How do multi-ops cope?

[Andy Goodtimes]

Just wondered how multi-ops manage…I mean I aint a multi-op but on the rare occasion I do use a very good friend who I trust to cover a job for me. Usually its in a venue that I do regular when they need cover for an overspill room. This year I used him a couple of times in December on the busy nights and for NY. He is an X DJ, he split with his wife and for financial reasons he sold his kit and stopped DJing. He is a fireman and used to be an excellent DJ, he is still up to date with music and has a good personality. He’s one of those blokes that is so easy going and people normally take a liking to him straight away.

Anyway, he did Ny for me in the overspill room of the hotel I was doing, I set him up a nice show comprising of a console with an American DJ Q Span mixer, Denon 2800 CD players, a single Denon front loading CD player, KAM karaoke machine and a Cortex HDC1000 with a loaded drive. He had JBLPRX518 bins and 512m tops and 2 impossableds and a nebular laser and 2 Visio bars with a NJD front LED curtain to finish it all off, looked very smart and sounded nice.

Anyway, yesterday was the first I heard of any bother…baring in mind I have been back to the venue about 6 times since, this is what I got via email…

“Just thought I would copy you in on the feedback from one of our major clients who attended New Years Eve Party in the Arts Restaurant.
I am not sure who was the DJ in there on the night, can you look into for me please.

Many thanks
Claire


Hi
Claire
I am confirming the dates but I have never received anything from Laura.
As for New Year we all had a lovely time thank you the only negative we all said young and old alike also other people not with our party who we were chatting to was that the DJ was terrible.
He shouted about the way some people were dancing ie I seen one guy stamping his foot to the beat he got shouted at in case the equipment got damaged.
Also he used cds no one djs with them anymore not that we had a problem with this but there were uncomfortable silences between songs while he looked for the next record to put on and to be fair he played some tunes at least 3 times over he complained if anyone asked for a tune saying they were disturbing him ( I think hes probably a bit old to be doing it now technology has left him behind but that was the only negative about the evening.
We have already said that we would definitely like to come again next year more of us this time but a few have said not if that same dj is used again.

Speak to you soon
Lynn”


I immediately tried to contact Geoff but got his voice mail, I left a message and texted him and sent this reply to the venue…


“At this stage I don't really know what to say about the New Year party in the Arts Restaurant.

I have only just picked up this email and tried to phone Geoff...the DJ but have got his voice mail, I have also sent him a text asking him to contact me ASAP.

I am very shocked and surprised to read that customer's email. I understood it was a good night with no issues. When I went into the room at the end of the night to help with stripping down there were still clients in there and they were in high spirits, the staff I spoke to all said it was a good night, from memory that was Phil, Sadie, Matt, Richard...Security and others too...think one of the other girls was called Betsy, Geoff himself said it was a good night too. I had a roadie with me called John and on the odd occasion he popped his head in and reported back to me that it was going well in there with a packed dance floor, Just after mid-night I was talking to Laura and asked her how it was going in there and she said fine, I was busy with my own crowd and did not get chance to go in myself.

When I was chatting to Phil in December and the New Year parties came up in conversation I told him the DJ would be Geoff again same as last year and he said that was good as you liked him.

Geoff was not using CD only, he had CDs and a Cortex specialist hard drive controller which is an up to date bit of kit specially designed for DJs and far more job specific than a laptop. However, to the untrained eye it might not appear to be a computer/digital bit of kit. I can tell you that lots of DJs use CDs...including me...in fact a growing number are going back to vinyl. I get all the latest music from a promo company and they send me out 3 CDs per month, that's 36 per year = 720 tracks per year.

Geoff is 39, slightly younger than me...but only slightly :D and as we both know one of the other DJs you use if I am not available is 68. The way the lady describes Geoff in her email just doesn't sound like him at all. I see from the email chain the lady is a regular client so maybe she's after a bit of discount or a good will gesture.

I will talk to you again once I have discussed with him.

Kind regards

Andy”


I then spoke to Geoff on the phone and forwarded him the complaint for his feed-back and this is what he replied to me…


“Hi andy
in reply to the lady in question about her complaint, first she said one guy got shouted at because he was stamping his feet, andy he stamped both feet that hard on the dance floor, the track on the cd completely jumped off the track i was playing sending the cd back onto the menu, which stopped the music which left the room completely quiet for a few seconds, because i was at the other end of the table searching for some more music for later. so i did pick the mic up and kindly ask the gentleman in question to refrain from jumping so had because the cds are very expensive and i did not want my cds to get damaged, i am entitled to watch out for my equipment and cds, which cost us thousands of pounds to buy. the lady in question would not like it if i went to her place of work and started to bang her laptop on the desk, i'm sure she would have something to say about it to me.
The lady then said i used cd's, and no one uses cd's anymore, she should get her facts straight, just because you can download tunes off the internet it doesn't say that is the way foward for all dj's.
You know yourself the quality of most songs off the internet are not always as good as cd's, it depends where you download them from which determines the quality of the track.
As for their was some uncomfortable silences between songs, was only once or twice, which was because on at least five occasions , some of the guests came right around the back of the decks with drinks in their hands, standing in front of the deck controls waving their alcohol about over all my electrics, asking for their personal requests, what am i supposed to do just knock the person or persons out of the way so i can catch the end of a song and cue in the next song. I would not be so rude as to push someone out of the way just to cue in a song, some people did ask for the same song to or three times, what do i do tell people no iv'e already played that song so i cannot play it again. I do not work like that i try to play exactly what the customer wants if i can, some people are sometimes out of the room when you play their song either at the toilet or at the bar, so evidently ask for their song again, This lady has complained and i suppose she is entitled to if she wants to, but why did she not come to me and say something, i would of helped her in any way i could, but she never said anything to me or to the staff at the time.
I am very sorry if i was not to her liking, but the dance floor was full all of the night, and i kept the crowd dancing and singing all night, even when john and some of the bosses came past the dance floor was busy. I do apologize to the lady and her guests, if i was not to their liking, i always try to please everyone.
regards jeff.”


Now as you will see from that he isn’t the most literate but that doesn’t matter to me, he is a nice genuine bloke and I believe him and as I said in my own reply to the venue all the feed-back I had from staff and clients alike was very possative.

I have had a chat to the new GM at the hotel on the phone and he says he’s on my side and doesn’t like the lady anyway so we’ll see how it pans out and I’ll let you know.

[yourdj]

It might be late or something but I cannot work out what this post is about?
It's like a shakermaker post without making any sense :D

:confused:

Do you have a problem with a client?
I cant work out if it in first person or from the client. :)

[Danno13]

The venue is Andy's client and the venue's client has complained about a DJ Andy supplied. That make it any clearer?

It does seem odd, part of me thinks if the client still has need to complain in writing this late on, then they obviously weren't happy about something. Although, at the same time it could just be one miserable punter who had a bad night and sees the DJ as an easy target.

Although, you were there on the night and know how the night went as a whole, as well as having good feedback from the hotel themseleves so if I was in your position, I wouldn't worry too much as you can't please everyone.

[Corabar Entertainment]

I'm pretty much with Dan on this one.... or at least I was thinking that it was just one miserable punter whilst I was reading your post UNTIL I read...
As for their was some uncomfortable silences between songs, was only once or twice and then thought "Oh-oh!"

If I were you, I would have a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. Could it be that, seeing as your friend is an ex-DJ, he is out of practice dealing with busy situations and maybe not on top of things as much as maybe he should be (ie a but rusty)?

If that's the case, maybe the stress was getting to him and possibly it showed in his voice when he spoke on the mic, and maybe he wasn't quite as on top of keeping the punters the right side of the line as a DJ working week in-week out would be, because he was worrying more than another DJ might about finding the right track.

Obviously, you know the people concerned, so would be in a better position to judge things, but I can see a situation where both are being completely honest - but just colouring their telling of the situation with their own slant (as everyone does).

[yourdj]

That make it any clearer?


Yes thank you Danno, although it took me some time to read through it properly and work out who was saying what :)
I went to bed at 7.30 and now cant sleep.



I see from the email chain the lady is a regular client so maybe she's after a bit of discount or a good will gesture.

so i did pick the mic up and kindly ask the gentleman in question to refrain from jumping so had because the cds are very expensive and i did not want my cds to get damaged, i am entitled to watch out for my equipment and cds, which cost us thousands of pounds to buy.

she should get her facts straight, just because you can download tunes off the internet it doesn't say that is the way foward for all dj's.

the dance floor was full all of the night, and i kept the crowd dancing and singing all night.

doesn’t like the lady anyway .

The joy of a multi op.

The DJ says one thing and the client says the other and the manager just juggles both sides to keep them both happy.
One way or another your DJ did his job and you can please everyone at once.



If that's the case, maybe the stress was getting to him and possibly it showed in his voice when he spoke on the mic, and maybe he wasn't quite as on top of keeping the punters the right side of the line as a DJ working week in-week out would be, because he was worrying more than another DJ might about finding the right track.

He may have been a bit sharp with people. i have had a grumpy DJ to me was lovely but got a bit narky when stressed which may have upset the woman. I do suspect his lenses, CD's or player need changing too. I never had one jump when i used to use Denon decks.

[Andy Goodtimes]

It is a dificult one. The console hadn't been out since October 18 for a Wedding Show, but on 29 Dec I took it into the hotel in question and ran a lense cleaner through it and then left it in the warm of the hotel for 48 hours before NY, it appeared to work well, TBH I can't even remember if it does have anti-shock or not...its one of them that's a bit old but in really good cond and nice to use.

I guess it is possible that Geoff got a bit stressed without realising it, I know him well and would say that he can cope with most things without showing it. I had a girl just before Christmas that came barging behind the deck to thank me for playing her requests and she was all over me kissing me and so on and leaning on me etc...in fact it was very nice...lol. It was one of them situations that if I moved she would have gone flying as she was putting all her weight on me and was pretty well :Censored: , I missed a song ending and it went quiet but I picked up my mic and said something like "sorry I'm busy sorting out something for later" I wasn't bothered and everyone laughed and didn't appear bothered either.

Other thing is I know the lady that complained, she is the local manager for a national firm that do Environmental, Health and Safety training and they have 16 3 day courses booked into the hotel this year and I do the disco for all of them and they're always on a thursday night. I get on well with her and wouldn't have thought she is one to moan about nothing, bet she doesn't know its me that its all come back to though. I did think of ringing her but then decided not to as the hotel appear to have it all in hand and don't intend to do anything about it other than to apologise.

Geoff does half a dozen or so for me each year and he also does some for a Cheshire based agency using their kit from time to time in nice venues, the main one being Wychwood Park which is a residential hamlet, golf club and conference centre with fairly high standards. None of my business but its something like when he can get cash as his X wife is after him...anyway I wouldn't say he's out of practice, if that was the case I wouldn't have used him to start with...mate or not.

It is bugging me though as to why nothing was said earlier especially as this party were res in the hotel and still there drinking when I was in the room asking everyone how they enjoyed themselves.

No wayh could I be a multi-op or agent. I am proud of my reputation and not ever going to put it in someone elses hands again.

[yourdj]

I did think of ringing her

I wouldnt - just let it go. I had a complaint about one of my DJ's who downloaded an instrumental version of the first dance (no lyrics).

it was his fault as he was probably in a rush knowing him and did not check it so there is no excuse there at all.

Did not start well understandably, but the rest of the party went very well. The father of the bride came up at the end of the night and said he wanted this DJ to do his 50th.

Anyway a week later he sent me a letter demanding a full refund. I assume it was his wife who suggested it as understandably the bride was upset. It was only a letter with no forwarding address or email or number. Never heard anything since.

on another situation i got a last min DJ as my main guy was ill. the bloke was apparently rude, went out for three cigarette breaks leaving multimixes which I think is not on and brought his moody girlfriend who stood behind the decks all night. I gave them a full refund and learnt from it as the DJ disappeared. Idiot. I had no proof of this but had a sit down meeting with the clients.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I wouldnt - just let it go. I had a complaint about one of my DJ's who downloaded an instrumental version of the first dance (no lyrics).
Anyway a week later he sent me a letter demanding a full refund. I assume it was his wife who suggested it as understandably the bride was upset. It was only a letter with no forwarding address or email or number.

Never heard anything since.

.

Surely you had this information anyways otherwise how could they book you?

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Toby -"Like a Shakermaker post without making sense"

Back handed compliment there mate, are you saying I actually make sense? :D

I've always said that one day I'd like to be in the position where I will be running a multi-op set up and I will but not just yet.
I have total respect for the multi-op's because I guess that one of the hardest things to do is to get professional, reliable DJ's with decent kit who will go out and do the job to a standard that you would do yourself. One of the things I say to people is that if I had 10 clones of myself, I'd have no worries whatsover because I know the job would be done properly.

I mentioned it just before christmas but the next step on the multi-op ladder is a collaboration between myself and Mike (Ecstatic Events). It's already been working throughout the latter part of 2010 and this year and onwards looks good already.

Andy - What you have in your favour is a GM that is on your side so good luck to you.

[BeerFunk]

I have total respect for the multi-op's because I guess that one of the hardest things to do is to get professional, reliable DJ's with decent kit who will go out and do the job to a standard that you would do yourself. One of the things I say to people is that if I had 10 clones of myself, I'd have no worries whatsover because I know the job would be done properly.And therein lies the rub. A good, reliable DJ will have no problems going out for £150+ as a solo operator, but in my experience most multi-op operators pay their DJs £60-80 a night. Obviously the DJ only requires to bring the music (and possibly a playout system), so they shouldn't expect to receive any more than half the fee, but a capable DJ must be thinking that an investment into a basic setup would be worth it to double their wage for the night.

So I agree Gary - finding decent DJs, and keeping a hold of them, must be the hardest part!

[soundtracker]

And therein lies the rub. A good, reliable DJ will have no problems going out for £150+ as a solo operator, but in my experience most multi-op operators pay their DJs £60-80 a night.

Neil give me a ring - we need to do some renegotiation!!

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Neil give me a ring - we need to do some renegotiation!!

Erh....facebook messages are binding contracts ::daft:

[Corabar Entertainment]

most multi-op operators pay their DJs £60-80 a night. Obviously the DJ only requires to bring the music (and possibly a playout system)
<Makes mental note to keep a copy of this post to hand so that if any of my DJs ever dare complain about anything, I can push a copy of this under their noses to show them how lucky they are :p >

[BeerFunk]

I should have said that these people are always advertising for DJs, which is surely no coincidence! I guess in the long run it would make more sense to pay your DJs a decent wage rather than taking the biggest possible cut you can from the fee!

[DazzyD]

And therein lies the rub. A good, reliable DJ will have no problems going out for £150+ as a solo operator, but in my experience most multi-op operators pay their DJs £60-80 a night. Obviously the DJ only requires to bring the music (and possibly a playout system), so they shouldn't expect to receive any more than half the fee, but a capable DJ must be thinking that an investment into a basic setup would be worth it to double their wage for the night.

So I agree Gary - finding decent DJs, and keeping a hold of them, must be the hardest part!


I should have said that these people are always advertising for DJs, which is surely no coincidence! I guess in the long run it would make more sense to pay your DJs a decent wage rather than taking the biggest possible cut you can from the fee!

I have to agree somewhat with Callum. I got my break from a multi-op who was paying me, at the time, £30-£50 a night. I still do work for him when I'm not busy for £50-£60 a show which isn't great but sometimes I'd rather be making something rather than nothing. But if he'd been paying me a decent amount then I might not have gone out on my own. I charge more than he does now because I believe in my DJing skills and ability more and because I have the business and sales skills to command a decent fee. But I suppose he doesn't need to charge too much per show as he's got several rigs and people willing to work for him so he can still make good money anyway.

Still, I don't think I'd like to take on a multi-op role just yet. Too much involved. And complaints from down the customer chain like this would be low down on my list of priorities.

[Andy Goodtimes]

Prob going to upset someone here but it has to be said if you pay a DJ less than £100 for turning up with his music to do a job with your kit then you deserve everything you may get...I mean how on earth can you expect quality and loyalty for that? There is a resonablly nice hotel near to me that pay a multi-op £160...dunno what he in turn pays his DJs but anyway the hotel are looking round for a replacement because they don't mind the multi-op himself and a couple of his DJs but sometimes they get rubbish, the hotel offered to pay me £180 which is £20 per night more than they are paying him but I just couldn't take it on at any price because what happens in the busy seasons when most of the good DJs are out anyway.

I paid Geoff £500 for NY, I got £1,280 for both jobs and he used my kit, he never had to set it up and got a meal and drinks thrown in too. I'm happy with what I made and he is too and I don't think that was in any way unfair for either of us.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I wouldn't say I have tested the multi-op water as such but the most I have had out on one night is 4 DJ's including myself. It was a long time ago when I first started and I thought it would be easy. Luckily all went well with great feedback but I couldn't relax at the function I was doing at the time because I was wondering (hoping) that all was well at the other ones.

For a couple of years I used another DJ. She was very good and I've mentioned her before. She works full time aswell. I used to pay her £180.00 for a nights work (7.30pm - Midnight) and she was using her own gear. If it was out of town then I'd pay a bit more. She didn't have to pay for advertising, see the customer, do the paperwork etc etc....all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. All I asked her to do was to get herself PLI and her gear PAT tested which she did as she used to do small parties for kids.

I stopped using her because one day I called her and asked her if she was free for a function. She was. When I mentioned the payment (the same as usual, same duration etc), she turned her nose up for some reason? I thought to myself "Hold on, I'm doing all the groundwork here and getting the jobs and you don't have to do anything", so I haven't used her since and pass on lots of work to others. The only reason I used to take on the extra jobs was because I wanted to get the booking fee and sometimes a bit extra (not much) so that it made the jobs I was doing even better paid.

What I think happened was that she somehow found out what I was charging and wanted a bigger cut which at the end of the day is nobody elses business but mine. She got greedy in my opinion and that's how some people are. I have called people before offering them jobs (having seen them do their thing) and they've turned their noses up at the price. It does make you laugh at times...Yes, it's a skilled job and all that but offer someone on the street £180.00 for 4.5hrs work playing music and they'd bite your hand off!! Some shop workers earn that in a week.

I think that when I finally go down the multi-op route, I will more or less be co-ordinating everything which is something I love doing. A bit like event planning etc and making sure it all comes together, everyone is where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing. I will then cherry pick the gigs I want to do.

[TONYTIGER]

I do not know if i am a multi op or not,but i have three DJs that have been with me for many years.
I find the bulk of there work but they also find there own gigs and i supply all of there equipment all 3 shows are the same re gear you could not tell them apart.
Average price for a 4 hour show is £ 200-£250 and they get charged £ 75 to hire the gear ,they set up and provide the music and use there own transport.
I always ring the client within 24 hours of the gig to get feedback,they are happy and have never had a complaint from any client.
As to date seems to be a good formula.

[Mark Wild]

I have to agree somewhat with Callum. I got my break from a multi-op who was paying me, at the time, £30-£50 a night. I still do work for him when I'm not busy for £50-£60 a show which isn't great but sometimes I'd rather be making something rather than nothing. But if he'd been paying me a decent amount then I might not have gone out on my own. I charge more than he does now because I believe in my DJing skills and ability more and because I have the business and sales skills to command a decent fee. But I suppose he doesn't need to charge too much per show as he's got several rigs and people willing to work for him so he can still make good money anyway.

Still, I don't think I'd like to take on a multi-op role just yet. Too much involved. And complaints from down the customer chain like this would be low down on my list of priorities.

I see this as very contradictory, you believe in your skills and ability yet you'll go out for £50 :confused:


I paid Geoff £500 for NY, I got £1,280 for both jobs and he used my kit, he never had to set it up and got a meal and drinks thrown in too. I'm happy with what I made and he is too and I don't think that was in any way unfair for either of us.

Seems HE got a rather attractive deal there ;)

[Excalibur]

I see this as very contradictory, you believe in your skills and ability yet you'll go out for £50 :confused:
Theory's bang on. Better to be earning than watching Saturday night telly. Figures however are debatable. ;)




Seems HE got a rather attractive deal there ;)
Glad you said that. I thought that also.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

What is a multi op then?

As far as I'm aware, you are either an employment agency or employment business.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

What do you class yourself as?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

What do you class yourself as?

Not sure about the phrasing of your question there Gary, but legally, I am an employment business. I buy DJs in for one price and sell them on for another. :)

[Excalibur]

Not sure about the phrasing of your question there Gary, but legally, I am an employment business. I buy DJs in for one price and sell them on for another. :)

I assume he meant, " Do you consider yourself a multi-op, or an employment agency " ?

Would the contracts make a difference? If you sub work on to another DJ, you're an agency. If you employ someone who only ever works for you, ( and possibly with your gear )you're a multi op? :confused:

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Yes, that's what I meant.
Apologies if it sounded abrupt (it wasn't meant to) but that's text on a screen for you!

[Corabar Entertainment]

I buy DJs in for one price and sell them on for another. :)
AKA - Human Trafficking :p :p :p :D

[Corabar Steve]

I buy DJs in for one price and sell them on for another. :)


AKA - Human Trafficking :p :p :p :D
I give you 3 camels for the DJ http://planetsmilies.net/person-smiley-9560.gif (http://planetsmilies.net)

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I had two double dates in December for the first time ever (Guess I've been lucky that before anyone booking all wanted different dates).

One gig was a nightmare guy who I used thought he would give out his cards to clients (bearing in mind this was at my hotel res) which annoyed me.

Other gig was great and in fact a lurker from the forum Richard/Robbie both did a cracking job and had great feedback.

Its not a route I want to go down further really but makes all the difference if you know the guys well.

[TONYTIGER]

I had two double dates in December for the first time ever (Guess I've been lucky that before anyone booking all wanted different dates).

One gig was a nightmare guy who I used thought he would give out his cards to clients (bearing in mind this was at my hotel res) which annoyed me.

Other gig was great and in fact a lurker from the forum Richard/Robbie both did a cracking job and had great feedback.

Its not a route I want to go down further really but makes all the difference if you know the guys well.

You could always pass the work on to one of your local guys who you trust and hopefully they will do the same for you.

[CRAZY K]

Just wondered how multi-ops manage…I mean I aint a multi-op but on the rare occasion I do use a very good friend who I trust to cover a job for me. Usually its in a venue that I do regular when they need cover for an overspill room. This year I used him a couple of times in December on the busy nights and for NY. He is an X DJ, he split with his wife and for financial reasons he sold his kit and stopped DJing. He is a fireman and used to be an excellent DJ, he is still up to date with music and has a good personality. He’s one of those blokes that is so easy going and people normally take a liking to him straight away.

Anyway, he did Ny for me in the overspill room of the hotel I was doing, I set him up a nice show comprising of a console with an American DJ Q Span mixer, Denon 2800 CD players, a single Denon front loading CD player, KAM karaoke machine and a Cortex HDC1000 with a loaded drive. He had JBLPRX518 bins and 512m tops and 2 impossableds and a nebular laser and 2 Visio bars with a NJD front LED curtain to finish it all off, looked very smart and sounded nice.

Anyway, yesterday was the first I heard of any bother…baring in mind I have been back to the venue about 6 times since, this is what I got via email…

“Just thought I would copy you in on the feedback from one of our major clients who attended New Years Eve Party in the Arts Restaurant.
I am not sure who was the DJ in there on the night, can you look into for me please.

Many thanks
Claire


Hi
Claire
I am confirming the dates but I have never received anything from Laura.
As for New Year we all had a lovely time thank you the only negative we all said young and old alike also other people not with our party who we were chatting to was that the DJ was terrible.
He shouted about the way some people were dancing ie I seen one guy stamping his foot to the beat he got shouted at in case the equipment got damaged.
Also he used cds no one djs with them anymore not that we had a problem with this but there were uncomfortable silences between songs while he looked for the next record to put on and to be fair he played some tunes at least 3 times over he complained if anyone asked for a tune saying they were disturbing him ( I think hes probably a bit old to be doing it now technology has left him behind but that was the only negative about the evening.
We have already said that we would definitely like to come again next year more of us this time but a few have said not if that same dj is used again.

Speak to you soon
Lynn”


I immediately tried to contact Geoff but got his voice mail, I left a message and texted him and sent this reply to the venue…


“At this stage I don't really know what to say about the New Year party in the Arts Restaurant.

I have only just picked up this email and tried to phone Geoff...the DJ but have got his voice mail, I have also sent him a text asking him to contact me ASAP.

I am very shocked and surprised to read that customer's email. I understood it was a good night with no issues. When I went into the room at the end of the night to help with stripping down there were still clients in there and they were in high spirits, the staff I spoke to all said it was a good night, from memory that was Phil, Sadie, Matt, Richard...Security and others too...think one of the other girls was called Betsy, Geoff himself said it was a good night too. I had a roadie with me called John and on the odd occasion he popped his head in and reported back to me that it was going well in there with a packed dance floor, Just after mid-night I was talking to Laura and asked her how it was going in there and she said fine, I was busy with my own crowd and did not get chance to go in myself.

When I was chatting to Phil in December and the New Year parties came up in conversation I told him the DJ would be Geoff again same as last year and he said that was good as you liked him.

Geoff was not using CD only, he had CDs and a Cortex specialist hard drive controller which is an up to date bit of kit specially designed for DJs and far more job specific than a laptop. However, to the untrained eye it might not appear to be a computer/digital bit of kit. I can tell you that lots of DJs use CDs...including me...in fact a growing number are going back to vinyl. I get all the latest music from a promo company and they send me out 3 CDs per month, that's 36 per year = 720 tracks per year.

Geoff is 39, slightly younger than me...but only slightly :D and as we both know one of the other DJs you use if I am not available is 68. The way the lady describes Geoff in her email just doesn't sound like him at all. I see from the email chain the lady is a regular client so maybe she's after a bit of discount or a good will gesture.

I will talk to you again once I have discussed with him.

Kind regards

Andy”


I then spoke to Geoff on the phone and forwarded him the complaint for his feed-back and this is what he replied to me…


“Hi andy
in reply to the lady in question about her complaint, first she said one guy got shouted at because he was stamping his feet, andy he stamped both feet that hard on the dance floor, the track on the cd completely jumped off the track i was playing sending the cd back onto the menu, which stopped the music which left the room completely quiet for a few seconds, because i was at the other end of the table searching for some more music for later. so i did pick the mic up and kindly ask the gentleman in question to refrain from jumping so had because the cds are very expensive and i did not want my cds to get damaged, i am entitled to watch out for my equipment and cds, which cost us thousands of pounds to buy. the lady in question would not like it if i went to her place of work and started to bang her laptop on the desk, i'm sure she would have something to say about it to me.
The lady then said i used cd's, and no one uses cd's anymore, she should get her facts straight, just because you can download tunes off the internet it doesn't say that is the way foward for all dj's.
You know yourself the quality of most songs off the internet are not always as good as cd's, it depends where you download them from which determines the quality of the track.
As for their was some uncomfortable silences between songs, was only once or twice, which was because on at least five occasions , some of the guests came right around the back of the decks with drinks in their hands, standing in front of the deck controls waving their alcohol about over all my electrics, asking for their personal requests, what am i supposed to do just knock the person or persons out of the way so i can catch the end of a song and cue in the next song. I would not be so rude as to push someone out of the way just to cue in a song, some people did ask for the same song to or three times, what do i do tell people no iv'e already played that song so i cannot play it again. I do not work like that i try to play exactly what the customer wants if i can, some people are sometimes out of the room when you play their song either at the toilet or at the bar, so evidently ask for their song again, This lady has complained and i suppose she is entitled to if she wants to, but why did she not come to me and say something, i would of helped her in any way i could, but she never said anything to me or to the staff at the time.
I am very sorry if i was not to her liking, but the dance floor was full all of the night, and i kept the crowd dancing and singing all night, even when john and some of the bosses came past the dance floor was busy. I do apologize to the lady and her guests, if i was not to their liking, i always try to please everyone.
regards jeff.”


Now as you will see from that he isn’t the most literate but that doesn’t matter to me, he is a nice genuine bloke and I believe him and as I said in my own reply to the venue all the feed-back I had from staff and clients alike was very possative.

I have had a chat to the new GM at the hotel on the phone and he says he’s on my side and doesn’t like the lady anyway so we’ll see how it pans out and I’ll let you know.

Delayed complaints are the worst because your not expecting them and the facts fade from the memory ( of everybody) and it sounds like the big A is to blame again---Alcohol:eek:

This post is similar (ish) to one of our customers who got Married went on Honeymoon and 5 to 6 weeks later decided to complain, despite paying the Caller ( not me)

Basically he was trying to get a refund--which was completely unfounded as his problem was he had a nice Marquee for his Wedding but the Entertainment was in an adjoining scruffy, dirty Hall which understandably none of his guests really wanted to go into for the Barn Dance.

We found that none of the guests wanted to move out of the comfort of the Marquee after the first hour or so of the evening after the first few dances.

The customer apparently thought it was the job of the Entertainer to go and harrass the guests verbally and force them to get out their seats --and move into the very horrible Hall.

We expalined this is not part of the duties of any Entertainer--its the job of the best Man or the customer himself.

My suggestion is the DJ in this case gets his CDs on to the Cortex to avoid jumping.;)

To answer your original question--Agencies and Multi Ops need to know their performers/DJS before engaging them or at least have the ability to judge people over the phone if they are using them for the first time.

[yourdj]

You could always pass the work on to one of your local guys who you trust and hopefully they will do the same for you.

Thats how i operated last year and It did wonders.
We all shared some of the best gigs in the area.

When my four a night are filled then I still do the same.

[TONYTIGER]

Thats how i operated last year and It did wonders.
We all shared some of the best gigs in the area.

When my four a night are filled then I still do the same.

Yeh makes sense,back in the 70s there were 6 mobiles in my area and we formed a sort of co op and passed the work between ourselves we even bought a few special items together that none of us could afford on our own and shared them.
One such item was a large video projector it was a huge on wheels and had a 3 lense system but it meant we all could offer video discos we were the first in the UK to offer this service and we did rather well.

[yourdj]

Yeh makes sense,back in the 70s there were 6 mobiles in my area and we formed a sort of co op and passed the work between ourselves we even bought a few special items together that none of us could afford on our own and shared them.
One such item was a large video projector it was a huge on wheels and had a 3 lense system but it meant we all could offer video discos we were the first in the UK to offer this service and we did rather well.

Well Allot of people consider other operators their enemies but it is often the opposite. They can only cover one gig a night cant they. They should be attracting good quality work and rejecting bad gigs (ie by showing thier prices on the site).

The two guys I had most the work off gave me some fantastic gigs locally to me including all dayers which are very well paid. If I had not made friends with them then I may well have been sat at home. :)

Its a great Idea pooling equipment until more than one of you wants it on any one night :p

It is a useful thing sharing gear as if you get robbed or something then you will have back up.
Or some sound and lighting reinforcement.

[DazzyD]

I see this as very contradictory, you believe in your skills and ability yet you'll go out for £50 :confused:


£50 for two and half hours presenting a karaoke isn't bad going. Some operators round here charge that when working for themselves! ;) I've got no setup or take-down to do. I just turn up, plug my mic in and then get paid. I did also point out that these are occasions when I've nothing in for myself and £50 is better than sitting at home watching Casualty!

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

£50 is better than sitting at home watching Casualty!

Is it better than spending time with your family though?

[Larry B Entertainment]

£50 is better than sitting at home watching Casualty!

I think I would sooner pay £50 to not have to watch that :D

[DazzyD]

Is it better than spending time with your family though?

Since we split up I don't get to see my family on a Saturday night anyway (I do have the kids through the daytime on Saturday and Sunday, though). The ex has her mother round on a Saturday night so missing out on seeing family isn't an issue this time.