THE PARAGON ANGLE: Rigging

[00:00:00] Right now, let's hear from Paragon 360 and the Paragon Angle. Rigging in the church space. If you're a pastor, you might say, why do I care about that? If you're an executive pastor, you might say, I don't want to pay for that. The tech guy's thinking, my AVL integrator is going to handle that, right? Welcome to the Paragon Angle. Today,

[00:00:25] we're going to talk about rigging in the church space. Paragon 360 learned early on from the theatrical and entertainment work that we used to do for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and large format multimillion dollar corporate events for Walmart, Prestonwood's Christmas events, and many others. That professional rigging of audio, video, and lighting equipment was top priority all day and twice on Sunday. What many overlook, however, is that it's also a big deal in today's churches.

[00:00:52] In our experience, this is typically the biggest unrealized liability for the church. Let's keep in mind that most of these church spaces were built 30, 40, 50 years ago. We're not designed to hold the kind of weight we're trying to hold today. Almost all buildings are built on a tight budget, and if they were not planning for the support of line arrays, LED walls 50 years ago, chances are the

[00:01:18] structure is not designed to support it today. So a large percentage of the platforms stages are bigger than the original ones were 30 years ago. And so that pushes the PA downstage, pushes the lighting further into the house to keep the angles right for video and all that stuff. That makes it very hard to get to, so we want to motorize it, but can we? Now we're flying subs half the time. Most of this was

[00:01:43] not even a consideration 25, 30, 40 years ago. Now there are those churches and techs that are trying to save money and do things in-house, and they buy a pile of gear from Sweetwater and have a buddy come and hang it. When it comes to rigging, I would reconsider. However, for many, it's well-intentioned because the technical staff thinks they can trust their integrators to cover it. It's so common for churches to hire someone to sell them equipment and install it, right? But they may have no idea if the

[00:02:13] people that are hanging this heavy equipment over the heads of the congregation really know what they're doing. A big majority of those integrators do whatever they need to, to get it rigged and installed, because what they're really trying to do at the end of the day is sell gear. But so many of them do not have qualified riggers on staff for the design or execution. They may claim they've been doing this forever, but it doesn't mean they're using certified professionals, and it does not mean they really know

[00:02:38] what they're doing. It's not a risk you want to take when it comes to rigging. One of the biggest issues we see is people using unrated hardware. If an item you're looking at doesn't state a working load limit, then it's not appropriate for use in overhead rigging. This could include most, if not all, the hardware found at your local hardware store. We see improper methods, a failure to understand the math and figuring loads and distribution. Overloading can lead to catastrophic failures.

[00:03:07] So here are a few questions. Has your integrator asked you for structural drawings? Has a structural engineer approved the weight loads? Has the integrator shown you a rigging design indicating weight loads and its distribution? Do you understand the weight loads of your structure? Do you recognize safe rigging points when you see them? Is your team familiar with the operation of rigging systems or use

[00:03:32] rigging hardware? Is your integrator using rated hardware? Here's the bottom line. Your integrators should be ETCP rigging certified. ETCP rigging refers to the Entertainment Technician Certification Program's rigging certification, which is a rigorous assessment of professional technicians in the rigging industry. Rigging is a big deal in today's AVL world, regardless of the venue. Ensuring a safe rigging

[00:03:59] environment is paramount, and it starts by hiring professionals. Ensuring that your audio, video, and lighting integrators are using ETCP certified riggers for the design and execution of the project. And yes, that's right. This is not just about execution. It has to be designed. Paragon 360 has extensive experience from arenas to theaters, churches, both small and large. I can tell you this. Church rigging is very challenging and sometimes extremely complicated because, again,

[00:04:25] these spaces were not designed to do what we're trying to do today, so we have to get creative. A theater is built for rigging, right? A concert venue has lots of steel to support touring shows and events. Many of these churches were installing line shaft systems to raise and lower heavy LED walls in places that no one could have even imagined it would fit. It took lots of math, experience, structural analysis, and approval, along with intricate design, to make that happen.

[00:04:54] We use ETCP certified riggers for the design and installation of our projects, and you should too. For more information on Paragon, check out paragon360.com. I hope this was helpful, and we'll see you on the next Paragon Angle.