The goal of conferences is to provide cutting-edge industry information, industry-specific teaching, and connections to the latest and greatest products and services in your industry. The WAVE conference seeks to provide industry expertise in the Houses of Worship audiovisual industry, often called church tech.

Worship Audio Visual Experience (WAVE) is a new church tech conference that seeks to bring together leading instructors and AVL manufacturers to give production teams and church leadership the skills and knowledge to engage, communicate and grow their churches.

With shrinking budgets and high inflation around the country, you might be asking, what are the reasons to attend a church tech conference this year?

Here are 5 excellent reasons you should attend a church tech conference this year:

Reason #1 – Gain New Skills for Church Tech Ministry

If you’re the director of church tech arts or the head worship leader, you rarely get time away from ministry to learn new skills and grow. Conferences have a way of carving out time and space within your calendar once you commit because you won’t physically be present at church to handle all your day-t0-day tasks. While it can take a herculean amount of energy and time to plan ahead enough to travel to attend a conference, once there, you will find you have the mental space to acquire new skills through sessions and break-outs.

WAVE brings in top worship directors, lighting directors, and audiovisual experts from around the country to teach valuable sessions for maximum growth. Past sessions have included topics such as an intensive look at audio for church operators, teaching on managed switches, using AVL to brand your church, online and social media presence guidance, LED walls, optimized mixing, best practices for live streaming, new gear guidance, and many more topics that appeal to church techs and worship directors.

Reason #2 – Set New Goals for Church Tech Ministry

It’s nearly impossible to do long-range goal planning for your ministry when you have to do your everyday job. One of the best things about attending a church tech conference is that you can bring your team with you and carve out time to discuss what you’ve learned and earmark new things to try in the coming year. While we all know that churches need lots of lead time to make major changes such as getting the organ off the stage, if you wish to set goals such as increasing the ambiance, bettering the quality of your live stream, or incorporating more in-house custom video announcements, you need time to plan out the steps and workflow to achieve these goals.

Church tech conferences have a way of sparking creativity and igniting excitement to try new things. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing!” When we seek to enhance and improve the worship experience with new things, God can and will be honored when we seek His glory first.

Reason #3 – Learn from Pros in the Industry

Setting aside time to attend a church tech conference can allow you to soak up industry experience and knowledge from industry pros. There’s nothing quite like attending a session on expert stage lighting, then talking with the presenter afterward to get specific help with your needs. Many conferences also offer panel sessions on specific topics where the audience can interact and ask questions specific to their ministry. These sessions are invaluable and often provide detailed guidance and industry best practices.

WAVE offers large group teaching times as well as topical sessions that are intimate so that each conference attendee can meet new industry experts and connect with other church techs who handle the same challenges. At every WAVE conference, there is a local church partner who offers a detailed tour of their church AVL setup and workflow. This provides a hands-on approach to learning and is sure to generate new ideas for your own church.

Reason #4 – Bring Your Team Together for Renewal and Growth at WAVE Church Tech Conference

If someone could bottle up renewal and growth and sell it, they’d be rich. Going to a conference with your church tech team is the next closest thing. Time together to travel, relax, attend sessions, ask questions, discuss new ideas, and plan for growth are all aims of a good church tech conference. One of the best reasons to go with your team is that you can divvy up the sessions to divide and conquer, then regroup and share the information learned. There is power in numbers and it will bring value to include your team–no matter how large or small.

Don’t be surprised if after attending a church tech conference, you find yourself burgeoning with new ideas to take back to your church leadership. Become inspired, be refreshed, and enjoy the fellowship of connecting with your team and other church tech teams from around the country.

Reason #5 – Find New AVL Gear to Enhance Ministry

Lastly, the exhibitor hall at every conference typically offers the best gear and technology to enhance your ministry. While not every major vendor is present at every show, WAVE seeks to have the top church AVL companies sponsor the conference and provide information and product-based resources to every attendee.

This year’s vendors include loudspeaker demonstrations from Alcons Audio, Renkus-Heinz, and Danley Sound Labs. Other equipment vendors include Panasonic, Shure, Sweetwater, Marshall Electronics, Inc., Canon, and B&H Photo just to name a few. Most WAVE events have 30+ vendors to bring the latest technology to equip each church tech with gear they need and want.

What Church Tech Leaders Are Saying About WAVE

“It was so helpful to attend n a tech show that is focused on ministry. Love that direct questions were answered regarding the challenges and triumphs and battles of ministry. Also the power and purpose of our vital role in today’s ministry beyond the four walls, borders, and shorelines!”  -Worship Director

“I had a good time sharing technical challenges that my church technical teams are facing and seeing and hearing solutions. Overall, very encouraging.” – Church Technical Arts Director

“The WAVE event for me was a very practical and timely conference dealing with the current issues facing churches today.  I think it’s a must-attend event.” -Church Technology Director

“Tech education is the part of worship that is the most called upon, but the most overlooked. WAVE highlighted the importance of my role and helped me gain skills in areas sorely needed.” -Technical Arts & Worship Leader

Final Thoughts

You have a few choices of church tech conferences to attend each year so you might not be sure why to choose WAVE. Rest assured that the leaders at WAVE have worked with nearly every major vendor, conference, and publication in the church tech space including Technologies for Worship Magazine, Church Executive, and ChurchTechToday.