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All images courtesy PINKY YOSHIMOTO / Pinky Photography
 

While I am well-known as as Hawaii wedding emcee, I did get my training and background initially as a Hawaii DJ, and I put those skills to use on November 17 at the Business of Networking social event at the Edition Hotel in Waikiki. The event was sponsored by Pacific Edge Magazine and Social Wahines. Darnelle, the show producer, had asked my good friend David Louis with Dynamic Sounds to be the DJ and provide the sound system, and Dave asked me if I wanted to come along and hang out. How could I say no?

It was a fun experience. I was able to mingle and network with other business professionals. I made some good contacts and even ran into Arsena Kailihiwa, whose wedding I did back in 2005!

It was great catching up with her and seeing how much she and her family has changed since the wedding.

For me, it was refreshing to simply play music as a DJ and not worry about introducing people, rehearsing a presentation, or doing any advance preparation. Best of all, I was able to play some music I rarely get to play at Hawaii weddings: a bunch of dance music! I never get to play the likes of DJ Sammy, Iio, Tiesto, Alice Deejay, etc. at most Hawaii weddings, so it was a rare treat for me to be able to do so in front of real people! Everyone enjoyed the selection, as I saw some people even singing along to some recognizable mainstream tracks.

 

 

 

 

All images courtesy PINKY YOSHIMOTO / Pinky Photography
 

Special thanks to David Louis with Dynamic Sounds for the invitation to join him and perform at this event, as well as to Pinky Yoshimoto of Pinky Photography for all of the great images you see in this post!

Click here to see more images of the event.

Thanks to all who came & partied!

Continue reading »]]> Last January, I was the Master of Ceremonies for Wining & Dining with Chef Jerry Edwards, a special event presented by NACE Hawaii. Click here to read about the experience.

Thanks to Creations in Catering/Dole Ballrooms and NACE Hawaii, here are new images from the event. If you want to see how elegant and gorgeous the room looked, click here to see the new pictures.

 

 
NACE Hawaii President Herb Yamamoto addresses the audience.

 
Chef Jerry Edwards talks about creating a menu to pair with wines at hand.

 

Continue reading »]]> Last night, I had the privilege of being the Master of Ceremonies for a very special event. Chef Jerry Edwards, an expert on food & wine pairings, presented a wonderful wine & dinner pairing, with the message that one should choose the food to the wine, rather than wine to the food. The wines (Kenwood wines presented by Better Brands) were good, and dinner was exceptional.

Kenwood wine specialist Brian Acker joined Chef Jerry to talk about the nuances of the wines.

A lot of special event professionals came together to make this event a success.

• The event was presented by NACE Hawaii, with NACE Hawaii President Herb Yamamoto serving as the executive producer of the show.
• Dole Ballrooms provided the backdrop and kitchen support for the occasion.
• Mystical Sounds Productions provided the audiovisual services for the show, with James Chun and his crew at Crane Media providing the graphics.
• The beautiful decor was presented by Naomi Lee with Les Saisons and China Anderson with REA Events; Sue Tabbal-Yamaguchi with Su-V Expressions graciously provided the floral arrangements & centerpieces.
• Dianna Shitanishi with Hawaii Weddings & Events and Susan O’Donnell with Aloha Wedding Planners helped to oversee operations and direct the staff of student interns.

Musical entertainment during the cocktail hour in the foyer was graciously provided by Ben & Maila. My assistant Lesley Shibata served as the music & effects director, and of course, I was the Master of Ceremonies.

Here’s most of the production & design team for this show.

Thank you to Jerry Edwards and his wife Julie Brown-Edwards for coming to Hawaii and teaching us something new. And to all of you who attended, THANK YOU. Your attendance is greatly appreciated!

Continue reading »]]> Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to work with Quest Crew, the winners of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew Season 3. As the technical director, I oversaw the technical elements (sound, lighting, etc.) of the production.

The event was called The Movement, and it was a celebration of dance and performing arts. Groups from Hypersquad, Studio 808, Honolulu Dance Studio and more performed some very exciting dance routines.

The highlight was the performance by Quest Crew.

Overall, it was an exciting production, and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.

Special thanks to the following people who helped to make this production a success:

• Ryan Chang, Kaipo, and the rest of the crew with Island Fire Productions, for putting together this event and getting Quest Crew to Hawaii,
• Esther Shibata, auditorium manager for McKinley High School, for hosting the event,
• Tina Shibata, for being so great work with as the lighting board operator,
• Jason Ulep with Hypersquad Dance Studio, for “calling the show” as stage manager,
• KC & Taka with Power 104.3, for emceeing the event,
• Jason Tom, beatbox extraordinaire, for being the opening act, and of course,
• YOU, for coming out to support our local dance groups.

Your presence is very much appreciated!

Continue reading »]]> It’s a sign of summer when the blogging slows down because business picks up…and it truly is a busy time for me. Here’s what’s been happening since my last update:

• June 4: Had AWESOME planning meetings with GENESA and her mother ANNA for GENESA & BRIAN’S wedding on June 27, and ASHLEE & ALVIN for their wedding on June 20. Both weddings will be quite unique and very interactive. At Genesa & Brian’s wedding, the guests will be doing several group dances in honor of Genesa’s Italian heritage. And at Ashlee & Alvin’s wedding, there’s going to be a bunch of original surprises that we’re springing on the audience!
• June 5: Follow up with all of the vendors for Genesa & Brian’s wedding, and Ashlee & Alvin’s wedding. Send these Hawaii wedding professionals a copy of the reception timeline and a description of all of the unique activities planned for the celebration. Also, prepare for birthday party the next day.
  
• June 6: My niece MORGAN has her birthday party. For once I’m not on the microphone and simply was “the DJ” who plays music. My niece’s mother brings in her friend Marie to play party games and entertain the kids. I learn a bunch of things from her and invite her to join my team and head up the kid parties division.
• June 8: Hang out with Hawaii wedding DJ friends. My friend Ed from Kentucky is in town, and we pick his brain the whole evening as to how they do things differently in Kentucky. I pick up some original ideas to stay in touch with friends and clients.



• June 9: NACE Hawaii meeting. DAVID WILKINSON with Sandler Training teaches me how to better communicate with my clients, and I briefly get recognized for my work as the NACE Hawaii webmaster.
• June 10-11: Prepare for a private Taco & Margarita Party.
• June 12: I go back to my club DJ roots and spin salsa & Latin music at a TACO & MARGARITA PARTY. Guests have a great time eating, drinking, singing, and trying to dance. Later on, the audience plays Rock Band 2 while drunk on Coronas and Margaritas. I have an awesome time.
• June 13: Buy a new digital point-and-shoot camera from Best Buy, to replace the one that grew legs and walked away from me on Maui last month.
• June 15: Send out anniversary cards to Vange & Rodel and James & Charlene, who are celebrating anniversaries this month. Also send out birthday cards to
  • Chris,
  • Davis from Video 21 Productions,
  • Joslyn,
  • Kath-E from Gayle Weddings & Lifetime Events,
  • Kai from Digital Expressions, and
  • Crystal from The Waterfront at Aloha Tower.

  Also sent out appreciation cards to brides-to-be who I met at last month’s World Class Wedding Expo, thanking them for dropping by my booth.

• June 16: Insane kind of day:
  • Begin final preparations and rehearsals for ASHLEE & ALVIN’S wedding this weekend.
  • Fix my wireless router, which had been wonky for the past few days.

  

  • Put together this week’s Wedding VIP Club Weekly Wedding Tip, which gives you an fun, original idea to involve your guests during dinner. This idea involves your baby pictures and is great for brides & grooms who aren’t having a video slideshow. Become a member of the Wedding VIP Club to get this idea for FREE.
  • Drive out to CoffeeTalk for the Oahu Wedding Association board meeting…only to realize I’m a week early. At least I get a smoothie, an hour’s worth of parking, and a chance to write this on my blog. LOL.

Tomorrow (June 17), I meet MELINA, her grandmother, and her wonderful children, to see if I can help her create something fun and lively for her wedding on November 28.

Busy, huh?

Continue reading »]]> Last Saturday, I had the honor of hosting the Kahala Mall Wedding Spectacular, providing DJ services, and serving as the “warmup act” for Sweetie Pacarro from KSSK Radio. We had a great time.

My dealings with the production actually started much earlier. Julie, the publisher from Hawaii Bride & Groom Magazine, asked me sometime in April if I wanted to participate, and of course I said yes! As we got closer to the date, my role evolved from simply having a booth to eventually helping the show producers create an entertaining and elaborate “stage show” that would keep the audience entertained for the duration of the event.

On Tuesday (May 5), I met Kelly & Jennifer from Kahala Mall to go over the presentation, and they gave me the main “bullet points” that I needed to cover. With that information, I “scripted” my part of the presentation, added musical cues to enhance the production, and prepared some wedding games to involve the audience in.

On the day of the event, I loaded in around 8am, quickly set up the sound equipment, ran through a soundcheck, got dressed in my tux, and mentally went over the production. At 10:00am, I started playing music from Mamma Mia, the hit Broadway musical and one of the sponsors to the event.

Around 10:30am, the party started! After welcoming the audience, I explained the first game we would play throughout the day: The Cell Phone Game. After getting my cell phone number, audience members would call in with correct answers to trivia questions I would ask, and the first caller won raffle tickets for prizes later that day. The audience also played through a version of the Anniversary Game (with the winner ultimately announcing that she has been married 52 years) and Last Man Sitting (a garter giveaway game).

I also introduced Jayne & Kahele, Hawaii Bride & Groom’s Wedding of a Lifetime sweepstakes winner, to say a few words, as well as Matt & Cara, the stars of Oceanic Time Warner Cable’s hilarious digital TV commercials.

At 11:30am, with the audience sufficiently primed and ready to go, I turned the microphone over to Sweetie Pacarro from KSSK, who continued the fun by announcing the KSSK Prize Wheel and hosting a Mamma Mia dance contest. Contestants strutted their stuff and showed off their best dance moves to win tickets to Mamma Mia.

In the end, it was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it because I got to work with some wonderful professionals. And the audience had a great time with the games, dance contest, prize wheel, and more!