The PLACE is the physical location where you will set up your Factory. Your group + your Place + the Family Factory® Package + additional materials = the SPARK (please review the info on the SPARK to make sure you are getting a complete understanding of the Place). Your Factory will most likely be inside a church, auditorium, gym or community center. It’s much easier to have a spot to call your own (permanent stage/set, security, etc) but it can be portable or temporary – parks, schools, etc.

Your Place: We are not looking for a dark, creepy warehouse look; rather a bright, colorful factory that’s full of life and imagination – think Disney, Universal Studios, or a Children’s or Science Museum. As a temporary Factory, it can be as simple as a painted or airbrushed backdrop, or a rolled in rack full of Factory looking stuff. You just need to have a place that’s on stage and everything else is off stage to make sure your audience knows where they need to focus their attention. As a permanent Factory, dream big! Have an initial concept in mind, and then add to it every so often to keep it fresh and new.

It should have controllable lighting, good sound, have a “stage” where people are either on or off it, and be decorated or built to fit the Factory theme. It needs to be open and inviting, friendly, and filled with hearts that understand the Concept and want to help parents and kids. You can look at Light, Camera, Action! to see examples of existing locations, how they decorated their stages and sets, what characters they use, etc.

Remember this is the magic! We want people to talk about your Factory with friends and neighbors. We want your Factory on the news, in the local papers, visited by school administrators, and on the lips of day-care providers and parents clubs. We want your Factory to be THE destination and the model for helping kids become better kids. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we want your Factory to be known and praised by parents as the most intentional place for the spiritual development of children.

As far as technology, we suggest the following to get started:

• Computer and Software – A basic desktop or laptop PC (or Mac running Windows). MediaShout® Software works great for “firing” the media and running the show. Make sure your Video Card is capable of controlling 2 screens (most all of them do).
  
• Projector or Large Screen – Almost any projector will work. Just connect it to the computer and MediaShout® controls the flow of media to it.
  
• Sound Board, Amp, Speakers, Mics – You need to be able to control the sound volume and on/off as well as making sure your audience can understand the cast, crew and characters. Run the PC sound through the sound board and you’re ready.
  
• Lighting – this is where you can spend a little or spend a lot. If your room has controllable lighting (can dim lights and establish areas of light), then use your money to get motion lights as this adds A LOT to the visual parts of the program. If starting from scratch, you’ll need a light board, some dimmer packs and some light cans and cables to connect them all together. You’ll need to mount your lights as in a playhouse or concert. Make sure they are protected and secure.

Your Group: Right now you may be the only one who stumbled across this idea and material. Our first suggestion is you to find a couple more like-minded people and let them in on the idea. From there a small leadership group can be established to flesh out and share the idea with a larger group. The more people you can get “on board” and to take ownership in the Code, Concept, Package and Place, the stronger your Factory will become. Your volunteers will range from on-stage talent to greeters to behind the scene prop-people and technical gurus. We encourage them to dress the parts, wear hardhats and orange safety vests, wear gloves and safety goggles, encourage them to have fun filling their roles and also establish some order and expectations for your kids. See this link for a complete list of “suggested” roles.

Safety: As with any group, especially on with young kids, safety must always be on your mind. A system of security that makes sure kids only leave with parents or intended adults is a must. You must also make sure your stage/set is safe. Through your Factory is not a playground, from time to time kids will be on stage and a part of the presentation, it needs to be stable and safe for kids and adults.

To give you some more design ideas, we have listed some Factory sounding/looking items along with a few sketches down the right side of this page (you can also see the page Lights, Camera, Action! for more ideas):

Possible themed “rooms”:

• Maintenance
  
• Distribution
  
• Warehouse
  
• Fabrication
  
• Boiler Room
  
• Restricted Area
  
• Control Room
  
• Break Room
  
• Tool Shop
  
• Catwalk

Props or Décor:

• Lockers
  
• Tools
  
• Tool Belts
  
• Tool Boxes
  
• Tool Buckets
  
• Liberal use of CAUTION tape
  
• Hard hats
  
• Flashing lights
  
• Strobe lights
  
• Rotating “siren” lights
  
• Time clock
  
• Lots of orange safety cones
  
• “Wet Paint” signs
  
• “Wet Floors” Pop-Ups
  
• Brooms/Mops/Buckets
  
• Flashlights
  
• Emergency Kits
  
• Shop Lights
  
• Push Carts
  
• Stripes/Lines on floor
  
• Canisters/Tanks
  
• Pallets
  
• And of coarse Gears

You can watch this slideshow to see how we converted one end of a gym into a permanent Factory stage and set.