Mohels: For Some Event Vendors, You Just Don’t Go Cheap
My wife and I recently welcomed our new son, Miles Harry Jacobson (aka: “TrivWorks Intern #2), and as such arranged to have him circumcised in the traditional Jewish ceremony known as a bris. This proved to be no easy feat, even for an experienced professional event planner such as myself; according to the rules, the bris must be done on the baby’s 8th day of life.
Which, from an event planning standpoint, is CRAZY!
Let me get this straight: in addition to all the insanity and sleepless nights associated with having a newborn, we’ve got to somehow arrange a venue, food, transportation send out invitations, and manage RSVPS? Yes. Oh, joy.
But wait, it gets better: who is going to actually perform the circumcision?
The person who conducts the bris ceremony is a specially-trained Jewish professional known as a mohel, and he needs to be booked as well. I don’t know any mohels, do you? So, off to Google we go – this is New York City, right? There’s gotta be plenty of guys who do this, an we’ll find the cheapest one who’s available…right?
Not so fast. We’re not talking just any event vendor here – this is somebody who will be CIRCUMCISING MY 8-DAY OLD BABY. I don’t want just any guy to do this; I want the BEST guy, the one who’s got the most experience, the best training, highest level of expertise and best reviews. I want somebody I feel instantly comfortable with, whom I can trust the health and safety of my precious baby boy with. I don’t care how much he costs – for this particular event, I want the best that money can buy!
Whether you’re searching for a mohel or selecting a corporate entertainment or team building vendor, the big question is always the same: how important is this event to you? For certain events, it’s okay to go cheap; for others, it’s just not.
FYI because we went with a guy whom I felt incredibly comfortable with and confident in, I didn’t worry for a second, and our bris this weekend went great.
<Phew!>
Great point! People just grab the yellow pages or google and take what is at the top as Gospel, thinking it’s okay. Yet no one stops to think about the whole situation and what kind of implications it will have the rest of their life.
Some events – both corporate & private – it’s perfectly fine to skimp on. However, for a bris or important business event with senior executives or clients, how confident are you in randomly selecting a vendor from Google or the yellow pages? And is cheap the way to go?