Ever wondered how to catapult your non-profit's media presence into the stratosphere? We've got just the ticket. Join me as I host this discussion with Adrian Traurig from Vers Creative and Drew McMullian of Beamworks Audio Visual Resource Group. Adrian's journey from a worship pastor to a creative services wizard and Drew's deep dive into the importance of pristine audio and video set the stage for an episode brimming with expert advice tailored for nonprofit leaders like you.
Adrian and Drew reveal the nuts and bolts of creating unforgettable content across podcasts, videos, live events, and the omnipresent social media. They unravel the myth that high quality means high cost, showing how the right team can make your production dreams come true without emptying the coffers. We take a look behind the scenes at the strategy, optimization, and narrative crafting that's essential for stirring the hearts and minds of your audience—whether you're raising funds, spreading awareness, or aiming to forge a deeper connection.
As we wrap up this sonic and visual masterclass, remember that it's not only about the flashy gadgets; it's the pros like Adrian and Drew who ensure your message is not just heard but felt. Their collective wisdom is a guiding light for nonprofits looking to make a splash with media that truly engages. Tune in, and get ready to scribble down a ton of notes as your nonprofit's audiovisual production prowess prepares for a quantum leap!
Show Notes
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Collin (00:10):
Welcome back to the non-profit Renaissance podcast,
where we help you go further andgrow faster.
I'm one of your hosts, colin,and I'm flying solo today.
Actually, usually you'll hearme and H going back and forth a
little bit.
H is not here with us.
H is a very big fan of thecircus.
(00:32):
He heard the circus in town andhe said I know we got a podcast
today, but I'm going to thecircus and so you'll just have
to do it on your own.
So I said, whatever, that'sfine, so it's just me, just me
hanging out.
But on today's episode we havetwo guests joining, so that
evens it out a little bit.
We want this one to be,hopefully, a little bit more of
(00:53):
a practical one.
We want to help you get themost out of your audio and
visual production, whetherthat's video productions that
you're doing, whether it'spodcasts or live events, whether
it's really simple stuff.
Maybe you got a TikTok or anInstagram, or you're trying to
get the word out about yourorganization or whatever you got
going on that way.
Whatever it is, we want to helpyou get the most out of that.
(01:15):
And so we've got two guests,two audio video experts, in the
house today that are going tohelp us with that.
Stop shaking your head overthere.
I see you.
Be who you are.
Be who you are, sir.
Speaking of this person I'mtalking to, our first guest is
actually the Creative ServicesManager here at Verse Creative
and my boss, and so he Versefirst, by the way, if you don't
(01:39):
know, is the agency that powersthis podcast, and so he oversees
all of the creative servicesthat we offer here.
So if you've seen anythingVerse has put out within the
last few years, chances arethat's a result of Adrian's
leadership and vision, and hebrings more than 15 years of
creative leadership experienceto the world of team development
(02:00):
, design and video production,and most of that, I will add,
has most of that career wasspent working in nonprofit
environments.
So he gets it, he understands,and so I want you to go ahead
and welcome.
Adrian Trowrig is in the house.
What's going on, man?
How's it going?
Welcome, thanks for joining.
Adrian Traurig (02:20):
Good to be here.
I am a little under the weather.
Oh no, that's not good.
You guys are just finding out.
I think we are.
Collin (02:28):
I'm very happy that we're so close.
We're very close quarters here,so Paul's like scooting
together get closer, can't seeyou in the frame.
That makes sense why you were,just like you know, just inching
ever so Okay, Well, sorry.
Drew, you're closer than I am.
Drew McMullian (02:43):
No, it's perfect .
I took my vitamins last night.
There you go, so we'll be goodto go.
Collin (02:47):
Awesome, Awesome.
I know beforehand.
You know, then we can bringlike a shield or no.
Well, we just gave it away.
Our next guest is he'scurrently the operations manager
at Beamworks Audio VisualResource Group.
He's got tons of experience asa production manager in the AV
industry, managing teams ofpeople both in the office and on
(03:09):
live productions.
Our next second guest brings anexpertise to the world of AV
that's difficult to come by fromaudio system design to live
audio mixing and videoproduction to show coordination.
This guy does it all and hedoes it really well.
Welcome, Drew McMullian.
How you doing, man?
Drew McMullian (03:27):
Very excited to be here.
I thought we were going to havechips and salsa, but if you
just want to talk, I'm excitedto be here with that as well, so
it's, it's all business, it'sall business business here.
Collin (03:37):
We're happy to be here.
Drew McMullian (03:38):
I'm excited for the invite.
I'm excited to talk to both ofyou guys.
A little sad H isn't here, butAt the circus again.
We'll take that again.
Collin (03:47):
Again, h tell, tell Barnum and Bailey.
We said hi over there at thecircus.
Uh well, yeah, it is just me.
So if you're disappointed inthat, I don't know what to tell
you.
Drew McMullian (03:57):
I could be a little more excited because I
haven't met H, so, uh, we'llkeep that.
Collin (04:01):
I was going to say you know, you don't even you could,
you could, it's fine, he couldbe the worst.
Drew McMullian (04:06):
This is actually a positive, isn't it?
Collin (04:08):
The circus needed him, I think, I think it is.
Adrian Traurig (04:11):
He's working the circus.
Collin (04:13):
Maybe, that's maybe that's his side gig.
He just didn't, he didn't, hedidn't want us to know about it.
Um, well, okay, so why don'tyou guys, uh, tell us a little
bit more about yourself?
Um, talked about quite a bit ofexperience.
Tell, tell us a little bit moreabout, about that experience,
where you come from, what you'vedone.
Go ahead.
Adrian Traurig (04:32):
We'll start with you, Adrian.
Drew McMullian (04:33):
First guest.
Adrian Traurig (04:34):
Cool.
Um, yeah, I think, like you hadmentioned um that number, 15
years.
I got to think back now becauseit it's probably more than that
it's probably an old bio.
Collin (04:45):
We're going to say 20 at least.
Maybe we're going for it.
Adrian Traurig (04:49):
Um, yeah, a lot of my career I've worked in
church.
Uh, honestly, um, as um mydegrees in music, and I was have
been a worship pastor, a musicpastor for most of my life and,
uh, working in the church,working in ministry full time,
and a lot of the churches that Ihad that position in, um, you
(05:11):
know, we didn't have these fulllike robust, huge, creative
teams, so there was always aneed.
It's like, oh, you're theworship leader, oh, and you're
also the graphics guy and you'realso the video guy and the
ministry Unheard of.
Yeah, Um, and so that is kindof where I was forced to learn a
lot of the audio videoproduction side of things in the
(05:36):
church realm, Um, and so a lotof it's self taught, obviously,
like music and creativity, um,and and, and being in that
production world, they all.
There is a tie in there,obviously, and so I was.
It wasn't completely foreign tome.
It's not like, oh, I need tolearn accounting or do something
(05:57):
completely different.
Um, so for me, yeah, that'sthat's been.
Most of my experience is justself taught.
I'm taught learning from peoplethat are better than me, Um,
and then, yeah, just being apart of a few other
organizations that, um havereally uh, poured into me and
and kind of showed me a lot thatI that I didn't know, that I,
(06:20):
um, you know, didn't realizethat I even wanted to do Uh, and
I ended up just being growingextremely passionate about it,
and so that's kind of a littlebit, I mean yes.
There's not.
You know, I can go into moredetail as we, as we talk, I
guess with, with, so that willbe part two.
Collin (06:40):
That will be part two.
Life story.
Life story How'd you meet yourwife at now?
Adrian Traurig (06:44):
Yeah, yeah.
So anyway, all of thattransitioned now into working
for verse, uh creative, uh justat the agency here and taking
all that experience leadingcreative teams, and um, that was
the other thing I think for me,like from a leadership
standpoint, is, um, you know,there were a couple
opportunities where I did get to, I did have a couple of budget
to hire people and build a team,a creative team, and so I think
(07:08):
working with differentdesigners and video producers
and uh getting to, like you know, be in the thick of it, uh a
lot with them and uh justsolving problems and figuring
things out, um really has helpedlike grow me a lot in that area
.
So by no means like what I callmyself an expert, I guess, but
(07:32):
I, you know there's things thatyou just pick up and that you
learn over the years and justtake it one day at a time.
Collin (07:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Adrian Traurig (07:41):
Drew.
Drew McMullian (07:42):
Well, I am an expert, actually, no, not at all
.
Collin (07:46):
That's why we gave you the center seat.
Drew McMullian (07:47):
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
So I've been.
I've been at Beamworks for 19years doing this as a full time
thing.
For that long when I was, whenI was very little, it always
started a church.
Like so many people in ourindustry and neighboring
industries, do we get in thereas kids?
We want to help out, we want todo the fun things that
everybody else is doing there.
(08:08):
We see all the cool toys andthat's how I got started.
I was I think I was nine or tenand the the audio engineer.
Let me push the fader on theeffects bus, which got me very
excited and ruined my life byputting me into AV for the rest
of my life.
And now I'm stuck.
And what is the coolest andmost fun industry you could
(08:29):
imagine?
So ever since then I got goingfrom there.
I'm a drummer, musician, was inthe studio stuff for a long
time and, have you know, dabbledin other creative arts
throughout the years, but alwaysfell back to AV and realized
that my passion wasn't so muchdoing all these different things
(08:49):
but it was really people andworking with people and solving
their solutions, and I fell inlove with the AV technology and
so doing that through AVtechnology has just been a
blessing and I really enjoy itand that's kind of what I
specialize and put all my timeinto now.
Collin (09:07):
Awesome, awesome.
I mean we are definitely in atime where it's no longer
arguable the necessity or valueof video and a big part of that
is the audio side of it too andbeing able to do that well is, I
think, there.
I don't know, there might besome people who look at it and
(09:28):
they're just kind of like howhard could it be right?
How deep could the rabbit holego?
What?
a silly question what a sillyquestion, you know.
But like so many things youknow, when you really dive into
it you realize, oh, this is anentire world and so it can be
kind of overwhelming.
So talk a little bit real quick, just about give.
(09:48):
Maybe.
Think of someone who's justkind of like they're running
their organization, they'releading like they're.
What they're worried about islike I want to do this mission
that I'm on or that myorganization's on, and I need to
just lead this org and I don'thave time to worry about this
whole video audio side.
I don't have time to worryabout that.
Maybe I don't see a ton ofvalue in it.
(10:10):
What actually is the value ofvideo in today's day and age and
what's the value of goodquality video and audio and all
the things that your, whateverproductions you might be doing?
Just give a what's the what'sthe value?
Drew McMullian (10:25):
Yeah, so I think it depends completely on the
medium right.
So if you're talking aboutcreating TikToks or Facebook
marketing stuff or simple thingslike that, you're putting that
in the palm of your customer'shands.
Your potential, whoever you'retrying to reach, is right there
on social media.
Collin (10:43):
From my side, which is way more in the live events
portion, yeah, and talk a littlebit about Beamworks as well,
like what do you guys, what doyou guys do?
Drew McMullian (10:51):
Sure.
So Beamworks is a liveproduction event company, so we
specialize in anything AVtechnology, from audio systems
that are backyard barbecues tofull-on massive corporate events
, the concerts, screens andlighting, support for all of
that, from creative all the wayto just the necessity of
(11:12):
lighting a stage yeah, andeverything in between.
So it's a very large market ofdifferent things that we do.
Every job is different, everyday is different, every need is
different.
There's no two jobs that arethe same.
There's no cookie cutter.
You know here's a quote thatthat fits everybody's thing and
that's what's so unique about it.
When you're saying people ask,oh, I could get into that.
(11:33):
How hard is it?
It's insanely hard, especiallyfor people that have never done
it, and so that's what wespecialize in and that's kind of
our thing.
From rentals of equipment tosmall things.
If they don't have the budgetto bring us in, we do the rental
side.
If they want the entireproduction done, we do that from
planning to all the way throughdelivering the actual product.
(11:54):
So from the video aspect in ours, you know, if you're putting on
a GAL, if you're putting on afundraiser, if you're putting on
an event of any kind, it'sbecause you're inviting people
to talk to them about whatyou're doing or to ask them for
funds to support yourorganization, and so many of
those things are done throughthe delivering of speaking or
(12:14):
the delivering of playing videosin your event and if that is
done poorly it's very hard tocorrelate the conversation to
those people.
It's very hard to get peopleengaged.
It's very easy for them to tuneout If the audio is not good,
if the video isn't done well.
It's very hard for them to becaptured by that and want to
(12:36):
actually engage back with you.
Collin (12:37):
Yeah, it can be more of a distraction, that's taking me
away from someone actuallyengaging with what you're doing.
Drew McMullian (12:43):
Poorly done events is a way more negative
thing than a well done event isgood if that makes sense that's
great, yeah, so Quote it.
Yeah so you know.
Collin (12:53):
Maybe, Is that a Quote button?
I hit the quote button, therewe go.
But well, no, I think that's aninteresting call out, right?
So for a practical use, likeyour, your first priority is
don't do it bad, Not do it best,but just don't do it bad.
If I can hit average or if Ican hit good enough, even that's
(13:17):
better than just doing a poorjob, because that can actually
hurt your reputation 100% and Idon't want to jump way ahead.
Drew McMullian (13:25):
I know we want to talk about what's the real
benefits of hiring people tohelp you out and all that later
on.
But you know it's very easynowadays to take what you have
in your pocket right.
So everybody has a smartphonethat's fantastic at shooting a
quick video, but the audio isprobably awful on it 90% of the
time, especially if you had thisidea.
(13:45):
We did an event just recentlywhere they shot all of their
videos With a phone outside by aparking lot and so when it gets
played on your phone back toyou it doesn't sound bad, but
when you play that through a PAsystem in a large room it is
awful.
And so now you have thisamazing child talking about the
super importance of whyeverybody's there and it's the
(14:08):
big push for the end of thenight, of why people need to
give, and it's pulling on theheartstrings of everybody and
nobody can hear it, or it's sodistracting that nobody really
captured the importance of whatit was.
Adrian Traurig (14:21):
Yeah, I think Drew was mentioning live events.
A live event that is well done,that is well produced, that is
well thought out, is reallyyou're telling a story, right.
So you're trying to captivate anaudience, which is the same
thing for a standalone videoproduction.
You're trying to tell a storyand to bring the audience along
(14:45):
a journey and, whether that'sintroducing conflict or
different concepts that you wantthem to try to understand,
ultimately you're trying todrive them to one takeaway
essentially.
And so I think that that's truein the live world, that's true
in what we do, which is a littlebit more of like the
(15:06):
advertising and marketing, likescripted kind of world with
audio video.
But I would say, yeah, thequality of the sound, the
quality of being veryintentional, I guess, about the
message that you're trying toportray and not letting that get
(15:28):
lost in bad audio or bad, youknow, these things that can
really hurt and detract from themessage, because you know,
sometimes you just have that oneshot to gain trust with your
customer base or your audienceand one of those things can just
blow it and they'll never comeback.
Collin (15:49):
Yeah, which is huge.
Those are big stakes, so let'stalk for a little bit, right.
So we've got, you know, peoplein a few different spots.
We'll get back to talking aboutwhy maybe going with an agency
or partnering with an org likeBeamworks is a good idea.
But what about the people whoare just maybe?
Maybe they just started, maybelike they're just getting into
(16:11):
it and they know.
They know I need to do somevideo that I've got to put on
event.
I know it's got to be good.
I just don't have the resourcesto invest in something like
that.
How do we help them?
What are some hacks?
What are some tips?
What's like?
You know, if you don't get anyother equipment, make sure
you've got this so you can atleast hit that level of good
(16:31):
enough.
Talk to them a little bit aboutthat.
How can we help them get tojust good enough?
What does that look like?
Drew McMullian (16:38):
Sure, so I think it's a very wide conversation.
I think one of the struggles alot of people do is they'll go
on and say, all right, I've gotto put on an event.
What does that look like?
And the next thing they do isthey start Googling events or
they want to copy something thatthey went to because you know
they were at this largeinsurance.
Collin (16:57):
Probably like World Vision or, of course, a billion
dollar like yeah.
Drew McMullian (17:01):
And that's exactly the point.
And then they go I want to puton this and they show you a
picture of an event that costs,you know, $3.7 million to put on
and they have a $4,000 budgetand you go.
It's just not going to happenlike that and you should have
goals and aspirations to do thatright.
That should be what you're goingfor with the understanding that
you aren't going to hit thatthis year.
(17:23):
Yeah, I think you need to havea good audio system.
Let's just say that you'reputting on a event in a room of
some type, right?
So you need to have a goodaudio system where everybody can
hear what you're saying, theycan hear music played, they can
hear any videos played.
That's a very simple, doesn'thave to be elaborate, it doesn't
have to be expensive, but justa good audio system.
(17:44):
That doesn't mean your neighborwho has a band down the street
that plays in their garageborrowing that, right, so you
can get with a company that canget you something affordable and
good.
The second would be, if you'regoing to be playing videos, at
least a good enough projectorscreen set up that everything
could be seen.
And, most importantly, ifyou're really trying to play on
(18:04):
emotions, is have some kind ofcolored lighting that can set
the mood that you're trying todo.
Collin (18:10):
If you can tackle those three things decently well,
you're most of the way there,bam, and all of those things,
like you said, can be doneextremely affordably.
Drew McMullian (18:19):
Absolutely.
I mean, you do need to have abudget of some short.
It doesn't have to be a hundredthousand dollar budget, it
doesn't have to be a $10,000budget.
You can rent and all of thisobviously depends on the size of
the room and your attendancethat you're expecting.
But if you're talking 100people, a couple hundred people,
you can do all of that withinthe sub couple thousand dollars,
if not even significantly lessthan that as far as a rental
(18:41):
goes.
Collin (18:42):
Adrian talk to like video productions.
What is that?
You know, unlike the, if youwant to have some type of
controlled production, costs canget up there, right, if you're,
you know if you're reallygetting professional equipment.
But what is that?
What does it look like on thatend to maybe do it a little more
affordably?
Adrian Traurig (18:58):
Yeah.
So I think the most importantthing in I mean this may cost
you money, it may not, it mayjust cost you time is just
figure out what your message is,you know, figure out, sit down
beforehand, put in the work toreally write out, or at least
outline.
You know to some degree.
What is it that you're tryingto communicate, what journey do
(19:21):
you want to take the customer,the audience, on, and what is
your call to action Like, whatdo you want them to do with the
information?
Right?
So I think it starts there, youknow, it starts with.
Collin (19:32):
You know, for for what we ever start making purchases,
yeah.
Adrian Traurig (19:35):
For what we do.
You know, we write scripts andwe write, we write concepts.
It doesn't have to be a fullyword for word kind of thing, but
that you know it may cost youtime.
I guess time is money, but butI think it's like a very
important first step is to getthat part right.
Because, everything else thatcomes after.
(19:58):
You know you're going to end upspending a lot more time if you
have to go back and redo things, and you know right.
Collin (20:06):
Unless you don't have a computer, like you, you have the
equipment to do this.
To hit this.
And.
I love that point too, becauseI think if the messaging is good
, you're able, your audience isable, to be a little bit more
forgiving.
If the production is a littlebit lower, right, and so if
you've got that doubt, andthat's a great point.
So once they've got that, thenyou know, just get me started.
(20:26):
Right, I just want to have, Iwant a way to get decent video
with decent audio.
What do I need?
Adrian Traurig (20:32):
Yeah.
So I would just to kind ofpiggyback off of that previous
thought here that writing thatmessaging and going through the
edits of that script is veryit's an easy thing.
I mean I wouldn't say easy, butit's easier to make edits to
that than it is later on, likeonce you've started like filming
(20:55):
, whatever you're doing, orrecording or however you're
delivering it.
So take the time, like we callit pre-production, take the time
to kind of map out at leastlike what you're trying to
accomplish first.
So I would say, after that thenit moves kind of into the
production state of we'retalking about like recorded
(21:18):
content pieces for marketingpurposes or advertising purposes
.
So I would say, if you're verylimited on resources, how
technical do we wanna be here?
Like probably not too technical.
Collin (21:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think.
Adrian Traurig (21:33):
So I can keep it pretty straightforward and
simple.
One natural light is alwaysgonna be the best if you have no
budget to get good lighting.
So I would say more than videoI know this is ironic because
we're talking about video butgetting good lighting and good
audio is actually more importantthan getting a good camera.
(21:55):
So I think for me it's find awindow, find a big, if you can
do it outside and it's quiet andyou can invest in like a
lavalier microphone.
I don't know Drew can maybespeak to specifics of like
brands and things like that butI would say I've done so many
(22:17):
videos like this where we'retraveling.
We don't have the budget tobring a ton of equipment or rent
things, but we're in a hotel Alot of hotels have these like
big ballrooms or areas of theeven, like a suite or a room
where you can open up thecurtains and it's like just
flooded with natural light.
(22:38):
So make sure that move close toa window if you're filming
something.
And I think, from a videostandpoint, iphone is fantastic.
I mean the new version of theiPhone that just came out.
I don't have it.
I haven't like really playedaround with it, but I have been
(23:01):
doing a lot of research.
We've been doing research here.
Even we're consideringpurchasing a few.
Collin (23:08):
We are considering having some on hand to do some
more like running gun stuffExactly.
Very legitimate option, buteven, not just the 15.
This right now is beingrecorded on a 13 Pro and it's
not gonna be the best, but it'sgonna be good enough Well, to
piggyback on that.
Drew McMullian (23:24):
I was at an event that had about 15
different news agencies at itand they were all talking and
actually using iPhone 13s andtalking about how that's the way
to go and it's so much easierfor them and better for them to
use that, possibly with amicrophone attached.
Adrian Traurig (23:40):
Definitely a microphone yeah.
Drew McMullian (23:41):
And it's phenomenal.
Collin (23:42):
Yeah, I did a shoot a few months ago.
It was a golf tournament and Iwas hauling our red Komodo
around on like, on this gimbaland everything, and I had this
giant backpack with a bunch ofstuff, all the equipment I would
need, and I was-, which isstill a pretty lightweight rig
for what that is.
Yeah, even that was but, likemy arms were feeling it right.
(24:06):
So I mean to have likesomething like an iPhone 15.
Adrian Traurig (24:08):
In that moment I'm thinking back like oh man,
yeah, I would say for sub like$1,500, it is like by far the
best camera setup that you canget right now, or the best
camera for video, and you knowthere's ways you can look up
ways to kind of set it up forprofessional video.
There's a lot of likeinformation and YouTube videos
(24:31):
out there now about that andeven how to rig it out.
So like, if you are, you know,highly suggest, like I said
before, audio and lighting areeven more important.
So if you're gonna splurge oryou have a little bit more to
put into something, definitelyget good audio, cause you can
(24:55):
find natural lighting.
Most of us have some sort ofsmartphone like that that can
record halfway decent video.
Audio is, you know, that's halfof the storytelling.
If you have bad audio, you'rereally creating a distraction
and pulling people out of whatyou're trying to accomplish.
Collin (25:15):
Yeah, and you know I wanna point out as well that a
lot of times we've mentionedthis a lot of times what people
will do is they immediately jumpto the equipment.
Okay, so if I wanna get, whatequipment do I need?
That's a good question to ask.
But if you can answer theseother questions we've talked
about, like environment, right,if you wanna do a podcast, right
, you can get super great shoremicrophones.
(25:38):
Or you can spend $100, get aYeti microphone and just make
sure you're in a good room thatdoesn't echo a ton.
And you know, you got your ACoff, which is funny because our
AC was going on during this atone point.
But but you can also fix it inpost if you know how.
That's right.
Adrian Traurig (25:57):
Right, but like but the just being in a room
that is conducive to gettinggood audio is very important,
like Drew was saying, like don'tstand in the middle of a high
if you're trying to shoot avideo, I mean you know there's
some confidence that plays intothat as well.
Whereas, like, if you'rerecording with the iPhone, for
instance, I know it has noisecancellation for some of that
(26:20):
stuff, but, like he's saying,you go to play that in like a
large event through an actual PAand there's just like nothing
worse.
Like you know, people just arewant to walk out.
Drew McMullian (26:31):
Actively see people turn their brains off.
Collin (26:33):
Yeah, and we're done, and they're powering down, yeah.
Drew McMullian (26:37):
So little things like if it's, if it's going to
be broadcasted like that, turnyour phone sideways and used to
be widescreen.
Don't develop a portrait videothat's going to be put on a
projector screen somewhere.
You know the little things.
Adrian Traurig (26:49):
Yeah, think about like the deliverable, like
the context of where you'redelivering.
And I mean we just got doneshooting a couple of videos here
in the studio where we willturn them into social media,
which will be portrait mode, butthere we shot at landscape
because it's going to be alsoused for like a web delivery,
(27:09):
for YouTube or website.
But that's very easy to if youknow you give yourself room to
say, okay, I can use this sameshot and convert it to a
vertical video after the factand we can talk about like the
post production stuff too.
Collin (27:29):
If you want to get into that what you know.
So we've talked a little bitabout, you know, the
pre-production and theproduction.
Now, post production, what doesthat look like from an
affordable, because that'sprobably even more so than the
equipment.
That's probably more left fieldfor people who aren't in this?
Yeah, definitely, you know whatI mean, so help them out.
Drew McMullian (27:49):
That's going to be more on your side.
My post production has takenwhat you give me and making it
amazing in a room.
So I can definitely say thatthe pre-planning of everything
that Agin was first talkingabout is so important.
On everything we talk about,that pre-planning and
pre-production is what's goingto get you a final product.
We always had a joke in therecording say we'll fix it later
in the mix, right?
Adrian Traurig (28:09):
Fix the post.
Drew McMullian (28:10):
No, do it right in the beginning.
Ask the questions.
Don't jump to the products,don't jump to the hardware.
Find people that you know, findpeople that you can find
through your network that dothis and ask questions.
You know, take someone out tocoffee or lunch.
Don't waste their time, but usethat, especially if they have
the same heart or the samevalues as your organization.
Use those resources, talk tothem and get that information,
(28:32):
because so many people arewilling to talk to you and give
you that.
If you just ask nicely, if youbuy them a cup of coffee or
share the same values, they'rehappy to talk you through that.
So many of these peopleespecially if you're a church
person or you're involved inthat so many of the people like
Adrian and myself started doingthat.
I know, colin, you wereinvolved as well that grew up
(28:53):
doing that that do that.
These church guys put on youknow two or three quote unquote
events every week.
They're pros at it, they're inthe studio, they're working with
the other departments that theyhave, as some of these large
churches that do videoproduction, that do all this
stuff.
They'd be more than happy totalk to you, ask the questions
and let them be in so that yourpre-production builds to a great
end product.
Collin (29:14):
The resources are there Absolutely, if you're willing to
look for them.
Adrian Traurig (29:17):
The resources, are there yeah, I would say too,
just going off of that idea inanything that we're talking
about today.
So, whether it be live events,like taking this content and
putting on event with it, oreven just creating content,
there's kind of a principlethere where that can only yes,
(29:41):
you can sweeten it, there'sthings that you can do to fix it
in post, but I mean, it reallystarts at the source, and so,
whether we're talking about themessaging, whether we're talking
about the quality of the audioor the lighting, whatever it is,
that's all you have to workwith.
Collin (29:59):
Yeah, that's your cap.
Adrian Traurig (30:01):
So it's like if you're starting out for quality,
then it's only like I'll justshoot it in 720 and export 4K.
Collin (30:09):
it's fine, yeah.
Adrian Traurig (30:12):
Yeah, exactly.
So, yeah, I would say that.
And then just along the linesof post-production, you know I
used to be.
I learned in Adobe and so, likethe entire Adobe suite is
fantastic for a lot ofpost-production work.
I will say, about four yearsago, five years ago, I did
(30:36):
switch over on the videoproduction side.
I did switch over to DaVinciResolve for video editing and
color grade.
Like all the more intricatepost-production work, I did
switch over to that.
The reason I did number one isbecause we were working in
non-profit environments and inchurches and DaVinci Resolve
(30:58):
offers a free version of theirsoftware and it is like they
give you a lot in the freeversion.
So check that out if that'ssomething that you want to dive
into.
Obviously, there is a littlebit more of a learning curve
when you get into video editingand audio editing, so you will
(31:21):
have to allow yourself time toresearch that if you're not
going to look for to hiresomeone else out to do that side
of it for you.
But the way that they'vedesigned it is pretty intuitive.
It's like probably one of themost user-friendly interfaces
(31:41):
that I found for post-productionwork.
Then they do offer a paidversion.
It's actually not expensive Ithink it's like $300 or
something and that gives youevery single feature that they
offer.
Collin (31:53):
One of the great things about Resolve is it's at least
right now.
It's not a subscription-basedmodel.
You buy it once and you get allthe updates that they come out
with You're Adobe suite, whichis a subscription, but again,
davinci Resolve is remarkablyaffordable for what you can do
(32:15):
with it.
It's a pro-level software.
Adrian Traurig (32:18):
You can definitely accomplish.
So for what we're talking about, for content marketing and for
lower budget advertising shootsand even podcast and audio edits
and stuff, it's fantastic.
Obviously, if you get intolarger commercial shoots and
things, you're not going to doall your work in Resolve.
(32:40):
You're going to be across otherdifferent programs, especially
for audio editing and thingslike that.
But yeah, I think for thepurposes of what we're talking
about, that's a great option.
They offer a free version thatyou can dive into and learn.
That's the thing.
It's like.
(33:01):
You've got to make a choice.
Once you get into it, do I wantto continue down this path of
increasing my knowledge on howto use it?
Or it's like, yeah, I don'tthink I have the time for this.
I need to find somebody thatcan at least take the content
that we've recorded and get itinto a presentable state.
Collin (33:22):
Great segue because, as we wrap up here, why don't we
talk a little bit about agenciesthat are out there, like
Beamworks, like Verse Creative?
There's a lot of people wholegitimately aren't in the place
where I don't have theresources for it.
You slowly get into a placewhere you keep dragging that
(33:43):
with you, even though you mightbe in a place where it's more
comfortable to say I don't havethe resources.
But if it's something youreally value, you're at a place
where you actually can findthose resources for those people
, or for the ones who justthey've got it and they're just,
for some reason or another, notwilling to do that.
What is the value of being ableto work with an agency or with
(34:05):
an organization like Beamworksfor your audio visual needs?
Drew McMullian (34:08):
Yeah well, I think there's massive advantages
.
The first thing I'll say is thejump financially to go from
having no money to do an eventwith people to assist to having
the ability to have people runyour event is not massive.
It can be insane, it can goabsolutely bonkers.
There are companies out theredoing millions of dollars on an
(34:32):
event, but you can easily do itfor not that much money.
And so if you're already tryingto raise money, find someone
that can give a little bit moremaybe, or put money towards that
to have it, because the valueis so much.
It's like so many things.
If you were to ask anybody whohas no knowledge of something to
go do something and then put ahundred people in a room and
(34:55):
have that pressure on them tomake it perfect, it's very not
possible to do that.
And so we mentioned earlierabout I was thinking when you
said it, we thought of peoplelike to jump over to the
hardware and the product.
I want to go get the camera, orI want to go get this or that.
That's fine.
Every company that we competewith, every company that's out
(35:18):
there, can go and buy the bestspeakers, the best mics, the
best whatever.
It's really the people behindit that are making all the
difference If you don't have atechnician that's been doing
this for years and hasexperienced all the problems
that are going to come, becauseevery event has problems and
it's our job to not let you knowthat something happened and
(35:38):
your heart rate doesn't go upand everything goes fine,
because your job is to be onstage or be behind the scenes
making it happen.
It's our job to make theproduction go perfect and the
people behind that is reallywhat's going to take that event
from a very basic and novicething to something that makes an
impact.
If we're talking about tellingstories, when you get to that
(36:01):
climax, the AV has to support itor it never gets there.
We talk about a lot of littlethings.
When you plan out the event,you need people that are there
to let you know.
We shouldn't have a pull of theheart moment or a big message
moment when people are eatingdinner.
(36:21):
The eating dinner portionshould be a quiet time.
It should be a music plan,social and that's it.
You shouldn't be asking formoney.
You shouldn't be givinginformation when there's 20
servers walking around andpeople clanking silverware
everywhere.
Little things like that.
You just don't know, unless youhave people that do events for
a living.
Collin (36:40):
But it sounded really good when we did it.
It sounded so good.
Drew McMullian (36:43):
In half hour.
We didn't want to waste.
That seemed like a great placeto put the big ask at the end of
the night.
People do this all the time.
We know there's companies outthere like Qtego that do
fundraising, the network and thesoftware for people to do
(37:03):
bidding and stuff on their phoneand all that.
Companies like that are amazing.
Nobody knows about it unlessthey're reaching out.
There's so much that we do allthe time that we can help with
just by simple questions.
If you don't utilize an agencyor a production company and ask
those questions early on andtrust them, don't just say, hey,
I need speakers and a projector, We'll see you next Saturday.
(37:24):
Ask them to be a part of theplanning process and the amount
of knowledge you'll get that isso invaluable.
They don't charge for that kindof stuff.
The questions they don't chargefor.
Collin (37:34):
That's huge.
As you're talking about, youcan run up the bill if you want.
If you want to get reallyextravagant with, you can, or
you can keep it more affordable.
With both of those costs,you're getting the same
expertise.
Drew McMullian (37:47):
Absolutely, it's the same people.
Absolutely.
Collin (37:50):
What a huge value to be able to pay for that type of
expertise that someone's put inat a pretty affordable rate.
Adrian Traurig (37:58):
I would add to that it's the diversity of the
expertise.
At least from an agencystandpoint, you're getting a
diverse team of experts that arevery niche for exactly what you
need.
I used this analogy beforeabout the Legos.
If you're a Lego piece and youbring yourself to the table and
(38:26):
you know, yeah, like you can,maybe maybe you bring two or
three pieces, let's put it thatway yeah, you can create some
things right with two or threeLego pieces.
Yeah, but when you startbringing, like an entire team
and they all have two or threeof their own pieces and you
bring it to the table together,like the things that you can
create and the things that youcan build that go beyond what
(38:48):
you yourself may havelimitations of of getting to,
that is where I think the valuecomes in, because you know
you're talking about bringing in, you know, expert like
strategists and people that areworking with keywords and and
Optimization things, and thenyou're bringing in copywriters
(39:10):
that that write scripts.
You know, like they know how tostory, tell and and create that
arc for where we ultimatelywant to Bring your client.
You know whether so, whetherthat's like a, you know the.
The purpose is to get them to Toreally back the vision of the
organization.
Maybe the purpose is to getthat, hey, we need to raise this
(39:30):
much money, so it could bedonation based, it could be
awareness or testimonialstorytelling, like.
There's so many differentangles, and so I think, bringing
bringing people on board thatCan really bring their, their
diverse expertise to the tablethat is where I would see the
value coming in, as opposed to,yes, you can do it internally,
(39:55):
but you also have a millionother things that you're worried
about and that you have to do,and if you have the time to do
it, do it like you know,experiment with it and and and
learn it.
But I think that that there'sso much value in having an, an
entire team of people that cancome to the table and really put
all the brainpower behind theproject and what, what it is
(40:17):
that we're trying to accomplish.
Collin (40:18):
Yeah, so good, so good.
Any, any last, any last thingsthat add, any last tips, tricks,
anything that you're like, youknow what, if you're trying to
do this, this was mine,belonging for me, anything like
that which got Adrian anythinggreat.
Drew McMullian (40:34):
Oh, man, I Think you need to talk with people.
I think you need to to findpeople that are whether it's at
your church, that are techpeople, call a production
company, just ask questions.
But if you can Especially we'retalking about nonprofits Find
people that do have the samecore values as you.
Find people that do have thesame heart.
(40:56):
Yeah, buy a lunch.
Yeah, I can't tell you how manytimes you know, we've seen
texts on the backside of eventsthat could care less about your
event and they're just therebecause that's their job and
that's their money and they maydo a great job.
But when you find people thatare aligned with you, you get.
You get so much more care andpassion out of it and you feel
(41:17):
it through the end product.
Collin (41:19):
Man.
This has been an incredibleepisode.
Hopefully, hopefully, for ourlisteners.
There's a lot of reallypractical Info.
I think there has been you guys.
You guys brought the a game forsure.
So thank you so much forlistening.
Thank you, adrian, thank you,drew, for joining, joining us,
for being those people who arewilling to share your expertise.
And you know, I'm sure Peopleshould pay probably a lot of
(41:43):
money for what some of the infoyou guys just gave, but but
you're very generous with that.
So, listeners, thank you fortuning in every single week.
We will be seeing you next timeon the nonprofit Renaissance.
Outro (41:56):
Thanks again for listening to the nonprofit
Renaissance.
We hope it ignites aRenaissance in you and helps you
go further and grow faster.
Be sure to share, rate andsubscribe and if you'd like to
recommend or be a guest on ourshow, send us an email.
At podcast at first, creativecomm.
Welcome back to the non-profit Renaissance podcast,
where we help you go further andgrow faster.
I'm one of your hosts, colin,and I'm flying solo today.
Actually, usually you'll hearme and H going back and forth a
little bit.
H is not here with us.
H is a very big fan of thecircus.
(00:32):
He heard the circus in town andhe said I know we got a podcast
today, but I'm going to thecircus and so you'll just have
to do it on your own.
So I said, whatever, that'sfine, so it's just me, just me
hanging out.
But on today's episode we havetwo guests joining, so that
evens it out a little bit.
We want this one to be,hopefully, a little bit more of
(00:53):
a practical one.
We want to help you get themost out of your audio and
visual production, whetherthat's video productions that
you're doing, whether it'spodcasts or live events, whether
it's really simple stuff.
Maybe you got a TikTok or anInstagram, or you're trying to
get the word out about yourorganization or whatever you got
going on that way.
Whatever it is, we want to helpyou get the most out of that.
(01:15):
And so we've got two guests,two audio video experts, in the
house today that are going tohelp us with that.
Stop shaking your head overthere.
I see you.
Be who you are.
Be who you are, sir.
Speaking of this person I'mtalking to, our first guest is
actually the Creative ServicesManager here at Verse Creative
and my boss, and so he Versefirst, by the way, if you don't
(01:39):
know, is the agency that powersthis podcast, and so he oversees
all of the creative servicesthat we offer here.
So if you've seen anythingVerse has put out within the
last few years, chances arethat's a result of Adrian's
leadership and vision, and hebrings more than 15 years of
creative leadership experienceto the world of team development
(02:00):
, design and video production,and most of that, I will add,
has most of that career wasspent working in nonprofit
environments.
So he gets it, he understands,and so I want you to go ahead
and welcome.
Adrian Trowrig is in the house.
What's going on, man?
How's it going?
Welcome, thanks for joining.
Adrian Traurig (02:20):
Good to be here.
I am a little under the weather.
Oh no, that's not good.
You guys are just finding out.
I think we are.
Collin (02:28):
I'm very happy that we're so close.
We're very close quarters here,so Paul's like scooting
together get closer, can't seeyou in the frame.
That makes sense why you were,just like you know, just inching
ever so Okay, Well, sorry.
Drew, you're closer than I am.
Drew McMullian (02:43):
No, it's perfect .
I took my vitamins last night.
There you go, so we'll be goodto go.
Collin (02:47):
Awesome, Awesome.
I know beforehand.
You know, then we can bringlike a shield or no.
Well, we just gave it away.
Our next guest is he'scurrently the operations manager
at Beamworks Audio VisualResource Group.
He's got tons of experience asa production manager in the AV
industry, managing teams ofpeople both in the office and on
(03:09):
live productions.
Our next second guest brings anexpertise to the world of AV
that's difficult to come by fromaudio system design to live
audio mixing and videoproduction to show coordination.
This guy does it all and hedoes it really well.
Welcome, Drew McMullian.
How you doing, man?
Drew McMullian (03:27):
Very excited to be here.
I thought we were going to havechips and salsa, but if you
just want to talk, I'm excitedto be here with that as well, so
it's, it's all business, it'sall business business here.
Collin (03:37):
We're happy to be here.
Drew McMullian (03:38):
I'm excited for the invite.
I'm excited to talk to both ofyou guys.
A little sad H isn't here, butAt the circus again.
We'll take that again.
Collin (03:47):
Again, h tell, tell Barnum and Bailey.
We said hi over there at thecircus.
Uh well, yeah, it is just me.
So if you're disappointed inthat, I don't know what to tell
you.
Drew McMullian (03:57):
I could be a little more excited because I
haven't met H, so, uh, we'llkeep that.
Collin (04:01):
I was going to say you know, you don't even you could,
you could, it's fine, he couldbe the worst.
Drew McMullian (04:06):
This is actually a positive, isn't it?
Collin (04:08):
The circus needed him, I think, I think it is.
Adrian Traurig (04:11):
He's working the circus.
Collin (04:13):
Maybe, that's maybe that's his side gig.
He just didn't, he didn't, hedidn't want us to know about it.
Um, well, okay, so why don'tyou guys, uh, tell us a little
bit more about yourself?
Um, talked about quite a bit ofexperience.
Tell, tell us a little bit moreabout, about that experience,
where you come from, what you'vedone.
Go ahead.
Adrian Traurig (04:32):
We'll start with you, Adrian.
Drew McMullian (04:33):
First guest.
Adrian Traurig (04:34):
Cool.
Um, yeah, I think, like you hadmentioned um that number, 15
years.
I got to think back now becauseit it's probably more than that
it's probably an old bio.
Collin (04:45):
We're going to say 20 at least.
Maybe we're going for it.
Adrian Traurig (04:49):
Um, yeah, a lot of my career I've worked in
church.
Uh, honestly, um, as um mydegrees in music, and I was have
been a worship pastor, a musicpastor for most of my life and,
uh, working in the church,working in ministry full time,
and a lot of the churches that Ihad that position in, um, you
(05:11):
know, we didn't have these fulllike robust, huge, creative
teams, so there was always aneed.
It's like, oh, you're theworship leader, oh, and you're
also the graphics guy and you'realso the video guy and the
ministry Unheard of.
Yeah, Um, and so that is kindof where I was forced to learn a
lot of the audio videoproduction side of things in the
(05:36):
church realm, Um, and so a lotof it's self taught, obviously,
like music and creativity, um,and and, and being in that
production world, they all.
There is a tie in there,obviously, and so I was.
It wasn't completely foreign tome.
It's not like, oh, I need tolearn accounting or do something
(05:57):
completely different.
Um, so for me, yeah, that'sthat's been.
Most of my experience is justself taught.
I'm taught learning from peoplethat are better than me, Um,
and then, yeah, just being apart of a few other
organizations that, um havereally uh, poured into me and
and kind of showed me a lot thatI that I didn't know, that I,
(06:20):
um, you know, didn't realizethat I even wanted to do Uh, and
I ended up just being growingextremely passionate about it,
and so that's kind of a littlebit, I mean yes.
There's not.
You know, I can go into moredetail as we, as we talk, I
guess with, with, so that willbe part two.
Collin (06:40):
That will be part two.
Life story.
Life story How'd you meet yourwife at now?
Adrian Traurig (06:44):
Yeah, yeah.
So anyway, all of thattransitioned now into working
for verse, uh creative, uh justat the agency here and taking
all that experience leadingcreative teams, and um, that was
the other thing I think for me,like from a leadership
standpoint, is, um, you know,there were a couple
opportunities where I did get to, I did have a couple of budget
to hire people and build a team,a creative team, and so I think
(07:08):
working with differentdesigners and video producers
and uh getting to, like you know, be in the thick of it, uh a
lot with them and uh justsolving problems and figuring
things out, um really has helpedlike grow me a lot in that area
.
So by no means like what I callmyself an expert, I guess, but
(07:32):
I, you know there's things thatyou just pick up and that you
learn over the years and justtake it one day at a time.
Collin (07:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Adrian Traurig (07:41):
Drew.
Drew McMullian (07:42):
Well, I am an expert, actually, no, not at all
.
Collin (07:46):
That's why we gave you the center seat.
Drew McMullian (07:47):
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
So I've been.
I've been at Beamworks for 19years doing this as a full time
thing.
For that long when I was, whenI was very little, it always
started a church.
Like so many people in ourindustry and neighboring
industries, do we get in thereas kids?
We want to help out, we want todo the fun things that
everybody else is doing there.
(08:08):
We see all the cool toys andthat's how I got started.
I was I think I was nine or tenand the the audio engineer.
Let me push the fader on theeffects bus, which got me very
excited and ruined my life byputting me into AV for the rest
of my life.
And now I'm stuck.
And what is the coolest andmost fun industry you could
(08:29):
imagine?
So ever since then I got goingfrom there.
I'm a drummer, musician, was inthe studio stuff for a long
time and, have you know, dabbledin other creative arts
throughout the years, but alwaysfell back to AV and realized
that my passion wasn't so muchdoing all these different things
(08:49):
but it was really people andworking with people and solving
their solutions, and I fell inlove with the AV technology and
so doing that through AVtechnology has just been a
blessing and I really enjoy itand that's kind of what I
specialize and put all my timeinto now.
Collin (09:07):
Awesome, awesome.
I mean we are definitely in atime where it's no longer
arguable the necessity or valueof video and a big part of that
is the audio side of it too andbeing able to do that well is, I
think, there.
I don't know, there might besome people who look at it and
(09:28):
they're just kind of like howhard could it be right?
How deep could the rabbit holego?
What?
a silly question what a sillyquestion, you know.
But like so many things youknow, when you really dive into
it you realize, oh, this is anentire world and so it can be
kind of overwhelming.
So talk a little bit real quick, just about give.
(09:48):
Maybe.
Think of someone who's justkind of like they're running
their organization, they'releading like they're.
What they're worried about islike I want to do this mission
that I'm on or that myorganization's on, and I need to
just lead this org and I don'thave time to worry about this
whole video audio side.
I don't have time to worryabout that.
Maybe I don't see a ton ofvalue in it.
(10:10):
What actually is the value ofvideo in today's day and age and
what's the value of goodquality video and audio and all
the things that your, whateverproductions you might be doing?
Just give a what's the what'sthe value?
Drew McMullian (10:25):
Yeah, so I think it depends completely on the
medium right.
So if you're talking aboutcreating TikToks or Facebook
marketing stuff or simple thingslike that, you're putting that
in the palm of your customer'shands.
Your potential, whoever you'retrying to reach, is right there
on social media.
Collin (10:43):
From my side, which is way more in the live events
portion, yeah, and talk a littlebit about Beamworks as well,
like what do you guys, what doyou guys do?
Drew McMullian (10:51):
Sure.
So Beamworks is a liveproduction event company, so we
specialize in anything AVtechnology, from audio systems
that are backyard barbecues tofull-on massive corporate events
, the concerts, screens andlighting, support for all of
that, from creative all the wayto just the necessity of
(11:12):
lighting a stage yeah, andeverything in between.
So it's a very large market ofdifferent things that we do.
Every job is different, everyday is different, every need is
different.
There's no two jobs that arethe same.
There's no cookie cutter.
You know here's a quote thatthat fits everybody's thing and
that's what's so unique about it.
When you're saying people ask,oh, I could get into that.
(11:33):
How hard is it?
It's insanely hard, especiallyfor people that have never done
it, and so that's what wespecialize in and that's kind of
our thing.
From rentals of equipment tosmall things.
If they don't have the budgetto bring us in, we do the rental
side.
If they want the entireproduction done, we do that from
planning to all the way throughdelivering the actual product.
(11:54):
So from the video aspect in ours, you know, if you're putting on
a GAL, if you're putting on afundraiser, if you're putting on
an event of any kind, it'sbecause you're inviting people
to talk to them about whatyou're doing or to ask them for
funds to support yourorganization, and so many of
those things are done throughthe delivering of speaking or
(12:14):
the delivering of playing videosin your event and if that is
done poorly it's very hard tocorrelate the conversation to
those people.
It's very hard to get peopleengaged.
It's very easy for them to tuneout If the audio is not good,
if the video isn't done well.
It's very hard for them to becaptured by that and want to
(12:36):
actually engage back with you.
Collin (12:37):
Yeah, it can be more of a distraction, that's taking me
away from someone actuallyengaging with what you're doing.
Drew McMullian (12:43):
Poorly done events is a way more negative
thing than a well done event isgood if that makes sense that's
great, yeah, so Quote it.
Yeah so you know.
Collin (12:53):
Maybe, Is that a Quote button?
I hit the quote button, therewe go.
But well, no, I think that's aninteresting call out, right?
So for a practical use, likeyour, your first priority is
don't do it bad, Not do it best,but just don't do it bad.
If I can hit average or if Ican hit good enough, even that's
(13:17):
better than just doing a poorjob, because that can actually
hurt your reputation 100% and Idon't want to jump way ahead.
Drew McMullian (13:25):
I know we want to talk about what's the real
benefits of hiring people tohelp you out and all that later
on.
But you know it's very easynowadays to take what you have
in your pocket right.
So everybody has a smartphonethat's fantastic at shooting a
quick video, but the audio isprobably awful on it 90% of the
time, especially if you had thisidea.
(13:45):
We did an event just recentlywhere they shot all of their
videos With a phone outside by aparking lot and so when it gets
played on your phone back toyou it doesn't sound bad, but
when you play that through a PAsystem in a large room it is
awful.
And so now you have thisamazing child talking about the
super importance of whyeverybody's there and it's the
(14:08):
big push for the end of thenight, of why people need to
give, and it's pulling on theheartstrings of everybody and
nobody can hear it, or it's sodistracting that nobody really
captured the importance of whatit was.
Adrian Traurig (14:21):
Yeah, I think Drew was mentioning live events.
A live event that is well done,that is well produced, that is
well thought out, is reallyyou're telling a story, right.
So you're trying to captivate anaudience, which is the same
thing for a standalone videoproduction.
You're trying to tell a storyand to bring the audience along
(14:45):
a journey and, whether that'sintroducing conflict or
different concepts that you wantthem to try to understand,
ultimately you're trying todrive them to one takeaway
essentially.
And so I think that that's truein the live world, that's true
in what we do, which is a littlebit more of like the
(15:06):
advertising and marketing, likescripted kind of world with
audio video.
But I would say, yeah, thequality of the sound, the
quality of being veryintentional, I guess, about the
message that you're trying toportray and not letting that get
(15:28):
lost in bad audio or bad, youknow, these things that can
really hurt and detract from themessage, because you know,
sometimes you just have that oneshot to gain trust with your
customer base or your audienceand one of those things can just
blow it and they'll never comeback.
Collin (15:49):
Yeah, which is huge.
Those are big stakes, so let'stalk for a little bit, right.
So we've got, you know, peoplein a few different spots.
We'll get back to talking aboutwhy maybe going with an agency
or partnering with an org likeBeamworks is a good idea.
But what about the people whoare just maybe?
Maybe they just started, maybelike they're just getting into
(16:11):
it and they know.
They know I need to do somevideo that I've got to put on
event.
I know it's got to be good.
I just don't have the resourcesto invest in something like
that.
How do we help them?
What are some hacks?
What are some tips?
What's like?
You know, if you don't get anyother equipment, make sure
you've got this so you can atleast hit that level of good
(16:31):
enough.
Talk to them a little bit aboutthat.
How can we help them get tojust good enough?
What does that look like?
Drew McMullian (16:38):
Sure, so I think it's a very wide conversation.
I think one of the struggles alot of people do is they'll go
on and say, all right, I've gotto put on an event.
What does that look like?
And the next thing they do isthey start Googling events or
they want to copy something thatthey went to because you know
they were at this largeinsurance.
Collin (16:57):
Probably like World Vision or, of course, a billion
dollar like yeah.
Drew McMullian (17:01):
And that's exactly the point.
And then they go I want to puton this and they show you a
picture of an event that costs,you know, $3.7 million to put on
and they have a $4,000 budgetand you go.
It's just not going to happenlike that and you should have
goals and aspirations to do thatright.
That should be what you're goingfor with the understanding that
you aren't going to hit thatthis year.
(17:23):
Yeah, I think you need to havea good audio system.
Let's just say that you'reputting on a event in a room of
some type, right?
So you need to have a goodaudio system where everybody can
hear what you're saying, theycan hear music played, they can
hear any videos played.
That's a very simple, doesn'thave to be elaborate, it doesn't
have to be expensive, but justa good audio system.
(17:44):
That doesn't mean your neighborwho has a band down the street
that plays in their garageborrowing that, right, so you
can get with a company that canget you something affordable and
good.
The second would be, if you'regoing to be playing videos, at
least a good enough projectorscreen set up that everything
could be seen.
And, most importantly, ifyou're really trying to play on
(18:04):
emotions, is have some kind ofcolored lighting that can set
the mood that you're trying todo.
Collin (18:10):
If you can tackle those three things decently well,
you're most of the way there,bam, and all of those things,
like you said, can be doneextremely affordably.
Drew McMullian (18:19):
Absolutely.
I mean, you do need to have abudget of some short.
It doesn't have to be a hundredthousand dollar budget, it
doesn't have to be a $10,000budget.
You can rent and all of thisobviously depends on the size of
the room and your attendancethat you're expecting.
But if you're talking 100people, a couple hundred people,
you can do all of that withinthe sub couple thousand dollars,
if not even significantly lessthan that as far as a rental
(18:41):
goes.
Collin (18:42):
Adrian talk to like video productions.
What is that?
You know, unlike the, if youwant to have some type of
controlled production, costs canget up there, right, if you're,
you know if you're reallygetting professional equipment.
But what is that?
What does it look like on thatend to maybe do it a little more
affordably?
Adrian Traurig (18:58):
Yeah.
So I think the most importantthing in I mean this may cost
you money, it may not, it mayjust cost you time is just
figure out what your message is,you know, figure out, sit down
beforehand, put in the work toreally write out, or at least
outline.
You know to some degree.
What is it that you're tryingto communicate, what journey do
(19:21):
you want to take the customer,the audience, on, and what is
your call to action Like, whatdo you want them to do with the
information?
Right?
So I think it starts there, youknow, it starts with.
Collin (19:32):
You know, for for what we ever start making purchases,
yeah.
Adrian Traurig (19:35):
For what we do.
You know, we write scripts andwe write, we write concepts.
It doesn't have to be a fullyword for word kind of thing, but
that you know it may cost youtime.
I guess time is money, but butI think it's like a very
important first step is to getthat part right.
Because, everything else thatcomes after.
(19:58):
You know you're going to end upspending a lot more time if you
have to go back and redo things, and you know right.
Collin (20:06):
Unless you don't have a computer, like you, you have the
equipment to do this.
To hit this.
And.
I love that point too, becauseI think if the messaging is good
, you're able, your audience isable, to be a little bit more
forgiving.
If the production is a littlebit lower, right, and so if
you've got that doubt, andthat's a great point.
So once they've got that, thenyou know, just get me started.
(20:26):
Right, I just want to have, Iwant a way to get decent video
with decent audio.
What do I need?
Adrian Traurig (20:32):
Yeah.
So I would just to kind ofpiggyback off of that previous
thought here that writing thatmessaging and going through the
edits of that script is veryit's an easy thing.
I mean I wouldn't say easy, butit's easier to make edits to
that than it is later on, likeonce you've started like filming
(20:55):
, whatever you're doing, orrecording or however you're
delivering it.
So take the time, like we callit pre-production, take the time
to kind of map out at leastlike what you're trying to
accomplish first.
So I would say, after that thenit moves kind of into the
production state of we'retalking about like recorded
(21:18):
content pieces for marketingpurposes or advertising purposes
.
So I would say, if you're verylimited on resources, how
technical do we wanna be here?
Like probably not too technical.
Collin (21:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think.
Adrian Traurig (21:33):
So I can keep it pretty straightforward and
simple.
One natural light is alwaysgonna be the best if you have no
budget to get good lighting.
So I would say more than videoI know this is ironic because
we're talking about video butgetting good lighting and good
audio is actually more importantthan getting a good camera.
(21:55):
So I think for me it's find awindow, find a big, if you can
do it outside and it's quiet andyou can invest in like a
lavalier microphone.
I don't know Drew can maybespeak to specifics of like
brands and things like that butI would say I've done so many
(22:17):
videos like this where we'retraveling.
We don't have the budget tobring a ton of equipment or rent
things, but we're in a hotel Alot of hotels have these like
big ballrooms or areas of theeven, like a suite or a room
where you can open up thecurtains and it's like just
flooded with natural light.
(22:38):
So make sure that move close toa window if you're filming
something.
And I think, from a videostandpoint, iphone is fantastic.
I mean the new version of theiPhone that just came out.
I don't have it.
I haven't like really playedaround with it, but I have been
(23:01):
doing a lot of research.
We've been doing research here.
Even we're consideringpurchasing a few.
Collin (23:08):
We are considering having some on hand to do some
more like running gun stuffExactly.
Very legitimate option, buteven, not just the 15.
This right now is beingrecorded on a 13 Pro and it's
not gonna be the best, but it'sgonna be good enough Well, to
piggyback on that.
Drew McMullian (23:24):
I was at an event that had about 15
different news agencies at itand they were all talking and
actually using iPhone 13s andtalking about how that's the way
to go and it's so much easierfor them and better for them to
use that, possibly with amicrophone attached.
Adrian Traurig (23:40):
Definitely a microphone yeah.
Drew McMullian (23:41):
And it's phenomenal.
Collin (23:42):
Yeah, I did a shoot a few months ago.
It was a golf tournament and Iwas hauling our red Komodo
around on like, on this gimbaland everything, and I had this
giant backpack with a bunch ofstuff, all the equipment I would
need, and I was-, which isstill a pretty lightweight rig
for what that is.
Yeah, even that was but, likemy arms were feeling it right.
(24:06):
So I mean to have likesomething like an iPhone 15.
Adrian Traurig (24:08):
In that moment I'm thinking back like oh man,
yeah, I would say for sub like$1,500, it is like by far the
best camera setup that you canget right now, or the best
camera for video, and you knowthere's ways you can look up
ways to kind of set it up forprofessional video.
There's a lot of likeinformation and YouTube videos
(24:31):
out there now about that andeven how to rig it out.
So like, if you are, you know,highly suggest, like I said
before, audio and lighting areeven more important.
So if you're gonna splurge oryou have a little bit more to
put into something, definitelyget good audio, cause you can
(24:55):
find natural lighting.
Most of us have some sort ofsmartphone like that that can
record halfway decent video.
Audio is, you know, that's halfof the storytelling.
If you have bad audio, you'rereally creating a distraction
and pulling people out of whatyou're trying to accomplish.
Collin (25:15):
Yeah, and you know I wanna point out as well that a
lot of times we've mentionedthis a lot of times what people
will do is they immediately jumpto the equipment.
Okay, so if I wanna get, whatequipment do I need?
That's a good question to ask.
But if you can answer theseother questions we've talked
about, like environment, right,if you wanna do a podcast, right
, you can get super great shoremicrophones.
(25:38):
Or you can spend $100, get aYeti microphone and just make
sure you're in a good room thatdoesn't echo a ton.
And you know, you got your ACoff, which is funny because our
AC was going on during this atone point.
But but you can also fix it inpost if you know how.
That's right.
Adrian Traurig (25:57):
Right, but like but the just being in a room
that is conducive to gettinggood audio is very important,
like Drew was saying, like don'tstand in the middle of a high
if you're trying to shoot avideo, I mean you know there's
some confidence that plays intothat as well.
Whereas, like, if you'rerecording with the iPhone, for
instance, I know it has noisecancellation for some of that
(26:20):
stuff, but, like he's saying,you go to play that in like a
large event through an actual PAand there's just like nothing
worse.
Like you know, people just arewant to walk out.
Drew McMullian (26:31):
Actively see people turn their brains off.
Collin (26:33):
Yeah, and we're done, and they're powering down, yeah.
Drew McMullian (26:37):
So little things like if it's, if it's going to
be broadcasted like that, turnyour phone sideways and used to
be widescreen.
Don't develop a portrait videothat's going to be put on a
projector screen somewhere.
You know the little things.
Adrian Traurig (26:49):
Yeah, think about like the deliverable, like
the context of where you'redelivering.
And I mean we just got doneshooting a couple of videos here
in the studio where we willturn them into social media,
which will be portrait mode, butthere we shot at landscape
because it's going to be alsoused for like a web delivery,
(27:09):
for YouTube or website.
But that's very easy to if youknow you give yourself room to
say, okay, I can use this sameshot and convert it to a
vertical video after the factand we can talk about like the
post production stuff too.
Collin (27:29):
If you want to get into that what you know.
So we've talked a little bitabout, you know, the
pre-production and theproduction.
Now, post production, what doesthat look like from an
affordable, because that'sprobably even more so than the
equipment.
That's probably more left fieldfor people who aren't in this?
Yeah, definitely, you know whatI mean, so help them out.
Drew McMullian (27:49):
That's going to be more on your side.
My post production has takenwhat you give me and making it
amazing in a room.
So I can definitely say thatthe pre-planning of everything
that Agin was first talkingabout is so important.
On everything we talk about,that pre-planning and
pre-production is what's goingto get you a final product.
We always had a joke in therecording say we'll fix it later
in the mix, right?
Adrian Traurig (28:09):
Fix the post.
Drew McMullian (28:10):
No, do it right in the beginning.
Ask the questions.
Don't jump to the products,don't jump to the hardware.
Find people that you know, findpeople that you can find
through your network that dothis and ask questions.
You know, take someone out tocoffee or lunch.
Don't waste their time, but usethat, especially if they have
the same heart or the samevalues as your organization.
Use those resources, talk tothem and get that information,
(28:32):
because so many people arewilling to talk to you and give
you that.
If you just ask nicely, if youbuy them a cup of coffee or
share the same values, they'rehappy to talk you through that.
So many of these peopleespecially if you're a church
person or you're involved inthat so many of the people like
Adrian and myself started doingthat.
I know, colin, you wereinvolved as well that grew up
(28:53):
doing that that do that.
These church guys put on youknow two or three quote unquote
events every week.
They're pros at it, they're inthe studio, they're working with
the other departments that theyhave, as some of these large
churches that do videoproduction, that do all this
stuff.
They'd be more than happy totalk to you, ask the questions
and let them be in so that yourpre-production builds to a great
end product.
Collin (29:14):
The resources are there Absolutely, if you're willing to
look for them.
Adrian Traurig (29:17):
The resources, are there yeah, I would say too,
just going off of that idea inanything that we're talking
about today.
So, whether it be live events,like taking this content and
putting on event with it, oreven just creating content,
there's kind of a principlethere where that can only yes,
(29:41):
you can sweeten it, there'sthings that you can do to fix it
in post, but I mean, it reallystarts at the source, and so,
whether we're talking about themessaging, whether we're talking
about the quality of the audioor the lighting, whatever it is,
that's all you have to workwith.
Collin (29:59):
Yeah, that's your cap.
Adrian Traurig (30:01):
So it's like if you're starting out for quality,
then it's only like I'll justshoot it in 720 and export 4K.
Collin (30:09):
it's fine, yeah.
Adrian Traurig (30:12):
Yeah, exactly.
So, yeah, I would say that.
And then just along the linesof post-production, you know I
used to be.
I learned in Adobe and so, likethe entire Adobe suite is
fantastic for a lot ofpost-production work.
I will say, about four yearsago, five years ago, I did
(30:36):
switch over on the videoproduction side.
I did switch over to DaVinciResolve for video editing and
color grade.
Like all the more intricatepost-production work, I did
switch over to that.
The reason I did number one isbecause we were working in
non-profit environments and inchurches and DaVinci Resolve
(30:58):
offers a free version of theirsoftware and it is like they
give you a lot in the freeversion.
So check that out if that'ssomething that you want to dive
into.
Obviously, there is a littlebit more of a learning curve
when you get into video editingand audio editing, so you will
(31:21):
have to allow yourself time toresearch that if you're not
going to look for to hiresomeone else out to do that side
of it for you.
But the way that they'vedesigned it is pretty intuitive.
It's like probably one of themost user-friendly interfaces
(31:41):
that I found for post-productionwork.
Then they do offer a paidversion.
It's actually not expensive Ithink it's like $300 or
something and that gives youevery single feature that they
offer.
Collin (31:53):
One of the great things about Resolve is it's at least
right now.
It's not a subscription-basedmodel.
You buy it once and you get allthe updates that they come out
with You're Adobe suite, whichis a subscription, but again,
davinci Resolve is remarkablyaffordable for what you can do
(32:15):
with it.
It's a pro-level software.
Adrian Traurig (32:18):
You can definitely accomplish.
So for what we're talking about, for content marketing and for
lower budget advertising shootsand even podcast and audio edits
and stuff, it's fantastic.
Obviously, if you get intolarger commercial shoots and
things, you're not going to doall your work in Resolve.
(32:40):
You're going to be across otherdifferent programs, especially
for audio editing and thingslike that.
But yeah, I think for thepurposes of what we're talking
about, that's a great option.
They offer a free version thatyou can dive into and learn.
That's the thing.
It's like.
(33:01):
You've got to make a choice.
Once you get into it, do I wantto continue down this path of
increasing my knowledge on howto use it?
Or it's like, yeah, I don'tthink I have the time for this.
I need to find somebody thatcan at least take the content
that we've recorded and get itinto a presentable state.
Collin (33:22):
Great segue because, as we wrap up here, why don't we
talk a little bit about agenciesthat are out there, like
Beamworks, like Verse Creative?
There's a lot of people wholegitimately aren't in the place
where I don't have theresources for it.
You slowly get into a placewhere you keep dragging that
(33:43):
with you, even though you mightbe in a place where it's more
comfortable to say I don't havethe resources.
But if it's something youreally value, you're at a place
where you actually can findthose resources for those people
, or for the ones who justthey've got it and they're just,
for some reason or another, notwilling to do that.
What is the value of being ableto work with an agency or with
(34:05):
an organization like Beamworksfor your audio visual needs?
Drew McMullian (34:08):
Yeah well, I think there's massive advantages
.
The first thing I'll say is thejump financially to go from
having no money to do an eventwith people to assist to having
the ability to have people runyour event is not massive.
It can be insane, it can goabsolutely bonkers.
There are companies out theredoing millions of dollars on an
(34:32):
event, but you can easily do itfor not that much money.
And so if you're already tryingto raise money, find someone
that can give a little bit moremaybe, or put money towards that
to have it, because the valueis so much.
It's like so many things.
If you were to ask anybody whohas no knowledge of something to
go do something and then put ahundred people in a room and
(34:55):
have that pressure on them tomake it perfect, it's very not
possible to do that.
And so we mentioned earlierabout I was thinking when you
said it, we thought of peoplelike to jump over to the
hardware and the product.
I want to go get the camera, orI want to go get this or that.
That's fine.
Every company that we competewith, every company that's out
(35:18):
there, can go and buy the bestspeakers, the best mics, the
best whatever.
It's really the people behindit that are making all the
difference If you don't have atechnician that's been doing
this for years and hasexperienced all the problems
that are going to come, becauseevery event has problems and
it's our job to not let you knowthat something happened and
(35:38):
your heart rate doesn't go upand everything goes fine,
because your job is to be onstage or be behind the scenes
making it happen.
It's our job to make theproduction go perfect and the
people behind that is reallywhat's going to take that event
from a very basic and novicething to something that makes an
impact.
If we're talking about tellingstories, when you get to that
(36:01):
climax, the AV has to support itor it never gets there.
We talk about a lot of littlethings.
When you plan out the event,you need people that are there
to let you know.
We shouldn't have a pull of theheart moment or a big message
moment when people are eatingdinner.
(36:21):
The eating dinner portionshould be a quiet time.
It should be a music plan,social and that's it.
You shouldn't be asking formoney.
You shouldn't be givinginformation when there's 20
servers walking around andpeople clanking silverware
everywhere.
Little things like that.
You just don't know, unless youhave people that do events for
a living.
Collin (36:40):
But it sounded really good when we did it.
It sounded so good.
Drew McMullian (36:43):
In half hour.
We didn't want to waste.
That seemed like a great placeto put the big ask at the end of
the night.
People do this all the time.
We know there's companies outthere like Qtego that do
fundraising, the network and thesoftware for people to do
(37:03):
bidding and stuff on their phoneand all that.
Companies like that are amazing.
Nobody knows about it unlessthey're reaching out.
There's so much that we do allthe time that we can help with
just by simple questions.
If you don't utilize an agencyor a production company and ask
those questions early on andtrust them, don't just say, hey,
I need speakers and a projector, We'll see you next Saturday.
(37:24):
Ask them to be a part of theplanning process and the amount
of knowledge you'll get that isso invaluable.
They don't charge for that kindof stuff.
The questions they don't chargefor.
Collin (37:34):
That's huge.
As you're talking about, youcan run up the bill if you want.
If you want to get reallyextravagant with, you can, or
you can keep it more affordable.
With both of those costs,you're getting the same
expertise.
Drew McMullian (37:47):
Absolutely, it's the same people.
Absolutely.
Collin (37:50):
What a huge value to be able to pay for that type of
expertise that someone's put inat a pretty affordable rate.
Adrian Traurig (37:58):
I would add to that it's the diversity of the
expertise.
At least from an agencystandpoint, you're getting a
diverse team of experts that arevery niche for exactly what you
need.
I used this analogy beforeabout the Legos.
If you're a Lego piece and youbring yourself to the table and
(38:26):
you know, yeah, like you can,maybe maybe you bring two or
three pieces, let's put it thatway yeah, you can create some
things right with two or threeLego pieces.
Yeah, but when you startbringing, like an entire team
and they all have two or threeof their own pieces and you
bring it to the table together,like the things that you can
create and the things that youcan build that go beyond what
(38:48):
you yourself may havelimitations of of getting to,
that is where I think the valuecomes in, because you know
you're talking about bringing in, you know, expert like
strategists and people that areworking with keywords and and
Optimization things, and thenyou're bringing in copywriters
(39:10):
that that write scripts.
You know, like they know how tostory, tell and and create that
arc for where we ultimatelywant to Bring your client.
You know whether so, whetherthat's like a, you know the.
The purpose is to get them to Toreally back the vision of the
organization.
Maybe the purpose is to getthat, hey, we need to raise this
(39:30):
much money, so it could bedonation based, it could be
awareness or testimonialstorytelling, like.
There's so many differentangles, and so I think, bringing
bringing people on board thatCan really bring their, their
diverse expertise to the tablethat is where I would see the
value coming in, as opposed to,yes, you can do it internally,
(39:55):
but you also have a millionother things that you're worried
about and that you have to do,and if you have the time to do
it, do it like you know,experiment with it and and and
learn it.
But I think that that there'sso much value in having an, an
entire team of people that cancome to the table and really put
all the brainpower behind theproject and what, what it is
(40:17):
that we're trying to accomplish.
Collin (40:18):
Yeah, so good, so good.
Any, any last, any last thingsthat add, any last tips, tricks,
anything that you're like, youknow what, if you're trying to
do this, this was mine,belonging for me, anything like
that which got Adrian anythinggreat.
Drew McMullian (40:34):
Oh, man, I Think you need to talk with people.
I think you need to to findpeople that are whether it's at
your church, that are techpeople, call a production
company, just ask questions.
But if you can Especially we'retalking about nonprofits Find
people that do have the samecore values as you.
Find people that do have thesame heart.
(40:56):
Yeah, buy a lunch.
Yeah, I can't tell you how manytimes you know, we've seen
texts on the backside of eventsthat could care less about your
event and they're just therebecause that's their job and
that's their money and they maydo a great job.
But when you find people thatare aligned with you, you get.
You get so much more care andpassion out of it and you feel
(41:17):
it through the end product.
Collin (41:19):
Man.
This has been an incredibleepisode.
Hopefully, hopefully, for ourlisteners.
There's a lot of reallypractical Info.
I think there has been you guys.
You guys brought the a game forsure.
So thank you so much forlistening.
Thank you, adrian, thank you,drew, for joining, joining us,
for being those people who arewilling to share your expertise.
And you know, I'm sure Peopleshould pay probably a lot of
(41:43):
money for what some of the infoyou guys just gave, but but
you're very generous with that.
So, listeners, thank you fortuning in every single week.
We will be seeing you next timeon the nonprofit Renaissance.
Outro (41:56):
Thanks again for listening to the nonprofit
Renaissance.
We hope it ignites aRenaissance in you and helps you
go further and grow faster.
Be sure to share, rate andsubscribe and if you'd like to
recommend or be a guest on ourshow, send us an email.
At podcast at first, creativecomm.
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