ProMobile Conference 2013 ~ Part 1

Last Sunday and Monday was the first ProMobile Conference for UK mobile DJ’s. When the event was first announced I signed up immediately and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since – I wasn’t disappointed.

The event was held at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Heythrop Park, just north west of Oxford. I travelled up with my colleague Gary, from The Party Hosts and another of our DJ friends – DJ Joe. Hampshire was probably the best represented county with a very good turn-out of DJ’s looking to improve their skills and network with other professionals. On the way up the A34 we suddenly noticed it was snowing and when we arrived at the conference centre it was like entering a winter wonderland.

Everything about the event was top drawer, the venue, the arrival packs, the food and drink, I can’t speak highly enough of the standard that the organisers set. About 80 delegates were booked onto the two day event and it was great to catch up with many old friends and make new connections.

After our arrival drinks and networking brunch we made our way into the lecture theatre for the opening address by the conference curator Eddie Short, the Editor of ProMobile magazine who put the event together.

Then it was time for the Conference keynote speaker, Jim Cerone.

I’ve been reading Jim’s articles and listening to his podcasts for the last 3 years and I can honestly say he has been a huge influence in the direction I’ve taken in that time. His message is that DJ’s should stop “doing gigs” and start “hosting parties”, that we should take responsibility for the success of every event we perform at.

He actually joined us at the earlier brunch and I was delighted to shake his hand as he welcomed us to the conference. Everything about Jim just enforces his image and his mantra of the Perfect Host.

His presentation was brilliantly adapted to fit the British style of wedding and he had obviously taken considerable care to understand how things work over here. My other Party Host colleague, Alan, had been showing Jim and his family around during their UK visit and had passed on some information, but it was clear that Jim had done plenty of homework before his plane had touched down at Heathrow.

The Perfect Host Keynote was really inspirational and although I’d heard and studied the basics of Jim concept for several years it was fantastic to hear it in the flesh. Can you imagine my surprise when Jim was talking about how we present our equipment and the care we should take to make it tidy that he showed the picture below … from my New Years Eve wedding!

More to follow soon …