At one point, my signing power as the Audio Director of a reasonably large church was $500. A couple of years later, they dropped that to $250. At first, I felt insulted. Later, as I thought about it, I realized my diminished purchase authorization was a blessing in disguise.

This meant that any purchases that I needed to make for the sound systems that were over $250 apiece didn’t come out of my $25,000 operating budget. As such, funds for a desperately needed wireless mic didn’t come out of my supplies budget.

Time Is Priceless
I’d like to add one more item to the list, and that is time. I know very few people who aren’t going through this life racing to meet one deadline or another. Not that it’s right, or even good, but certainly common.

Some of those time goals are self-imposed, while much of that activity is directed toward putting out fires that other people have created for us.

People usually want their problems to be your problems, and some are especially good at delegating. I would consider time to be the most valuable category on the list.

Curt Taipale heads up Church Soundcheck, a thriving community dedicated to helping technical worship personnel, and he also provides expert systems design and consulting services with Taipale Media Systems.

More articles by Curt Taipale on PSW:
Tune Up: Getting The Most From Your Church Sound System
Getting To The Essense Of Effects In Your Church System
Maximizing Your Church Sound Mixing Console With A Logical Approach
Staying Focused - A Path To Excellence In Operating Your Church Sound System
Choosing The Right Console For Your Church Sound System
The Powerful Affect Of Digital Effects In Your System
Who Defines “Good” Sound At Your Church?
Install Your Own Church Sound System? Here Are Some Cautionary Tales
Humor Files: Unintended Amendments To The Laws Of Physics

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