Well I’m excited, next week, the first week of April 2008 is full of fun activities for us DJ’s.
March 30th - 31st, 2008
Sunday and Monday Mark & Rebecca Ferrell will be coming down from Houston to present us with their Master of Ceremonies Workshop which I signed up to right as soon as I found out they were coming to Houston.
I’ve previously taken their Love Story Workshop last time they brought it down to Houston and just absolutely loved them and their material.
This time they cover how to effectively perform the role of the Master of Ceremonies, which we all could use some help in. I don’t think I’ve met a DJ that posses both; Great DJing skills and Great Microphone presence. But that’s just me.
April 1st, 2008
Also next week we have the workshop that will be give by Jennifer Schafer of Premiere Bride Magazine. This will help a lot of business owners, not just DJ’s. It will be for all; Photographers, Video, Linens, Ballroom / Reception Hall owners, Florists, and all. It will cover Off-line marketing and Online marketing.
I will be conducting the Online portion of the Presentation and I will cover; How to attract website traffic, website usability, and list building and management.
I’m very excited about next week! I will be learning and teaching a lot!
Happy Planning!!
–
DJ Francisco H. Perez
Your Professional, Bilingual Wedding DJ in Houston
Public Speaking is hard, it’s not easy to grab a microphone and just let the words flow out of your mouth. I know… for it took me a few times, in public, to feel comfortable doing announcements, introductions, and all the things that need to be said at a wedding. It’s even tougher trying to make events flow smoothly from one event to the next.
What is a Master of Ceremonies?
First, let’s define what is a Master of Ceremonies (MC). Some people think that the DJ is the MC, others that the wedding coordinator is the MC, and yet others think that a close family member or relative should be the MC. Which one of these is correct? Let’s find out.
The DJ as the Master of Ceremonies
Some DJ’s call themselves MC’s when in reality all they are is a DJ who makes the announcements. These DJ’s do this in order to trick their customers into feeling that they are getting more for their money. Don’t you think that’s wrong? I Do. I was at a recent Networking meeting where one DJ went on and on about how he is not a DJ, he is a Master of Ceremonies. Poor Fella. He was the DJ who volunteered to play the background music for the event and of course everyone who went up to meet him made the comment, “oh, so you’re the DJ?” to which he would reply “No, I’m not a DJ, I’m a Master of Ceremonies.” Mr DJ, Take a hint, and listen to what people are telling you. If you are perceived as the DJ then don’t fight it, you are the DJ. The guests will let you know what they think you are.
On a side note, I was approached at my last event, on Saturday March 22nd, and one of the guests asked me for my card for his daughter’s upcoming wedding. His words were, “Are you the Master of Ceremonies for the event? I need your card for my daughter’s upcoming wedding, we would like to hire you for her wedding.” Of course I was dressed as you would imagine a Master of Ceremonies would and I explained to him that I was the DJ and that I would be playing the role of the Master of Ceremonies. Which I believe is the right thing to do, I could have just gone on and let him believe that I was an MC, but that would not feel right. So you have to also look the part, so that other believe you, not just say it.
If you focus on the larger, entertainment world, when have you seen any MC take equipment to an event, play music, or entertain an audience through music? Probably Never! The Grammy Awards, The Oscars, Your Company Awards Ceremony, etc… All the MC’s there, do not play music, all they do is focus on presenting the performers and the people giving the awards. THAT’S IT! Nothing More. THE DJ (at a wedding) IS NOT THE MC. He is the DJ acting as the Master of Ceremonies.
What’s the difference? Well the Master of Ceremonies has one and only one duty. The Master of Ceremonies’ sole role is to make the proper verbal announcements and transitions from one formal event to the other. When was the last time you saw the MC at the Grammy Awards step back an put a couple of CD’s and get the guests dancing? NEVER!
The Coordinator or a Close Family Member as the MC
There is definitely nothing wrong with asking either of these two to perform the MC duties of an event. Especially if either one of them, a close relative or your wedding coordinator, are used to public speaking. A family member will do a much better job than anyone simple because he will know the names of the special guests at the event. He will have no trouble pronouncing any of the family names and he will feel that more at ease, since he is surrounded by loved ones. Now that doesn’t mean that anyone else can do a good job, but he is in a better position to do so.
So what if you want Uncle Joe to do it because he has such a great voice and great personality and he has no Mic Experience?
That should not stop you from asking him. Here are a few guidelines that Uncle Joe can follow to be an outstanding Master of Ceremonies.
Learn The Order of Events at the Wedding - Knowing the order of events will help you visualize how the event will run and the times that things need to happen. This will keep you alert and you will be ready at the time the toast will be, cake cutting, etc. Remember everything will happen when you, the MC says it will happen. You have that control of making things happen and you must make sure they flow smoothly.
Get all Names - of people whom you will introduce, the order that they will be introduced. A person’s name is his most prized possession. Before the date of the event the MC has to make sure that he knows exactly how to pronounce each persons’ name.
Practice the Pronunciation - of the names. The only way to get the names right is to find out how they are pronounced and to practice pronouncing the harder names. This should be done weeks before the event takes place, or as early as possible.
Visualize - how the event will run and look at the sequence, time gaps, positioning, timing, etc.. This is the most important step. To visualize the order of events, the correct time to pronounce the names, where you have to be so you can address the audience and still be able to see what’s happening and to make sure you don’t have your back to anyone. Visualization is very important. If you do a good job of visualizing everything, you will do a great job the day of the event. Just by visualizing how the day will run, you will eliminate approximately 80% of the errors that would occur that day.
Create Transitions - from one event to the other. For example if you are doing the toast, how will you get to that point? What will you say to position the bride, groom, best man, maid of honor, or anyone else that is doing a toast? Where are the Bride, Groom, Best Man, Maid of Honor? Remember, they don’t know where to go, the Master of Ceremonies will have to say it in a nice effective manner. Or you could look for them 15 mins before the toast and tell them in private, I think that’s more effective and it’s what I tend to do, that way when the time comes I just ask for everyone’s attention and introduce the first person doing the toast. Everything has a transition, a segue way, and it’s up to the MC to make it feel fluent.
Practice - Practice, practice, practice. Don’t memorize anything but a few jokes, a few punchlines or maybe a few words. You practice your introductions, your segue ways, your microphone technique, and if possible your microphone tonality. If you know anyone with a microphone and a PA, ask them to borrow it so you can feel comfortable grabbing a microphone and listening to your voice over a PA.
These are just guidelines, and will help anyone that wants to be an MC to get a head start.
There is one book that I read and would recommend to you, It’s easy to read and understand and the information in that book will give you all the tools you need to perform a toast or perform the role of the MC. Click on the link below to visit the book’s site and find out more information.
Today I just wanted to share a little about my online success. As you probably know, my website ranks extremely high in all the major search engines for a lot of search terms related to the Houston wedding industry. I have a #1 ranking for a lot of targeted keywords in Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Last week, I met with my good friend Jennifer Schafer of Premiere Brides Magazine, who will be conducting a breakfast brunch presentation on “How to Build a Better Business Online,” and we discussed the differences between online marketing and off line marketing. Our conversation was so intense and full of idea sharing that 2 hours went by as if it was only 5 minutes and we covered a whole lot, some things we agreed on, some things we had our differences, but nevertheless it was very informative and I learned a lot from her about off-line marketing.
It was one of those meetings where one idea flares an idea on the other person’s mind. And this went on back and forth all the time. We could have gone on another 2 hours and still not run out of things to share with each other. It was a great meeting.
What we brainstormed that day will all be presented on April 1st, 2008 at 10:00 am in the Premier Bride Office located at
All ideas and numbers will be coming from all the metrics and success of this website. And they will be geared to help other Businesses owners achieve the same success, through their website.
Marketing is as simple as getting people to your website, getting them to take an action, and staying in contact with them until they become your customer. Of course I’d advise you to keep in contact with them even after they become your customer as they can be key in generating more customers for you, through word of mouth.
If you are interested in attending this brunch, RSVP by sending an email to bethere {at} premierbride.com
This is a continuous list of new Venues in Houston for Weddings and Quinceaneras that I did not list on My Previous Wedding Reception Ballrooms in Houston post. For those of you looking for the perfect place to hold your reception, here are two more wonderful and beautiful places to consider. One I visited on March 1st, 2008 and the other on March 8th, 2008. Both are very beautiful and very elegant. Also the staff there was outstanding, they get my recommendation.
I appreciate your support and I appreciate you taking the time to subscribe to my blog. Apparently something, an article or a combination of a few articles caught your attention enough to subscribe to my blog. I am very grateful for that. Additionally, I want to further help you and in order to do that I have created this post, just for you.
What I want to ask you now is, what is the one thing that I can write about that would help you. Or what one question, any question, would you like answered? This applies to you if you are a fellow DJ looking for information, a bride looking for wedding information, or just someone that is looking for general information.
Thank you and I look foreword to hearing from you either in the form of a anonymous comment below, or by sending me an email to dj [at] fhpentertainment.com.
Recently, I was asked by the Houston American Disc Jockey Association to give a presentation about the different genres of Latin Music. This was pretty simple since I am pretty familiar with all the different sounds of the Latin Music world. I had done all the hard work before, when I was beginning my road down my DJ journey. I needed to sort all my music in a way that would be easy for me to find and in a way that I could have all the music of the same Genre in the same folder. Since I’ve always used a PC for storing the music, I did this step in the very beginning and it took me a few months to perfect, but I have been using this layout for the last 8 years, so apparently it works.
The firs thing I did was to break it down into the main groups that I could think of which are; Mexican Music, Latin Music, and Tejano Music. These are the main groups of people here in Houston, so I had specify which music went with what group. That does not mean that Mexican people do not like listening to Latin Music or Tejano Music and so on.
Mexican Genres:
I did Mexican music, because a lot of the Latin music here in Houston is from Mexico. Even in the Mexican Music group you have a lot of genres to cover. Here is how I broke the Mexican Music Down:
Huapangos (Song Names)
Redoblando
Entrale En Ayunas
Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas
Cumbia
Fito Olivares - La Cobra
Kumbia Kings - Sabes a Chocolate
Control - Cumbia con la Luna
Norteñas
Duelo - Un Minuto Mas
Pesado - Ojala Que te Mueras
Intocable - El Amigo Que se Fue
Norteno Cumbias:
El Poder del Norte - Enamorate de Alguien
Palomo - Mi Verdad
Cardenales de Nuevo Leon - Para Olvidarme de Ti
Corridos
Los Tigres Del Norte - Most Songs
Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon - Mi Casa Nueve
Los Traileros - Cuando Nadie Quiera
Banda (Artist Names)
Banda el Recodo
Banda Machos
Sonidero
Aniceto Molina - Cumbia Cienaguera
Sabor Kolombia - Ritmo de Bota y Tambor
SupermerK2 - Que Calor
Huaracha (Song Names)
La Huaracha Sabrosona
El Gigante de Hierro
Paloma
Duranguense
Horoscopos de Durango - Mi Amor Por Ti
Montez de Durango - Pasito Duranguense
Patrulla 81 - Como Pude Enamorarme de Ti
Spanish Rock
Mana - Me Vale
Enanitos Verdes - Lamento Boliviano
Hombres G - Marta Tiene un Marcapasos
Latin Music
Latin music is probably a lot more extensive than this list, but as far as weddings in Houston go, a DJ only needs to be concerned with these top genres.
Salsa (Top Artists Names)
Sonora Carruseles
Marc Anthony
Jerry Rivera
Merengue (Top Artists Names)
Elvis Crespo
Oro Solido
La Banda Gorda
Punta (Top Artist Names)
Kazzabe
La Gran Banda
Los Roland’s
Bachata (Top Artists Names)
Aventura
Optimo
Xtreme
Reggaeton
Daddy Yankee - Rompe
Don Omar - Salio el Sol
Angel y Khriz - Ven Bailalo
Latin Dance (Top Artist Names)
Shakira
Ricky Martin
Enrique Iglesias
Tejano Music
Tejano Music is very popular here in Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. For a DJ to be from Houston or any of these cities and not know Tejano Music, it’s pretty rare. Almost any party or any wedding that has a Latin crowd will dance to the most popular Tejano songs.
Tejano (Polka?) (Artists)
Hometown Boys - Mire Amigo
Emilio Navaira - Como Le Hare
Jaime y Los Chamacos - Puerta Negra
Tejano Cumbias
Selena - Como La Flor
Shelly Lares - Soy tu Amor
La Mafia - Un Millon de Rosas
It’s important to note that the method I used to separate these genres is by the way they are danced. What I mean is that all these sections are danced exactly the same way. They speed on the song may vary, but the way they are danced are the same. The Cumbia step is the same for all Cumbias listed above, however I broke even that down into several sections. Some DJ’s prefer to have ALL their Cumbias together, but I find it that if I go from one Mexican cumbia to a Tejano cumbia, I lose some people on the dance floor. Not always, but generally speaking. Why? Because they would probably like to hear another Mexican cumbia, that they know.
If you pay attention to the Tejano, the same artists will sing a Cumbia and a Polka. Now polka is not the official name, it’s just how I differentiate the steps. The tejano cumbias are danced the same way as any other cumbia, and the rest of the tejano is almost like a Polka step, and it is a lot easier to dance.
Another recommendation of mine, if the DJ is able to Beatmix, or keep one continuous beat going from song to song, the dance floor will remain full all night. However, if there is any gap between songs, a lot of people will go sit down. Sometimes, the dancers are waiting for a small break in the music to go sit down.
That’s all my knowledge of Latin music, anybody can feel free to email me and correct me if I am wrong or misrepresenting anything on this article.
Why does my DJ need Liability Insurance? That’s a question that you, as the bride, groom or person looking for a DJ need to cover before you begin your search for your DJ. The simple answer is…
DJ Liability Insurance covers a DJ for any damages a member of the public may be awarded as a consequence of injury or damage to them or their belongings caused by the DJ or his/her equipment. It also covers legal costs & other expenses to do with defending any claim.
In short, the liability insurance covers the DJ in case of an accident caused by his equipment. With so much equipment there is a chance that someone will trip and fall and seriously get injured. Nowadays, you don’t know if that person is going to turn around and sue you, the person that invited him to your party. Without the DJ’s liability insurance, there is a chance you will have to pay for those costs.
FHP Entertainment is one of the few DJ companies in Houston that carries liability insurance. Not very many venues in Houston require for the DJ to carry liability insurance. One that does is Ashton Gardens, in North Houston. They will not allow any vendors to go and do business there without liability insurance. If your DJ or any other wedding vendor not insured and does not get a third party certificate for Ashton Gardens, they will not allow them in there. We are fully covered to be able to perform and entertain there.
So, don’t only ask your vendor if they have Insurance, ask to see the insurance certificate and make sure it’s valid and not expired!
Well I’m excited, next week, the first week of April 2008 is full of fun activities for us DJ’s.
Public Speaking is hard, it’s not easy to grab a microphone and just let the words flow out of your mouth. I know… for it took me a few times, in public, to feel comfortable doing announcements, introductions, and all the things that need to be said at a wedding. It’s even tougher trying to make events flow smoothly from one event to the next. 
Dear supporters,
Recently, I was asked by the 