Erik Kim

Technically Speaking

 

Erik Kim is one of those people who’s been around Harvest Fellowship for a long time. He's one of the most technically intuitive people I know; it just seems to come naturally for him. As a former recording engineer myself, I really appreciate the way he runs sound. He reacts like an engineer but listens like a musician, and you can hear it in his mixes.

 

Erik is an account director at Brand Innovation Group (BIG). You can read his company profile and learn more about the agency here. We got together at his house recently to talk about technology and life.

 

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brad:  I've known you for a long time, Erik. We've been hanging out together at Harvest forever.

 

erik:  Yeah.

 

brad:  Plus we worked together in a couple of businesses. Because of your interest in technology, I think I've heard you called Mr. Gadget a few times.

 

erik:  Yes.

 

brad:  And you are really good at that. There are a lot of people who play around with technology and who can kind of find their way through it, but then there are people for whom it just comes naturally.

 

erik:  Yeah.

 

brad:  That's you, right?

 

erik:  Yeah, I think so. I don't know why. I guess I consider it a gifting. I have an affinity for technology, and I think that's what helped make it exciting for me. I'm serious about it and I love it. I guess how I see it is, when there's a need for something in a certain situation, I want to fulfill that need in the best way possible. If I don't know how to do it currently, then I'm inclined to dig in and figure out how to do it.

 

brad:  You figure it out?

 

erik:  I'll figure it out. And I won't normally let technology stand in my way, although, the older I get, I do find I'm becoming more discretionary with that.

 

brad:  These crazy kids are catching up!

 

erik:  I now pick fewer things to want to know. When I was younger, you could throw just about anything at me and I'd figure it out. Now I tend to stick with the things that I've really learned over the years rather than jumping on every new technology.

 

Take live sound engineering at the church as an example. Sound has really come a long way as you know, and there are plenty of things I don't know. I think it's always a challenge to keep up on it, because I've got a job during the week, and I don't always read all the Pro Sound magazines, and I just don't have time for that. So yeah, when I've got something challenging to do that I have to dig into and research, I definitely want to choose the more direct approach rather than just chasing technology.

 

brad:  Like me, you live and work in a pretty technical world, especially on the web development side of things.

 

erik:  Right.

 

brad:  And there are so many developments, almost on a daily basis, that it's impossible to be expert at all of them. So you have to kind of pick the things that are going to actually benefit you in some real way, learn those and apply them.

 

erik:  Exactly. At work, I am really our main technology guy. Most people look to me. We do hire out some consultative services from a Mac shop, but I am the go-to guy and, if there's something that goes on during the day and I'm there then, I usually get asked the questions.

 

Like it or not, I suppose I understand our server set up, how our backups work, how our internet is set up, and the topography of our network. From a computer perspective, when there's something that can't be figured out fairly quickly, I make a call to our tech services team that we hire out. I'm able to help navigate the more complex problems with them quicker and work through the diagnosis efficiently. If the problem is too complex, having them come to the office is a benefit too, so I can get back to clients. From a design perspective, yeah, the web can be a very technical environment, and because of my tech experience, I navigate the mix of design and tech for the web fairly well, but I don't dig into coding. I leave that to the experts.

 

My job at work is to be the liaison between the client and our agency to make sure that the client's best interest is at heart. The technical part of that is making sure that my project manager has all the details to get the client what they need when they need it.

 

brad:  So this is where your strength in organization and attention to detail really pays off?

 

erik:  Details are important, but the preferred approach is to keep the details with my project manager. This frees me up to be more strategy-related. Back when I was younger, I would have loved the details and taken pride in keeping everything straight. Now, I spend more time up at the 40,000-foot level and working more in the middle part of my brain. I can see design and know good design, but I can also dig into the details, and that's one way I've always been unusual. Most people are either on the creative side or the organized side, but not usually both.

 

brad:  So you're saying your ability to kind of ride in the middle serves you well with clients?

 

erik:  Exactly. And that's what helps me to make solid recommendations for clients.

 

Sometimes, when you start asking questions to try to figure it all out, really good discoveries are made about their company. At that point, they may think they have the ability to accomplish their own marketing goals. In fact, sometimes they end up pulling us off of their work. This really makes us sad.

 

brad:  It's just painful?

 

erik:  Yes it is, and it doesn't make any sense.

 

brad:  Technology is all around us, and you and I would have a hard time doing our jobs without it. I maintain the website for Harvest and am always trying to figure out better ways to communicate. I know that many younger people are very tech-saavy, but that some older people may use the web for email and not much else. What would be your advice to someone who might be somewhat afraid of technology?

 

erik:  Well, for some people to even dabble in it, they'd have to spend money to buy a computer, and then subscribe to internet service to even get themselves going. That alone could be a big challenge and seem formidable. So I would say you probably want to talk to somebody you know who is savvy enough to help you out. Some of your children or grandchildren will probably be able to help.

 

People learn these things by doing them. The more you do them, the more familiar they will become. And, as you gain understanding, the fear will subside and you can move forward. Just doing it will cause you to learn it and you'll have a better chance of remembering how to do it.

 

brad:  Doing it will help you retain it?

 

erik:  Yeah, and I'll even do this with people at the office if we get some new software. We implemented new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software recently and the better approach was to hold off how much information I dumped on everybody because people can only retain so much at one time and then the brain kind of cuts off and people stop listening or they don't retain it.

 

So I find it's better to do bits at a time, maybe start with some basics. Then, when they call you with a question, you answer their question, and you give them one more tip. Bit by bit, you add one more thing on, and then they retain it because they've been using it for a while and have grown confortable with parts of it.

 

brad:  And they're adding one piece rather than 20 pieces.

 

erik:  Exactly. And that's the way sound is at church, too. It's so very hard to help someone get up to speed in running sound who hasn't had at least a modicum of experience because, not only is it actually dealing with live sound reinforcement, it's technology as well.

 

You may have an ear, but if you've never run sound before, it's a lot to deal with. I might ask someone who thinks they're interested, what is it you like about music, have you played in a band, have you ever mixed music before, do you know what a mixer is, do you know what all these buttons do? People who don't have that experience and have to start from ground zero, have a real challenge in front of them because, basically, you're producing a live show from an audio perspective and, in addition to that, you have all the nuances of where things should be in the mix, and what kind of music you're mixing, because they are certainly not all the same and they need to be mixed differently to achieve the right feel.

 

Mixing a rock band is a lot different than mixing worship music. With worship music, it's all about praising God, and the audience needs to be able to know what the melody is, know what the words are, and be able to follow along and have confidence in what they're singing. You want people to sing. So, if the leader's voice is very quiet and the melody isn't there and you can't quite hear the words, people aren't going to sing. But if the worship leader and the background vocals are forefront in the mix, then people can follow and sing.

 

brad:  In a way, you can kind of get the technology out of the way and let the actual purpose of what's going on happen.

 

erik:  Exactly. Worship is a living, breathing thing, and sound is part of that. You've got to be sensitive to that. So running live sound at church may sound simple in principal, but it is really quite complicated. And technology can help it, but it can also hurt it.

 

brad:  And really, there's no such thing as like a standard mix, right? It changes from week to week.

 

erik:  Yeah, the temperature in the room, the humidity in the room, where people are sitting, all of that affects sound. You may get feedback on one Sunday, and you're wondering why on earth am I getting feedback, and next Sunday it's no problem at all. Or even, from service to service. Sound in the first service tends to be different than sound in the second service because of the number of people in the sanctuary, and you need to adjust to that.

 

brad:  There's something I would like your perspective on. There is always the subject of how much technology benefits a church service. There are very high-tech churches who are using the very latest in technology, with lights and motion and video and everything everywhere. Personally, I enjoy that because it's an interest of mine. But some people might prefer just a guy with a guitar, a simplier approach. What's your take on how that all works in the church and how technology can help or hurt?

 

erik:  Well, you're talking to another tech guy, so...

 

brad:  The more tech the better?

 

erik:  Well, yes and no. First of all, Harvest doesn't have an unlimited budget. If we had an unlimited budget, we would have more tech, probably. But I think it always has to go back to, is it pointing to man or is it pointing to God? If you're going to have an extreme worship service with smoke and laser light shows, is it mostly entertainment? Is it pointing to God? Is it highlighting the band and an awesome lead singer, or is it enabling people to really worship? To me, that's where the balance needs to be found.

 

brad:  Well, I've been, and I'm sure you have, too, in services where the technology played a very big role but you almost didn't notice it because the message was forefront and it all blended together.

 

erik:  Right.

 

brad:  The story that was being told was what you were focused on, and all the technology helped to strengthen and deliver that story.

 

erik:  Right.

 

brad:  That's a case where technology can be used to the nth degree without the message being interrupted or somehow distorted. On the other hand, we've seen situations where it was all technology for technology's sake, and the message was just sort of abstract or not real clear.

 

erik:  I probably am not a good person to address that issue because, no matter what kind of event I go to, I have some level of distraction by the technology because that's my interest. While I can worship at Harvest when I'm not running sound, if I go to another church that I've never been to before, I find myself kind of evaluating their setup, how the engineer is doing, how things are being done. I'm just being honest. I have to attend another church a number of services in a row to kind of put that evaluation away. It's just kind of in my blood.

 

brad:  For me, an analogy might be that I can be at a concert where the singers are great, the band is great, I'm really enjoying it, except that the guitar's out of tune.

 

erik:  Right.

 

brad:  And I just can't ignore it. Until the guitar is in tune, things are just not quite right in the universe, you know?

 

erik:  Yes.

 

brad:  Let's talk a minute about how you see your life and your skills and your gifts being integrated into your spiritual life. How do those all come together for you to make you feel as though your life is productive, not only work-wise but spiritually as well?

 

erik:  My philosophy is to do the best that I can unto God with the resources He has given me. An example might be, I would love to have better equipment at church; we honestly could use it. But I realize it may not be in the budget right now, so we just do the best we can with what we have, and we take baby steps in gradually moving forward.

 

I could be jealous of other churches that have an endless budget and all the equipment they want, but that doesn't cause me to leave Harvest. There are bigger issues when it comes to church.

 

I still think it comes back to the earlier question of technology in the church. It's the same principle here. Is it glorifying God or not. We need to be doing the best we can, giving God our best. I think whether that's running sound or doing a Bible study or representing Christ during the week at work, you really should be working to put your best foot forward. I mean, after all, you are representing Christ all day long, every day, and some people may be evaluating that.

 

brad:  Looking at how you spend your time; what your attitude is like?

 

erik:  Right. I'm kind of an intense person, and that can be paired with some perfectionism, but I'm way less of a perfectionist than I was when I was younger. It used to be a lot worse. I think you've got to set your priorities and I think you've got to blend that with doing your best to God. I mean, it's moderation in all things. I still struggle with that a little bit, you know.

 

brad:  A little age will mellow us out a little bit?

 

erik:  Yes.

 

brad:  Well, I do think though that, while it can be a problem to be a perfectionist, we need people in the church—and in life in general—who want to do things the right way. So, is it sometimes a delicate balance? Sure! Because perfectionists sometimes aren't real tolerant of imperfection. And imperfection is all around us.

 

erik:  Right. Yes.

 

brad:  So, not only might we react to this situation that is imperfect, but to this person who is imperfect.

 

erik:  Right.

 

brad:  Seems like we see in churches all the time, people whose gifts are towards exhortation. They want everything to be right, and they will quickly criticize someone who, in their opinion, isn't doing right. Then, there are those who are more on the mercy side of the equation who want to give mercy to everybody and never criticize anyone and never correct anyone. Obviously, we need both of those people to balance that out.

 

erik:  Yeah. I've just learned to really just try and let things go. You've got to pick your battles or you'll go crazy.

 

brad:  Well, I appreciate your orientation toward doing things right, and the way that you've worked on behalf of Harvest for so many years.

 

erik:  Thanks!

 

brad:  How is it that you became a Christian?

 

erik:  My story is not dramatic at all. My mom is a believer, and she took us to various churches since we were small. I became a believer when I was in elementary school and was baptized by immersion in a Christian Missionary Alliance Church. I didn't know about Calvary Chapels until I was in high school. (Harvest Fellowship is affiliated with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California.)

 

It's a journey; one that goes in different directions for different people as we go through life. Your faith is your own and you have to kind of explore and discover that as you get older and ask, "Who is God to me?" I can definitely say that God has kept me my whole life. I can tell that my name was written in the book of life before I was even born, and I am very grateful for that. Life is full of experiences through which God shapes us and He gives us the skill sets we need to do the work He wants us to do.

 

brad:  You're married to Vicki, who is a few years older than you...

 

erik:  Just a few.

 

brad:  Like, quite a few maybe?

 

erik:  Yes!

 

brad:  So, since she's older, who really is the wisest in your family?

 

erik:  I'm quite sure it's Vicki! She has plenty of grace with my intensity and perfectionism.

 

brad:  Well, you've always been kind of a wallflower, just willing to sit quietly on the sidelines...

 

erik:  Oh, sure! She is the patient and gracious one. I've thought this many times: There are probably not a whole lot of women who would have been able to be married to me and still be married to me. I thank God for my wife; she's a wonderful woman. And yes, we've seen a lot of stuff together.

 

brad:  So again, it's what we mentioned earlier, the different gifts, the different personalities, it kind of all works together to mellow us out a bit and make us more balanced maybe?

 

erik:  Yeah.

 

brad:  Probably more useful in the kingdom in general?

 

erik:  Yeah. I think that she and I complement each other well. I'm a little more orderly and picky about things than she is. She challenges me to let go and loosen up a little bit. So, we pull and push one another, and we end up getting down the road okay. Individually, we'd probably be veering off all the time, headed into the weeds, but I think the two of us probably keep the car on the road a little better than if we were just by ourselves.

 

brad:  Getting down the road okay. I like that.

 

erik:  Yeah.

 

 

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credits...

cover photo: Tim Brumbeloe www.brumbeloefineart.com

Guatemala photo: Sara Roach

other photos: Brad Wieland

 

Written by Brad Wieland, this story is part of a series called Spotlight on the Harvest Fellowship website. As new stories are added, you can check out other people's stories on the archive page.

 

published 05/01/2011