To quote a saying from the past, “It’s not your father’s Session.”
In Toronto, more than 100 specialists are dedicated to the daily task of making the events that happen on stage and in the hallways something that everyone can see, hear and enjoy–not only on the SkyDome’s gigantic Sony Jumbotron, but also around the world via satellite broadcasts over the Adventist Communication Network and the Adventist Global Communication Network. The level of sophistication for this 10-day event is stunning. More than 28,000 feet of video and audio cable carry signals between the SkyDome and the Metro Toronto Convention Center and then beams them upward to the satellites.
Like past Sessions, this small army of media professionals provide live television coverage and image magnification for all of the devotionals, business sessions and evening reports. This requires the facilities of a full-fledged television company, Dome Productions, based in Toronto’s SkyDome. But a global church audience is being served as well, and to accomplish this, an additional production center, created from the church’s own transportable facilities and other equipment rented in Toronto, generates one and a half hours of news and feature content every day of the Session.
The staff includes people from Adventist Media Centers in Australia, Germany, South America and North America. Additional staffing is provided by Seventh-day Adventist church members who specialize in reporting, video editing, animation, engineering and all other media related fields. “What I love is getting to work with people from media centers all over the world,” says Danny Kim, owner of his own business, Powerup Productions, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now serving at his fourth General Conference Session.
“I’m not doing this for the sake of the craft,” urged Warren D. Judd, Chief Executive Office of Adventist Media Productions in Simi Valley, California, and co-executive producer of the audio/visual and broadcast aspects of this event. “I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for the ministry angle.” And ministry is what many of this team would call their work. There are frustrations, technical difficulties, long hours and little recognition. According to Judd, however, knowing that church members here and around the world are able to participate in this important church event makes it worthwhile. As many as 60,000 people at the Session in Toronto and more than 10,000 worldwide are served by their efforts. |
