RussHutto[dot]com

Today I thought I’d share a little of the behind the scenes at House of Joy. Well, at least in the Media/Music department. This is how I get through the week, keeping my sanity in the process.

If you’re like me, (not that you have to be) you might be a little of the “unorganized” variety. I’m pretty “OCD” when it comes to my dvds. Don’t leave them out of their cases, and don’t leave the cases laying around. Other than that, I’m pretty much a disheveled mess. Oh, it’s a beautiful mess, don’t get me wrong, but it is admittedly a mess.

My wife stays on me to “clean your office” and I’m always like, “Clean? It’s not even dirty.” Clean to her and clean to me mean 2 totally different things. But I know where she’s coming from. She’s an organizer and can’t stand when things aren’t filed away or stacked neatly. She has her systems (I love them) and I have mine.

Anyways, to the nitty gritty of today’s topic: My digital toolbox. Here’s what I use to plan, design, create, rethink, rework, reveal, and keep everyone in the loop.

Hardware:
Macbook Pro 15″ Intel Core 2 Duo Running at 2.33 GHz, 2 GB ram (OS X)
Gateway 15″ AMD TM 64 Mobile Running at 1.79 GHz 1 GB ram (Windows XP)

Software:
Adobe Photoshop 5.5 (yes, I obviously need an upgrade: care to donate?!)
MS Publisher/Word
iTunes
Audacity
GarageBand
iMovie HD
Keynote
ProPresenter

Browsers:
Firefox
Safari

Online Tools:
Google Reader
Google Groups
Google Calendar
Flickr
Songselect

Communities:
The Worship Community
Facebook

Here’s the rundown on how I use each of these day to day, week to week.

I schedule EVERYTHING through Google Calendar. I’ve created a specific and individual calendar for the different “contexts” of my life. Those would include:

• @home: everything that I need to do when I’m at home (chores, get-togethers, fun stuff, cooking, etc.)
• @errands: everything that I need to and can do when I’m out and about town (paying bills, haircuts, shopping, appointments, etc.)
• @computer: everything non-music related that I need the computer for (designing bulletins, series graphics, mailers, postcards, etc.)
• @desk: everything that is non-computer related that I do in the office (reading mail, reading music/tech related articles, researching for Bible studies and gatherings, etc.)
• @church: any gathering at House of Joy
• @music: everything music related (rehearsals, vocal rehearsal tracks, research for message series music, songwriting, charting chords, setlist planning, etc.)

As you can see some of these contexts might overlap a little, but for the most part, I’ve divided them up nicely and using the alert feature through google I’m able to have a text message reminder sent to my phone if necessary or to have an email reminder sent to me. Usually, if I schedule appointments, I’ll have a reminder sent an hour before just to remind me. It’s working out great.

I use Google Groups to keep our teams organized and in the loop. I know it’s not the most feature filled planning solution, but at it’s core it works spectacularly in a few simple ways:

• Communication: I post the worship service setlist/lineups (in pdf form) for the entire coming month (or 2) in the “files” section of the group at the end of the previous month.
• Scheduling: I post the team scheduled to sing, play and run a/v for the coming week on Mondays in the “discussion” section of the group (changes to the monthly pdf are pointed out in this post).
• Distribution: Chord Charts, Rehearsal Tracks, and other necessary audio files (loops, etc.) are uploaded into the “files” section on Monday mornings so that team members can review the songs Monday and Tuesday at home.
• Constructive Criticism/Encouragement/Appreciation: Each week I try to post something along these lines in the “discussion” section of the group. These are usually not individually specific, but more of overall observations. The team appreciates it when they are valued and appreciated. This has been one of the most beneficial uses of Google Groups.
• Random Get to Know You Stuff: Using the “discussion” section, I’m also able to post a “question of the week” each week, and it’s amazing at how much you get to know about your team members by asking a few general questions. The responses range from hilarious to thought provoking to somewhere in between. It’s great.

The Flickr community that I frequent daily is the Church Marketing Lab. When designing graphics for series, cards, banners, etc. I hit this place first. Not only can you search through hundreds and thousands of user submitted concepts for inspiration, you can also submit your own concept for input, criticism, and encouragement. In a few short weeks my designs have gone from pretty to good, to really good, and I hope to move them to great soon!

The Worship Community is an invaluable resource for me as Music Coordinator. It’s a great place to connect with other musicians, worship leaders, audio people, video people, and lighting people. I’m constantly visiting TWC and checking the new posts page.

Each morning I cycle through these websites:
Google Reader
Google Calendar
Our HOJ Music and Media Google Groups
The Worship Community
Flickr

These are my go to sites. Without fail.

I design in Photoshop.
I make transition movies in iMovie HD.
I tweak audio in Audacity.
I make rehearsal tracks in GarageBand.
I set up music presentation (lyrics, announcements) in ProPresenter*.
I set up message series presentation in Keynote*.

* We use ProPresenter for the moving background feature and ease of use for song presentation. We use Keynote for message series for transitions and ease of use for outline presentation. However, I do not use keynote stock backgrounds. Everything is graphic oriented. So the presentation slide are unique to each message and don’t have that cheesy powerpoint/keynote business meeting presentation look and feel.

Well, this has been a lot of info, but I hope that someone can glean a little useful tidit here and there from this post. I’ve been settling into this Media/Music Coordinator position over the last few months and this is the groove I’m running in.

What’s in YOUR digital toolbox?