Gurus of Tech! - AKA - My Oddball Brothers

Well, if you've been following my tweets at all... and all of you are right?  (@charon79m) You know that I've been spending the early part of this week at a conference in Louisville, Ky.

Contrary to what you might be thinking, this is NOT the type of conference where I find myself in common company.  This conference is for Church Tech, ie. Sound, Lighting, Camera, Creative Directing, CG, Motion Graphics, etc.  These are the guys (and gals) that make sure that the the production that happens around the service goes smooth.  These are the guys wearing the black shirts running around that you really don't know who they are.  Yep, that crew.

I must say, although I'm out of my element, I've never felt more welcomed and involved at any other conference than I do here.  This conference is filled with talented individuals all figuring out how to put on professional looking productions on a tight, if not non-existent, budget with a volunteer team.

Let me tell you, what these guys can do with some can lights and gaffer's tape boggles the mind!!!  I'm partially kidding here, many of these guys play with geeky toys that would make the most well budgeted IT team jealous... but the ingenuity they display is breathtaking.

What I've found most amazing is that they are a truly interesting breed, unlike any other.  They are very creative and artistic individuals, but they're not stuck in a totally creative mindset.  At one point in one of the events, the entire crowd cried out in horror.  It was a painful scream... almost like they were watching a loved one being tortured!  As it turns out, this isn't far from the truth.  See, one of the MCs was preparing for a "Tech Olympic" event where members of the audience would compete to see who could perfectly wrap an audio cable fastest.  What was his crime?  He was doing the ol' wrapping a cable around your arm trick.  Yep, the punishment for his crime, death by stoning!  OK, not that bad, but he was definitely getting some stern looks and scoffs even though it was just part of the show!  It was like when someone calls your sister ugly, it doesn't matter if it's true that guy's getting corrected... know what I mean?

Yeah, it's that alien of an environment... but it's very welcoming.  Like most of us IT guys, these individuals are fighting for a small piece of the budgetary pie.  They have to walk that fine line of letting their equipment properly depreciate, then age, then atrophy, then be held together with tuck tape before they can even think about asking for a replacement.  They work long hours, and when their job is done well you don't even know that they exist.  They have a very thankless job where one little mess-up can have far reaching consequences.  Sound familiar... sound like this person could be your cublicle neighbor?  Well, let me say that I now consider them my brothers.

I have learned so much wisdom in this short conference:

"I want to be exhausted when I'm done so I know that I gave it my all."
Rob Thomas (Ignighter Media) @robwthomas

"Do you push the envelope enough to make a bold mistake?"
John Weygant

"Accidents are going to happen, carelessness is unacceptable!"
Tim Ancovac (probably spelled this name wrong, sorry!)

"I'm the whitest black guy you'll ever know!"
George (last name unknown) Poor guy got drug up on stage w/ a friend, Jose, to wrap about Gurus Of Tech.

There are many others, but I think you get the picture.  This conference is filled with my bothers.  They're artistic and not quite like me, but we certainly share a similar DNA.  Thanks for making me feel welcome at this conference.  I hope to some day be able to repay the hospitality and knowledge that each of you has shared with me.

Two things I'd like you to take from this post:

1:  Appreciate that an amazingly huge amount of well coordinated hard work went into providing you a visually and audibly appealing worship service.  Don't get caught up on the glitter, that's not what they want the focus to be on... let yourself be lost in the message and your emotions to flow and react.  A truly authentic worship is about the best thanks you can give this group of people.

2:  If what I've posted above sounds interesting to you or you think it might interest someone in your church, point them to http://www.gurusoftech.com for future events, the @gurusoftech on twitter, and the AMAZING group of people in the Church Tech Director Roundtable (http://www.ctdrt.com/).