The Gathering

Last night was The Gathering, held at Ottawa's largest venue (and hockey arena). It was a good time of worship and prayer that helped tie together many of the churches in the area... from all denominations.

It was a brilliant idea, and pulled together a large team of volunteers to bring the night together.

Unfortunately, while it was good, it wasn't great. And probably for a few different reasons.

1. Marketing. They did use much better graphic design than last year (even if it was the same one design copied everywhere). But really, they didn't promote it all too well, and you can see this in the fact that the attendance hasn't grown since last year.
2. Sound mix. The Gathering used fantastic sound gear, including the new M7-CL and gear from Wall Sound. But the mix itself left much to be desired. There was a distinctive lack of fullness, and sounded a little mushy. And at many times, you couldn't hear the lead singer. Or as was often the case, one of the backups drowned out everyone.
3. Video. One single boring background for the entire night's lyrics. And the one time they used a motion background, it's animated lyrics were ahead of the band by an entire verse.

I did enjoy the evening, but it should learn from those problems, and bring new life and a stronger presence to next year's Gathering.

FM Radio

Does anybody still listen to FM radio anymore?

Supposedly, they still do. Just not for the same reasons.

With the recent advances and popularity in music distribution, people are no longer tuning in to their local radio stations. Even while driving, they plug in their iPods and mp3 players, or turn on to a XM or Sirius satellite radio. Through those mediums, they can listen to exactly what they want to, when they want to... and lots of it.

The future of radio? Personality.

While you're working, or on the drive home, you tune in because of radio personalities. Radio DJ's who are fun, real, and who lace their shows with stimulating banter. They comment on local musicians and events, their latest favorite song, and their real-life situations. But best of all, you can see them and meet them at local events.

Think of it as a podcast with syndicated music.

It's entertaining stuff. So be sure to support your local radio stations: like CHRI 99.1FM here in Ottawa, Canada.

8 Great Church Sites

Here's some excellently designed church websites that I've came across over the last little while. All feature brilliant designs, intuitive communication and interactivity, and good content. Here they are, in no particular order.

Take a look:

Buckhead Church

Jouney Church

Life Center

LifeChurch.tv

R3volution

Theater Church

The City

The Vine

10 Reasons You Shouldn't Go to Film School

DV Guru just posted a great article on why you shouldn't go to film school. And really, this probably applies to just about any arts-related program out there.

1. Your favorite filmmaker didn't go to film school.
2. Digital Video.
3. Film school is expensive.
4. The Internet.

There's the first 4. Now go read all 10 at DV Guru.

Death of a Camera

My digital camera has finally had it. In fact, it never really did have it... and has always been close to joining that big heap of buggy digital gadgetry.

The Canon Powershot A70 has given me problems right from the start. While its stats were pretty decent when I bought it, it gave me a long and troubling history:

Since purchasing it from BestBuy in 2003, the camera had to be replaced twice, and repaired at least two times (that I have receipts for)... and finally broke again just yesterday... not two weeks after the service plan ended (but two weeks before it was supposed to end, according to what the manager promised me when he convinced me to buy the plan).

I've found that BestBuy's service plan, while persistent, was overpriced and of poor quality. Every time, the Canon was brought in because of purple lines across the photos... and 6 months after they 'fixed' it, the lines would appear again.
So it looks like I'm now without a camera... at least until I can afford a new one... so much for updating my Flickr account.