Lots to follow up on

This past weekend's bridal expo was quite the success! Met a lot of prospective brides & grooms and really got to tell a lot of people about the unique opportunity that I provide! The big screen LCD TV helped deliver that message much more clearly! It was one of the best investments I've made, and it didn't cost me that much too.

Did some networking too, and talked to a bunch of videographers and photographers who promised to get me some of their work from weddings we did together. I just have to remember to get them the dates, and they will go back into their archives and grab what they have.

The banner was also a big hit. I got a lot of positive comments from other vendors, and I feel it made my booth stand out compared to other entertainers at the show. To make sure that the banner stays nice for a VERY long time, I bought a case for it.

With everything set up nicely beforehand, load-in was a breeze, and I was set up in no time at all. The only thing I forgot was the legs for the cocktail table! Instead, I put the laptop (which would display the short slideshow) on the table next to the TV, and the plan was to go to my storage after the first day to assemble the cocktail table and to bring it for the second day. In the end, though, I didn't need it, so it was one less thing to pack up!

The challenge this week is to follow through with everyone that I met. Yesterday, I spent emailing almost all of the brides that I connected with. A few have replied, which is a great sign. Tomorrow, I begin the phone call followups. Let's just hope that I'll be blessed to help them with their celebration; it's always great when I get to work with a bride & groom who truly want to have a memorable and fun celebration!

Warmly,

Marino
Ninja Entertainment

The Best Buy/Guitar Hero incident

Okay, so a few of you have emailed me regarding the Best Buy/Guitar Hero Incident I keep referring to. For the sake of full disclosure, let me tell you about what happened, and why it made me listen to some hair bands and buy a bass guitar recently.

Back in high school and college, I was into that "scene." In college, I played in a few bands, nothing serious or profitable, just did it to have fun and relieve stress. Especially during midterms and finals week, but I digress. Back then, I was pretty handy with a guitar & bass guitar, and while I wasn't Kirk Hammett-good (guy from Metallica) or Slash-good (guy from Guns N' Roses), I still could play well enough to keep the band and our audience happy.

But upon graduation from college and entry into the full-time passion of running my own entertainment company, I no longer had time to practice playing, and so that part of me fell by the wayside.

Fast forward to sometime in January 2007. I'm in Best Buy looking for an MP3 player adapter, and I come across a display of Guitar Hero II. One of the songs in the game is Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N' Roses. In college, I could play that opening lick and the guitar solo pretty well. So I figured that playing it again on a toy guitar shouldn't be that much different, right?

Wrong.

All the fingerings I was used to pressing on a standard guitar did not apply on the GH2 toy guitar. Needless to say, I ended up with a pretty bad score, not to mention feeling a little embarrassed. What made it worse was, right after me, these two college students walked up, picked up the guitars, chose the same song, and ripped right through it--with the difficulty set on expert and hitting every single note.

I knew I hadn't been playing in eight years, but I didn't think I was this bad. So a few days later while visiting my parents, I pulled out an old guitar that I still keep there, tried the same lick...and realized I still had some of it on a real guitar. A little rusty (ok, A LOT rusty), but still had potential.

So that's the Best Buy/Guitar Hero Incident story. It's a good thing that the game was Guitar Hero. Can you imagine if it was some game like Drum Hero? My housemates would totally be unhappy if I brought home a drumkit...but I digress.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you at the expo!

Fondly,
Marino
Ninja Entertainment

Been busy...but not...

It's a strange feeling, not having anything important to do.

Over the last few days, there was a lot of prep work for the upcoming wedding expo this weekend. (Come by & visit my booth!) But it seems like all is finished, and aside from equipment checks that will happen tomorrow, everything is in order. So it's sort of cool to have everything all ready, ordered, and waiting to happen.

I ordered a new banner for my booth. The old one was still good, but it was a simple banner with the name of the company; it did not really convey what I did. Consequently, a lot of people came up during these tradeshows and sometimes asked, "Do you do video?" Or, "so what is this, photography?"

The new banner should convey what I do quite clearly. Here's the design for it:



Thank you to Dave Miyamoto for the image of JESSE & JESSICA which serves as the focal point of the piece. And yes, I did perform at their wedding!

The banner matches the postcards that I send to prospects, creating a unified "theme" among my marketing pieces. It's being printed by the wonderful people at Fast Signs and should be ready by Thursday or early Friday.

I also redesigned the business cards:

These were printed by RushFlyers.Com and should arrive by Thursday or Friday as well.

As for the other paperwork that I'm handing out, they are all printed as well. Since it will be a shorter show (two days), I only printed a limited run on my home all-in-one printer.

So it's good to be ready for this thing. If anything, I may need to pick up a video cable or two (to connect the computer to the LCD TV); otherwise, everything's all set!

Last Sunday was another Hawaii Bride & Groom event, this time at the Willows Restaurant. As a "mini-expo," it was a great way to meet brides-to-be, to network with some of my favorite vendors, and to eat some fabulous food! I had a great time, and it was really awesome to hang out and talk story with the vendors there. I had a great time!

In other news, after much agonizing over whether to buy it or not, I ended up getting a bass guitar. I've been itching to play again after the whole Best Buy/Guitar Hero Incident (that story for another post later on), and with last month's visit to the Music Room and the "rediscovery" of hair band music, I got the itch to play guitar again. I've always enjoyed playing bass more than a regular guitar, but when I started my entertainment company, I really didn't get a chance to play anymore. So the other day, while in town running some miscellaneous errands, I stopped by Easy Music Center to pick up some microphone clips...and there she was. Ahhh, beautiful in black, with steel strings, calling out my name. After much debating on whether or not I really wanted her or not, I finally did it: I bought the guitar. Now I'm not crazy about Hello Kitty or Badz-whatever, but the design of the guitar was just appealing. Now I just have to find a band to play with...

If you're ever in Liliha and hear a bass guitar jamming away to some Stone Temple Pilots, Guns N' Roses, or Nirvana, you will know who it is...

Have a great week, and I'll see you this weekend at the expo!

Warmly,

Marino
Ninja Entertainment

Three awesome weddings this past weekend!

Talk about a busy weekend! Two weddings on Saturday (fortunately at the same location), and one on Sunday night made for a busy weekend. And of course, that meant that the week before was reserved for preparation and rehearsals to ensure a successful trio of events! (And THAT'S why I haven't posted in a while!)

During the week, last minute changes occurred for the weddings, which is usually uncharacteristic but not totally unexpected. For one wedding, changes were made right up to the night before! But it worked out well.

The morning wedding on Saturday for SHERYL & TATE ran a little long, with some things occurring beyond our control that made the party run longer than expected. Then again, with a live presentation, the show must go on, and we managed to get everything in except for the money dance. The reception ended on a positive note, with a beautifully crafted video slideshow presented by IMF Visions capping off a good wedding celebration. It was great working with JANICE at Wedding Planner 808 as well; with her coordinating the presentation, it made my job as host and entertainment director much easier!

The evening affair was more laidback and fun. While most of our clients hire us for the interactive presentations we create, JODI & MIKE hired us for the music we play. When we met them, they had already hired a local comedian for their host, but they were having a difficult time communicating with the DJ they originally hired. By this point, JODI was upset by the poor treatment from this other company, and they were worried that their original DJ would not show up at their wedding. With their event only DAYS away (yes, DAYS) and since it was in the same location as SHERYL & TATE'S wedding, I decided to help them out. (Normally I only do one wedding per day, but in this situation, it worked out beneficially for everybody.)

In the end, the local comedian made the program entertaining without offending too many people, and when the dancefloor opened, we managed to keep a sizeable crowd going for a while. It's not everyday I get to simply spin at a wedding and not have to worry about presenting the formal program, so in this case, I was grateful. We ended the party with our Top Secret Grand Finale ending, which meant at the end of the last dance, the guests were applauding and hugging the newlyweds. Success!

Here's me at the end of the night with JODI & MIKE:



Sunday's wedding for CINDY & AARON meant a fun and elegant presentation, rather than a wild and crazy one. After two weeks of helping them create their presentation, it all came together Sunday night. After a nice receiving line and cocktail hour, we introduced the wedding party to Oliver James' "The Greatest Story Ever Told," and as each couple arrived on the dancefloor, they did a very smooth and elegant ballroom dance move. Very nice! The first surprise happened after the Best Man & Maid of Honor were introduced: after they had done their little ballroom dance move, the music was changed to Sir Mix A Lot's "Jump On It", and the wedding party did something similar to this:

Picture this: instead of Will Smith and the other guy, you have three guys in tuxes and three beautiful women in gorgeous dresses doing this dance. The guests went nuts!

And that wasn't the end of the surprises. When we introduced AARON & CINDY, instead of simply walking to the head table, they went to the dancefloor and straight into their First Dance, to the elegant sound of Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight." As the song ended, everyone could feel the love in the room.

The remainder of the reception was just as fun and full of surprises. PAUL the best man delivered a very inspirational and rousing speech. JENNIFER the maid of honor presented a heartfelt yet funny speech. RYAN (a friend of the groom and my co-host for the evening, who handled all of the "personal" moments of the reception [while I handled all of the formal parts of the presentation]) added a touch of comedy in telling stories about the bride, groom, and wedding party. During their Gratitude Speech, AARON showed his sentimental side as he thanked his parents. (Talk about an emotionally charged moment! Not a dry eye in the house.) The ladies enjoyed The Circle Dance to give away the bouquet. Aaron had planned to do a traditional garter removal & toss, but the twist was that he would throw five garters, giving us five winners! What made the event even more funny was that the most important garter (the one to signify who would participate in the Reverse Garter) got stuck in the ceiling! But we kept the party going, had one of the other garter catchers volunteer, and we had a very fun Reverse Garter! CHRIS, the person who Aaron & Cindy chose to be "The Leg," played the part perfectly. And although there was no dancing at the end of the night (Cindy & Aaron's choice, decided in our planning meetings long before wedding day, for a variety of reasons), many of the guests stuck around to hang out, talk story, socialize, and take photos with the newlyweds. We were contracted to play music until 10:30pm that night, and not surprisingly, we still had a good crowd of well-wishers when the time arrived. For a reception with no dancing on a Sunday night, how many people can say that?

Here's Brandon & I with CINDY & AARON:

Overall, it was a great weekend filled with three great weddings. Thank you to SHERYL, TATE, JODI, MIKE, CINDY, and AARON for trusting us with your special day. I am so honored to be a part of the magic that was created. May you all be successful in your marriage and in life!

With much love,

Marino M. Regalado
Entertainment Director
Ninja Entertainment