I wish I would’ve had these 5 tips to keep media volunteers sane during VBS last year.
“It just won’t play!” I kept muttering under my breath as I tried to play a music video at one of our VBS field tests here in Colorado. A group of crew leaders had come in early to practice the motions before the kids joined us for our first day of VBS, and I just couldn’t get the video to play. I felt my face heat up and my heart pound as I tried to calmly tell our Sing & Play Leader that we were just having some small technical difficulties.
It was not my favorite moment of the week, particularly as I worried that I’d have the same issue when the kids showed up. Luckily, one of our more tech-savvy team members swooped in and saved the day. But it reminded me of all the music and media components that need to come together in order to make VBS a seamless week for kids.
To spare you the same panicked moment I had, here are five tips to help your media volunteers during VBS.
- Before VBS starts, give your media team a schedule of each day so they can start organizing the files and getting them into an order that works best.
- Provide digital files that can be used on any medium, and through any program with the Cave Quest Ultimate Starter Kit Plus Digital.
- Plan to do a walk-through every day with your music leader, volunteers, and the media team. You can cover everything from lighting to what video to play at what time. That way you won’t have someone accidentally starting a video during a quiet prayer time.
- Photocopy the media list in your music manual. If you’re switching any songs, make changes to the list and communicate those changes with your media team.
- Before you start each day, say a prayer with your team to focus the day and give any anxiousness to God.
