The Marbecca Bronze Level Love Story Workshop

To Brides and Grooms: If your DJ is presenting your Love Story to your guests at your wedding reception you need to know there is a difference between "reading" a love story and "performing" one. And it isn't a fine line that is difficult to discern. While the differences may seem deceptively subtle, in reality they are a chasm. What kind of Love Story you receive will most likely be based upon the training your MC/DJ has undertaken. It's sad that too many unqualified DJ's have turned what has the potential to be one of a wedding's most heartwarming moments, into nothing more than a tacky cliche.

Day two of the Bronze Love Story with Mark Ferrell

As the originators of the "The Love Story" it's fair to say that Mark and Rebecca Ferrell set the bar very high when it comes to the integrity they required from themselves when they were entrusted by their clients to share the story of how they met, fell in love, the proposal and the bride and groom's true feelings during their wedding reception. They knew the significance of speaking on behalf of a bride and groom should never be undertaken lightly.

Goofing around after class with Carl Mindling. Read his blog recap HERE

I truly believe that only the most caring Mobile DJ's will take on this training and devote themselves to the effort required to successfully present a Marbecca Love Story for their clients. Why do I say "only?" Because the cost of the workshop(s) is not inexpensive and the amount of effort required to learn the proper way to perform a Marbecca Love Story forces them, as an MC/DJ, to dig deep in order to successfully share your story not as a flat read from a piece of paper, but as a journey, dare I say adventure, that brings your audience along for both a fun filled and emotional ride.

Check your ego at the door!

My classmates in this workshop were Robert Kusters, Norman Anub, Carl Mindling and Josh Barron. It was a very special group. Trust was present and we all checked our egos, dignity and self consciousness at the door. I've said it before but I'll say it again. The whole point in a workshop is that you won't be perfect, in fact you're almost guaranteed to embarrass yourself because you are there to improve. So the best way to approach a Marbecca workshop is to walk in preparing to learn, not to be perfect. With that frame of mind it allows everyone in the class to cast aside their inhibitions. Believe me, having been through three workshops you can tell when someone is holding back out of fear of looking foolish which not only defeats the purpose of them being there, it can actually hold the rest of the class back.

Day One at the Marbecca Bronze Love Story Workshop

The wedding DJ's who endeavor to learn from Mark Ferrell are among the most caring in their profession. I can say that because I just completed his 2 day (8 hours each day) Bronze Level Marbecca Love Story Work Shop and saw what it takes for DJ's to learn how to do this the right way. It was fun, enriching, inspiring, exhausting and truly, I feel it was a gift. A gift because Mark teaches in a unique style that both acknowledges the efforts you're making while at the same time being completely honest with you about those efforts. While American Idol's Simon Cowell is a great example of someone who speaks brutal truth, that isn't Mark's style. Mark will be that honest with you but he leaves out the brutality and instead offers guidance about what to improve, how and why.

Top: Norman Anub, Robert Kusters, Me, Josh Barron and Carl Mindling

Robert really excelled in this workshop. Norman threw his whole heart and mind into the process. Carl, having taken the Love Story once before worked at refining his skills. And while Josh gave 100% effort I was particularly impressed by him simply for being there!

Wedding Entertainment Director™ Mitch Taylor

IMO, Mitch Taylor, owner of Taylored Weddings in Gladstone, Michigan, understands better than many other Multi-op DJ companies (aka companies with staff) that sending out a truly qualified associate DJ to represent his company is the most ethical way to run a Multi-op.

Sadly, there are plenty of Multi-ops around whose goal is to offer low prices, not a DJ of quality, to their clients. So, they hire untrained DJ's and let them learn on the job. That means a real wedding, possibly your wedding, becomes nothing more than an experiment for these green DJ's to learn from.

Because Mitch feels so strongly about the need to properly train a new DJ before sending him out to perform a wedding he helped sponsor Josh's trip sending his new protege all the way from Michigan to San Jose, CA to attend both the Marbecca Bronze Level MC and Bronze Level Love Story Workshops.

When we spoke on the phone yesterday Mitch told me for his first employee he purposely chose Josh because he had no DJ experience. He wants to train Josh from the ground up helping to mold him into a professional DJ of quality. While this approach forces Mitch to have to work a lot harder, it is BRILLIANT! Josh has no bad habits to overcome which will absolutely be to his benefit as he begins working with one of the best DJ's in the country, Mitch Taylor, while being trained by, imo, the industry's best mentor, Mark Ferrell. All new DJ's should be so fortunate.

Mitch Taylor's credentials include that he was the first Wedding Entertainment Director™ from the state of Michigan by the Wedding Entertainment Directors Guild™, he is a columnist for the industry’s leading periodical Disc Jockey News and for the American Disc Jockey Association newsletter, is currently President and founding member of the Upper Peninsula chapter of the ADJA and he is current President of Education for Bay De Noc Toastmasters.

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If you want to learn more about what the Marbecca workshops are like here are recaps to the previous workshops I've attended:

• Mark Ferrell's Bronze Master of Ceremonies Workshop

• Mark Ferrell's Silver Level MC Workshop