TN
10/9/09 Riverfest Amphitheater Little Rock, AR
10/10/09 Cullman County Fairgrounds – Youthquake Cullman, AL
10/11/09 Mobile Civic Center Mobile, AL
10/15/09 Spirit Bank Event Center Tulsa, OK
10/16/09 South Plains Fair Coliseum Lubbock, TX
10/17/09 Abraham Chavez Theater El Paso, TX
10/18/09 Kiva Theater Albuquerque, NM
10/20/09 Mcgee Park – Memorial Coliseum Farmington, NM
10/22/09 Celebrity Theater Phoenix, AZ
10/23/09 Club Nokia La Live Los Angeles, CA
10/24/09 Fox Theater Bakersfield, CA
10/25/09 Warnors Theater Fresno, CA
10/27/09 Reddng Convention Center Auditorium Redding, CA
10/29/09 Medford Armory Central Point, OR
10/30/09 Osf Pavillion Salem, OR
10/31/09 Showare Center Seattle, WA

November
11/1/09 Inb Performing Arts Center Spokane, WA
11/3/09 Toyota Center Kennewick, WA
11/5/09 Qwest Arena Boise, ID
11/6/09 The Great Salt Air Salt Lake City, UT
11/7/09 Paramount Theater Denver, CO
11/10/09 Casper Events Center Casper, WY
11/12/09 The Midland by AMC Kansas City, MO
11/13/09 Stephens Auditorium – Iowa State Univ. Ames, IA
11/14/09 Minn Convention Center Aud Minneapolis, MN
11/15/09 House of Blues Chicago, IL
11/17/09 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
11/19/09 Maude Cobb Center Longview, TX
11/20/09 Palladium Ballroom Dallas, TX
11/21/09 The Berry Center Cypress, TX
11/22/09 Abilene Civic Center Abilene, TX
11/27/09 Remingtons Springfield, MO
11/28/09 Adler Theater Davenport, IA
11/29/09 Duluth Entertainment Conv. Center Duluth, MN

December
12/3/09 Memorial Auditorium Chattanooga, TN
12/4/09 Hobart Arena Troy, OH
12/5/09 Agora Theater Cleveland, OH
12/6/09 Deltaplex Grand Rapids, MI

new layout

September 9th, 2009 § 0

i’ve been working on redesigning my blog this morning. and after trying out several less-than-pleasant themes, i found one that i really like. this time, i may even keep it for a while. leave feedback to let me know what you think.

expectations

September 8th, 2009 § 0

expectationWe all have expectations of those around us. For some, we expect great things. For others, we expect very little. Generally, our expectations are met, especially if the other person knows what we expect of them.

But not all expectations are as simple as those two categories. There are many more daily expectations that we place on others. We expect our co-workers to do their jobs. We expect other drivers to drive safely. We expect people to follow through on promises. We expect people to respect us. We expect our order to be made correctly at restaurants. Get the point?

These more defined expectations lead to even more specific expectations. Having roommates provides much in the way of examples for this. When you live with others, you have to learn how to share space. This means keeping common areas picked up and somewhat clean. In this environment the question of “if I expect this from someone else, should I have to do it as well?” comes up. If one roommate is “expected” to be messy, we easily get frustrated when they don’t live up to our expectations of them to help clean up. For me and my roommates, past and present, we’ve joked about–and sometimes actually have–putting dirty dishes that get left out for days in the person’s room.

But what happens when the roommate that is generally expected to be somewhat of a clean-freak is the one who leave out the dishes? Are the expectations to clean up even higher on that person because that is the standard he applies to other roommates?

Ah, now we’ve reached the point in the story where grace comes into play. Showing grace doesn’t mean overlooking the shortcomings of someone. Grace means forgiving the failures, AND addressing them appropriately. But it also means that the person who is shown grace should in turn show grace to others. When you expect something of others, expect them to expect the same thing from you. And remember, attacking someone for short comings isn’t going to help. They need to understand why it is important that everyone lives up to the expectation.

I received an interesting email the other day

August 18th, 2009 § 0

I received one of those interesting emails from a foreign national asking for my assistance a few minutes ago.  Normally I just delete these.  This time I wrote a replay, although I won’t be sending it along.

SIMON TANG & PARTNERS,
NO, 26A JALAN DEDAP,
20 TAMAN JOHOR JAYA,
81100 JOHOR BAHRU
MALAYSIA,
TELL: +60133779641
FAX: +60-321784045

I am Barrister Omar  , Attorney At Law. A deceased client of mine who here in after shall be referred to as my client,died as the result of a heart-related condition in November 2004. His heart condition was due to the death of all the members of his family in the Gulf Air Flight Crashes in Persian Gulf Near Bahrain Aired August 23, 2000 – 2:50 p.m. ET as reportedon: (link removed for your safety by me).
I have contacted you to assist in distributing the money left behind by my client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this deposit valued at $5.3million dollars is lodged.

This bank has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin,or the account will be confiscated.My proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my late client,so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Then we can share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon percentage.

All legal documents to back up your claim as my client’s next of kin will be secured gradually and forwarded to you. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.This will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

If this business proposition offends your moral values,do accept my apology. Please contact me at once to indicate your interest.

Best Regards,

Barr. Omar Ismail.
Attorney At Law.

Dear Barr. Omar Ismail,

I will gladly accept your offer to fraudulently portray myself as the next-of-kin to a man who has died of a very unfortunate set of circumstances.

Before I can send you any information about myself, I do need certain documents verifying your identify. Please send to me two certified government documents proving your identify as well as your legal right to represent this deceased gentleman. Once I have received these documents I will run a background check through a friend of mine who is a United States Federal Marshall.  Once he confirms that the details are legitimate I will then be happy to assist you in this matter.

As an attorney, I’m sure you understand my need to confirm your identify first as many emails of this nature have proven in the past to be fraudulent and I have nearly lost what money I do have to my name.

Sincerely,

Gull Able

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