Oxfordshire's Crown Plaza Conference Centre and Hotel, set in the 440 acres of Haytrhop park, was the fabulous setting for two days of top flight leaning, professional development and networking for eighty of the country's keenest professional DJs. Arriving on the morning of Sunday 17th March through the country lanes in rapidly settling snow, it felt like a great place to be snowed in, a great venue with a full and exciting conference agenda.
In fact the first ProMobile National Conference is a milestone for the mobile DJ industry. This builds on BPM, the annual DJ exhibition at Birmingham's NEC, where over three days 8000 visitors getting a mix of new kit and demos, plus some education sessions. This Promobile national conference takes things to the next level. An intense but engrossing programme of top notch education and networking. In short Continuing Professional Development for us mobile DJs who love the business and seriously invest time, effort and money in learning to make ourselves better and better.
It was to be a great mix of inspiring keynote presentations in the conference theatre, practical educational workshops, panel debates and discussions. Add in some 1-2-1 mentoring advice, loads of structured plus informal networking, dedicated demos and tutorials in the breakout rooms, which all makes for a very full, varied and engaging conference.
So day 1 kicked of with a heartfelt welcome from the conference lead Eddie Short the Editor of Promobile magazine. Lots of content and opportunity to come and the challenge being to make the most of it personally both during the conference and then actioning things afterwards. So taking lots of notes.... plus of course the launch of the competition for the most business cards collected over the two days.
Then straight into the conference's keynote presentation Jim Cerone, "The Perfect Host", one of USA's leading Wedding DJ hosts and Master of Ceremonies, flown in especially. This was a great exploration of Jim's now famous top 10 DJ tips for planning and delivering the best ceremonies and parties, delivered with real feeling and experience. In short to live the role of host for our clients, letting them shine and own their event, but supporting the smooth planning and running with care and thoughtfulness to make the party really great.
Then came Alex MacLaren, an top actor, trainer and consultant on personal impact, creativity and communication, both in the UK (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts- RADA) and USA. A great session learning some key principles, procedures and behaviours used by actors and statesmen alike to create really engaging impact. All up on the stage with some interaction and fun here of course....
Then one of the several panel discussions. This one on the "State of the Industry". Some really interesting topics here including a how new music has become much more short lived and disposable over the last decade, lacking the same degree of staying power compared to the 70's, 80's and 90's. That led to a debate about really knowing our own music collections. The debate over whether minimalist kit is best, and linked to the fact that venues are increasingly installing their own PA kit. Then the changing expectations and impact of communications and the facebook generation who over the next decade will become the customers for wedding events.
Next into the smaller group workshops with Jim and the Alex, to explore their ideas even deeper. Great chance to discuss specific ideas and issues in practice and at a more personal level. So Jim's next 10 points, this time for making mic use work really well, with a clear less is more emphasis and really thinking through the message and how it's delivered including speed, tone, enunciation, emphasis, and length. Some role play with Alex of course to practice some of those principles and procedures from earlier in the day. Being five hours in on day one, so still meeting some people for the first time, that being made lots of fun by meeting them in role play of course....
Take a breath, a quick shower and change for the Pro Mobile Gala Dinner, very smart networking and entertainment in the grand and glamorous ballroom. So a grand start, the presentation of the first ever Promobile Lifetime Achievement Award. The hugely worthy recipient was Derek Pengelly, reflecting the 30 years experience as a DJ, presenter and DJ trainer. That nicely coincided with the launch of Derek's latest book here at the conference...Wedding Marketing for DJs - Ten Top Tips. I'm pleased to now be an owner of signed first edition of course, and all very pleasing having been on one of Derek's courses last year.
A super three courses and then some entertainment. Entertaining a room of entertainers, mostly male, is a tall order of course. The secret seemed to be some proper audience engagement.....so an engaging vocal act with some "backing dancers" recruited from the floor, followed by an illusionist working through the audience with a range of clever mind bending surprises. Then off to the bar for some final socialising....
Monday morning kicks of with a networking breakfast at 7:30. So filling our boots in both respects. Musical tables really, discussing some specific topics and then moving tables to discuss others points of view and other points. Great to engage with a some kindred spirits equally a passionate about the power of lighting programming in enhancing the overall experience....follow up conversations to come, and we might have even established a bit of a enthusiasts network.
A second panel debate discussing approaches to success. Really pleasing to see some well articulated differences of approach, providing real food for thought. That clearly showed that there can be more than one right way of doing things with mutual respect for those difference...whether or not to insist on seeing clients pre event, how to approach wedding fayres, and lots of consensus on backup plans and kit.
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| Derek, my copy and I |
Next some more time to talk with specialists and suppliers in the breakout rooms. Then it another insightful keynote. Having received the lifetime achievement award the previous evening, Derek Pengelly then takes centre stage in the theatre for the launch of the new book and the talk through those ten top marketing tips for wedding DJs, with a focus on real engagement. Lots here, and clear why a book's needed too, and a real testament to the hours spent distilling that 30 years of what works.
After another breakout room break, it's back to the theatre for Mark Walsh's presentation on Stage Work and Performance Art. The most memorable quote of the conference is very likely to be Jim's Cerone's reference to Mark..."light the fuse and stand back", and sure enough Mark was true to that - thoughtful and challenging pointers around positioning, awareness, confidence, reaction, voice and pace.
Networking lunch next in the plush Brassey restaurant with views over the parkland, the accompany the shared discussion and views on common topics with colleagues included comparing the whys and wherefores of our different set ups. The off to the rapid fire 1-2-1 clinics for us all to personally chat with an industry expert and get the really personal help, prompt and support, with lots of very personal progress emerging.
Back to the theatre for the final big presentation this time from Dave Reed of RSD music on Business Planning. A great reminder of the rigour in understanding what success means personally and converting that into the rigour of business planning - especially the financial aspects- and then driving that forward with real action. That included following up our 1-2-1 personal commitments to ourselves and each other over the next week.
With that sense of all good things must come to an end, back to Eddie Short's great wrap up, with thanks to all those who made it possible. The ProMobile and BPM team who brought the idea to life, all the great speakers with their insights and challenges, the sponsors and select exhibitors and also all the other DJ delegates who put in the effort to learn and share with colleagues in such positive way.
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| Happy days - great shared learning, development and networking |
So that's great input, sharing, thinking, ideas and reflection, but of course only half the opportunity. The real challenge being to turn that learning into practical things that make a real difference to the experience that we create at our DJ events. So for me that's 14 pages of notes to distil and then reflect on from which specific actions emerge. Exiting stuff, that virtuous circle of learning and improving getting better and better, and enjoying more and more. Roll on the next one.
