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Beginning Well…Ending Strong

As a piano student – way back in the dark ages – I disliked recitals even more than the dreaded daily practice sessions. Compositions I knew well enough to play in my sleep would mysteriously and instantaneously vanish as I stepped on the performance stage.

In prep for these moments my teacher would always say, “Jerry, begin well, finish strong, and everything in between will take care of itself.”

In explanation, she told me the confidence gained by beginning well would carry me through the entire performance, and the confidence gained by finishing strong would get me back on stage for the next performance. I know I never had a perfect performance, but I learned a valuable life lesson that I believe applies to VBS.

Most likely you have already started planning for VBS 2013, but whether you are knee-deep into the process or just getting started, here are six steps to insure you begin well and end strong.

Step 1: Determine the purpose of VBS: When first asked, this question often sounds ridiculous. Of course you know the purpose! But in reality there are many reasons or purposes for VBS. It is possible that every member of your team will give a different reason for why VBS is being conducted. To begin well it is important that every member of the team have a common purpose for why your church is spending the time, money, and people resources to conduct VBS.

I hope your purpose is connecting people to the Gospel, and connecting people to the church.

Step 2: Establish dates and a budget that reflects the purpose: The long, lazy days of summer have almost vanished and it is getting harder each year to schedule VBS at a time that does not conflict with other major events – both on the church calendar and the community calendar. If your purpose is to connect with unchurched families it is vital to make sure your VBS is not the same week as a major city-sponsored sports camp or at a time when a large number of your target audience is involved in summer school. You get the idea – check the community calendar as well as the church calendar.

Knowing your purpose will also help you budget appropriately. If your goal is connecting with the unchurched then you will want to make sure you have adequate budget dollars for both publicity and for making continued connections following the week of VBS. I’ll share more about this in a future post.

Step 3: Enlist a leadership team to dream and implement the strategy: If you are truly going to connect with unchurched families you are going to need to do more and do it better then you did last year. Invite four or five people to join you for coffee and spend a few hours dreaming. Start by saying, “If money were no object what would we do to identify and connect with unchurched families?” Of course money, or the lack thereof, is a debilitating obstacle, but until we have given ourselves the freedom to dream without limitations we will never identify the very best ways to reach out to the community – which are often the lest expensive!

Once the group of four or five have helped you dream, enlist them to help you implement the dreams. People are always more willing to commit to something they have helped create, plus the dream team has already acknowledged their interest by agreeing to participate in the dream session.

The first three steps are enough to get you started on the road to beginning well. I’ll return next Tuesday with the next three steps for ending strong.

Building the Swing Ride

Materials:

Cardboard carpet tube (often free from carpet/flooring suppliers)
Hammered, silver metallic spray paint
Yellow spray paint
Optional: painters tape
2” thick rigid insulation foam
Jig saw with fine tooth blade
Colored duct tape
Circle punch (scrapbooking tool)
Holographic scrapbook paper (with adhesive back is ideal)
Large Styrofoam ball (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn’s)
Medium diameter dowel rods
Small diameter dowel rods
Red latex house paint
Paint brush and roller
Blue spray paint
11×17” heavyweight paper
Swing template from Decorating Made Easy (CD-ROM)
Hot glue gun
Rotating Christmas tree stand (ours was purchased online here)
Dowel rod to fit Christmas tree stand
Scrap lumber
Screw gun & screws

1. Spray paint a cardboard carpet tub with silver metallic spray paint. Wrap with colorful tape (or painters tape and then spray paint again, then remove tape) to get a “barber pole” effect.

2. Trace a hula hoop onto 2″ foam TWICE to get 2 matching circles for the swing ride. Cut these out with the jig saw and line them up so they fit together. Glue together, paint, and then hide the seam with colorful duct tape. (This gives you a 4″ thick foam circle.) Embellish with holographic circles (cut from scrapbook paper) to resemble lights.

3. Trace the diameter of the outside edge of the carpet tube and then transfer it to the center of the 4″ circle. Cut all the way through so that it can fit snugly around the carpet tube. Slide into position on the top third of the carpet tube.

4. Paint a 10″ Styrofoam ball (or as large as you can find). Press it down onto the top of the carpet tube to mark where it needs to sit. You’ll likely need to “carve out” a place for it to fit over the tube. I used a paint can opener for that and it worked quite well.

5. Paint varying lengths and diameters of wooden dowels and then push them randomly into the Styrofoam ball all the way around… these will look like spikes. Position the ball (with spikes) on top of the carpet tube.

6. Paint long, thin dowel rods (2 per swing). Print the template from the CD-ROM in the Decorating Made Easy book and create as many swings as you need from heavyweight paper. Decorate as desired. Hot glue 2 rods to each swing and then carefully press them into the bottom of the 4″ inch foam circle. Tip: Push the rods in at an angle to make the swings look as if they are moving fast.

7. Find a dowel rod roughly the same diameter as a Christmas tree and screw it into the tree stand with the provided screws.

8. Trace the inside diameter of the carpet tube and then transfer it to a scrap piece of wood. Cut out with a jig saw then screw it to the top of the dowel rod (think “T”). Slide the tube over this and as the rod turns in the tree stand, so will the whole carpet tube!

Building the Ferris Wheel

As an exclusive to our faithful blog readers, today and tomorrow we will post instructions to two decorating items that cannot be found anywhere else! These instructions are not even in the Decorating Made Easy book! We know you’ve been asking for them, so here they are… up first is the Ferris wheel. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the swing ride!

Materials:

4×8’ rigid insulation foam board (½”thick)
Scrap pieces of ½” foam board
Scrap pieces of 2” foam board
Small scrap piece of ½” PVC pipe
Gorilla tape (stronger than duct tape)
Construction adhesive
Latex house paint and craft paint
Painters tape
Holographic/reflective scrapbook paper
Circle punch (various sizes)
Hot knife or heat gun
Jig saw with fine tooth blade
Optional: Low RPM (8 or so) DC motor, coupling, & housing (for bracing)

1. Use a makeshift compass to trace 2 identical half circles onto 2 pieces of thin foam board and cut out using a jig saw. Tape together from behind to make an 8’ diameter wheel.

2. Paint the wheel using either latex house paint or craft paint. Lay out your design with painters tape, then remove the tape after painting (see Decorating Made Easy for sample diagram). Tip: Purchase the blue insulation board instead of the pink and then you won’t have to paint a base coat… it’ll just look like blue sky behind the spokes/design!

3. Simulate lights around the wheel and spokes with holographic/reflective scrapbook paper. Use a circle punch to cut various sizes of circles, then attach wherever desired to the wheel.

4. If you want the wheel to move, make a small hole in the exact center by pressing the rod (attached to the motor) through. We attached our wheel directly to the rod with Gorilla Tape so that it would spin as the rod was spinning. If you don’t need your wheel to spin, simply tape it flat against the wall at whatever height you wish and attach the front pieces to it (building on in layers).

5. If the wheel will spin or be freestanding, it will need to be braced from the rear. Cut a scrap piece of 2″ foam into a circle (approx. 9-12″ in diameter) and push the rod (from the motor) all the way through the center to make a hole. Move it around a little to make the hole a little bit bigger than needed. Then cut a scrap of 1/2″ PVC pipe to approx. 2″ length and push it down inside that hole (needs to fit snugly). Use a little construction adhesive to hold it in place. This will help the wheel turn better because the rod didn’t squeal against the foam as it turned and it didn’t wear away or misshape the foam after hours of turning. Tip: Make sure the rod coming out of the motor slides easily through the PVC pipe. You don’t want that pipe too big or too small. Tape this foam circle to the back of the Ferris wheel. Make sure the holes line up exactly on top of each other. Then cut 4 “spokes” out of scrap 2″ foam (each approx. 2′ long). Round one end of each spoke so that it fits snugly up against the circle in the center. Be sure to place 2 “spokes” along the seam where the 2 pieces of the Ferris wheel fit together. This will give that seam stability. Then place the other 2 “spokes” on the opposite sides. Tape everything well to the Ferris wheel. When you get ready to put it in place vertically, be sure to get some help. It’s definitely a 2-person job!

6. Motor: If you got to see the Ferris wheel in action at any of our VBS Preview events, you probably checked out the back to see what was making it spin. We used the same motor that turned our airplane propeller in Amazing Wonders Aviation. Unfortunately, that particular motor and stand were built long ago so I can’t really speak to the exact specs for those pieces. I DO know the motor is a simple low speed or variable speed DC motor (approx. 8 RPM). These are available from any industrial supplier (such as Grainger, Harbor Freight, etc.). Ours has a rod and 2 couplers (couplings?) with the rod extending about 18-24″ (so that there’s plenty of room to incorporate the stand and anything the motor is spinning). We set our stand on top of a piano bench or plastic crate to get the full height we wanted. If the Ferris wheel will sit behind something else (like a roller coaster backdrop) you don’t have to worry about hiding any of that. Originally I had thought the Ferris wheel would sit in front of the coaster though, so I created a 3-sided box (think project board) and painted it black to hide what would be visible between the bottom of the spinning wheel and the floor on 3 sides. If yours will stand alone or be in front, that might be something you want to consider. (Or you can just drape everything with a black sheet.)

7. Cut a round scrap of 2″ foam as a “spacer” of sorts between the base (the box where the motor is housed) and the spinning wheel. This just keeps the wheel turning smoothly and keeps it from rubbing against the motor’s base. It also helps eat up some length on the rod that sticks out (less to have to hide/cover on the front of the wheel).

8. Place the wheel on next. Then comes the piece with the “legs” (see below or Decorating Made Easy p. 30).

9. Make sure the “leg piece” extends slightly above the spinning rod (rod goes through the top) and all the way to the floor. Measurements will vary. Cut the legs from a single piece of ½” foam (scrap is fine).

10. Trace a small hula hoop onto another scrap of 2″ foam and cut out with a jig saw. Use a hot knife or heat gun to smooth & seal the edges. This circle should be larger than the “legs” as it will be attached to the top of the leg piece and is the final piece of the Ferris wheel base. Paint as desired and finish off with a small wooden or foam circle in the exact center for added decoration.

11. Center this circle on the top of the leg piece. Tape together from behind. Create a hole through the legs and into the outermost circle for the motor rod to enter, but be sure the rod does not go all the way through the outer circle.

12. Lean this final piece against the spinning wheel (with about 2 fingers space away from the wheel). There is no need to secure it as the angle and the support of the rod will keep it in place without needing to be secured. If needed, you could tape the legs to the floor from behind.

13. Trace 4 circles about the size of a small paper plate onto scraps of ½” foam. Cut them out with a jig saw or utility knife then cut them in half to yield 8 half circles. These will be the “baskets” where people would sit to ride. Paint as desired.

14. Tape the half circles from behind around the edge of the Ferris wheel.

Personalize Your Colossal Coaster World Shirts for FREE!

Looking for a way to make sure your VBS team or kids stand out? A personalized Colossal Coaster World T-shirt is just the ticket!

Specialty Imprints, the division of LifeWay Christian Resources that produces our VBS shirts, is making a limited-time offer for free personalization for any church that orderd 100 or more shirts before May 1. Your church name will fit perfectly inside the Admit One ticket on the back of the shirt pictured above.

To take advantage of this offer call 1.800.443.8032 before May 1!

Six Steps to Reaching Your Target Audience

I love the movie Field of Dreams – especially the line, “If you build it, he will come.”

While these prophetic words may work for a baseball field in the middle of a remote Iowa corn patch, it doesn’t hold true for VBS. Just because you create a potentially fun and life-changing week for your community doesn’t mean people will just automatically attend.

As you are building (planning) your VBS, make sure you are building your promotion (marketing) plan at the same time. How devastating to work so hard recruiting and training workers, collecting supplies, and preparing the building, only to realize at the last minute no one has told the community.

Here are six steps to insure your message reaches your target audience.

1. Start Promoting Now!

Actually you probably should have started telling people about VBS 2013 during VBS 2012. But never fear, you still have time to create a successful promotion strategy if you begin now.

First you need to check church and community calendars to make sure you are not scheduling your VBS on top of any major events that will compete for workers and kids. Now you want to make sure the congregation is reminded often of the date and time of not only VBS but any training opportunities that will be provided. You do not want to give the members of the congregation the excuse of not having adequate information early.

2. Put Someone in Charge of Promotion

As the pastor or VBS director you already have more responsibility than you can shake a stick at. (I’m not really sure what that means, but my grandmother said it often.) Refusing to delegate responsibility for promotion will insure that you get so busy with all the other details of VBS you run out of time and energy to make sure the community – and especially unchurched families – know what is going on. For you, promotion is just one more detail. But if you delegate the responsibility it becomes his primary detail and focus.

Encourage your promotion leader to build a creative team who can help dream the possibilities as well as do the leg work. Promotion is a great job for the person (people) who might not be available to work during the week of VBS but are available during the weeks leading up to VBS.

3. Know Your Target Audience

Blanket promotion (banners, newspaper advertisements, store posters) may appear to be telling the entire community about VBS, but you might be spending a lot of time, money, and energy yet never get the word to the families you are trying to reach. Target audience means the specific group of people you are trying to reach – the families most likely to attend your specific church or VBS.

Once you determine your target audience you can then target how you promote to them. For instance, if your target audience includes preschoolers you need to find out where parents of preschoolers congregate, where they shop and eat, and how they best communicate with each other. It’s not hard. Just ask parents of preschoolers what you would need to do for them to hear your message. You can then target your target audience.

4. Use a Variety of Promotion Methods

Try to calculate for a moment the number of messages that are directed at you each day. Make sure you include mail, newspapers and magazines, posters in store windows, phone calls, and electronic messages such as e-mail and social networks. Don’t forget to include billboards, bumper stickers, and conversations with co-workers. In reality you receive hundreds if not thousands of messages each day. If you receive that many, then so do the people you want to attend your VBS. One postcard or banner quickly gets lost and forgotten.

To truly get your message heard and remembered you will need to broadcast it often and in many ways. One of the reasons you need to start promoting now is to allow enough time to utilize a variety of methods. Create a promotion calendar that insures you are broadcasting your message to your target audience in repetitious waves.

5. Be Creative

First you need to know that being creative does not have to mean expensive. Some of the most creative marketing of all has cost little if anything. Your very best promotion is going to be one person telling another person, so make sure you give them something fun and engaging (creative) to talk about. There will be a lot of churches in your community hosting VBS – many during the exact same week – so it is important that your message is heard and remembered. You want to do something that creates a buzz, or as my boss says, a sizzle!

Effective promotion must grab attention within three seconds. The more creatively you convey your message, the better chance you have of getting and holding the attention of your target audience.

Bring a group together to brainstorm fun and unexpected ways to broadcast your message. Remember, the first rule of brainstorming is there are no bad ideas. Every idea has potential. Start with the question, “If money was not an issue, what could we do to tell people about VBS?”

Of course money is an issue, but if you never allow yourself or your team to dream bigger then your budget you will settle for promoting the same way you promoted last year, and most likely miss out on an extremely creative (yet inexpensive) way to target your target audience.

6. Make Quality a Priority

The quality of your promotion is going to signal the quality of your VBS. Again, quality does not have to mean expensive, but it does have to meet the standard expected by your target audience. Once you have determined your target audience you will be able to determine the quality they expect and respond to.

So what do you need to do to get started? Enlist a promotion leader. Today!

Meet Mr. Mark

Let’s kick off this week with some great decorating helps. Our buddy, Mark Jones, over at “Mr. Mark’s Classroom” is the master when it comes to reusing, repurposing, and recreating VBS decorations. But not only that… this year he is also the author of Decorating Made Easy. This year the decorating book has been completely retooled at YOUR request to feature ideas that are not only cost effective but easy to execute. That’s why we called in the expert. Be sure to check out all of Mark’s fabulous ideas on his blog…