You Don’t Know Enough
I don’t mean you’re stupid; I mean designing and installing an A/V/L system requires a specialized skill set and unless you’ve been doing it for a few years, you don’t have it.
I have been at this game for many years, working with professional AV equipment and systems both inside and outside the church. When it came time to design a PA for my church, I looked to experts at my integrator (and speaker manufacturer).
Why? Because I don’t design loudspeaker systems for a living. I have ideas and opinions, but they have the real expertise. When it comes time to do the install, they will install it. Why? Because I don’t routinely hang 1,800 pounds of gear over people’s heads. They do.
Chances are, you simply don’t know enough gear options to make good decisions. I go into so many churches who simply bought was was for sale at Guitar Center, never realizing that for 10 percent more, they could have bought a far, far better solution. Sometimes, it even costs less.
Integrators spend their lives designing and installing systems while constantly keeping up on new equipment and technology. You don’t. It’s far better for you to do what you do and let them do what they do.
You Don’t Have The Time
Designing and installing a complete system—even a fairly simple one—takes an incredible amount of time. If your church tech team is made up of volunteers, chances are they don’t have a spare 40 hours a week they can give to the project for a month. At least not if you want to keep doing services.
Several years ago, we did part of the install in our student wing, working along side our integrator. Even that load just about killed us. It took me two full months to recover, and every Sunday during the install and recovery, I debated whether or not I wanted to come in to work or not. It was brutal. And we know what we’re doing and have a staff. Don’t kill your people just to save a few bucks. It’s not worth it.
You’ll Have To Live With The Building A Long Time
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to say “no” to our leadership on doing something they want to do because we don’t have the infrastructure in our building.
Opened in 1993, we’d been fighting it since day one. Why? Because they cut the AV budget and didn’t use an integrator. There are no conduit runs between the tech booth and the stage, or the amp room. How did that get missed? How impossible is it to fix now? (Answer: Very!)
No building is perfect, even those build with an integrator on board early.