When I first met the Fellers at their home, I was taken by Abby's enthusiasm and natural pride in her daughters. And after meeting Stephanie and Lindsay it was easy to see why. Mark and Abby were raising to wonderful girls and we were going to have the opportunity to celebrate that at Stephanie's mitzvah party.
The Fellers chose Town and Country for to hold the event, and when we lit the room up with our Classic Mitzvah Package the room sizzled with excitement. From the beginning to the last song the energy was like a hurricane. Stephanie and her friends brought the thunder and we brought the Lightning.
Stephanie is a bit of a performer herself and so that brought the best out of all of her guests.
My staff all lost 3-4 pounds because of the intensity of the party. There is a way to get to this level of energy without pushing, hyping or cajoling. And the end result is so satisfying that the the memories last for decades. We can take you there. Call us so we can share the secrets.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Great Moments at Mitzvahs
This is from Alex and David's party at the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge. A magnificent party that had everything you could want. Everyone was running with that crazy happy dance energy the whole time.
I just happen to look over and this little girl was dancing with one of my dancers and it was so cool I had to catch it.
In the pantheon of parties that we've done you get moments like this that always slip by that you tell people about later but it doesn't register. This we just happen to catch. She's so cool. Enjoy.
I just happen to look over and this little girl was dancing with one of my dancers and it was so cool I had to catch it.
In the pantheon of parties that we've done you get moments like this that always slip by that you tell people about later but it doesn't register. This we just happen to catch. She's so cool. Enjoy.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The BBC Documentary on Music featuring Michael Sage
Back in 2000 I think it was, producers from the BBC were looking for a DJ/MC who was familiar with dance crazies to be in this documentary. As it turned out I was the only one from the US event industry represented.
They didn't tell me until I got there that they wanted me to speak about the Macarena. Our company stopped playing that song long ago, maybe 3 years earlier, because it got stale for us, and frankly parties in NYC/Brooklyn/Westchester were too hip to keep doing this thing beyond the first couple of years. While Macarena had legs everywhere else we had to let it go. There are probably companies still featuring it.
Whatever your feeling about this dance, it definitely captured the country if not the world and held on far longer than probably most people would have predicted. Enjoy the blast from the past.
They didn't tell me until I got there that they wanted me to speak about the Macarena. Our company stopped playing that song long ago, maybe 3 years earlier, because it got stale for us, and frankly parties in NYC/Brooklyn/Westchester were too hip to keep doing this thing beyond the first couple of years. While Macarena had legs everywhere else we had to let it go. There are probably companies still featuring it.
Whatever your feeling about this dance, it definitely captured the country if not the world and held on far longer than probably most people would have predicted. Enjoy the blast from the past.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
4 REAL Secrets of a Successful Wedding or Mitzvah
1. Get Really Specific with what you want to happen at your event.
One of the best things you can do is to communicate what the most wildly successful party means to you. Many times it’s just assumed in the words that what you want and what the planner/entertainment say and understand are the same things. But it’s interpretation. What does classy mean to you? What does fun mean to you? Use real examples and pictures and what those moments will mean to you emotionally. The planner/entertainer has hundreds if not thousands of parties they’ve experienced. Every person’s idea is slightly different. Sometimes you are hiring them to deliver your feeling and not the vision. Sometimes you are hiring them to deliver the exact vision and feeling. The great planner/entertainment will discover in listening to you what your truest most accurate vision is and make that the priority to be delivered, getting you to the exact place you want to be.
2. Remove the stress out of the planning and details of the affair as soon as possible…like the first phone call.
Choose someone who is as demonstrative in taking care of you as you would like to be taken care of. By addressing the points of your needs you can proactively change the process from a stressful one to a simple and efficient one. It often can feel like a breeze if you have the right people working with you and demonstrating that everything is being taken care of. The more confident and relaxed you are the easier it is for your party to take off to where you want it and even beyond. A great planner/entertainer will take care of you and all the details infusing you and your main people with such confidence you can show up and be thrilled by your own affair.
3. BIG SECRET – You have more influence and impact on the results of your own party than most people ever imagine.
People often don’t know for logical reasons how important their own contribution to their event is. The big truth is if you or the celebrants have as much FUN and Enjoyment as they possibly can it creates a magnet for your guests to align with your energy. After 1500 parties and events, I’ve noted and researched this to great lengths and this is a very useful truth for everyone. Most people want their guests to have a GREAT time at their party. Some would do almost anything necessary to do this. The amazing thing is the MORE the host, hostess, celebrant gives over to their own enjoyment of their own event, the magic of emanating joy penetrates and hooks your guests. So the secret to having a great party is to have a great time yourself. They will follow your lead.
4. Make sure you have a dynamic, passionate and amazing MC or front man who completely KNOWS your WANTS (see #1) and will make it happen.
The MC or band leader is the most important person to your affair besides you, any other host/hostess and the celebrant.. But from a “making it happen” standpoint, he is the point person. He/she sets the tone, style, and feel and takes your guests on a journey through your vision. He determines how far your party can go. He should reflect everything you love about celebrations. You can have an elegant MC and the party feels elegant but never powers up to monumentally memorable. You can have a fun loving rowdy MC and you get the energy and hype but not the real warmth and spirit, motivating excitement during the party but is instantly forgettable immediately after. The feelings are not sustainable.
Most people want their guests and themselves to feel really best they can feel about themselves , truly euphoric if possible. Like they contributed something vital and beautiful from themselves to your party and got something even better back…heart and soul. This is what makes people say that was the best party I’ve ever been to. Because it brought them into your excitement and passion and they felt rewarded being involved with it. In 1500 + events I know this is one of the most important ingredients to the WOW that lives on forever.
A KEY to the 4 Secrets - One of the finest solutions to deliver the amazingly successful event is to have a great MC who can uncover, discover and extract your most fundamental desires, organize and plan a strategy to create it, and then put into action. Right from the beginning, he/she understands it with complete clarity and knows how to deliver it in performance. This is the rare combination of dynamic and experienced MC who knows how to plan events. A planner cannot step in and affect a feeling or performance once the event is underway. They have many skills but that is not one of them.
The MC Planner is the only one who has complete knowledge of your wishes/desires before and can drive and influence your party after the planning is complete. LSNY is one of the very few companies that have a Master MC Planner. Call us today so we can make sure your party and event is the best that your guests have ever attended.
One of the best things you can do is to communicate what the most wildly successful party means to you. Many times it’s just assumed in the words that what you want and what the planner/entertainment say and understand are the same things. But it’s interpretation. What does classy mean to you? What does fun mean to you? Use real examples and pictures and what those moments will mean to you emotionally. The planner/entertainer has hundreds if not thousands of parties they’ve experienced. Every person’s idea is slightly different. Sometimes you are hiring them to deliver your feeling and not the vision. Sometimes you are hiring them to deliver the exact vision and feeling. The great planner/entertainment will discover in listening to you what your truest most accurate vision is and make that the priority to be delivered, getting you to the exact place you want to be.
2. Remove the stress out of the planning and details of the affair as soon as possible…like the first phone call.
Choose someone who is as demonstrative in taking care of you as you would like to be taken care of. By addressing the points of your needs you can proactively change the process from a stressful one to a simple and efficient one. It often can feel like a breeze if you have the right people working with you and demonstrating that everything is being taken care of. The more confident and relaxed you are the easier it is for your party to take off to where you want it and even beyond. A great planner/entertainer will take care of you and all the details infusing you and your main people with such confidence you can show up and be thrilled by your own affair.
3. BIG SECRET – You have more influence and impact on the results of your own party than most people ever imagine.
People often don’t know for logical reasons how important their own contribution to their event is. The big truth is if you or the celebrants have as much FUN and Enjoyment as they possibly can it creates a magnet for your guests to align with your energy. After 1500 parties and events, I’ve noted and researched this to great lengths and this is a very useful truth for everyone. Most people want their guests to have a GREAT time at their party. Some would do almost anything necessary to do this. The amazing thing is the MORE the host, hostess, celebrant gives over to their own enjoyment of their own event, the magic of emanating joy penetrates and hooks your guests. So the secret to having a great party is to have a great time yourself. They will follow your lead.
4. Make sure you have a dynamic, passionate and amazing MC or front man who completely KNOWS your WANTS (see #1) and will make it happen.
The MC or band leader is the most important person to your affair besides you, any other host/hostess and the celebrant.. But from a “making it happen” standpoint, he is the point person. He/she sets the tone, style, and feel and takes your guests on a journey through your vision. He determines how far your party can go. He should reflect everything you love about celebrations. You can have an elegant MC and the party feels elegant but never powers up to monumentally memorable. You can have a fun loving rowdy MC and you get the energy and hype but not the real warmth and spirit, motivating excitement during the party but is instantly forgettable immediately after. The feelings are not sustainable.
Most people want their guests and themselves to feel really best they can feel about themselves , truly euphoric if possible. Like they contributed something vital and beautiful from themselves to your party and got something even better back…heart and soul. This is what makes people say that was the best party I’ve ever been to. Because it brought them into your excitement and passion and they felt rewarded being involved with it. In 1500 + events I know this is one of the most important ingredients to the WOW that lives on forever.
A KEY to the 4 Secrets - One of the finest solutions to deliver the amazingly successful event is to have a great MC who can uncover, discover and extract your most fundamental desires, organize and plan a strategy to create it, and then put into action. Right from the beginning, he/she understands it with complete clarity and knows how to deliver it in performance. This is the rare combination of dynamic and experienced MC who knows how to plan events. A planner cannot step in and affect a feeling or performance once the event is underway. They have many skills but that is not one of them.
The MC Planner is the only one who has complete knowledge of your wishes/desires before and can drive and influence your party after the planning is complete. LSNY is one of the very few companies that have a Master MC Planner. Call us today so we can make sure your party and event is the best that your guests have ever attended.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Review: LSNY Absolutely Received Perfectly by Client
I just received a letter from a recent client Elizabeth Gross and she blew me away with her words. Here's a little video take from their party.
For someone to take the time out to write a note these days is special, I know for myself there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to do everything let alone something like a letter, so each time we get one I'm genuinely touched and thankful.
Liz Gross wrote an incredible letter but she may have done an even greater service for us as well. In her words, she captured as perfectly as anyone our mission as a company and what are all about in practice. Something that is not easy to do. Here it is:
"I would like to write this letter of recommendation for Michael Sage Schindler from the skeptic's point of view. I don't like DJ's with their hard sell attitude and their smooth talk. But my daughter wanted a dance party for her bat mitzvah, and so I found myself in the regrettable position of finding someone I could deal with. After having many phone conversations with a number of people who were recommended to me as "the best", Michael's pleasant manner began to stand out.
Instead of singing his own praises, he urged me to read the letters written on his behalf and to call past clients from a list he provided. The list is so extensive that I actually found names that I knew. I called the ones I knew, as well as some that I didn't. Each conversation was similar - glowing and excited. Not just a confirmation that they hired him, but an outreach to assure me that they had been thrilled with his services.
Michael will take the time to develop a relationship with you and your family. Throughout the preparation, he called me to make sure I was progressing on my end, which kept things moving in a calm, timely manner. And the end of the event doesn't mean his courtesy calls will stop. He keeps in touch even after the party to make sure everything went well.
The party itself rocked! Unbelievably, I have received phone calls and letters from friends to say thank you for inviting them to the best party they've been to. There is a buzz in our community about the event, with folks who weren't invited hearing about the fabulously outstanding time that was had by everyone.
So here I am, a doubter, actually wanting to write on Michael's behalf to say thank you to him, and to try and pass the good time forward. I would be more than happy to speak to anyone about our experience. My conclusion about what sets Michael Sage Schindler apart from other DJ's is that, although we all need to make a living, his main motivation for doing what he does is not to "make money" and be the life of the party, but to share in the celebrated milestones of people's lives. With Michael, it's all about you."
Elizabeth Kaczmarczyk Gross
Thank you to Liz!
For someone to take the time out to write a note these days is special, I know for myself there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to do everything let alone something like a letter, so each time we get one I'm genuinely touched and thankful.
Liz Gross wrote an incredible letter but she may have done an even greater service for us as well. In her words, she captured as perfectly as anyone our mission as a company and what are all about in practice. Something that is not easy to do. Here it is:
"I would like to write this letter of recommendation for Michael Sage Schindler from the skeptic's point of view. I don't like DJ's with their hard sell attitude and their smooth talk. But my daughter wanted a dance party for her bat mitzvah, and so I found myself in the regrettable position of finding someone I could deal with. After having many phone conversations with a number of people who were recommended to me as "the best", Michael's pleasant manner began to stand out.
Instead of singing his own praises, he urged me to read the letters written on his behalf and to call past clients from a list he provided. The list is so extensive that I actually found names that I knew. I called the ones I knew, as well as some that I didn't. Each conversation was similar - glowing and excited. Not just a confirmation that they hired him, but an outreach to assure me that they had been thrilled with his services.
Michael will take the time to develop a relationship with you and your family. Throughout the preparation, he called me to make sure I was progressing on my end, which kept things moving in a calm, timely manner. And the end of the event doesn't mean his courtesy calls will stop. He keeps in touch even after the party to make sure everything went well.
The party itself rocked! Unbelievably, I have received phone calls and letters from friends to say thank you for inviting them to the best party they've been to. There is a buzz in our community about the event, with folks who weren't invited hearing about the fabulously outstanding time that was had by everyone.
So here I am, a doubter, actually wanting to write on Michael's behalf to say thank you to him, and to try and pass the good time forward. I would be more than happy to speak to anyone about our experience. My conclusion about what sets Michael Sage Schindler apart from other DJ's is that, although we all need to make a living, his main motivation for doing what he does is not to "make money" and be the life of the party, but to share in the celebrated milestones of people's lives. With Michael, it's all about you."
Elizabeth Kaczmarczyk Gross
Thank you to Liz!
Monday, February 8, 2010
I Love Flip Video
My wife bought me the Flip Video last holiday season and I wasn't sure if I really wanted it. But once I brought it to my events I can see the real value of these things.
The 1st value is for my clients. Lately some clients are opting only for photography for their events.
On LSNY events we design parties with detailed structure for ease of flow, but there's always room for great moments to happen. It's set up that way for spontaneous-zaniness or radical-magical moments. Typically, something fun and unusual and unplanned for shows up.
Last party during American Idol, the father decided to get up with his nephews in furry hats and sunglasses to do a rendition of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." The Flip Video in hand captured the moment.
Dad said afterward "We should have picked a different song."
Other great moments unexpected...the Single Ladies Dance:
We also captured the inaugural new Ultimate Games Master Game - the Zany Potato Sack Obstacle Course Race. Call us we'll send it to you.
Also we had the Stuff It Game there as well and I don't think I've seen a funnier site than watching 3 kids trying to stuff balloons in a fully inflated players drop flap. We have the video. You have to see it.
So the Flip Video has been a huge asset to us and allows us to review and get even better at the fun.
The 1st value is for my clients. Lately some clients are opting only for photography for their events.
On LSNY events we design parties with detailed structure for ease of flow, but there's always room for great moments to happen. It's set up that way for spontaneous-zaniness or radical-magical moments. Typically, something fun and unusual and unplanned for shows up.
Last party during American Idol, the father decided to get up with his nephews in furry hats and sunglasses to do a rendition of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." The Flip Video in hand captured the moment.
Dad said afterward "We should have picked a different song."
Other great moments unexpected...the Single Ladies Dance:
We also captured the inaugural new Ultimate Games Master Game - the Zany Potato Sack Obstacle Course Race. Call us we'll send it to you.
Also we had the Stuff It Game there as well and I don't think I've seen a funnier site than watching 3 kids trying to stuff balloons in a fully inflated players drop flap. We have the video. You have to see it.
So the Flip Video has been a huge asset to us and allows us to review and get even better at the fun.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Ultimate Games Master Video
NEW - The Ultimate Games Master Party is an alternative to DJ Mitzvah and Band Mitzvah events. You can have a game and skill oriented party run by one of our UGMs and create a totally new type of party. You can have the party with a DJ for greater options and more group games. Pricing starts at far less than full DJ events. Call for details.
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