Tech Forum

Does anybody know why there is such a strong prohibition against mounting projectors on the ceiling in meetinghouses? The local FM group said that it was one of the most commonly requested features but was explicitly prohibited in no uncertain terms from SLC and if the stake president felt really strongly about it he could escalate the issue up the chain himself but even then it was unlikely to be approved.

If you only get one projector per building like we do now, which room would you select to put it in?

The chapel seems the only logical choice.

Exactly what we want. But prohibited.

why would you want to permanently mount the only projector you have for a building in one room?

Kind of takes the flexibility of use away, as well as leaving an expensive piece of equipment in an unsecured location, not to mention the added expense needed to mount it.

Much harder to steal a projector mounted 30 feet off the ground, and if a stake wants to buy a projector with their own funds and mount it why aren't they allowed to? Stakes are allowed to buy extra projectors with SP approval, but aren't allowed to mount anything to the ceiling?

aclawson wrote: Stakes are allowed to buy extra projectors with SP approval,

They are? Is there a limit as to how many the stake can purchase? Is this in writing someplace? We have been told projectors are a "media item" and can only come from the FM group.

I have seen wards/stakes buy their own projectors and never heard anybody mention anything about it... there's a one size fits all policy covering that as well?

aclawson wrote:I have seen wards/stakes buy their own projectors and never heard anybody mention anything about it...

Just because it has been done does not make it the right thing to do.

aclawson wrote:there's a one size fits all policy covering that as well?

Projectors are considered media equipment that fall under the authorization for equipment in the meeting house media center, just like televisions. The FM group is responsible for funding and purchasing media center equipment. It would be a miss appropriation of funds to purchase additional projectors using the Local Unit Budget Allowance. For me I place it under the same category as computers, although others are sure to disagree with me.

Gary_Miller wrote:Projectors are considered media equipment that fall under the authorization for equipment in the meeting house media center, just like televisions.

What's your source for that declaration?

At least in our stake, the projectors have never had a connection to the meetinghouse media center, and we've never received any counsel from the FM group along those lines.

aclawson wrote:Much harder to steal a projector mounted 30 feet off the ground

Another disadvantage is that it is much harder to thump the projector during broadcasts to get it going again. And we have to clean our projector filter once or twice each general conference weekend, too.

It is much more convenient for us to have it right there at the side of the podium, where we can do all that technical stuff, and still be able to plug in the cable from the laptop when we run home movies during leadership meetings.

aclawson wrote:Stakes are allowed to buy extra projectors with SP approval

Hmm. According to the FM Group, we have a projector because we have a satellite system. And even if our stake president were to approve buying an extra projector, he does not have enough authority to approve the additional budget allocation that would be needed to keep us from overdrawing our account if we decided to purchase one.