Spreads the “Good News” with Rimage Digital Publishing Solutions

“We knew we needed top quality, high-capacity machines to handle 2,000 to 3,000 discs for our week-long conference.”

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Speak The Word Church International (STWCI) is a 2,500-member Christian congregation and global ministry that reaches all 50 U.S. states and 52 foreign countries through television programming. Each week, STWCI produces hundreds of CDs and DVDs for sale at their church bookstore, some of which are created and sold the same day. Once a year, at a major leadership conference, STWCI sells between 2,000 and 3,000 CDs and DVDs in a single week. Content includes audio and video from church services, music recordings, and complete sermons from visiting ministers. With such high demand for recorded materials, it’s no wonder that STWCI depends on Rimage digital publishing solutions to help generate additional revenue, allowing the church to keep spreading the “good news.”

“We knew we needed top quality, high-capacity machines to handle 2,000 to 3,000 discs for our week-long conference.”
Barbara Zimmer, Technology Director, Speak The Word Church

The Challenge

Since its inception, STWCI has taken a multimedia approach to spreading the gospel. Beginning with videotape and audiocassette versions of Pastor Randy Morrison’s sermons, the church has long sought to incorporate technology into its ministry. When parishioners and overseas congregations wanted greater access to recorded sermons, STWCI began producing audio CD copies, packaging them together and selling them at the church bookstore and eventually through the Internet. Soon, STWCI began duplicating DVDs of its services, and before long, public demand for the multimedia products was making it difficult to produce enough discs. “Except for third-party vendors and the occasional one-off disc copy, we didn’t have any digital publishing capabilities prior to implementing the Rimage system,” said Barbara Zimmer, Technology Director for Speak The Word Church. “As our CDs and DVDs became more popular with the congregation, we started wondering whether we might be able to record sermons live and have them available for purchase immediately following services.” But it wasn’t just immediate turn-around that was important to STWCI. Their annual conference, during which thousands of worldwide members clamor for church services on disc, was just two weeks away when they purchased the first Rimage publishing solution.

The Solution

STWCI purchased its first Rimage solution while attending the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention. “We knew we needed top quality, high-capacity machines to handle 2,000 to 3,000 discs for our week-long conference. None of the other units we saw at NAB came close to Rimage in terms of the advanced robotics and especially the print quality.” STWCI had a very tight time frame – just three days – for getting the Rimage solution up and running before the crushing demand of the annual conference. All it took was one afternoon for Zimmer to learn how to use the software and change the print ribbon. By the next week, STWCI was running the Rimage publishing system nonstop, 24/7 at its annual conference. “By the end of the week, we had produced around 3,000 separate discs. Everything was so easy to learn and manage that we purchased a DVD-compatible Rimage system one year later,” Zimmer said.

The Results

Permanent, Professional Direct-to-Disc Labels

Creating high-quality, permanent labels for media products is a significant priority for STWCI. The church sells CDs and DVDs of its own church services, as well as publishes a variety of Christian-centered “self help” sets focused on particular topics, such as finance or marriage. These products compete with mass-produced titles from major Christian publishers, so it is extremely important that STWCI maintains a strong perception of value among its customers. “The quality of the labels is second to none. I haven’t seen anything comparable to it,” said Zimmer. “The other labeling products on the market are inferior and vulnerable to scratching and peeling.”

New Revenue Streams Boost Return on Investment

Within a year of purchase, STWCI recouped the cost of each Rimage system by creating new revenue streams with their professional disc products. Aside from using the Rimage solutions for same-day service and thematic series recordings, STWCI produces CDs and DVDs for the church’s guest speakers. The church also operates a professional, on-site recording studio and produces music CDs using the Rimage systems. These discs are shrink-wrapped and sold in the church bookstore.

“Our two Rimage units are such workhorses,” said Zimmer. “They are reliable and have paid for themselves over and over again.”

“The quality of the labels is second to none. I haven’t seen anything comparable to it.”
Barbara Zimmer, Technology Director, Speak The Word Church