Inaugural Pro Mobile Awards See Magazine Recognising Industry Leaders

Designed to celebrate excellence within the mobile DJ industry, the first annual Pro Mobile Awards were presented on Sunday night. The inaugural ceremony took place following a delicious three-course meal inside The Village Hotel, Solihull, where DJs, retailers and representatives from equipment manufacturers all gathered to hear the winners announced.

Keeping things short and sweet, Pro Mobile’s Editor Eddie Short and Conference Host Mark Walsh presented eight awards in total, rewarding the best mobile DJ products as well as noteworthy personalities within the industry.

Phase One, picked up ‘Retailer of the Year’, with Mike and Julie Stead present on the night to collect their award, garnering a huge applause from the lively room. Meanwhile, dB Technologies won ‘New PA Product’ for their ES 1203, ADJ’s Focus Spot Two became worthy winner of ‘New Lighting/Video Product’ and Pioneer DJ took home ‘New Playback Product of the Year’.

“It was great to pick up the award for New Playback Product of the Year,” said Sam Shepherd, Business Development Executive for Pioneer DJ Europe. “The feedback on the XDJ-RX2 has been excellent and we’d like to thank all the mobile DJs for their continued support and loyalty.”

Ending the evening was a series of awards for personalities within the industry. A genuinely stunned Nick Chatten was announced as ‘The DJ’s DJ’, taking a few moments to thank industry colleagues for the honour. Meanwhile, Harry Kilb received the ‘Gear Junkies Rig of the Year’ Award for his genius Steampunk Disco creation.

Last of all was perhaps the most-anticipated award of the night: ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’ – a longstanding accolade presented at each Pro Mobile Conference and now carried forward into the new Pro Mobile Awards. Joining previous winners Derek Pengelly, Roger Squire, Andy Tain and Mark Walsh, it was Richard Lee who picked up the prestigious award. He thanked industry colleagues via a pre-recorded video:

“I can’t thank Pro Mobile enough,” said Richard. “I never would have expected this award. I’m absolutely honoured, touched and incredibly pleased. And of course, you – the DJs, everybody at the Conference. I genuinely wish I could be there. So please enjoy the evening, enjoy the rest of the Conference, talk to each other, keep that industry flowing, and I’ll see you next time. Once again, I’m absolutely gobsmacked. It’s just an incredible thing to be achieved and awarded, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

The results were:

New Playback Product of the Year

Pioneer DJ XDJ-RX2

New Lighting / Video Product of the Year

ADJ Focus Spot Two

New Accessory of the Year

Novopro Ltd PS1XL

Retailer of the Year

Phase One

Gear Junkies: Rig of the Year

Harry Kilb Wedding Entertainment

The DJ’s DJ

Nick Chatten

Outstanding Contribution to the Industry

Richard Lee