Or maybe worse, you get the DJ who thinks this guy is a DJ Tutorin’ genius.
The person you select to be the Master of Ceremonies is representing you. It’s probably a good idea to meet them in person and know what they are going to say and why.
Kevin Bacon’s got nothing on me….
I was looking through pics from the Inauguration.
And found a pic that looked familiar.
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That is guy to the left of the President of the United States is Sgt. Maj. of the Army Ken Preston. He is the senior enlisted man in the US army, he represents the men and women doing all the heavy lifting all over the planet.
I had the privilege of meeting him, at his son’s wedding in 2005.
How to get a groom involved in wedding planning…
Cabel Sasser got married. His wife, Nicole, gave him a little room to run on invitations and theme.
Words will not do it justice. Check out his blog post.
http://www.cabel.name/2008/10/on-wedding-design.html
He doesn’t spend anytime raving about how great his DJ was, but they did some really cool things.
Letterpress printed their own invitations.
Here is a detail from the letterpress invites.
A photobooth. (old school style).
Cabel – Congrats! and thanks for sharing your experience. Now I have to go buy a Mac.
More than words.
Bill Herman’s eyebrows are funnier than Dat Phan and Jay Mohr trapped in a burlap sack with an rabid, angry badger.
So I was at Kipp Bros. on Saturday.
I love Kipp Brothers Novelty here in Indianapolis.
I remember looking through the catalog when I was a kid. Nowadays, I need party supplies occassionally, beads, bubbles, etc. They have some really great toys too!
They have great flying toys and wood toys. My kids and my nieces think I am a genius!
So I was in there on Saturday morning and they had a hat. A hill billy hat…
Complete with Corn Cob Pipe!
It was too good to pass up… My friend Robbie Britton has put together a one day conference for Mobile DJs in Greenville Tennessee. It’s coming up on June 23rd.
He has a monster line up of presenters to enhance, improve and motivate DJs. If you a DJ within a thousand miles, you should be there.
If you considering hiring a DJ, you should ask the question…
“When was the last time you learned anything new?”
This industry is dominated by a “professionals” who are putting on the same act they did the day they started. Macarena anybody? In DJing, a commitment to the client involves a commitment to improving your skills.
Many professions REQUIRE continuing education to maintain certification or accreditation. There is no such thing in mobile entertainment. The individual commitment to improving their craft is a great indication of a DJs talent and ability to deliver the results you desire, deserve and should demand.
Which kind of explains this…
In my community of DJ friends, everything south of I-70 is the rural south, unless you are north of I-80.
I did three takes totally improvised. (who says rehearsal isn’t important?)
The music skipped a beat.
Here is a really great first dance bit of mis-direction.
The groom is Mike Anderson of Creative Memories Entertainment in Antelope, California. (I think that is near Sacramento)
Mike – Congrats and well done!
Things you should never say to a DJ
So my friend and former DJ partner Jak got this from Rusty (aka Mudkids aka Bird Men of Alcatraz) and sent it to me. Are you following me so far? good.
I haven’t DJ’d in a club for a long time, but I can see where this is coming from. Nowadays, when I sit down with a client, I want to find out exactly what they want, then make it work over the course of an evening.. I just have to make it work. It’s a different sort of challenge compared to selling drinks and keeping people on the dance floor. I love it.
I remember once upon a time, a Tri Delt came up with a tape of a song she thought Jak & I had never heard before. A little game of stump the DJ, maybe. We threw it in the tape deck and laughed, because we had the original 12″. It got played next. And the Tri Delts go wild!
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What NOT to say to a DJ…
Read More…
Even a trained monkey can be a DJ!
I have seen everything now.
It’s actually pretty cool. Capuchin monkeys have been trained to put a CD in a CD player and hit play. They are actually trained to assist people with paraplegia, so they can do a lot of simple things.
So the question in my mind is simple.
What is your DJ going to do that a trained monkey can’t or won’t. (Monkeys are notoriously fickle).
The answer is simple for me.
- You probably could use some help planing the flow of the ceremony and reception.
- You might like great quality source music. Monkeys hang out with pirates.
- You might want music and a master of ceremonies that can act as your voice through the course of the evening. Monkeys tell bad jokes and fling poo.
- You might want someone to setup and control all the equipment required to make things sound nice. Monkeys like it LOUD! and need assistants to setup the sound system.
- You might want to relax and enjoy your reception with an experienced MC keeping the evening on track. Monkeys can’t be trusted around an open bar.
- You would probably like a good value. Trained Monkeys get about $3000 a day, and take a lot of breaks.
When they teach Capuchins to use iPods all bets are off.
We have reached the tipping point.
We have reached the tipping point. I was at a wedding last weekend with more cameras; disposable, digital, regular 35mm than people.
Skip the disposable cameras
Do the math and show your work!
(cost of the disposable camera) X (Number of Cameras)
plus
(Number of Cameras) X (developing cost per Camera)
It follows…
20 Cameras X $5 = $100.00
20 Cameras X $5 for Developing = $100
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Total $200
What if you took that $200 dollars and bought a cute fun digital camera that was easy to use?
You could spend a $150 on a camera. Get a card reader to get copies of everybody else’s pictures who comes to your wedding and brings a camera.
It’ll be the next hottest thing. The Card Reader Attendant!
I have actually helped a bride or two with this when it comes up. It’s very simple and the payoff is HUGE.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate cameras. I LOVE pictures. I adore great photographers. But the odds are you’re guests are bringing better quality cameras than the disposables and taking better pictures than you can get from a disposable.
And you could be taking better quality pictures with a camera that will survive the Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties, the showers, the rehearsal, the wedding, the honeymoon, the new house, the first born. (In which ever order you choose)
And don’t forget the extra memory card!
I have a tiny Sony Cybershot which I have used for all the pictures on my web pages. It is really simple to use. Simple to carry and convenient. If I ever see Bigfoot, odds on I will have a camera handy. The best part is that is has a fixed lens. So there is very little lag time between sliding open the cover and taking a picture.
The Mystery is Solved
The bride and groom from the Best First Dance Ever have been found!
They were on Ellen today. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2007/12/newlyweds_got_back.php
There names? Michelle and John Brubaker!
How much easier would this have been if the MC had said. “John and Michelle’s first Dance” or “Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker’s first dance”?
Not that hard… Much easier to remember in a once in a lifetime moment.
