Why Do We Bother Sometimes?

[trebor171170 0]

:rant:

The most annoying thing in this business is receiving the call or getting an enquiry from a DJ directory is that as soon as you mention the price they will book somebody who is cheaper. I try to use the line that, espically with a wedding that the hire of the disco is probably on the lowest expense that they have had to outlay.

 

I had an enquiry where the person in question wanted to see the light show. I explained what equipment I used and that the music covered everything from the 1950's thru to 2008. I advised where my next disco would be and that they could come and have a look. I have not received a call back has the venue is 25miles from where the potentially client lives.

 

This is the first time I have every been asked this.

 

IS IT NOT THE MUSIC THAT GETS PEOPLE DANCING.

 

I went to a colleagues engagement party, there was a stage available, however the disco was set up on the floor.

The light show consisted of a 4 par cans and 2 mini moons if memory serves me right.

They got it on the cheap has its a family friend. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

:thanks: going for a :cheers: now!

[andyw 0]

:rant:

 

 

IS IT NOT THE MUSIC THAT GETS PEOPLE DANCING.

 

I went to a colleagues engagement party, there was a stage available, however the disco was set up on the floor.

The light show consisted of a 4 par cans and 2 mini moons if memory serves me right.

They got it on the cheap has its a family friend. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

:thanks: going for a :cheers: now!

maybe he was at the same show thats why he wants to see your lightshow :bouncy:

seriously dont get upset because you didnt get a follow up,

[Gary 0]

:rant: IS IT NOT THE MUSIC THAT GETS PEOPLE DANCING.

 

The music is certainly a big percentage of that - after all, they wont dance so easily to silence.

 

However, the lighting for the whole area, not just the dance floor, is important too. Let's call it the ambient lighting...

 

Two good examples of bad ambient lighting:

 

Example 1)

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There used to be a venue that I did regularly before I moved geographic location a few years ago. The function room was very high (35ft+) with windows running all the way around the venue, at the very top of all the walls. There were no curtains, and the windows were just, ordinary clear glass. Obviously at summer gigs, such as weddings, the sun streamed through these windows onto the white walls and the guests within - right up until 9pm+. Way too bright to get much of any sort of atmosphere going.

 

I was using 6 or 8 x 250watt lighting effects at that time, and during sunny evenings, it was difficult to really determine which effects were on or off.

 

Example 2)

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The other example is a typical village hall type venue - loads of "clinical" overhead 6ft double flourescent strip lights....and...wait for it.... ALL on one on/off switch. If the bar/buffet want "a bit of light", the whole venue gets it. Its the all or nothing lighting dilemma. The moment that Aunt Daisy mentions that she's finding it too dark... "blink blik blink bl bl blink", the whole place turns into a cross between an operating theatre, and a group sun-tanning room.

 

---

 

In both cases, you could be playing all their requests, all the tunes that "work" usually, the right songs to the right audience etc,etc... and still, the audience just isnt feeling right, thanks to the excess and "out of your control" illumination. Some audience members will simply be lacking in confidence about their dancing abilities to get up...eg: They'll "risk it" when it's so dark that very few people will be able to see them bopping away, but wont chance it when there's enough light to divert local air traffic.

 

More under our control is the amount of light which WE decide to use, at any given time of the night. I've seen some discos, and nightclubs for that matter - where they've had maybe 15 to 20 lighting effects available to them, and had over half of them running simultaneously. It may have been co-incidental, but the more lights that they switched off, the more the dancefloor filled with people.

 

On the other end of the scale, or perhaps I should say spectrum, I've also seen a couple of smaller shows where the DJ has had for example, only 3 identical Twister type effects at their disposal and nothing else - probably out of need, they've simply left all three lights on, all night...during the 60s spot, the 90s ravey spot, the ballads, the first dance, the whole night...

 

With such diverse ranges of lighting around, I'm not surprised that someone would be curious as to what the overall lighting effect would be for a disco - although asking to "see the lights" could be a potential hirers way of saying that they'd like to see a specific DJ "at work", the DJs mic work, the DJs audience control, their volume levels, their t-shirt and jeans etc.. it's just easier to say "can I see ya lights"

 

 

[nigelwright7557 0]

Let people use the cheap disco and next time they will know better.

 

There is cheap and there is cheap.

 

I have seen do it yourself discos with a home stereo and a 4 way party light !

 

I personally do cheap discos but it is only cheap because I do it for fun and not to make a profit.

 

I do one disco every 2-3 months and I am happy with that.

 

Once I stop enjoying it I will stop doing it.

 

[wendyice 0]

same here, i dont do enough gigs to make a decent profit. other things have to done as well. it is mainlt for the pleasure and enjoyment.

my work is word of mouth and rec's.

i dont advertise or have a website etc.

but i have decent gear and decent lights plenty of music and seem to enable people to have a ball, they all seem happy and satisfied when i finish.

but i dont charge the earth. 150 to 200 on average sometimes a little less depending on venue.

 

if we are trying to build a venue up i am cheaper with a proviso that if we busy it up the money goes up.

[UKHero 0]

The entertainment industry must be one of the only industires where people work and provide a service and dont mind if they make a proffit... Would a motor mechanic come and fix your car and make a loss or a plummer, gas fitter etc (Not including friends and relations) I dont think in the main they would. But with entertainment bands perform for free or next to nothing and so do some DJs... Its crazy when you concider the outlay on kit time and the pressure to get it right.

 

I asked this elswhere, If a B&G phone you for a wedding reception would you tell them you only do it for fun?

 

 

[bluejools 0]

I always tell prospective bookings that I am not full time - I dont say i do it for fun.

 

I use my "not full time" as a selling point as it fits my image.

It is also part of being honest with people.

 

(Just to say - i do do it for fun - but not for free)

[nigelwright7557 0]

The entertainment industry must be one of the only industires where people work and provide a service and dont mind if they make a proffit... Would a motor mechanic come and fix your car and make a loss or a plummer, gas fitter etc (Not including friends and relations) I dont think in the main they would. But with entertainment bands perform for free or next to nothing and so do some DJs... Its crazy when you concider the outlay on kit time and the pressure to get it right.

 

I asked this elswhere, If a B&G phone you for a wedding reception would you tell them you only do it for fun?

 

There is no problem doing it for fun so long as you take the business seriously.

 

I personally wont do wedding receptions, too much pressure.

 

My next gig is an engagement party.

They told me they like 60's mostly so thats what I will provide with lots of other stuff on stand by.

 

The last 60's night I did turned into a heavy metal night !!!

I learned many moons ago to always carry every type of music, just in case.

 

 

 

 

[nigelwright7557 0]

IS IT NOT THE MUSIC THAT GETS PEOPLE DANCING ?

 

 

To get people up you not only need good music but quite often subtle lighting as they can be shy to start with.

 

[andyw 0]

i think you are quoting the wrong person nigel.that was a quote myself

[NRG Roadshow 0]

I try to use the line that, espically with a wedding that the hire of the disco is probably on the lowest expense that they have had to outlay.

 

That has allways amazed me.......that some people still look for the cheapest option when booking the entertainment.

"The evening entertainment takes up maybe 3/4 of the entire wedding day, so it makes up a big chunk of whether the day is a sucess or a failiere.

Why take the risk on hiring a cheap disco, at the end of the day, if you have ever been to a wedding and the evening disco has been rubbish is that a memory that you take away for years too come?

But get the disco right and both you and your guests will enjoy celebrating your marriage and take away many happy memorys of your special day"

 

And yea I have said that or words to that effect to potential clients, and the majority of times I get the booking.

AND by comparrison even if they pay £500 for a disco, its still a very very small percentage of the total cost of the wedding.

Edited April 3, 2008 by NRG Roadshow

[EssexDiscoDJ 0]

The inability in some people to see the importance of booking the right entertainment for their even staggers me.

 

Why spend thousands on a wedding and then book a cheap mobile disco that could potentially ruin the day?

 

Lighting is incredibly important in creating an atmosphere at any even and, if you lose that through poor ambient lighting, then it can be hard to keep a crowd dancing.

 

[McCardle 1]

Why spend thousands on a wedding and then book a cheap mobile disco that could potentially ruin the day?

 

Perhaps its down to how the general public perceive the importance of a Mobile DJ and the pecking order in which they fit into the list of service providers.

 

If they see us as self important ego driven oiks who just stand around all night playing music and essentially doing an unskilled, unqualified job which 'anybody can do' , then that is exactly the amount which they will budget in order to engage our services.

 

Or maybe they've seen the glut of Google Adwords adverts promoting "Quality Mobile Disco 4 hours for £100" and believe that this is the norm, unfortunately the industry constantly fights against itself and the more people draw attention to it, the harder it fights.

 

Its no different in other industries either, I have friends who are Electricians, one of them has lost a Job for a quote he did, to an 'electrician' newly arrived from Poland and who is still getting to grips with UK wiring standards and even cable core colours :ads: . The customer lives in a £750,000 house in its own grounds in Cumbria. The job was to install Electric Gates and an outside Hot Tub in the grounds of this Country House. However despite the client, being a wealthy successful Businessman, (who should know better) he didn't see beyond the £1400 saving he would be making between the two quotes, and preferred to take his chances with somebody with an uncheckable work and training history and who certainly would not insured.

 

If people are willing to risk the safety of themselves and their kids in hot tubs wired in by people of dubious qualifications in order to save a few quid, they are extremely unlikely to think twice about who is providing the music at their Wedding.

 

Its called Human Nature, and i've yet to see anybody win a battle against that!. All you can do is to pitch harder and higher.

 

Either way, things will never change this thread was originally started in 2008, and it seems we have exactly the same problems and face the same challenges here and now in 2013. Enough Said

Edited July 26, 2013 by McCardle

[djwilson 0]

The inability in some people to see the importance of booking the right entertainment for their even staggers me.

 

Why spend thousands on a wedding and then book a cheap mobile disco that could potentially ruin the day?

...

 

 

Some people learn, it's just a pity they all don't learn.

I lost count of the amount of times I had people asking me for my card because they'd been to a party and the DJ at that one 1) hadn't played requests; 2) hadn't said a word all night; 3) had played non-stop chart music when it was a wedding party for an older couple etc.

 

I went along to a wedding party as a guest last night for an hour or so. I arrived at 10pm, party in full swing you'd think. My friend may as well have bought one LED lighting effect, used the hotel's PA system and plugged in an ipod with all of the tracks from Now 83 and 84 on it. No variety of music, nobody up dancing for most of the tracks and the DJ kept on disappearing from the stand; the latter is one of my #1 annoyances to see - he was leaving the stand unattended for more than 5 minutes at a time to go and stand at the bar.

 

He had to make an announcement just before I left and there was absolutely no effort made when doing so - it was a monotonous mumble! 'Gangnam Style' at a wedding as well... I think that's one novelty track well past its sell-by date that you can do without spinning now. This was all from the hotel's resident DJ by the way... For a venue that markets itself as a premier wedding venue in the area, they really need to address their choice of resident!

 

 

[PrimeLoops 0]

Awww' c'mon mannnnn! Heads up chins up!!!

[qcdiscodynamic 0]

Been a while since I last visited. However, a chat with a mate the other night who is still DJing. It really sparked my interest to pass on a few tips.

 

The age old problem of people who haggle, particularly for weddings, is a challenging conversation to have. Suffice to say I know other people providing services that one would say are crucial to a wedding have similar issues. One of my close relatives was a florist for years. I think it's safe to say that most people don't possess the dexterity to be able to make the sort of things florists do. You'd also think bride's bouquet and things like corsages would be a priority to make sure were spot on for a wedding. My relative used to have an absolute nightmare with some people trying to get a decent price agreed.

 

However, what might be a useful tactic to try if you're experiencing someone who is haggling or sounds interested in booking, but is expressing doubts about a quote, is to use a bit of what I'd call a normalising technique. Avoid trying anything that could wrongly or rightly be seen as a 'hard sell' tactic.

 

Try saying something as follows:

 

"Do you know, I get lots of calls from people who say they want a disco that WASN'T like the one they went to at so and so's party."

Pause for their reaction. When I used to try something like that, most people would sound intrigued, so I'd carry on.

 

'It's entirely up to you to decide what you want to book for your function. You must however have friends or relatives that are known to find fault. I know I do, and based on the calls I take, clearly I'm not alone there. You can't please everyone, wouldn't you agree? Pause for reaction again.

 

Then "...what I can offer is a track record for knowing how to keep most guests at a wedding party satisfied," and then sell what you know you do best.

 

Personally I think something like the above can work wonders. You're leaving the person with something they can relate to: their guests picking fault. As we all know, the chances are that a lot of times when you speak to people who complain about another DJ, it's likely they were the cheapest option available. The trouble is, most people booking a disco don't know this, but they will be aware that people like to moan!

 

The good thing about the sort of technique I'm suggesting is you can use it for lots of things.

 

My experiences with people complaining about discos is that they think the selection of music was rubbish. How often has that been wholly the DJ's fault? So, you could use the technique to try and persuade someone who is intent on demanding that you don't play a single track to cater for older guests why this may not be the best approach, for example.

 

Give it a go!