After a recent conversation, it occurred to me that God made me a tech guy for a reason.  Sadly I am beginning to think the reason is cause I am hard headed and if I don’t listen to a message 4 times I am not going to get anything out of it.

In all seriousness Tech people are a odd bunch, I read a great article recently about tech people being the last polymaths I found it really interesting and a little disappointing. If you don’t want to follow the link here is an excerpt that will sum it up for you, also great work by Nicholas Voss for writing this:

The general perception most people have of audiovisual technicians is warranted. We are haughty and, at times, condescending.  Indeed, we ought to be more careful for the Good Book says “Pride goes before destruction.”

But what would you expect of someone who, having supported events ranging from science to politics and concerts to Super Bowls, had worked hand-in-hand with leading authorities in any given field? The AV technician’s learning spans every subject known to man. The knowledge and expertise that is gained by technicians who sit through conference after conference, listening to the greatest minds on any given topic, goes far beyond what can be attained in university. A seasoned AV pro has the ability to collaborate with nearly any expert or on any subject you can think of.

The point of the article was that tech guys have access to more opportunity for training in more diverse fields then anyone else, because everyone uses them.  In the article the author talks about listening to a person give their presentation so many times that he could do the presentation in his sleep.  Why does that disappoint me?  Because I have at the opportunity to listen to a man, that I think is one of the greatest communicators of our generation, 4 times a week for 6 years and I don’t for a second think I payed enough attention that I could reproduce anything he has ever said. If I am lucky every now and then I remember snipits, but I could probably only give you the Readers Digest version of maybe 2% of what I have heard over the years.

So tech people, volunteers, anyone who attends church more then once a week, I challenge you to start thinking about what you learn like this: “People have and would spend a lot of money at a private Christian college to learn what I am either getting paid to overhear or have the pleasure of assisting make happen, the absolute least I should do is take good notes”