Production Media and EH To Launch Worship Facilities Expo
Jan 25, 2005 4:21 PM
Production Media, Inc. and EH Publishing, Inc. have announced plans to produce the Worship Facilities Expo (WFX), Oct. 19-21, 2005 in the Nashville Convention Center, Nashville, TN. The event will focus on church construction, A/V production and lighting, and facilities management. There will be three full days of seminars, keynote addresses, worship events and an exposition of more than 100 companies running the final two days, Oct. 20-21.
More than 2,000 church decision-makers will attend WFX, including:
- Pastors
- executive pastors/business administrators
- facilities managers/operations managers
- building committee members
- technical directors/media ministers
- architects & builders
The worship facilities market is booming, with growth to $21 billion in annual spending as of 2003, including nearly $5 billion in technology spending.
Trends in the market include:
- The emergence of the mega-church phenomenon and the scalability of that model into more moderately sized facilities.
- A growing use of multimedia to create compelling worship experiences in a wide range of worship facilities of differing sizes and religious denominations.
- Multi-purpose use of worship facilities for community functions.
- Diverse range of facility types being built, owned, operated, and managed by religious institutions, including child and elder care facilities, schools, food service facilities, retail environments, sports facilities, and more.
- The harnessing of information technology for community and congregational outreach and management of administrative functions.
“A/V technology is changing at near light speed, such that it is increasingly difficult to forecast what’s needed to build a technical infrastructure for the long term,” explains Brian Blackmore, founding editor of Church Production and Worship Facilities magazines. “At the same time churches are becoming less ‘churchy.’ Many growing churches are becoming more like community centers with sanctuaries that are more like performing arts centers. Worship Facilities Expo provides church leaders with an environment where they can better define their facilities and equipment needs, identify appropriate products and vendors, and ultimately decide on product acquisitions and services engagements.”
“These leaders need a way to gain knowledge on products, systems, and programs that are working for others,” said John Galante, vice president of EH Events & Education. “They need how-to project management training and coaching. They need how-to technical training on the systems that are increasingly common inside their facilities–audio, video, lighting, computerized climate control, and security systems. They need a way to meet with a large, broad array of potential suppliers and solution providers in a focused, efficient, enjoyable, and ministry-centered way. These are the needs the Worship Facilities Expo will address.”Priority space selection reservations will be taken starting Feb. 8, 2005. To obtain a space selection number, contact John Galante at 703-352-9211, www.wfxweb.com.
