Fountains of Youth for Aging Bands

This is my latest blog post for Chauvet DJ with a few product tips that help give any band a face lift.

Everything Old is New Again
by Geoff Short, Assistant Marketing Manager/Customer Engagement & Education, Chauvet Lighting

The Chubby Muscles are a band out of Long Island, New York; in the 90's they were hot, with gigs throughout New York and most of New England playing a cool mix of 80's and 90's pop covers. Fun, bar music for the Friday night drankin' crowd. But over the last couple of years, something changed. The band is relegated to playing a couple times a month in a local joint called Bloodshot's Tavern, where a delectable bouquet of cigarettes, stale beer and desperation permeates the air and souls of its patronage. Charming place.

 I've known the guys in the band for a while, a friend of a cousin of a friend type of thing, through the music agency I used to work for. I was talking with the Lead Guitarist recently, and he was bemoaning the fate of the band and whether they wanted to keep performing. I wondered what they looked like these days? With bands, image is everything and while I know they sounded good, hey always had, an aging band can do a lot of things to make themselves look. Like it or not we still live in a society where image is attached to looks. I asked him to send me a photo of the band in action. The marketing flyer was depressing and hilarious all at the same time.

Click here for the full article on the Chauvet DJ Blog

The Making of the Gig Lab

I've been loving working at Chauvet DJ.  It's such a creative place that encourages all of us there to think out of the box to create programs and projects to engage our customers.  This is one example of that.  My Youtube playlist on the Chauvet Channel is called The Gig Lab.  I'll be producing videos aimed at bands and DJs and anyone else who does gigs make those gigs better and more more lucrative! Of course I couldn't produce a series called The Gig Lab and not have a "monster" opening.  This video is a behind the scenes look at how we produced our very own Chauvet Laboratory.  Stay tuned to the end of the video to see the full-length opening of the Gig Lab series!

To check out the full-length Gig Lab video series opening click here: http://youtu.be/1EgCXs4Ulv4

Video: My Journey to Chauvet!

The video companion to my "Journey" Blog for Chauvet DJ!  Enjoy!

My Journey to Chauvet

by Geoff Short for Chauvet Lighting

Where am I? How did I get here? 

These have been very common questions over the last week or so as I left behind life as I knew it in Cleveland, Ohio to begin my journey to join the marketing team at Chauvet Lighting in Sunrise, Florida.

Most DJs and other entertainment pros are very familiar with Chauvet. But in case you live in a cave just know that Chauvet is a leader in the entertainment lighting industry. A big part of my job at Chauvet will be to do what I have always done - connect with you, fellow DJs musicians, event planners, everyone - to share our experiences and explore ways lighting can enhance your gigs and venues and help make you more money. 

So for those of you who don't know me, I thought I would share a little bit about my journey to Chauvet and my first impressions of being the new guy here. So please allow this little travelogue to serve as an introduction. But let's back up a bit to the beginning.

Click Here for the full Story on the Chauvet Lighting Blog

Superstar Cast Photos!

Check out these killer photos of the amazing cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.  I'm directing it at Brecksville Theatre on the Square, opening March 8th, 2013! Here's a sample:

All the Time in the World



Playing in my living room! Running some DMX
test programming at home. Chauvet Colorstrip
mounted on Chauvet 4Bar/4 Play combo with 2 ADJ
X-Move LED 25R lights on the floor -
controlled with Chauvet Obey 10.
 My family is very patient.

by Geoff Short for MobileBeat.com

I just spent the last hour sitting in my living room programming lighting scenes into my DMX controller (see photo at left). Not for any specific upcoming event, but mostly as a way to further study DMX and explore the cool things my lights can do and how that might benefit clients. The one thing that wasn't on my mind was how quickly and easily it takes me to set up and tear down those lights.

 

I've been thinking about this since a recent conversation I had with another DJ. I had my DJ rig set up for a party that he was a guest at and, of course we were talking about what DJs talk about - gear. He admired my set up but it was his next comment that kind of surprised me. I'm paraphrasing but he said something like "If I can't tear down and be packed up in 20 minutes, I don't bring it." For this DJ, the time and ease of set up and tear-down seemed to be the main factor in what gear he has on gig. Not necessarily client feedback or venue demands.

 

 

Click Here for the full article on MobileBeat.com

Great DJ Customer Review!

I'm so excited for this fantastic review!  This is what it's all about!

"Looking out and seeing the completely packed dance floor ALL night was absolutely magical!"

So happy to have worked with this wonderful couple on their wedding reception and couldn't be more excited they were so happy! This really makes the hard work worth it all!

My Latest Mobile Beat Article: Welcome to Rehab!

Hi. I'm Geoff and I'm a Gear-a-holic. I love gear. I've always been obsessed with anything that has lots of blinking lights and buttons to push. We DJs talk about gear, we drool over gear in music stores and online catalogs. And of course, we buy gear. Lots of it. There's nothing like the rush of getting that package from the UPS guy. It's here! It's here! That expensive thing that I can't afford and really don't need but that is filling up an emotional void somewhere deep inside me! We're addicted brothers and sisters. Not to offend our gear vendor brethren, but just like the fast food, tobacco or alcohol industries, that's just where they want us.


Click here for the full article on MobileBeat.com