Welcome to the very first edition of our newsletter. I was trying to come up with a way to help keep in touch with our clients, as well as send out information to others. Here is my answer. This way I can relay what is going on to you, our client, and yet still be able to send this to prospective clients to show them what we do for you.
As you read this newsletter we are launching a redesigned website. It will still be simple and to the point, but we are looking to add more pictures and a message board in the future as well. If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear from you.
The last few months have been pretty hectic with the rain and cool fronts blowing in. But get ready because yes, it is summer time, and we all know what that means to Texans. Heat! Lots of heat. Make sure you drink a lot of water, and don’t stay in the sun too long.
On the more personal side, I recently bought my wife a kayak and just this past week decided to try it for myself. What a pleasant surprise. It was so relaxing out on the lake just drifting around where the current took us. I think I like it. I need to try it again to be for sure though. One thing is for sure though, Michelle loves it, and to me that is really all that matters. This year marks our five-year anniversary, and I admit that its been the best five years of my life.
As you read this newsletter, I hope some of you want to send in a article to add to it. We would be honored to include other stories along with ours. The whole purpose of this newsletter is for you to get a look inside my world and get to know your DJ as a person as well as what is going on in the industry.
On May 20th, the American Disc Jockey Association (ADJA) came into town after a successful tour across the states. The ADJA just signed up its 1000th member, making it the largest DJ association in the U.S. Peter Merry is the current president of the ADJA and the driving force behind this tour. Peter is trying to spread the motto of the ADJA: Education-Networking and Support. Peter is doing a free seminar, “Better Consultations Bring Better Bookings,” in all the cities that they visit.
The real winner of this tour just might be the brides and grooms. They will now talk to better informed and educated DJs, which in turn should raise the level of professionalism throughout the Houston area. There will be some prizes after the presentation and plenty of networking going on as well. If you are a DJ asking yourself why you should go to the seminar, consider that Peter’s rates are 2-3 times higher than other DJs in his market. He is out trying to help everyone be better. We owe it to ourselves to be there--better yet, we owe it to our clients to be there. They depend on us to make each event special. This is just another tool to help in that process with one difference: this tool doesn’t cost you anything but some of your time.
With my help, the ADJA is starting a local chapter for DJs in Houston and surrounding cities. Dallas started a chapter after Mark Ferrell’s Worth Tour two years ago.
On July 24th and 25th, the largest bridal show in Texas is back. With more than 450 wedding vendors and counting, Linda Miller always strives for the best. The show is at the George R Brown Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. People from all over the state come to this show to look for wedding dresses, tuxedos, photographers, DJs and pretty much anything else related to weddings or honeymoons.
Businesses started setting up on July 23rd, and some worked right up to opening time to make a presentation that brides will remember. If you need more information visit the website or give them a call at (281) 340-7777 for ticket information.
Gone are the days when a DJ had to carry around hundreds of CDs to every event. Computers have helped solve this problem by allowing us to carry every song we own on our hard drives. Instead of bringing all 5,000 CDs I own to an event, I now only have to bring my computer and back-up computer.
Visosonic has invented, in my opinion, the best DJ software available: PCDJ FX. It does so much more than play music. You can set up waitlists to play during dinner or make a big play list that the client wanted for his or her event. It takes all of a few seconds to look up songs by title, artist or even album title. Mix on the fly or use the loop editor--the possibilities are almost endless.
This alone would have been great, but now Visosonic has added karaoke as a option. So you can convert all of your songs to mpeg format and away you go to digital karaoke. Of course, there are still a few glitches in some of the programs, but most of the problems arise from the computer not being able to handle the program. Those who use it will need a good soundcard. Just remember the old adage: you get what you pay for. With PCDJ FX, you get a top-of-the-line program that is easy to use. For more information, visit www.pcdj.com.
First off, welcome, and I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter. I know I have enjoyed being a part of its beginning and writing for it. A little about myself: I’m in the 11th grade at my high school and am an active member in the marching band. Recently, the series finale of "Friends” aired and something got my attention. The level of public engagement rises when something notable happens during prime time. Whether it be "American Idol" or "Friends" or something in the news, the media can control how much people talk about things. People will discuss "Friends" for days to come and remember the memories that they shared through a television screen with the characters. This finale ranked #2 in the all-time ratings, second only to the finale of "M.A.S.H." So, here’s to all of our friends who, for the past 10 years, have brought us together to debate and discuss--forming a community in which people can talk candidly and not worry about what others think. Now if we could only discuss the economy in this frenzied manner we’d be in good shape.
I look forward to seeing you all here again!
One of the more difficult things that ProFX does each year has been to build a haunted house. This past year's effort had young and old trembling as the walked through "The Haunt On 1960." One of the secrets of their success is the planning they put into the project. Rodney Davis is a major driving force when it comes to the design of the haunted house, and he was recently featured on the cover of the Houston Chronicle's Houston section to prove it.
Another reason The Haunt was so popular was the fact that every night, there were live people inside it doing their best to scare anyone and everyone. That cannot be duplicated by a machine or a video. To see a little girl come walking toward you asking you to play is not such a bid deal unless she is white as a ghost has a sliced neck and just will not go away. Trust me. For more information on times, location and dates of operation visit them at www.thehaunton1960.com.
Only once in my life did boredom invite prosperity. It was 1995, and the Internet was just beginning to introduce itself to the mainstream. I was introduced to it by David Rubin, dean of the Newhouse School of Public Communications, during my very first class at the beginning my freshman year at Syracuse University in New York. Dean Rubin required all of us that day to initiate our e-mail accounts and attempt to browse the world wide web--more commonly known by its abbreviation at the beginning of nearly all of the world's Internet addresses.
I was away from home for the first time, and not knowing many people, I had a lot of time on my hands. I had the good fortune of befriending fellow freshmen Samantha Singh and Benjamin Wightman, who were both learning to build web sites--as a hobby! Rather than spend my Friday and Saturday nights like most college students getting hammered at local parties, I was often found with Sam and Ben in the computer lab at Brewster/Boland Hall. We were building web sites with HTML code, not with handy programs like Dreamweaver or FrontPage.
In other words, we were doing it the hard way, but it proved to be valuable just four years later. Knowing how to use HTML code helped land me a job after college was over, and it served as a springboard for the site you are viewing right now. This is TMAC Sound's third web site--my sixth overall. Roy and I worked on the concept and design of this site for the better part of 48 hours, and for the first time in my days as an amateur web master, I feel we've put together something truly professional and dazzling. We hope that you find these pages mirror our other services--that they are both useful and user-friendly. If you have any suggestions, we invite them, because we didn't make tmacsound.com for us. We made it for you. Enjoy!
