Thanks For The Stress Release MTU!

[madjim- with the Lord]

While running one of my regular shows last week it hit me just how much smoother my shows run with Hoster 4.XX. Here are the three main additions which I feel have made my shows less stressful.

1. Having the estimated time a singer sings visable on the playlist is awesome! All a singer has to do is walk up to my station (which is on the side of the stage) and glance at the computer screen to see what time they will sing. If they are in one of the the top three slots in the playlist, the time shows up on the TV screen. This prevents them from having to wait to talk to me so I can count how many songs they have till they sing. It's very cool to be able to tell them what time they will sing right after they get in rotation.

2. The singer database has turned out to be the coolest blessing. There are so many folks that give me a first name only that I just started adding songs to say "david" no matter what their last name is. It's cool beause a singer will see that their name is in my computer and feel as if they are the only "david" that sings with me. I may never show them the database list (contents), they just see thier name come up in the drop down window as I type. It's real fun when one "david" chooses another "david's" song to sing. Very Cool! If there is a "david" that sings more than most, I'll get a last name/initial or a nickname to seperate them.

3. The "All In One" Show Display has turned out to be a surprise blessing. At one of the places where I regularly host karaoke they have an HDTV on the wall behind me that I run the video on while hosting the show. Well obviously the screen setting has to be different from my regular TV which is an old picture tube type. Hoster 4's Show Display makes this very easy to deal with. I maually set the Show Display to fit the the HDTV and use this setting at that venue. At the other venues I double click the show display and it fills the regular TV. I've always used Hoster 4 at the venue that has the HDTV and can't imagine having to change the "seperate screen for each display" screen setup that Hoster 3.XX is based on twice a week.

There are many great additions to Hoster 4 but these three features alone (Estimated Singing Time, Singer Database & NEW Show Display) help my shows run smoother with less stress for me and my singers. THANK YOU MTU!

I am one of the fortunate Hoster 4 users who is not having problems running Hoster 4 (now 4.06), living proof that Hoster 4.06 is an awesome program. Me, Dale, Mark, Sam, Beavis, Billy and others have tried to help everybody get to the point where Hoster 4 runs with no problems but there are so many factors, number one being we can't just drive over and fix it. I think everybody who is helping on this forum is doing a jam up job. If you have a problem and are willing to hang with us, we'll find it and get you on the right track.

It may seem like alot of work getting a computer ready to run Hoster 4 but I can say after using Hoster 4 almost nightly for the past seven months that I will not be without it. I'd do whatever I had to be able to enjoy the features Hoster 4 brings to my shows, hands down no arguments. I loved Hoster 3 but..........

To quote Dale "I am not a member of the MTU Staff.", I'm just one of the blessed folks who gets to entertain for a living that uses Hoster 4.06 regularly and wants to see everybody receive the same blessings hosting shows with it brings me week after week, month after month.

Jim