Tom Haibeck
Tom Haibeck (“high beck”) is a Vancouver, British Columbia
marketing and communications consultant who has helped plan
and emcee hundreds of weddings, special events, meetings
and receptions. He began his career in the communications industry as a
radio newscaster and reporter after completing a broadcast
journalism program at Mount Royal College in Calgary,
Alberta. At that time, Tom also took the Dale Carnegie
Course in Public Speaking and Human Relations, where at the
tender age of 19 he won First Prize for Best Speech and
finished the course with the Highest Award for Achievement. A few years later, he graduated from Simon Fraser
University’s School of Communications in Vancouver, British
Columbia and worked for several large advertising and
public relations agencies before launching his own firm in
1988. Since that time, The Haibeck Communications Group
Inc. has worked with some of Western Canada’s leading
corporations and was named “one of the city’s most
effective marketing and public relations firms” by The
Vancouver Sun (for more information about the company,
please visit www.Haibeck.com). But his most satisfying career achievement has been the
publication of his book – “The Wedding MC: A Complete Guide
to Success for the Best Man or Event Host” (please see
www.WeddingToasts.com). Now in its seventh edition, the
book has sold over 50,000 copies worldwide and has inspired
glowing reviews from around the globe. His inspiration for the book was based upon his own
experience with the vagaries of wedding protocol and the
trauma of public speaking. He gave his first wedding toast
at the age of 15 while serving as the Best Man at his
brother’s wedding in Long Island, New York. He had no idea
what to say or how to propose a toast, but managed to
mutter a few nice things about his older brother and his
new Bride prior to raising his visibly shaking glass. A few years later, at the age of 20, he was asked to emcee
a friend’s wedding. Again, he had no idea what to say or
how to emcee the wedding – and thus made many embarrassing
mistakes throughout the evening. Still, his sense of humor
and speaking abilities carried him through the event, and
he was soon asked to emcee the weddings of other friends
and family members. Through that experience he was able to
develop and refine an overall approach to the task that has
proven to be exceptionally popular with bridal parties and
their guests. But it was his own wedding that ultimately led him to write
the book on the subject matter. Tom and his wife asked an
old friend to emcee their wedding – and the result was
disastrous. The gala wedding reception soon resembled a
scene from the bachelor party of a few nights earlier, as
the well-oiled emcee regaled the audience with tales of
former girlfriends, outrageous road trips, excessive
flatulence and other inappropriate subject matter about our
boyhood. The Bride’s parents were mortified; many of the
guests were deeply embarrassed; and “the boys” in the back
of the room were in hysterics (with their raucous laughter
further fueling the emcee’s frat house approach to humor).
It was at that point (while the Groom was hiding under the
table) that the idea for the book was born. Within a year of the wedding, Tom had penned his step-by-
step approach to the role of wedding emcee (the book also
offers tips on how to write and deliver an effective
wedding toast plus a review of the duties of the Best Man).
Through his experience in the advertising business, he was
able to pull together the required contacts and resources
to self-publish the book. His first print-run of 1,000
copies sold out within months and generated national media
attention. The Wedding MC handbook has since become a
perennial Canadian best-seller, with its wit and wisdom
proving popular year after year. The book is now available
in American bookstores for the first time ever. Tom and his family live in North Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada. Fortunately, he’s still the best of
friends with the misguided (but otherwise brilliant)
individual who emceed his wedding.
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Series
Books:The Wedding MC, May 2005
Trade Size (reprint)
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