The Importance of Partying

by Geoff Short

Never trust a skinny cook.

Well I've never been skinny a day in my life and my culinary skills consist of ordering at a drive-thru.  But I'm an expert eater and I also know a thing or two about partying and let's face it, when it comes to mixing (pun intended) the ingredients for a great party, we DJs are the cooks.  But sometimes we get so busy cooking up amazing entertainment in our own proverbial kitchens that we forget how nice it is to actually eat. If we never let our hair down I think we can lose perspective on what being a guest at a great party feels like.  So, I would like to suggest that we have to fight for our right to party!  Call it market research, field study, whatever.  I mean, we owe it to our clients don't we?

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It's Not My Problem!

by Geoff Short

I remember it like it was yesterday.  One of the biggest screw ups of my life.  I was one week away from being married. My soon-to-be-wife Lisa and I were living in California at the time, but our wedding was happening in Cleveland where our families live and where I grew up.  Because of work schedules, Lisa left for Cleveland a few days before I did.  I was organizing a few last minute things the night before I was to go to the airport.  I made sure I had my plane tickets and thought I would double check what time my flight was. That's when my world went black. My plane - the very one that was to carry me to wed my beloved - departed over 12 hours ago!!  For some reason I had it in my mind that my flight was the next day.  Nope.  Panic.  As stupid as that was, I was smart enough to call the airline, plead my case and beg for the next flight to Cleveland - before calling Lisa, who was probably expecting me to be landing in Ohio by now.  It worked.  It only cost me $50 to change the flight to the next morning (I would have sold my first born kid to get on a plane)  and now I had a solution before breaking the news to my fiance.  No, she still wasn't thrilled and still called me an idiot, but at least I had a solution.  Can you imagine if I hadn't? She surely would have thought this lame "missed flight" story (true though it was) was a cover for the worst case of cold feet in the world.  I learned a very valuable lesson that day...

Solve the problem before you make it someone else's problem.

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You've Never DJ'd Before

by Geoff Short

As I write this, we are probably over the half way point of the busy Summer wedding season.  For those who have created great entertainment at a lot of different events over the last couple months, it's right about this time that a DJs energy and enthusiasm can be in short supply.  The usually sharp edges of precision and accuracy can feel  dulled by habits and complacency and the spark of creativity can grow dim under the shadow of boredom.  If you let it.   To succumb to DFABS (DJ Fatigue and Boredom Syndrome, a disorder I just made up) is to invite in nasty things like bad reviews, diminished referrals, empty dance floors, disappointed brides and grooms and probably worst of all, disillusion with DJing in general.    Much like a marathon runner who must go beyond her depleted physical ability and plumb her psyche for the strength to dig deep and win the race, DJs must also dig deep and make every event a winner.

Of course that's easier said than done.

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HOW OLD IS OLD?

Being a DJ who is well into his 40′s I’ve been feeling the need to defend reception “guests of age” lately. I hear it all the time when I’m consulting with wedding clients (many of whom seem young enough to be my own kids) atJerry Bruno Productions. “A lot of our guests will be older. You know…in their 40′s, 50′s & 60′s. So please be sure to play some stuff for them, like Big Band music and Frank Sinatra stuff.”

Gulp.

Attention young brides and grooms….”old” people ain’t so old. It’s more a matter of you being so young! I mean, what kind of one-foot-in-the-grave, granny knitting in a rocking chair, old fart-type stuff do you think your “older” guests are into?

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THE HELP

Sometimes when I’m DJing an event, I suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. It usually happens somewhere between the time somebody’s Grandpa mistakes me for the valet and tosses his keys to me and the Assistant Catering Manager shoves a tray full of appetizers in my hand and barks at me to get moving and stop hanging around the DJ booth. When this happens I have to fight the urge to scream “I’m the damn DJ! You know…the one that is going to control the most important aspect of this entire shindig? PARK YOUR OWN DAMN CAR!!”

All due respect goes to valets and servers and every other super hero disguised as a special event worker. They are the miracle workers who make these three ring circuses possible. And they are friends and colleagues. I am one of them. I AM the hired help. So why do I get so bent out of shape when I feel treated that way? I don’t want or need to be treated any better than any other worker hired for a given event. It would just be nice if we ALL felt appreciated and respected all the time. But we all know Utopia doesn’t really exist.

Have you ever felt disrespected by clients, guests or other vendors at an event?

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WHAT I DO WRONG

Sometimes it seems like our DJ blogs and articles are bursting with so many ”expert” DJs clamoring to impart wisdom to the huddled masses of less experienced DJs, one might wonder who exactly we’re imparting all this wisdom to.  Teachers teaching teachers, all looking for students. Put your ear to the average DJ blog and, like that creepy “voice of the sea” seashell from those cruise line commercials imploring strangers to “swim in me” or whatever,  you can almost hear the cries of multitudes of DJs who clearly didn’t get enough attention as children. Oceans of forums and lifetimes of videos scream “notice me!” through their advice and tips.  Of course, I count myself among them…you….us.  Take a look at my body of work for Mobile Beat and it’s clear that I also must think my experience and/or opinion is worthy of…..I don’t know…being worthy, I guess.  I mean, I just used the phrase “my body of work” in reference to my own DJ articles. Who am I? Shakespeare?

So in the spirit of trying to deflate my head a bit and to encourage some of you other know-it-alls out there (you know who you are) to do the same, I have a confession. I screw things up sometimes. I really can get tired of hearing my own voice talking about all the things (I think) I do right.   So now – with tail tucked firmly between legs – I present just a few of the things I know I do wrong.  Hopefully to save other DJs from fumbling in my footsteps.  But certainly to try and fix some of this crap myself!

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