This past September, we surveyed the Church Production Magazine readership, asking a range of questions about your church's lighting system, control console, and how both the console and the manufacturer have supported your needs.
The survey was emailed to approximately 26,000 Church Production subscribers, with completed responses of nearly 1.5%. A wide range of variables like church size, budget, age of equipment, technical knowledge, etc., expands the margin of error in
our results. Still, the results, while not scientifically accurate, illustrate valuable information coming from a portion of our audience.
On to Some Analysis
Eighty percent of our survey respondents stated that they have a lighting console installed in their sanctuary. The remainder has an architectural control system, or merely rheostats or on-off switches on the wall.
As one might expect, 16% report that their system is operated by a staff person; 71% by a volunteer; and 12% state that no one is needed to operate the lighting system during a service.
Programming was a different story, and much more balanced than anticipated. Thirty-four percent report that a staff person programs their lighting system for services; 38% report that a volunteer does that work; and 27% report that they do not program their lighting specifically for services.
Not surprisingly, as you get into the more sophisticated models, such as those from ETC, Jands, Martin Professional and Leprecon, far more are programmed by a staff person than the simpler two-scene preset type consoles-getting up to 50% of the respondents reporting that the console is programmed by a staff person.
Our survey respondents/readers are using 33 different brands of equipment in the churches where they work. ETC, Jands, NSI, Leprecon, High End Systems, Leviton, Elation, Martin Professional, Strand and Zero 88 taking the top 10 spots.
How well do these consoles meet the church's needs? The top-rated brands are High End Systems with 100% responding positively (answering Very Well or Acceptable); Jands at 97%; Zero 88 at 89%; Martin Professional at 82%; and ETC at 80%.
Looking at the same question for specific models of consoles, the strong leaders are the Jands Vista with 97% users pleased; ETC Ion and the High End Systems Hog iPC software-based controller with 100% of survey users pleased.
Not surprisingly, those models that did not fair so well were mostly aging products that may now be asked to operate fixtures and technologies that did not exist or were much less common (LEDs and moving heads) when the boards were designed.
Ease of use is always an important feature for churches. Brands that that did well in this category include LSC, with 100% of owners pleased with their console's ease of use. Jands (97%) and Martin Professional (91%) also fared well.
So what are the easiest models to use? With a score of 100% pleased with ease of use are the ETC Express; ETC Expression; High End Systems Hog iPC; and the Martin Professional LightJockey. Coming in close at 96% pleased is the Jands Vista.
How about factory service and support? Of those who have actually used the support services of their console manufacturer, the leaders are Jands with a 92% satisfaction rate; ETC at an 88% satisfaction rate; and High End Systems, also with an 88% satisfaction rate.
Repair rate is always an interesting statistic. Few people want their consoles to break down on them. Our survey indicated that among all respondents, 29% of the consoles needed one or more repairs. It's worth noting that some of the "consoles" listed are actually software-only systems, and thus there's very little lighting system hardware to be repaired. So, we would expect companies that sell primarily hardware solutions to have a higher repair rate than companies whose control system is just software.
It's also worth noting that, just like with many consumer products, a higher repair rate doesn't necessarily mean an inferior product. If your lighting console has served you poorly, you're not likely to fix it-you're more likely to throw it out and buy something better. Therefore, the repair rate for those products is deceivingly good. On the other hand, a console that's been around for 15 years and is well-liked will get repaired when needed, and thus show a higher repair rate than ones that only sees a few years of service.
That being said, here's what the stats show. Brands with a significantly better repair rate than the average are LSC at 0% having been repaired; Elation at 6%; High End Systems at 10%; and Jands at 15%. Those fairing significantly worse appeared to be brands with a great many aging products still in the field.
If you knew then
what you know now ...
Our last statistic, and perhaps the most revealing one, has to do with customer loyalty. We asked our readers if they would make the same choice of brand and model knowing what they know now. Overall, just 44% would buy the same console again. Fifteen percent would buy a different console from the same manufacturer; and 41% would buy a console from a different manufacturer.
So which brands are the clear winners? Looking at the brand as a whole, Jands would retain 94% of its customers; followed by High End Systems at 90%, and LSC at 80%.
Specific consoles that stood out with a high degree of loyalty are the ETC Ion, High End Systems Hog iPC, and the Jands Vista.
We also asked for our responders' opinions on what they liked and disliked about their specific console. Of the consoles that were highlighted here, users like the ETC Ion for its integration of both theatrical fixture control and intelligent light functionality, ease of use, and good support. Jands Vista users like the graphical user interface approach; no need to punch numbers to access fixtures; and that it's very volunteer friendly. For the rest, there were no over-arching themes to report.
While this is admittedly not a scientific survey with enough responses to claim real statistical significance on the church market as a whole, it does shed some light on what's working for certain churches, and what isn't. But the most important "statistic" for you to consider is, how will the lighting console(s) you're considering work for your church and your team? Try to get some "hands on" experience before buying, either through visiting other churches, attending a tradeshow like WFX (www.wfxweb.com) or LDI (www.ldishow.com), or getting an on-site demo. Perhaps even rent that console you're considering for a week.
Just because something works (or doesn't work) for the church down the street, doesn't automatically mean it's right or wrong for your situation.
Lastly, before drawing major conclusions on our data, here are a few parameters. There was no attempt to correct errors in the data when presenting the results; for example, someone may have said that they do not have a lighting console, but then proceed to supply the make, model, and opinions for their lighting console. As we have no way of knowing where the errors are when approaching inconsistencies, we simply took the raw data at its face value.
Also, don't expect the numbers to add up consistently-a respondent may not have answered all the questions, therefore not all the analysis results will add up to 100%.
In addition, statistical analysis was limited to consoles or manufacturers that had at least five people responding. We don't think it's fair to you or the manufacturer to report that brand ABC had 100% of the respondents saying they disliked the console if only one person reported using it.
