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One of the things we say often is that we’re not built on the talent of a few but on the sacrifice of many, and VOUSCon is no different. An event like VOUSCon requires heavy collaboration between every department of our church.
Months before VOUSCon, our worship and production teams get to work planning stage designs, coordinating with audio and lighting crews, and fine-tuning details to create a transformative in-room experience.
Read below for a glimpse at each department’s runway up to VOUSCon.
WORSHIP
Worship is the bedrock, the faithful foundation, the fuel of VOUSCon. Year to year, thousands of believers gather for one purpose — to lift up the name of Jesus. Each year we are presented with an opportunity to lean into a fresh sound, an on-time prayer, a praise that responds to the Spirit.
Our worship teams at VOUS spend the months leading up to VOUSCon preparing for this moment. We recognize our job is obedience, while God’s job is the outcome. We work diligently to posture our hearts for three days of encounter. As we do, we focus on two main buckets:
1. Songwriting
We like to use the months leading up to VOUSCon to write new VOUS Worship music. The team schedules several songwriting sessions. We work through drafts of content in hopes of narrowing down a new body of work that we can debut in the weeks prior to VOUSCon and during the convention experience.
Being in this cadence allows us to release a new worship project at VOUSCon or directly after. We use the in-room experience to fuel the songs, breathe life into their message, and preview them to our community prior to releasing them on all platforms.
For more on our songwriting process, check out this article.
2. Band Workshop
It’s a huge win to introduce new music from our house at VOUSCon. Before we started rehearsals, we hosted our first-ever Band Workshop. For many of our songs, we had lyrics and melodies but wanted to dive deeper into the dynamic and soul of the songs. This gathering allowed us to define the identity of our new music. We invited some of our staff and VOUSCon band to explore what made each song unique and different from the rest. This workshop was really beneficial and is something we plan to continue in other avenues of VOUS music outside of Con.
3. Rehearsals
After our band workshop, we jumped into rehearsals. Our rehearsals were more structured than the Band Workshop as each song had been solidified by this point. The goal of rehearsals was to run the night how we wanted it to sound in the arena. We followed an exact plan and made adjustments as needed. The focus was less on workshopping and more on executing together.
As we’re preparing for rehearsals, we’re executing the admin side of worship. Determining where people will be on stage, establishing visuals during music, lyrics display, and finalizing style guides are all important details in planning what the final experience will be.
4. Full Programming Walkthrough
Last (but certainly not least), we held a full programming walkthrough on a Saturday a few weeks before Con weekend. We used one of our auditoriums and taped out the VOUSCon stage so we could run the exact play. All programming elements were practiced – we ran special elements and creative ideas alongside other departments. Music is woven into video, then back to music, with dance elements, visuals, lighting, and so on. It’s a collaborative day across so many different teams: worship, dance, band, and vocals working to bring everything together. This sets us up for a win when we get to the Watsco Arena for in-room rehearsals and run-throughs.
5. Additional Worship Teams
If you didn’t know, we run a full kids convention simultaneously with VOUSCon. Kids ages 5-11 are invited to register for KIDSCon, where they experience a time of worship and messages designed specifically for their age group. KIDSCon is not an afterthought – it’s given just as much intentionality and care.
When it comes to worship, some of our best teams were allocated to serve at KIDSCon. In preparation, we ran rehearsals and prepared just as strategically as we did for VOUSCon.
Our dance team also plays a large role in our worship department. In preparation for their role in our VOUSCon openers, they held choreography nights and rehearsals.
PRODUCTION
With an event of this size, we start planning a year in advance. From a production standpoint, here are a few of our highest priority items.
12-11 Months Out
- Lay out the budget budget
- Meet with Creative teams to ideate stage design
8 Months Out
- Begin looking at initial stage design renders
- Narrow down stage design options
6 Months Out
- Finalize stage design
- Start to lock in talent (audio engineers, Video Director, and Lighting Director)
- Begin meeting with Servant Leader teams
5-3 Months Out
- Lock in exact numbers on quotes from vendors and talent
- Continue meeting with Servant Leader teams
4 Months Out
- Work with the Programming Department to ideate programming for all Meetings and Workshops
3 Months Out
- Begin finalizing programming decisions
- Weekly meetings for all things Con across departments
- Locking in what we like and changing what we don't
- Have firm numbers on all installs and rentals for audio, lighting, and stage based on any changes made
3-1 Month Out
- All programming confirmed
- Send final looks and content to Production Manager and professionals to start building out the lighting sessions
As we reach VOUSCon month, these two resources were helpful to our team. First, our VOUSCon Input List.
This spreadsheet shows how everything is patched into the audio racks. This way, when we arrive at the Watsco, everyone on the team knows how the instruments and mics get patched. This also translates to how the engineers will build out their show files on the audio consoles. Without this resource, no session files can be built and the team wouldn’t know where to patch the instruments, speaker mics, in-ear monitors, and other equipment.
If you reference the spreadsheet, the additional tabs show our Optocore loop, Optocore routing, and backline order for instruments. Backline order is based on the riders we get from our guest artists and what instruments they require for their set.
Secondly, we utilized a Master Production Schedule.
We build this out with our Production Manager to finalize correct timelines for load-in. We build out the show days and provide that to our vendors. For load-in timelines, it’s vital that we’re all on the same page. By this point, we’ve communicated via emails, video calls, and prep meetings to lock in exact rentals, stage design, and timeline. The Master Production Schedule helps when it comes time to execute.
We start our communications a year in advance. We wrapped VOUSCon 2024 a month ago, and we’re already talking with the Production Manager about VOUSCon 2025. We’ve submitted our budget and theme, and in the coming months, we’ll begin working on stage design concepts and initial renders.
