Mobile Beat 2014 re-cap

The Mobile Beat conference in Las Vegas has once again come and gone. This was my 4th consecutive year attending and the overall experience once again met, and at times exceeded, my expectations.

As you’ll come to learn by reading what I write, there are many layers of satisfaction that can be found by attending any training, networking or conferences. Mobile Beat is no exception to that. What the conference itself might lack, is more then made up for in the after hours dinners and conversations between DJs that take place. Some of the highlights of the conference itself were presentations on personality types, lighting design, personal growth and wedding performance critique.

Vickie Musni’s presentation “Speaking Her Language: The 4 Dialects of Speaking Bride“ was incredibly insightful. Vickie’s insight into the 4 basic different personality types and how to use that information to better communicate with prospective brides & grooms was spot on. I’m really looking forward to having better conversations with those that I speak with as a result of this seminar. Of course this won’t only help when dialoguing with just brides & grooms, but also DJ colleagues, friends, family and yes… even my wife!

Producer of the 1% Solution DVD series, Randy Bartlett, gave a very honest critique of much of what holds wedding DJs and truly entrepreneurs of all types back. His presentation “7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Wedding DJs” was delivered with Randy’s signature humour, honesty and straight up great advice. One very memorable line from the presentation was “When we believe our own hype, we cease to move forward.” A fantastic challenge Randy offered in order to encourage personal performance growth was “Try to do one NEW thing at EVERY event… at EVERY EVENT.” This should — in theory — be easy to do as I came home with countless new ideas that I can’t wait to implement at the next wedding I’m a part of. In practise of course, it will be much more difficult. It’s so easy for us to slip into “routine”.

The most powerful and dynamic speaker (that I’ve ever, ever seen!) was Bryan Dodge. His presentation “How to Build a Better You” was over-the-top incredible. The inspiration he filled the room with was so infectious it’s impossible to describe. I’ll simply say that in one moment he had us laughing hysterically and 30 seconds later we’d all been moved nearly to tears. His speaking ability was truly amazing. And to think he had everyone glued to him for over an hour and a half without using a PowerPoint or a single sheet of notes! His presentation alone was worth the price of conference admission.

The morning breakfasts were of course very insightful (for a variety of reasons!) and the night after night dinners with DJ colleagues from around the world payed off in spades. I was truly lucky to have my wife Kathryn attend the entire conference with me for the very first time as well.

Lastly… Chauvet DJ planned their own educational seminars to take place alongside Mobile Beat in one of the Riviera Skyboxes. Of the seminars they hosted, “Wedding Lighting Tips and Techniques” by Jeremy Brech & “1% Solution” by Randy Bartlett were two of my favourites. Compliments of Chauvet DJ and Disc Jockey News TV, you can actually watch everything Chauvet DJ hosted by clicking here!

To sum up… the trip was well worth it. As with any conference though, what you get out depends entirely on how much you put in. There is usually very little downtime for me while attending any conference. Every moment of every day is spent visiting, networking, learning and building with colleagues, both new and old. I have so much more to learn.

While I might be attending the ARMDJs conference in Tennessee this coming June, I am really looking forward to the Las Vegas DJ Show in September. Over the last few years, their content has been truly exceptional (many say the best) and I can’t wait to experience what the 2014 edition is going to bring.

Chat soon and as always, call or email with feedback or questions about anything anytime.

As originally written for the CPDJA via their weekly memo to their membership in February, 2014

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