It’s not often enough that I give my wife credit for the many ideas and inspirations that I get from my her.  It’s timely and priceless.

My son returned from a week long Boy Scout camping trip wearing a shirt from the camp.  When asked, my son told her that one of the leaders, that didn’t even go on the camp, had sent money to have shirts purchased for each of the scouts that went.

On hearing this story, my wife instructed my son that he needed to send a “Thank You” card to the leader for paying for his shirt.

It’s ALWAYS a good idea to say “Thank You” when someone deserves it.

What made this even more timely was a message I had on my cell phone to call a prior client 3 months after the event.

Ryan and Nicole Turner were married on May 6, 2011 and I was truly honored to be a part of that wonderful celebration.

When I called Ryan, I was truly humbled by the heartfelt thanks that he sent my way.  He told me at least 3 times to please have future clients call him if they wanted a glowing recommendation regarding my services.

I don’t tell this story to “Toot My Own Horn” but to use it as an example of the best thing any client can do.  If you hire a vendor, for example, a Disc Jockey for your Wedding, if they meet, or even better, exceed your expectations, please tell them “THANK YOU” for the service they provided.

My suggestion for making the message even more meaningful is to deliver it After the event, like Ryan did.  I also took this as a lesson for myself, and am committing to start sending personalized “Thank You” cards to each of my clients after the event.

So, in the spirit of this post… THANK YOU!  Thank you to my wonderful wife for being an inspiration.  Thank You to all my clients, Past and Present, for making my journey through this wonderful experience as a DJ amazing beyond words, creating friendships I couldn’t have ever imagined.  Thank You, also, to all of you for taking the time to read my little blog.

One of the biggest mistakes a host or announcer for any event can make is to mispronounce the name of someone in attendance or of a sponsor.

How Could You Say My Name Wrong, I'm Your Main Sponsor!

Let me begin this article with the statement that NOBODY IS PERFECT!

I have been fortunate to be in the DJ industry for well over 20 years, and unfortunately the internet wasn’t a major presence for advice back when I started as an DJ Entertainer in northern Utah, I had to learn too many “skills” from my own mistakes.

For example, my worst “screw up” was at a rather large company picnic. I was asked to do the  drawing and announcing of prizes.  One of the winning entries I drew and announced over the sound system was a Mrs. Rapich that was Supposed to be pronounced (Wrap-Ich) not (Rape-Ich).  I felt rather embarrassed when she corrected me as she collected her prize.  To make the story even better, she’s now the secretary for my insurance agent, and I still get an occasional teasing about it several years later.

Because we don’t live in a world where “Jane Smith” and “John Brown” are the only types of name that  people have, and Acme is not the only type of business name, it’s very important to get the names right.

One of the easiest ways to ensure that the names of guests or sponsors are pronounced correctly is to spell it phonetically on note cards or the program that will be used by the announcer.  I’m fully aware that not everyone can truly write in phonetics, I sure can’t.  What can be done to ensure that names are pronounced correctly is to do your own custom phonetics.  For example, if you are at a wedding for a bride named Kirsten, to ensure that her name is pronounced correctly, put (Keer-Sten) including the parentheses next to her name.  If you are at an event where one of the sponsors is the car company Hyundai it might be important to put (Hun-Day) next to the name.  Every person wants you to Say It Right when it comes to their personal or company name.

The majority of mistakes can be avoided by executing the plan put together before the event.  As a DJ, I find it’s critical to ensure that as many details as possible are covered in the planning sessions before an event takes place.  At all my planning meetings, I try to identify with the client any potential name confusion and clarify it well in advance, this can make all the difference to both myself and my client.

To re-quote my opening statement, Nobody Is Perfect it’s also important to IMMEDIATELY fix the mistake.  If a name is pronounced wrong, it’s important to the victim (for lack of a better term) to make the correction and a simple apology.  When it happens to me, I make a joke about it, with myself as the “butt” of the joke.  Laughter can usually fix any minor human error.

Last week was my birthday, and I figured what better way to celebrate than to give away some gifts to readers of my blog.

I started the Shellimark Entertainment Birthday Club for this purpose and am asking everyone to sign up.  For every 20 people that sign up between now and July 31st, I will give away an ITUNES Gift Card.  It’s simple to enter, click on the link above or below, fill out the form sharing with me your birthday (the Year is optional), and submit it.  I’ll send you a confirmation email and verify your entry into the contest.

Don’t worry, I won’t share this information, and won’t all of a sudden start sending you a bunch of emails, I plan to use this to hold random contests as well as send a special Wish my readers on their birthday and anniversary.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE SHELLIMARK ENTERTAINMENT BIRTHDAY CLUB!