Customer wants to come to one of my gigs!!

[Nakatomi]

I think this time of year I would be happy with a night off if I had not travelled far or hired extra sound etc.

A to of the conference type 'elite' slate DJ double decks but I have always said, if we get every DJ to up their game then the market will be saturated by them, surely that goes against business common sense. As people know I am more than willing to give, but my wife said one day "why do you give all your secrets away in Promobile" and I thought yes your right, I am only really doing it as i love writing, and for industry exposure, but also the ego side of things can't be ignored.

Bring on the crap DJ I say, it makes me look good.

Yup. It's precisely why a lot of dj groups with lofty ideals don't really work. Let us who want to learn & improve seek out help & leave the recalcitrant cavemen to their "full disco setup - £500“ on Gumtree rig mentality. Ironically it took me a while to latch onto that. Why would we want every Sid coming along taking some of our pie?

When I help people it's never entirely selfless. That's business.

[theoloyla]

One venue that I was the preferred dj at did used to bring potential clients into functions to have a look. The manager would bring them in and stand at the back of the room for 10 or 15 minutes and that did work but it is a bit different to them just coming in and joining the party.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Actually, now you mention that.....Yes, that also happened to me too, and it also worked but, I still thought it was slightly rude of the hotel in question to do that (unless they asked the Bride & Groom beforehand.....which, knowing that hotel, it's highly unlikely that they did).

I've mentioned it before (years ago), but I hate the feeling that I HAVE to, or MUST prove myself to customers in order to get a booking from them. I dislike that whole 'audition' feeling.

Yes, I KNOW every booking is different and all that..... I'm bloody glad they are, because life (and this job especially), would be very boring......... BUT, if a customer still wants to view me at work behind the decks after I have provided them with as much information as possible, they have been pointed in my direction by somebody who has previously booked me, they've seen photos or videos and so on..... Well, sorry but, nope.....go and find somebody else.

It's as simple as that, in my opinion.

My thoughts and enthusiasm for the whole thing have changed BIG TIME over the past 18 months. Having done the job for so long, and been 100% dedicated to it, I now find myself turning more bookings away (guaranteed bookings too), than confirming them. Especially during this stupidly hot period we're having lately.... I think back to carting heavy equipment around in this weather and getting in a sweaty mess. Remembering standing there behind the decks whilst 90% of the guests are outside enjoying the sun for 75% of the night makes me chuckle because at the time, although it could be slightly annoying at times, it didn't bother me too much.
Now, I can't imagine doing that again.

[Excalibur]

Curiously enough, I came across this post from Justin which seems to very clearly illustrate why it's not necessarily a good idea to let customers see you in action.

As I mentioned in my latest 'good gig bad gig' post I had my head seriously bitten off last night by a lady who'd been in the hotel the night before the wedding she was a guest at. I'm not sure what relation she was to the bride, but they were pretty close. She came in with both barrels straight away. The previous night had called for some pretty extreme cheese & this wasn't on for her. All fair comment I suppose, but it didn't need to be so... angry.

This is the first time anything like this has happened despite many guests 'crossing paths' with previous weddings but I'm guessing it was only a matter of time. Only on Friday morning did I ponder what that night's bride might have made of the music I played at the prom on Thursday.

Have you ever ran into something like this, where somebody's heard you play another (successful) gig & they weren't too impressed when you show up at theirs?

[Nakatomi]

Curiously enough, I came across this post from Justin which seems to very clearly illustrate why it's not necessarily a good idea to let customers see you in action.

That was about 3 years ago now & I still remember it like it was yesterday. Thankfully it's never happened since, though one bride who was getting married the next day was outside having a smoke as I was unloading & asked me to swerve a certain popular Queen song for hers on account of it triggering unhappy memories. So it's not all bad.

I think, based on how many weddings I've done there & how many brides stay overmight on the eve of their wedding - and only once have I been walloped... that most reasonable people take it as read that every gig is different. If they can't come to that conclusion themselves, would we want to work for them?

[yourdj]

into functions to have a look.

Client viewing would usually depend on the type of event (i.e. high paid private vs hotel residency), venue (public house or exclusive use hotel) & type of event, but even then it may just be an off half hour so will not paint an accurate picture of the night. I just think people want to be assured that you wont turn into a blithering chit chatty idiot when the mic is given to me as a lot of seemingly normal people have a 'stage voice/presence' so its very hard to tell, without decent videos showing you making announcements.

I used to do a laid back garden set and often had my dogs with me (9 years ago now). The wedding manager always used to foolishly say "our resident wedding DJ is in the garden if you want to talk to him". One client got too the grass as was visibly shocked and pulled all of her family back and ran back into the hotel (yes ran). It was if she had just seen Jimmy Saville on the decks or something. Some people just don't have any imagination and don't see any difference between a DJ playing a different event in a different location with different clients & guests. Seriously do you think I would dress & act like that in her wedding? Or perhaps she had seen me in one of my earlier cheesy videos and thought "what a prat" who knows??

I thought I looked good and it was in keeping with the trendy venue, but would you choose this guy for your wedding?? No.

[rth_discos]

I thought I looked good and it was in keeping with the trendy venue, but would you choose this guy for your wedding?? No.

It's the chest hair that scared her away lol - maybe you needed to just do one extra button up. A little too Simon Cowell looking

[theoloyla]

Client viewing would usually depend on the type of event (i.e. high paid private vs hotel residency), venue (public house or exclusive use hotel) & type of event, but even then it may just be an off half hour so will not paint an accurate picture of the night. I just think people want to be assured that you wont turn into a blithering chit chatty idiot when the mic is given to me as a lot of seemingly normal people have a 'stage voice/presence' so its very hard to tell, without decent videos showing you making announcements.

I used to do a laid back garden set and often had my dogs with me (9 years ago now). The wedding manager always used to foolishly say "our resident wedding DJ is in the garden if you want to talk to him". One client got too the grass as was visibly shocked and pulled all of her family back and ran back into the hotel (yes ran). It was if she had just seen Jimmy Saville on the decks or something. Some people just don't have any imagination and don't see any difference between a DJ playing a different event in a different location with different clients & guests. Seriously do you think I would dress & act like that in her wedding? Or perhaps she had seen me in one of my earlier cheesy videos and thought "what a prat" who knows??

I thought I looked good and it was in keeping with the trendy venue, but would you choose this guy for your wedding?? No.

The hotel was a busy one with public bars and restaurant and several private function rooms. To be honest at 9 o clock or whenever when the party was in full swing with a packed dancefloor etc staff would be coming in and out to replenish the bar, get ice, etc etc and so the manager coming in with a couple of people and standing at the back wasnt noticed.