Introducing one of Canberra's best DJ's ... what's your name again mate ?

Answer: Dopius, and thankfully he wasn't completely offended when I forgot his name while introducing him to the 90 or so people in attendance at last Friday's "end of year extravaganza". Apart from that rather stupid stuff up, my MC'ing went quite well .. It was a little unfortunate that forgetting the DJ's name received the biggest laughs for the night, despite my well-crafted, perfectly timed and undoubtedly witty attempts at deliberate humour, which for the most part, received only a polite acknowledgement (enough to block out the sound of crickets anyway!). I ended up resorting to making weird noises, such as the "trill", which is a noise one makes when showing ones appreciation for a belly dancing performance.

I am happy to report that the night was a success, and as predicted, ended with me feeling slightly under the weather after some frequent visits to the bar in the later part of the night. For most of the night, I was too stressed to relax, which wasn't helped by "Phil", the function centre manager who seemed to be more nervous than I was. I couldn't sit and chat for more than 10 minutes before poor old Phil came tapping on my shoulder. I am not entirely sure what I am meant to do when one table is lagging behind the rest, having not eaten their soup fast enough, but Phil seemed adamant that this delay would ruin the night completely. Once dinner was out of the way, and the band started, I knew it was all under control, and so in true McCarthy style, I unleashed myself at the bar, and on the dance floor (I now have a sore neck?!).

So it was a good night, and I am glad it went well. I am equally glad it is over! Much like when I was involved in organsing the car rallies of the past, I have learnt a lot about organising big events, such as:

* students never commit to anything until the very last minute.

* always ask for the spelling of a name under which a booking is to be made, particularly when they have a strong Indian accent.

* never trust a band promoter that says "trust me".

* always appreciate any help you get, however large or small the contribuition is (though I already knew this).

I am hoping to get some photo's of the night soon.