Should You Turn Down Work

[brianmole 0]

I have received a few calls so far this week which I am not suitable for. These were mainly kids do's where more of an entertainer is required. I politely explained to the client that this was not my area of expertise, and found suitable contacts for them.

 

I imagine some DJs like a good challenge or need the work, or some are not worried about the risk of screwing up a client's party though.

 

Discuss...

[High Fidelity 0]

I always turn down work if I'm not sure that I'm the right person for the job.

 

When I do turn it down, I normally give them a list of people to try who I think will be suitable.

 

 

 

Oh, and ask them to mention my name :ads:

[spinner 0]

I have received a few calls so far this week which I am not suitable for. These were mainly kids do's where more of an entertainer is required. I politely explained to the client that this was not my area of expertise, and found suitable contacts for them.

 

I imagine some DJs like a good challenge or need the work, or some are not worried about the risk of screwing up a client's party though.

 

Discuss...

 

 

 

I had two enquiries 2 weeks ago for birthday parties for 6 year olds and three enquiries last week for birthday parties for 12 or 13 year-olds.

 

I explained that I accept bookings for adults only.

 

5 or 6 years ago I used to do cut price gigs for the local village college that my son and daughter attended so I have experience of the latter age group and that's a contributory factor to my policy.

 

That apart there is also the fact that client price expectations are likely to be lower, not least because the functions may only last for, say, 2 or 3 hours.

[Danno13 0]

The only time i'd turn something away is if it were some kind of specialist music night. As most of my bookings are weddings and family parties where they just want a mix of everything, so i haven't had to do this yet. Lots of DJs seem to turn away 18ths and 21sts but i find these great (being 20 myself probably helps) and I keep up to date with music anyway as i find its essential even for your normal weddings, coporate etc.

 

I don't mind doing kids parties, although I don't knock much off for the fact that its a shorter gig, i've lost a couple of enquiries due to this, but in the long run its better for business. If they do book then i loose out on £25 but get an early night.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

Im always turning down kids parties , most other things I can do my self...

 

 

[Mattaious 0]

Yeah i think you should turn it down if its not your cuppa

 

Being honest we dont turn down that much,

 

we are very popular with our kids parties because a friend of ours also has bouncy castles and other stuff.

 

never really turned much away, apart from bamistsva's or however you spell it.

 

a wake the other month (for disco and karaoke)

 

thats about it

[C.S 0]

turn down kids parties and funnily enough any enquiry that doesnt feel right ,instinct and all that.

[Corabar Steve 0]

Absolutely, if you're not up to doing all that's required don't take the job.

 

I wouldn't dream of taking a job that involved Dance, D&B or R&B all night, I could manage a few little bits throughout the night but not all night. I'm hoping anyone who doesn't know about a particular genre or function wouldn't take on anything they knew nothing about.

 

However there's no accounting for cowboys, you know the ones......" Yeah sure, no problem we can do rock" Then they turn up with 2 SL 1200s a 2 channel mixer & shedloads of dance 12"s

[Gary 0]

On the whole, I'd say YES, we should turn down work that we feel we are not suitable for.

 

However, theres also the experience factor (no not that awful TV show with Simon Cowl). One venue that I regularly DJ at, effectively takes the booking first, books me for that date - possibly months and months in advance, and then prompts the hirers with one of my music lists/details forms nearer the event.

 

Every once in a while, something really wierd or bizarre comes back - and in some cases, the form has been returned WAY too close to the gig (probably deliberately) for me to turn it down and expect the original hirers to rush around looking for someone who specialises in their niche lists. Examples being a couple, 2 or 3 years ago that wanted nothing but Salsa music for 5 hours...and only mentioned this a week before the do, or an american bride who produced a list about a month before her wedding, with a whole load of progressive rock and indie ermmmmm "music".

 

In both cases, I simply got down to some music revision, did some on-line research, bought some suitable CD's, auditioned the tracks, made lists of what tracks would go welll together in terms of style, energy (sort of like BPM, but more on its dancefloor "lure") and grouped the tracks into categories that meant something to ME, for use on the night eg: "Buffet and background suited", "Mid paced", "Good to dance to", "Thrashy/loud", "slowies/ballards" etc. I made additional notes about key points (mix points / breakdowns / sudden endings etc,etc).

 

OK, I neither knew nor cared about "that lead guitarist in such'n'such group, used to play bass guitar in blah blah group" or that the lead singer in that group used to go out with the sister of so'n'so super model...etc... but...as a one off gig, I didn't need to.

 

End result: I was a little wiser, pleased to have adapted (albeit temporarily) rather than passing-the-buck or leaving the B&G in the lurch, and most importantly perhaps good nights were had by all concerned.

 

There are certain gigs that I feel that I would turn down - indeed I regularly turn down "All R'n'B all night" type gigs...and "all kid" gigs for 16th~18th birthdays etc.

 

I've got a Country & Western Christmas dinner coming up soon - they've listed about 3 hours of music, and even on paper (one of those fictional timetable of events) theres only going to be two hours of disco - they dont want any linedancing - but several Country & Western Christmas songs - including (from their list) "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" and "All I want for Christmas is a Spice Girl"...

 

Brian? One for you perhaps... tongue out icon

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

As already said. I`ll turn kids parties and one`s I don`t think I can manage, eg counrty and western (all night), funky house (all night).

 

I can manage a set of just about anything but all night then some types of music I will run out of or I don`t know enough about.

 

My main stuff is a good mixture or themed 60`s, 70`s, 80`s or 90`s.

[Kingy 0]

I think it goes without saying. If your not the man for the job, let it go.

[digitaldistortion 0]

I have received a few calls so far this week which I am not suitable for. These were mainly kids do's where more of an entertainer is required. I politely explained to the client that this was not my area of expertise, and found suitable contacts for them.

 

I imagine some DJs like a good challenge or need the work, or some are not worried about the risk of screwing up a client's party though.

 

Discuss...

 

A good challenge is 1 thing, knowing you are 'unsuitable' for a particular kind of gig but 'being up for it' is another, and only U can assess honestly whether you can pull it off (so to speak).

 

Personally speaking there is 1 area where I would jump into yes mode long before many of you (I would suspect), and that is the Hard, Heavy, Prog etc. area, which I have a particular affinity, experience and interest in!!! :dan:

 

Apart from that, I like the layout of the question......looks like something I used to see on exam papers hundreds of years ago when I was a little'un :!:

Edited November 15, 2006 by digitaldistortion

[C.S 0]

Turn things down, yes, but remember if you manage to help them find a decent dj for the job, then the first person they ring next time they need a dj is YOU ! because you were the man who helped them last time. Make alliances with other djs in the area who do the kind of gigs you dont.

Edited November 15, 2006 by C.S

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

Turn things down, yes, but remember if you manage to help them find a decent dj for the job, then the first person they ring next time they need a dj is YOU ! because you were the man who helped them last time. Make alliances with other djs in the area who do the kind of gigs you dont.

 

 

AGREED 100%

[brianmole 0]

I've got a Country & Western Christmas dinner coming up soon - they've listed about 3 hours of music, and even on paper (one of those fictional timetable of events) theres only going to be two hours of disco - they dont want any linedancing - but several Country & Western Christmas songs - including (from their list) "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" and "All I want for Christmas is a Spice Girl"...

 

Brian? One for you perhaps... tongue.gif

 

You poor, poor b*rd, I'll ask Marc to do it

[davemoody 0]

I always pass on kids parties, 18ths and 21st's.

 

Then I have another DJ who I know is good at these and pass them on to him

[Andy Westcott 0]

I don't accept work I'm not at ease with, in my case it's black tie events, but each to their own.....

 

I state this on my website, too.