A/V Team Seeking More Volunteers

The Audio/Video team is looking for a few good volunteers!  If working with sound and video equipment sounds interesting to you, you might want to have a conversation with Michael Honey-Arcement, who leads the team that streams Sunday services online.  The work of the AV volunteers demands attention and skill but doesn’t require a technical background.  “Anyone willing to not be intimidated by a computer can learn the systems,” Michael says.

Q: So just how much training is involved?

Michael:  There are two stations that have different levels of training. The sound board just needs someone to press a button to mute and unmute microphones. Additionally, that person manages volume of those microphones. The streaming station requires basic Windows and PowerPoint knowledge. There is a small amount of training on the specific software we use for streaming. This role does the most multitasking and you will be paying attention to every minute of the service. Someone with Theatre Tech skills or Game Streaming skills would be great. 

Q: How many people are needed for each service and how often does each volunteer work? 

Michael: We currently need two volunteers per service. The more volunteers we have, the less often any one person comes in rotation. Right now, we can have someone working 3 out of 4 Sundays. If we had 8-10 trained volunteers, that could drop to 1 Sunday a month. 

Michael enjoys his work with the AV team but notes it does involve staying alert for unexpected changes during the service: “Doing items out of order; not having lyrics; or people walking out of the camera shot for example.”  But these challenges have been beneficial—dealing with them has sharpened his directorial and troubleshooting skills.  

Please consider lending some of your time to this important part of UUS’s efforts to reach a wider community. Email av@uusic.org to learn more and get involved.