PAR’s Virtual Vision Week Successful
Positive Alternative Radio’s 9th Annual Vision Week, held January 12-14, inspired all of its 53 employees and laid the foundation for big plans in 2021, according to Executive Vice President Brian Sanders.
“Although the pandemic kept us from physically being together, we shared so many powerful uniting moments and ideas during the week,” Sanders said. Vision Week’s attendees joined via Zoom from their homes or remote work locations, keeping strict CDC guidelines to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
“Our team proved that 2020 was no match for them, and that even though we weren’t able to be together, we are still united around our mission and vision,” Eddie Baker, President of PAR said.
The theme of this year’s Vision Week was “Back to the Future.” Each PAR team and department presented lessons learned from 2020 as well as their goals for 2021. In addition, PAR’s leaders and team members wrestled with pain points, listing out things that could have gone better and prescriptions to solve them. Looking further ahead, PAR identified a need to be even more connected to one another and the community as a “BHAG” (Big. Hairy. Audacious. Goal.), a concept taken from the book Built to Last by Jim Collins.
PAR’s 2021 objectives include projects to get stations even more connected to their communities, despite the pandemic, building out a more robust programming area, and engaging with donors in a variety of ways including segmented videos and one-on-one touch points. The group is also looking at ways to expand its reach through social media sites like Instagram and YouTube, as well as new opportunities for terrestrial radio expansion.
CCM artist Tasha Layton encouraged the group to continue to share God’s love, even in a divided nation. “Jesus didn’t come from the right or the left, but from above,” Layton said.
The event reached a major highpoint with a powerful teaching on the true, biblical teaching on joy from pastor and author Barnabas Piper, who serves at Immanuel church in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Whatever puts a smile on your face is an echo of what is to come,” Piper said. “You can’t sit this life out waiting on the next one.”
Another highlight was a performance by CCM artists Rend Collective. “In the darkest times, there is still something bright. That something bright is the Gospel and you are part of presenting that daily,” the band’s Chris Llewellyn told the PAR team.
“This is not the Vision Week we wanted, but it is the one we needed,” Sanders told the team as the conference opened. “At PAR, our lives are not spent on meaningless tasks that are boring. Our labor has meaning. The work has depth and purpose. The things we do put a dent in the universe.”
