Disc Jockey News July 2017 Print Edition

Disc Jockey News AUGUST 2017 • Issue #150

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PAGE 2 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

Enough With The Complaints Already

By Mike Walter

I think we have a serious customer service problem in our industry and I’d like to address it here in my monthly article.

These are things we (at Elite Entertainment) talk about all the time and they are some of the most important tenets of our company and, I believe, the number one thing that makes us so successful.

So if you disagree, you are certainly entitled to that opinion.

But please don’t question whether good old-fashioned personal service is good for our industry because my company is proof-positive it is.

I see a lot of posts online where DJs are complaining about clients. I saw one recently talking about how much they hate when brides and grooms want to pick a different song for each couple in their bridal party to come in to. Some repliers agreed. Some said they charge extra to make the edits. I weighed in with my

opinion. I think it’s great and when clients say they are thinking about it, I encourage them to do it. Ask each couple what one song is going to make them have the most fun when they are introduced and then let me know. And by the way, you don ’t have to make edits anymore. Just find the right spot in the song, set a cue point and voila! Done.

I hear and read similar complaints about playlists. Clients who want to select a lot of songs. Or put a lot of songs on their “Do Not Play” list. This seems to set a lot of DJs off and it makes me wonder, isn’t one of the true joys of this industry getting creative with a playlist and putting it together as only you can and making it work. The art of programming isn’t playing the same 80 songs at every event. It’s taking a client’s unique taste in music and making it work. And so what if they take some of your sure-fire songs off your list.

There are more than enough great dance songs to fill our events. If they eliminate your twenty favorites, maybe it ’ll make you get a little more creative and think outside your usual party crate. To me, that’s one of the joys of DJing, but to others it seems like they just don’t want to do the extra work.

Posts like this (complaining about what I consider normal levels of good customer service) are rampant on the vari-

ous DJ pages on Facebook. They used to be on the DJ Chat Board as well but I’ve stopped frequenting those so I wouldn’t know. And normally I just shake my head and move on (sometimes I offer my opinion) but when John Young asked me for my August article I had just read one so it was top of mind. So I figured I’d offer what has worked for myself and Elite all these years.

First and foremost, we will play anything the clients want us to play. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t offer our professional opinion especially when a music list looks challenging to us. As an extreme example, if a client hands me a list of 40 must plays that are mostly chill songs or all jam-bands, I will ask them how important dancing is at their event. If they say very, then I’ll let them know that in my experience, people tend to dance to more upbeat music. Often in these situations, clients will see my point and then we will make a playlist together so they can hear a lot of their music (maybe during cocktail hour or mealtime) but leave the dance selections up to me. But ultimately if they say, “Nope we want to hear all fifteen of these Moe songs and all twenty of these Phish tracks,” then hey, it ’s their party.

Who am I to dictate what they hear?

As far as charging extra for things like making edits, I consider them all in a day’s work. Maybe it’s because we already charge a pretty good fee so if I have to spend some time making a mash-up for a bride and groom’s first dance I don’t mind.

Those requests, though more popular these days, are still few and far between and they usually come back to me in a nice gratuity and/or glowing WeddingWire review. But even when they don’t, I’m just happy to see my clients happy and I do whatever I can do to make that happen.

I’ve never considered myself an artist.

I’m not a music producer or big-time club DJ who can solely decide the soundtrack of the night. I am in the service business.

I am there to help each couple have a great time, but within the parameters that they want. Using their requests and working with their musical tastes. And again, for me, the plus side of that is that my weddings are never identical. It would bore me if they were. And sure, sometimes it makes me work a bit harder to get people dancing to music I wouldn’t have picked out, but when I do, I get an even more profound sense of accomplishment than normal.

Call it customer service. Call it personal service. Call it whatever you wish.

I believe if you deliver it, you are well on your way to being successful in this business. And when you are, a client asking for a different song for each couple in their bridal party wouldn’t send you to Facebook for a bitch-fest.

Mike Walter is the owner of Elite Entertainment of New Jersey and a nationally recognized expert in the area of multisystem company development and staff training. You can contact Mike at mikewalter@ discjockeynews.com.

You Give Wedding Vendors A Bad Name

By Tamara Sims

There’s always someone who spoils it for the rest of us. During what should be a couple’s happiest time I find all too often wedding vendors who make empty promises, shirk responsibilities and cancel contracts for no good reason. Just last week during one of my couple’s final planning meetings they received a text from their videographer (who had been paid in full) canceling three weeks before the wedding stating, “something suddenly came up.”

(Cue Marcia Brady clip). This is why we can’t have nice things!

You may be thinking, so what, this happens in every industry, but in our industry, we already have to overcome the stereotype of “price gouging” clients when the word wedding is mentioned. Even the Today Show covered this topic a few years back by calling various wedding vendors posing as a potential bride and groom to obtain pricing on various services. They then called the same vendors asking for the same services for non-wedding events and the pricing was lower for let’s say a holiday party or a 40th birthday Party. Do you know that right after that segment had aired, I received several inquiries for DJ Entertainment for weddings disguised as a “party.” The most blatant one was from a Mother of the Groom who wanted a quote for a 200 person Saturday in October “Meet & Greet.” I’m no fool, but I had to ask, “What is a meet & greet?”

She hesitantly replied “it’s a party for our friends and family to meet and greet my son and daughter in law. They were married out of state last month.” “Oh I replied, so it’s a wedding reception.” “No, it’s a meet & greet.” “Oh ok, that’ll be $1400.” “But that’s what you charge for

weddings?” Uh-huh. Mother of Groom: Silence.

We recently booked a wedding for a couple that we have known for years as acquaintances, and they reached out to us to do their wedding. We had gone above and beyond for them, helping them find vendors, assisting with logistics at their venue, designing their ceremony, meeting with their venue manager before they signed a contract, etc. Recently they added a few minor things to their Ceremony contract, and the groom was upset with the fees attached. Jay innocently responded with a detailed breakdown and what things actually cost with very little mark up on our end. Later that day the bride posted this on Facebook: “The wedding industry is a sham. So many empty promises by vendors, venues, and caterers. Plus, say the word wedding and

your price just doubled. Grrr. It’s so disappointing.”

Within 5 minutes of the post, there were ten comments. 9 negative toward wedding vendors with no actual substance and 1 eloquently worded comment from a vendor friend of ours who also happens to be this couple’s Photographer: “As a photographer I will chime in that a wedding holds WAY more weight and pressure than any other kind of event coverage. My time investment is almost double, not to mention the pressure to create great work with no option to reschedule or do-over.

I had someone trick me once to shoot a “party” years ago, and when I got there, she was putting on a wedding dress. NOT cool. (Obviously, that was when I was just beginning, and I vet my clients enough now so that scenario could never happen.)

I realize catering just seems like food and

flowers are just flowers, but the “best day of your life” does require more work for most of the vendors involved, thus a higher price tag.”

I am not a fan of airing grievances on Facebook, so Jay and I picked up the phone and called the couple. The groom answered right away and was embarrassed that in the heat of the moment his fiancée posted her disappointment on Facebook. He shared with us that the timing of Jay’s updated quote coincided with several empty promises made by their caterer and venue. The most blatant disappointment was from the venue. Upon booking, the owner told them they could have the property three days; the actual date of the wedding, the night before the wedding and the day after the wedTamara Sims Continued On Page 6

August 2017 In This Issue:

Page 2: Mike Walter Page 2: Tamara Sims Page 4: Mitch Taylor Page 4: Brian S. Redd Page 4: Dan Carpenter Page 5: Justin Miller Page 5: Brian Kelm

www.discjockeynews.com 29442 120th St. Grey Eagle, MN 56336 Phone: 320-285-2323 Published by The Disc Jockey News

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Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 7: Jason Spencer Page 8: CJ Wilson Page 9: Alan Berg Page 10: Joe Bunn Page 10: Keith KoKoruz Page 11: Mike Lenstra

Page 12: Dave Ternier Page 13: Michael Joseph Page 14: Top 50 Charts Page 14: Different Spin Page 15: Recurrent Charts Page 15: Brian Buonassissi

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PAGE 4 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

You Can Be The Expert

By Mitch Taylor

Who gets three times more referrals than salespeople do? The answer to that question is Experts. How are you an expert at what you do? First off, look at what you do.

What do you specialize in?

Many disc jockeys say they specialize in weddings, private parties, corporate events, mitzvahs, quinces, car shows, etc., etc. The reality is you can’t specialize in everything. If you specialize in everything, then by definition you’re not specializing in anything.

How do you decide what to focus on?

Focus on your passion. What do you want to do with this life? Life is way too short

to just ride by your coattails and wonder about every single day month week year kind of thing. Ask yourself what you enjoy the most out of this crazy business? Decide. Pursue. Focus on that. Learn EVERYTHING you can about that subject matter. If it’s weddings, where do all of the traditions come from or what are the hot colors for this year? If it’s schools or teen events, focus on latest social trends, how you can incorporate those into your events. Regardless of which area you move into in the DJ world, you can learn a LOT by watching some of the great actors and performers of our time. Watch with a critical eye and see how they move. If you are a Master of Ceremonies you should be learning about roasting; you should know why people toast, you should be learning about weddings. You should be learning about all the different details that come to play. If you’re a DJ, study how to work your decks, music phrasing, mixing in key, music history, know the basics of mixing and beat matching. Read the manual for

The Rehearsal Debate

By Brian S. Redd

How do we, as DJs, handle requests to attend wedding rehearsals?

That’s a really good question, and it came up today from a DJ who just had a client spring this on him last minute.

I know there are DJs and We d d i n g Entertainment Specialists out there who already do this as part of their service. For the rest of us, there are legitimate questions, such as: Do we really need to attend?

It depends. This is usually about our

client’s comfort level. Most of us are pretty confident with just making notes, showing up and going for it. However, others may want to get a preview of everything that’s going on for sound, layout and set up purposes.

What should we include with this service?

Again, it depends. It could be as simple as just being there to see what’s going to happen. Or, maybe they want a full rehearsal with cues, music, microphones, and system placement, so there are no unforeseen surprises on the wedding day.

We could also compromise with a boom box and an iPad. This way, we can at least play the ceremony music to give them, and ourselves a real feel for everything that will be happening. This could come in handy for timing everyone’s “walk” down the aisle and the songs they come in on.

To loop, or not to loop.

Perhaps one of the most important ser-

Looking Forward To DJ Expo

By Dan Carpenter

Coming up in just a couple of weeks is the DJ Times DJ Expo. Once again DJs from all over the country and beyond will descend on Atlantic City. Some will come to check out the city and nothing more, some will be only interested in the gear and nightly parties, while others will focus on the golden nuggets that come in the seminars.

It’s no secret that I’m a believer in the seminars and all they have to offer. When I first went to the DJ Expo in 2011 (I was lucky enough to win a Full Expo pass from a manufacturer), I was drawn to the seminars. At the time, I had never even really heard about the DJ Expo. I entered the contest just because I wanted to try and win something. However, I learned so much that I just couldn’t get enough. Here I was among a group of people that thought the same way I did, that

loved this career and wanted to do everything they could to make themselves the best they could be. There were full timers as well as other part timers. What surprised me, even more, was just the vast number of DJs that I met. I realize a lot of people do this job, but because I had never been, I had no ide a so many people traveled for the expo.

I can say with certainty that the seminar that hooked me the most was Steve Moody’s All-star DJs. I don’t even fully remember all they talked about in that first seminar, but I remember sitting there taking it all in and writing everything I could, as fast as I could. Fast forward to this year, and imagine my disappointment when I heard that Steve wasn’t doing his seminar. I realize that there are a lot of other great seminars, and I knew I would still get my money’s worth, but this had become my “must see” seminar every expo.

Good news, while Steve’s seminar is no longer happening, someone is stepping up to fill the gap. Mark Brenneisen of Lake George, New York is revamping the Allstar MCs to present “Signature MC Concepts.” As of this writing, the date and time are yet to be announced. According to Mark, his panel of five entertainers “will

Dan Carpenter Continued On Page 12

your equipment and know the ins and outs of how it works.

On the business side, you also need to also be an expert. Now, you might be thinking “But Mitch...how can I be an expert at everything. Isn’t that like being a specialist in all kinds of events?” You’re right. However, you at least need to have a vision and a plan of where you want to be in 1, 2 and five years. If there are areas that you are not strong in, hire experts in that field to work for you. Regardless of hiring experts, you still need to know some basics. If you’re focusing on weddings, you should know how many weddings happen in your city? In your county? Now, what’s your percentage? If it’s school events, how many schools in your area? What is their demographics? What’s the population in that school? What’s their county like?

Now, how do you translate your expertise to your potential client in the sales meeting? What you need to do is find a problem they have. Be the expert by drawing upon your years of knowledge and expertise, and figure out how you can solve that problem for them. Key tip: Only solve ONE problem for them in the initial meeting. Never give away the farm. By doing

this, you whet their appetite a little more for them to understand what they can truly achieve by partnering with an expert like yourself.

Now, if after reading this you understand that you are not an expert in certain areas, stop lying to yourself and your clients by saying that you are. If you truly don’t know all of these ceremonies that go into an event, do not call yourself a Master of Ceremonies. I wouldn’t call myself an expert decorator because I’m not. We do provide a few nicer decor items, but we are far from experts, but a little bit better than a DIY option. :). Do the work to become an expert in your field. Put in the time and create the contacts to help yourself get there. The result will be more knowledge, more respect and more money in your bank account.

Mitch Taylor is an 18 year veteran of the mobile disc jockey industry, starting out on the cruise ships of Carnival Cruise Lines. He is a member of the American Disc Jockey Association. Mitch owns and operates Taylored Entertainment in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and can be reached at 906.786.6967 or via email at mitchtaylor@discjockeynews.com.

vices we can offer here is as a consultant.

We have seen more than our fair share of wedding ceremonies. If we see either an issue or something that could be improved upon, it’s not too late. This is only rehearsal.

Two years ago, I attended a rehearsal for a same sex wedding. Our first groom came in with the pastor, followed by the “Groomsmaids.”

Our second groom walked down the aisle with his mother and sister, all the way to the alter.

Afterward, I pulled them aside and told them, point blank, that I didn’t like what I saw. This was set up too much like one guy was the bri de, and the other was the groom, and t hat’s not at all who they were.

Alternately, I suggested that when groom 2 started walking down the aisle with his mother and sister, groom 1 started walking up the aisle so they could meet half way, then , finish the walk to the alter together.

That observation and suggestion changed everything. It was the big tear jerker. Even catering was in tears. My grooms this coming weekend will be doing this very same arrangement because it really does work great!

What kind of price tag should we put on all this?

That is going to depend on the scope of work. Something to consider, though, is that a Friday rehearsal for a Saturday wedding would be as if your client is booking you for two premium dates in a row. I mean, if you are at a rehearsal on Friday evening, you probably can’t DJ anyone else’s Friday event. You’ll at least need to fairly compensate yourself for that potential lost revenue. For this reason, alone, you might want to look at this as a separate gig and price it out as such.

One thing that may help would be to offer this option at the time of booking. If your client isn’t sure what they want to do yet, maybe an a la carte option could be offered as an add-on at a later date. However, this could be subject to availability.

If you book something else In the meantime on rehearsal day, it is what it is. At least you offered them the option up front.

I hoped this helped someone. If you have any questions (or answers), feel free to reach out. You know where to find me.

Practice & Enjoy!

Brian S Redd is a Mobile/Club DJ in Milwaukee WI, DJ Youtuber and an official “American DJ” Artist/ You can reach Brian at: brianredd@discjockeynews. com/

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How To Automate Your Marketing Processes

By Justin Miller, Profit 911 Consulting Marketing automation is everywhere in your inbox. It’s the “sorry I missed you” email from a salesperson who just left you a voicemail. The birthday coupon from a restaurant. The reminder from a retailer that you added a product to your shopping cart but never clicked “buy.”

Across the event industry, automation has become a key to success: Nearly 80 percent of top-performing companies have used marketing automation for more than two years, according to the research firm Gleanster.

But automation isn’t reserved for big corporations. Special event companies, too, can incorporate automation in every aspect of business: from capturing leads to closing sales to serving customers to checking routine office tasks off the to-do list. When repetitive processes are automated, wedding business owners can instead devote time to the goals that really matter—like growing the business.

In this article, I am going to share two of my list of 25 things every wedding business should—and can—automate and how automating processes is easier than you might think.

There are six main areas of your business that can benefit from automation: leads, sales, e-commerce, customer service and engagement, events and office management.

7. Focus on your hottest leads. Having more leads than time to contact them is a problem—a good one, of course, but one that needs a solution nonetheless. If you never seem to catch up with your to-do list, where do you even begin?

Automation software sets your priorities by ranking each lead based on his or her engagement with your marketing efforts.

Thanks to this lead scoring, you can focus on the potential customers who are ready to buy over those who need more time. It wasn’t uncommon for my wedding business to have some people that were not really hot leads until 6+ months after their inquiry.

8. Stay engaged with prospects who aren’t ready to buy—yet. You wouldn’t propose marriage on a first date, right? The same logic applies to a new prospect. In the B2B world, 73 percent of leads aren’t yet ready to become customers, according to a report by the research firm MarketingSherpa and it isn’t much different for B2C. Rather than asking for a sale during your first inquiry, establish trust by cultivating the relationship over time, until the prospect is ready to make the big decision.

Automating a “lead nurturing” process prevents prospects from slipping through the cracks, allowing you to keep in touch without having to remember to do so. When a tag is applied to a customer who needs more time, automation software can send an email each month that gently pushes her toward a sale.

Each month, send resources that educate the prospect about your company and address common questions she might have with her event. Be sure to include options for increasing or decreasing the frequency of the communications. Ask her to click a link if she’d rather receive emails every other month. Set up another “contact us” link that she can click when she wants to talk to a sales rep. With automation, that click triggers a task for a designated person to contact her.

While lead nurturing affords the prospect more time, it also ensures that sales reps (or you) focus on the leads who are most prepared to buy. On average, nurtured leads result in a 20 percent increase in sales opportu-

Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 5

nities, compared with leads that didn’t receive that attention, according to a study by the B2B marketing publication DemandGen Report.

That’s all I have room to share this month, but if you want to get my complete list of 25 Things Every Wedding Business Should Auto-

mate, then just download it at www.profit911. biz/25things You can reach Justin at: justinmiller@discjockeynews.com. For more DJ business tools, tactics, and training from Justin visit http:// www.profit911.biz/just4djs

Your WHY Tells All!

By Brian Kelm

What is deep down inside you for wanting to get into the Mobile DJ/Entertainment business?

Your WHY is everything. What are you doing it for – Yourself or the difference you can make in helping people? There is no right or wrong answer, just a choice you have to make and a path to follow.

If you are serious, waste no time to create a detailed, wellthought out business plan that will give you the roadmap for a successful, long-term mobile DJ/ entertainment business.

If you are new to the industry, congratulations on beginning this journey and for exposing yourself to this article, magazine, and all the other amazing professionals with valuable content inside these pages each month.

The landscape from when I started in 1992 to now has changed considerably! Understand that back then the internet just came out, the iPhone hadn’t been invented yet, and the com-

puter of choice came in a white and black box that looked like a cow…who remembers this company?

Start with identifying your ‘WHY’ FIRST. This is a prerequisite next to a business plan, otherwise none of the journey ahead will either make sense or be fulfilling. Take some time, do some homework in writing down your thoughts and feelings about why you want to get into this business and industry with the constant changes, struggles, and 24-7-365 commitment.

There is no rush since this part is essential and is a foundation to start building.

No matter how fast the world moves these days, your WHY never changes, it gets updated and becomes more clear through time. It never goes away and can always be referenced no matter where you are or how you are feeling about what you are trying to do in this business.

Remember, anything worth creating is done day-by-day, not in a day. Your willingness, passion, abilities, talent, and love is where it starts. What is within you, and what does your heart tell you? Bring this out on paper and let those feelings guide and fuel you on this journey in starting your new business!

Brian Kelm, CWEP, CGWP, WED Guild is a 20+ year wedding entertainment and planning professional that has been all over the United States. Based in Wisconsin. Serving Anywhere. He can be reached at briankelm@ discjockeynews.com

PAGE 6 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

Cracking The Code Of Creativity: Get Off Your “But”

By Ron Ruth

If you’re reading this fine publication at the beginning of your day, it could be you’ve got this article in one hand, either in print or on a device, with a cup of coffee in the other. Or, maybe you prefer another kind of caffeinated drink to give you that early morning buzz. There may a few readers, though, that have completely sworn off caffeine in any form. I have a tremendous amount of respect for you if you’re one of those individuals. I quit smoking about 19 months ago and I know how difficult that was. I can’t imagine the “pain” associated with quitting caffeine (nor do I want to).

Either way, I’ve got good news and bad news for both my caffeine and non-caffeine drinking readers. The good news for coffee lovers like me is that a highly-publicized study that included three-quarter of a million people from a number of countries, ethnicities, and cultures was published in July of this year.

That research determined that a single cup of coffee reduces the risk of dying early from any cause by 12-percent. People who drank two to four cups a day had an 18% lower risk of death compared with people who did not drink coffee at all. If you translate the percentages into real time, one cup of coffee (according to this study) reduces your risk of dying early from any cause by an average of six minutes. How is that possible, you may ask? Coffee is a complex mixture of compounds, some of which have been revealed in laboratories to have biological effects. If you’re a com-

pulsive coffee drinker like me who has a cup in your hand all day long, I invite you to read my article in the August 2067, edition of Disc Jockey News where I will argue the overall merits of the study.

Now for the bad news my coffee drinking friends may not have anticipated. Beyond the life expanding benefits coffee may well provide, most coffee drinkers know that the caffeine goodness in our cup not only boosts energy and decreases fatigue---it enhances problem-solving, decision making and concentration. But (you knew there had to be a “but”) according to a totally unrelated study published in the New Yorker in June 2013, “we do know that much of what we associate with creativity—whether writing a sonnet or a mathematical proof—has to do with the ability to link ideas, entities, and concepts in novel ways. This ability depends in part on the very thing that caffeine seeks to prevent: a wandering, unfocussed mind.”

We’re most creative when we stop working on a particular problem and let our mind move on to something unrelated.

The more we allow ourselves to day dream or involve ourselves in play, the better we are at being creative. In other words (and it pains me to think it let alone say it), if you want to be seen as a creative genius, it may be time to switch to decaf. But, as an adult, you’ll most likely find that change in habit to be a fairly insignificant step towards becoming more creative.

In 1968, NASA was just one year away from meeting the commitment of the late President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. But NASA knew that even after achieving that goal they would be faced with far more challenges as they sought to explore further into space. They also knew to be successful that meeting those challenges would require far more than just the analytical

thinking of scientists and engineers. So, NASA reached out to Dr. George Land--the founder of an institute focused on the research of creative performance, and th ey asked him to devise a test that would help them better recognize the most creative and innovative engineers and scientists among their ranks.

The test was simple. Look at a problem and come up with new, creative ideas and innovative solutions. And even though there was no way for NASA to predict a specific need, you have to wonder how that testing played into the selection of a team of engineers in 1970. This team was given the ultima te creative task of preventing three astronauts aboard a severely crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft from dying of carbon dioxide poisoning by finding a way to (literally) put a square peg into a round hole.

The real-life engineers who solved that catastrophic problem are perfect examples of what a powerful asset creative thought is to our ability as humans to adapt, adopt and adjust to any given situation---whether it’s a crisis or simply the need to alter the course of a particular area of our business.

It also confirms how vital creativity is to human growth and progress.

Dr. Land’s simple, creativity assessment worked so well for NASA that he and his team decided to try it out on 1,600, three-to-five-year-old children who were enrolled in a head start program. He then went back five years later and re-tested the same children at ten years of ag e, and again at 15 years of age. What they discovered was astonishing. Ninety-eight percent of the youngest kids sampled were considered genius on the scale of creative thinking. Five years later when those kids were 10-years old, only thirty percent actually scored at genius-level of creative thinking.

At the age of 15, only twelve percent of the kids achieved genius-level for creative thinking. What is most startling is that out of 275,000 adults (average age of 31) who also completed the test, only two percent of them scored in the genius-level for creative thinking.

So, what do you think caused this great disparity? Very young children have no creative filters. They know no fear, and they are certainly not attuned to judgment.

My niece is an elementary school teacher, and she told me the story of a kindergarten teacher who gave her students the assignment of drawing a picture during the art portion of the class. Occasionally, she would walk around the room to see how each child was doing. She saw this one little girl who was fully immersed in her art---so focused she didn’t notice the teach-

Tamera Sims Continued From Page 2 ding. They were thrilled as both of their families live out of state. Shortly after the contract was signed, they mentioned that they would hold their rehearsal dinner at the venue the night before, very casual with pizza and beer. The owner told them that they could use the space but that they wouldn’t be able to have food because “If a guest chokes on a slice of pizza, we would be liable.” What????? So if a guest chokes at the actual wedding that’s not a problem? This logic makes no sense, and my best guess is that he overpromised to get the booking. The next disappointment came from their caterer, with whom they had also just signed a contract. The groom had some questions about the menu and asked for a few small changes via e-mail.

The caterer responded very abruptly stating ‘if you don’t like the menu we presented you can hire another caterer’. We explained to him how unfortunate it was that 2 of their vendors had disappointed them, but that it is unfair to lump every wedding professional in the same category as the bad ones. I also told them to enjoy their

er standing behind her. Eventually, the teacher asked , “ Amanda, what are you drawing?” Amanda said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Amanda replied, “They will in a minute.”

The great artist Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist; the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” So what is the problem? Dr. Land’s research discovered that there are two different types of thinking needed to innovate… creative and critical. Creative is when we’re allowed to draw. Critical is when we’re told---but we need to stay within the lines. And that’s why the percentages of creative geniuses drop so drastically as we and our children and grandchildren grow older. There’s tremendous confusion in being told we can be creative---but, as long as we’re practical at the same time.

In his book “Hatch: Brainstorming Secrets Of A Disney Theme Park Designer,” C. McNair Wilson---a former Disney Imagineer, writes, “You cannot be fully, actively creative if you’re simultaneously thinking critical. The purpose of creative thinking is to create ideas---lots of them.”

You diminish your ability to be innovative if you continually mix, both, creative thinking and critical thinking. Into the same process. In other words, to secure your spot in the two percent of adult creative geniuses, especially when it comes to making important decisions within your business--- you’ve got to give your imagination lots of room to run & play before you or others involved in the creative process start thinking with your “buts.” “But we’ve never done it that way before.” “But we did it that way, and it didn’t work. ” “But that would take too much time.” “But that sounds complicated.” And the biggest but of all---“But that sounds risky.”

It’s like a jockey trying to get a race horse to go full speed while pulling back on the reins. That horse will never win a race. Your “but” may well be holding your business back, too. Come back next month for the help you need to get you off your “but.”

Ron Ruth is a 20 year veteran of the wedding and DJ industry and the owner of Ron Ruth Wedding Entertainment in Kansas City. He’s also a self-described “Disney Geek” and a nationally recognized speaker who presents seminars at conferences for DJs and wedding professionals on the topic of delivering quality service.

Ron can be reached at 816-224-4487 or ronruth@discjockeynews.com

engagement and not let a few stumbling blocks taint this joyful time. We later received this e-mail from them: “ I want to take a moment to make sure I tell you how happy and honored we are to have you there on the day of our wedding. Thank you for everything you have done for us so far.” The e-mail felt sincere, and we have built a trusting relationship with this couple, but I can’t help feel that their impression of our industry is still damaged.

Let’s all work together to create the most positive experience for our clients and continue to exceed expectations!

Please feel free to share your comments with me at: tamarasims@discjockeynews. com or tamara@something2dance2.com Tamara is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Something 2 Dance 2 DJ Entertainment in Schaumburg, IL, which she proudly owns along with her husband Jay Sims. She has over 20 years experience in the wedding industry and loves creating wonderful wedding memories for her brides and grooms.

Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 7

Inspirational Weight-Loss DJ Gains Back Pounds

By Jason Spencer

It was June 2015 that Robbie Britton, producer of the Appalachian Regional Mobile DJ Symposium (ArmDJs) in Greeneville, Tennessee gave me a chance to take the stage and share a new found light at the end of the tunnel: Profit First.

Since then, I’ve shared with thousands of event pros at dozens of events the message of why it’s so critical for business owners to start paying themselves a salary long before worrying about how to pay for expenses.

The message resonates with many.

“It’s the envelope system,” some people might say. “Sounds like Dave Ramsey for business” others might respond. The system is inspirational for many that were almost ready to throw in the towel out of frustration tied to lackluster or breakeven profits.

I never expected to become an inspiration, even a champion of sorts, for those that look in the mirror and determine that they don’t like what they see. The first time I delivered my presentation, I stood on a stage and proclaimed that “I’ve lost 90 pounds.”

Each time I gave the presentation, the weight was down from the prior. At Wedding MBA it was 125 pounds. Book More Brides was 145 pounds. At Mobile Beat Las Vegas, attendees erupted in applause when I said I’d lost over 165 pounds.

Then earlier this year, I was stoked to present at Midwest DJs Live the number was 115 pounds.

Wait. What? No… You read that just fine. Exactly thirteen months after I had dropped from over 375 pounds to a lifetransforming 215, I gained about 50 of them back. But why?

Consider this a confession, along with another level of inspiration. If you’ve had a relapse of any kind, I want you to know that you can always course correct and gain a clearer understanding of yourself and your goals.

That 45-pound weight gain was caused primarily by three things.

1. I stopped keeping records. While it’s a simplistic way of looking at the problem, there is truth behind needing to burn off the calories you consume to maintain or lose weight. I lost my weight on a medically-monitored Very Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD). For about a year, I consumed an average of 1400 calories a day.

When it comes to maintaining weight, there’s a fancy number known as Resting Energy Expenditure. This number is different for everyone, and through some fancy tests at the doctor’s office, I learned that mine is 2100 calories. That’s the total calories I need to consume to maintain my weight if I do nothing else but sit still and breathe for 24-hours straight. Unfortunately, I stopped keeping records of my food, which took me off course and led to some serious calorie intake and ultimately regaining weight.

2. I thought I knew what I was doing. My biggest champion (besides my wife) on my weight loss journey was my registered dietitian, Tessa. Through my initial year of weight loss, I shed those 165 pounds through a special real food

diet that Tessa helped me discover.

When I transitioned from weight loss to maintenance, my mind was convinced that after a year of eating real food to lose weight, maintaining weight was as simple as adding about 700 additional calories.

Without going through a process called Realimentation and regularly checking in with Tessa, I went even further off course and began falling into old habits (like the late-night drive-thru after an event).

3. I forgot how I got to where I was.

With my food plan and my diet coach out of the way, it was easy to make excuses like, “It’s my birthday – let’s have ice cream and cake!” “It’s my wife’s birthday – let’s have cake and ice cream!” “I’m in Las Vegas, let’s hit all the buffets!” “I’m in Spain, let’s siesta and eat tapas for a few hours!”

These celebrations excuses lead to weight gain and old habits, and thankfully I realized it before it was too late. During the weight-loss journey, I attended weekly support classes where I learned the science behind both losing and gaining weight.

It was a struggle to convince myself that I was doing anything wrong. I believed that by simply self-correcting my eating that the weight would go away. I was wrong, and it took a 45-pound weight gain to figure that out.

That’s when I made an appointment to see Tessa, who after six months without a meeting was still my biggest fan. She reminded me that while I’d gained 45, I was still down over 115 pounds, all without surgery or drugs. I was letting my perceived failure of weight gain block out the obvious win of continued weight loss.

The irony is that it wasn’t that hard to course-correct. Within two weeks of my

meeting with Tessa, I had stopped the weight gain and gotten into maintenance.

To collect data, she convinced me to stay there for about 2-3 months. I began logging my meals again, taking note of calories, fat, carbs, protein, and the time of day.

With that information, Tessa worked with me to create a new plan of attack.

Rather than an accelerated weight loss plan like before, that could have adverse health effects, we created a plan for a more gradual weight loss. It accounted for new environmental changes, introduced alternative methods of burning calories (most people call this exercise) that allowed me to still consume a few extra calories. And in the last six weeks, I’m proud to have dropped 15 pounds.

When I started coaching others with Profit First, many assume that after one year they’ve implemented the system and our services would come to an end. For some, that’s true. However, when your business experiences a significant change, like a new service line or hiring an employee, it may be time to re-evaluate and adjust accordingly. The same goes for any coaching program or workshop investment you’ve made in the past. You might be making excuses and perhaps need your champion on your side to help maintain your newfound success.

Jason Spencer is a Certified Profit First Professional and founder of Profithood Academy. He has over 20 years of wedding and event industry experience and is the owner of Spencer Weddings and Entertainment in Northern California. He can be reached at 916-264-9777 or by email at jasonspencer@discjockeynews.com.

PAGE 8 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

The Photobooth Section Is It Time To Add A Photo Booth?

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For those who said Photo Booths are a FAD … Ha! Starting a Photo Booth Business can lead to one of the most enjoyable and profitable experiences. Most people start on a part time basis, and grow their business gradually.

One of the most important considerations is equipment, of course, as well as how much you want to invest to get up and running. Reliable equipment is a MUST, and you should have back up equipment as well to avoid embarrassing, even devastating breakdowns at an event.

Even a bare-bones photo booth set up will involve: • Camera and Tripod or Camera Stand • Backdrop and Stand • Laptop Computer with Photo Booth Software and Graphic Software or purchased Templates • Professional Lighting • Dye Sub Printer with Media (Paper/Ribbons) • Extension cords • Props – glasses, hats, masks, boas, signs As you grow, you can add equipment, backdrops including greenscreen, props, social media software, database building software, etc. It’s nice to offer a variety of backdrops that fit the theme of the event, for instance. Props can be purchased from photo booth prop businesses, as well as party stores, second hand stores and dollar stores.

“Open Air” photo booths involve no type of enclosure. Everyone in the room can watch the fun, which encourages participation. This type of booth will essentially accommodate an unlimited number of people, too.

Enclosed photo booths involve pipe/ draping, framing or a purchased “shell” in which all of the equipment is contained inside. This type of photo booth will limit the number of people who can participate at one time, depending on the size of the enclosure. If your equipment is exposed, participants will have access to your camera, computer, printer, etc. which could cause problems if they don’t treat things properly.

Work with knowledgeable and reputable vendors who not only sell products but are willing to offer education and advice. Consulting with someone with experience in photography, especially photo booth and event photography will prove invaluable to your operation. They will offer advice and help you minimize your investment while helping you maximizing your business growth. Know where to go for technical support.

Research your competition to help establish your Unique Selling Proposition, USP. A unique selling proposition refers to the unique benefit exhibited by your company’s services, equipment or brand that enables you to stand out from competitors. Your USP is a feature that highlights benefits that are meaningful to your consumers and sets you apart from competition. Communicating your USP is a key element of establishing and reinforcing your brand.

Naturally, researching your compe-

By CJ Wilson

tition will also help you know more about what they offer, good and bad.

Never make negative comments to prospects or customers about your competition; however.

Social Media displays a lot of information about the Photo Booth industry, and can be a great educational source.

It allows you the option to ask questions and seek advice of those who are already in the business. A word of caution: we all know that just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it is good advice or accurate information.

Think about Marketing, and how you can build and strengthen your brand, become visible in your community. Be active with social media. Look for local business networking groups and get involved. Make sure you have business cards! Consider offering referral spiffs to customers once you get established. Positive word of mouth is great advertising.

Establish an informative website, with or without pricing. You can offer complete packages or a basic package with add-on services but be careful – add-ons can be confusing to prospects.

We believe that most photo booth websites do offer pricing. Remember, you are establishing a professional business that deserves fair pricing so don’t start out too low.

Before you book your first gig, test test test. Set up all of your equipment and make sure it’s all communicating and working properly. Consider offering your services for free at an event to further educate yourself and your business, as well as to get feedback on the overall experience. Then you can make adjustments before your first paid event.

Make sure guests have access to your contact information at every event. Display business cards, promotional literature, brochures, etc. in prominent locations to make it easy for them to contact you. If possible, include your website on each photo.

Have your calendar with you, hoping someone will want to book another event.

Your photo booth offers an incredible entertaining experience for participants. If you are going to be on site, maybe even taking the photos, be upbeat and have fun with your customers and guests. Photo booth events can really be a blast for everyone, including you!

Photo Printer Outlet www.photoprinteroutlet.com Cj Wilson is the Business Manager of Photo Printer Outlet as well as owner/operator of SonLight Photography & Design. She developed her original photo studio in 1990, now has years of experience in portraits, as well as event and photo booth development and operation. Photo Printer Outlet strives to be the lowest price with FREE shipping and support, especially newbies.You can contact Cj at info@photoprinteroutlet or text/call 402.661.0676. Check us out on Facebook too!

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Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 9

The Photobooth Section DI Why? Why Do They Do It Themselves?

By Alan Berg

I’ve spoken over the years about the DIY (Do it Yourself) wedding couple.

While many weddings have some element that was done by someone involved in the wedding (family and/ or friends) there’s rarely a wedding that’s truly all DIY. Did her mom make the wedding dress?

Did his/her aunt cook the food? Did his friend take the pictures or play the music? More likely they made the programs, possibly decorative items for the tables or church.

Why are they doing it themselves?

It might be their budget, or it just might be that they enjoy the creative process. I’m a DIY when it comes to home improvements and repairs. Rarely is it to save money, because many of my DIY projects wouldn’t get done if we had to hire a professional carpenter or handyman. They’re not emergency repairs, rather improvements or artistic expression.

So, when couples try to do things for their weddings…

• Are they trying to save money? – maybe • Are they trying to be creative? – maybe • Do they care if it looks homemade?

– I doubt they think about it • Should they care if it looks amateurish? – if it looks like they made it themselves, they’re probably OK with it.

What about you? Are you a DIY wedding pro/business?

So, when you try to do things for your business instead of hiring a pro…

• Are you trying to save money? – probably • Are you trying to be creative? – maybe • Do you care if it looks homemade?

– most likely you haven’t thought about that until now • Should you care if it looks amateurish? – you should care, that first impression may be the only one you get

People often ask me how much it costs for a new website or a graphic designer to do your business cards, brochures or email template? Usually, the answer is that they all cost less than the business you’re already losing with your current website, branding or marketing pieces. If you lose one customer because of inferior branding, design or execution, that usually costs you way more than hiring a pro. If you lose one customer per month now, what are you waiting for?

Not doing it at all costs you even more than doing it yourself.

Don’t go it alone In an industry where so many of us work from home or run lean organizations, there’s often way more to do than we can get to. Sometimes you have the skills, but not the time (that’s my biggest challenge). The thing is you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can outsource much of what you do, contractors and freelancers are everywhere (consult a labor attorney if you engage the services of the same person or people regularly and they only or mostly work for you).

My benchmark is that I can do it myself only if you, my clients, can’t tell that I did. If I have the skills to deliver a professional level, then I do it. However, I also outsource many things that I can do very well because it’s not the best use of my time. Choose the services you want to personally do for your customers and outsource the rest or pass them on to another service provider. If you’re that busy, it may be time to hire another or a first employee.

Rather than DIY, we should all be asking ourselves DIWhy? If we have a really good reason to be doing it ourselves, then keep calm and carry on. If not then we have to start thinking bigger, like the businesses we want to become, and let the experts do it (which, after all, is why we want people to hire us in the first place – we’re the experts).

Alan Berg has been called “North America’s Leading Expert and Speaker on the Business of Weddings and Events”. Find out more about his speaking, website reviews, consulting, books, DVDs and audio presentations at http:// www.AlanBerg.com - email or call Alan, 732.422.6362

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PAGE 10 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

Letting A DJ Go

By Joe Bunn

One of the hardest things as a small business owner that you are eventually going to have to deal with is letting people go; AKA firing DJs. It’s honestly the worst feeling knowing that you have invested time and money into training someone and now they are going out “on their own.” In this article, let’s discuss how to handle firing and dealing with the aftermath the right way.

Before we get to firing, let’s first think of the reasons why DJs get fired. 1-They are handing out their own cards at your events, 2-They show up late or not at all, 3-They want to start their own DJ business. I’m sure there are others, but those are probably the most common in the world of mobile DJs. First off, when you do fire someone, as easy as it may be to text them a “You’re fired!” and a satan emoji, have a little more professionalism. At the very least, call them

up, no matter how heated you are and tell them what they did wrong and what led to this phone call. If you can get them in front of you, in your office, in private, that’s even better. I’ve had to fire my fair share of DJs over the years and often, it’s not pretty…this isn’t exactly a Starbucks type of conversation if you have my demeanor.

Especially in the case of the “I’m leaving to start my own thing” type of DJ. They are literally dead to me as soon as I hear those words. They are my sworn enemy and a sworn enemy of Bunn DJ Company in general. Once DJs decide that they want to be my competition instead of making tons of money working for me, I immediately start the shutdown process. First, I lock them out of their Bunn DJ Company email account and have all of their emails forwarded to me. Next, I inform all of my DJs that the DJ has been let go (no need to get into details with the rest of your staff).

After that, I start calling (yes actually picking up a telephone and calling) anyone that they had booked for upcoming shows. Oh, you didn’t think I was going to let the guy keep working here once they said they are starting their own DJ company did you?!

Heck no! If you allow that, you are literally FUNDING the startup of their new competing DJ company! All of their shows are

immediately replaced with another wellqualified DJ (another one of the benefits of owning a multi-op with a large, welltrained staff).

Is calling clients and telling them that the DJ got fired, the guy they’ve already met with and liked, easy? No, it sucks. It’s one of the toughest calls to make, but to be honest, most people don’t end up using Bunn DJ Company due to one DJ. They hired our company to work for them because of our reputation. Once I, the owner, get on the phone and explain the situation (again, the details of the firing are not their business), tell them that I have another DJ for them (get that out of the way right away, so they don’t panic), and talk to them for a few minutes, they are usually fine. I’ll also have the replacement DJ contact them right away, introduce himself and offer to come to them for a face to face meeting. Again, you just want to make the client at ease first and foremost. Have I had to give refunds to people in the past?

Yes, a couple in over 20 years in business and I’m sure they try and find the number of the DJ they had originally hired. Good riddance, I won’t lose a bit of sleep over a client like that.

If the aforementioned fired DJ starts going around town trying to approach ven-

ues and other vendors badmouthing us or saying he is starting his own company, believe me, I’m the first to know. These folks usually call or email me right away asking what the deal is, and I tell them (again, no details about why) that he was let go and is no longer with Bunn DJ Company. That statement alone is the death blow for most of the DJs/clowns that leave us. They don’t understand that what got them into these venues and relationships with these vendors was the company. Yes, they are good DJs and did a good job at events, but that’s where it ends. These folks recommend our company, not necessarily one DJ. For every DJ that has left Bunn DJ Company and said to me “I’m going to be the next Joe Bunn and run you out of business in this town,” not one has done it, and I’ve been doing this a long, long time.

That speaks to not only our reputation but also my really hard work. I am always trying to stay ahead of the competition and I never just sit back and rest. I suggest you do the same!

Joe Bunn is the owner of Bunn DJ Company in Raleigh, NC. He is available for consulting and speaking engagements. His DVD “Marketing the Music” is now available at www.djjoebunn.com. Contact him at joebunn@discjockeynews.com.

My Bungee Jumping Experience And The Wedding Industry

By Keith ‘KC’ KoKoruz

Years ago while on a trip with some friends, I assembled the courage to bungee jump. I was the only one. The entire time that I was taking my loose change out of my pockets and the attendant was putting the small harnesses around my ankles, we all joked a b o u t what I w o u l d look like if the bungee cord broke and I went splat on the ground like a bug on the windshield. The attendant and I joked as the basket raised him and me to the top of the bungee structure. When we got to the top, his entire mood shifted and he got deadly serious.

He told me it was time for me to pay attention, and I mean pay attention so that I didn’t do something stupid and get hurt. I remember my face and body getting cold and clammy and I had wondered if I had just made a huge mistake wanting to do this. I feel that way about the DJ industry as it pertains to the wedding industry at times, and more now so than ever.

I thought that I would take a few minutes to discuss with the readers of DJN, the current facts facing the ever changing wedding industry which in turn also affects the ever changing DJ and photo booth industry. I am not looking to get into a huge debate about “Worth,” instead I feel that it is necessary to discuss the law of supply and demand and how it has changed drastically in the past 20 years and where the wedding industry is going.

Let’s start by looking at marital statistics, not wedding statistics but mari-

tal statistics. Most wedding statistics are put out by wedding media companies wanting to entice business owners to do business with them. They like to throw out numbers like how the U.S. wedding market is just over $53.4 billion dollars in revenue each year. What they fail to discuss is how different the space is compared to years past and how it is continuing to change and shrink and is more crowded than it ever has been.

Currently, the marriage rate in the U.S. is the lowest it has been in the past 100 years. According to the CDC, the marriage rate as of March of 2017 is at 6.9 marriages per 1000 people. 2,140, 272 marriages happened in the U.S. last year. If you take the reported 53.4 billion and divide it by 2,140,272, you get a different average than what the wedding media is telling you is being spent on the average wedding.

I realize that some of these marriages are court house marriages, some are destination weddings outside of the U.S., and some are simply a ceremony with family and friends. My point is that the wedding media isn’t always painting the whole picture. They are painting what they want you to see. I am just trying to level the playing field, so you see it for what it is.

In addition to the marriage rates being so low, the divorce rate has dropped to 3.2 divorces per 1000 people in the U.S. This means that there are fewer second or possibly third weddings for wedding professionals to earn their living from. This is very different than it was 20 years ago.

Only one-in-five previously married adults (21%) say they would like to marry again, while a plurality (45%) say they do not want to get married again.

(An additional 31% are not sure.) There is a large gender gap on this question.

Previously married women are much less likely than their male counterparts

to say they would like to get married again someday (15% of women compared with 29% of men). Fully 54% of these women say they are not interested in getting remarried (30% of men say the same).

If you also look at some couples having children before marriage, it changes their view of their wedding day. If you talk to any parent, they will tell you that the minute that they are blessed with a child, everything else isn’t as big of a priority. This means fewer brides will be choosing the extras that wedding professionals offer. According to the CDC, there are 43.3 per 1000 unmarried moth-

ers in the U.S. One more thing to consider is the number of couples paying for their wedding today when historically it had been paid for by parents. According to The Knot, only 9% of weddings are paid for 100% by the couple’s parents. 12% of the weddings are paid for exclusively by the couple getting married. Think about how that changes the reality of a couple’s wedding budget. Most commonly, the bride’s parents pay 44%, the couple pays 43%, and the groom’s parents pay 13%.

According to Pew Center Data, in 1960 72% of adults 18 years of age or older were married. In 2014 that number dropped to 50% in the U.S., and that is with the U.S. population growing 137.9 million larger since 1960.

According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, among women who first cohabited at age 25 to 29, their premarital cohabitation relationship typically lasted about a year and a half (17 months). Research finds that after one year, about three-in-ten get married, 9% break up the relationship, and 62% continue cohabiting. By the third year, nearly six-in-ten (58%) married, 19% broke up, and 23% remained in the relationship.

Some say that the institution of marriage comes from a couple’s religious upbringing and with more and more people stepping away from organized religion, their views on marriage are also different.

Thanks to digital technology and the lowered cost of equipment, the entry to the DJ industry is lower than it ever has been. This is also true in photography, video, photo booths, etc.

Lastly, there are far more venues available to couples than there were 20 years ago.

Raw space venues are a huge hot trend which means there are also fewer Friday and Sunday weddings since there are more venues available on Saturday night.

Now that I have depressed you I want to you know that I have shared this with you in order for you to understand the facts of today’s wedding industry. In today’s market, you need to be the first to respond to a bride’s email. You need to be the first to answer the bride’s phone call. You need to work harder than ever to earn your market share.

KC can be reached at KC@discjockeynews.com.

Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 11

Never Pass Up The Opportunity To Make A Great Fifth Impression

By Michael J. Lenstra

(My editor, Chris Feldman, is stepping in for me this month as a guest columnist) You might be wondering, is my autocorrect on the fritz? That’s not how the expression goes. It’s important to make a great first impression.

And it is . . . no doubt about it.

When you interview for a job, you read your resume and cover letter five, six, ten times before sending it to make sure there are no typos. You wear your best dress clothes to make sure your appearance is neat and tidy. You arrive early to make sure you’re there on time.

You’re polite during the interview, very respectful in asking questions, and after it’s over, you will probably send a thank-you note to the person who interviewed you to leave one last positive impression about the kind of person you are.

And once you get the job, what happens? After a few months, you might start sending out e -mails with a stray typo here or there, figuring, “I’m just sending it to Kathy—she’ll know what I mean.” Or forgetting to shave some morning because “There are no clients coming through the office today .” Or slipping in a few minutes late in the morning or when getting back from lunch, figuring you’ll make up the time somewhere. Or grumbling at a coworker . . . or even your supervisor . . . about some new policy put in place. And it begs the question— if you went through all the effort to make a great impression to get a job, shouldn’t you put forth the same effort

once you have that job?

I was thinking about that after reading Mike Lenstra’s column last month soliciting wedding advice that he might someday give his daughters.

One of the items he mentioned was getting married earlier in the year because by the end of the season some vendors are just getting frazzled and are eager for the season to be over. I don’t doubt that’s true—as an editor, if I have one book to edit over a series of weeks, there can be a feeling when those last chapters come up that I just want to wrap this one up and move on to something new. And if I happen to pick up an editing project from a new company, I probably do put a little more care into making sure every i is dotted, every t is crossed, and every line ends with the correct punctuation.

But in reality, if I’m paid by the page (which I often am), aren’t I being paid as much to edit the last page as the first? If so, shouldn’t each page get the same level of attention? Think about a wedding reception from the bride and groom’s point of view. Aren’t they paying for a certain level of service and attention regardless of when the wedding is? If two brides are paying the same money for a service, is it right that one gets a fresh, enthusiastic, ready to go vendor who’s full of pep and pays close attention to every detail while another one gets a vendor who is “going through the motions” just to get through the year and figures, “Well, if I mispronounce that bridesmaid’s name it’ll blow over. I got the bride’s name right. Plus, I need to check the score of the football game.” Remember, too, that your 20th gig of the year might be the first time a potential client sees you, and that client’s decision to book you may come about based on their “first impression” of your “20th impression.”

If you need examples of the importance of a second, third, or fourth impression, look at the pop charts of

the 1980s. Countless songs during that decade were released that never got higher than #30 on their initial release: “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, “On The Dark Side” by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, “At This Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters, “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters, “Red Red Wine” by UB40, “When I’m With You” by Sherriff, and “Baby Come to Me” by Patti Austin and James Ingram. What do they all have in common? They were all released a second time and reached the Top 10, with several becoming #1 hits (Prince’s “1999” almost did the same, peaking at #12 the second time around). The first impression those songs made was nice . . . the second impression, with the same song, was great.

TV shows from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s provide another example.

During that time, shows like “All in the Family,” “Cheers,” “M*A*S*H,” “Seinfeld,” and “Hill Street Blues” struggled in the ratings in their first seasons, but they kept producing the same high-quality episodes, and eventually people caught on, giving them high ratings and long runs on the network schedule. That didn’t happen because they hit a home run out of the gate, but because they kept the same level of quality week in and week out until the audience caught up. If they started figuring, “Well, we’re only going to get a rating in the low 60s this week, why put any extra time and effort into this week’s show?” “M*A*S*H” might have been canceled after two seasons, instead of its finale being the most watched scripted TV episode of all time.

Another show that proves this point is “Saturday Night Live.” At various times in the past 40 years the show has been hailed as “Saturday Night Dead,” and there have definitely been peaks and valleys in both quality and ratings (usually connected) when the show

just seemed to be phoning it in and on the verge of cancellation. But this past season, its 42nd, the show had its best ratings in over 20 years, it remains one of the most buzzed about shows on YouTube, and when this year’s Emmy nominations were announced in early July, the show had 22 nominations—tied with “Westworld” for the most nominations—and the most it ever received in a single season.

When a show’s viewership and critical acclaim increase after 40+ years, it seems the point is made; there are still ways - after doing the same thing week after week, month after month, year after year - to keep it fresh.

Granted, once the “new car smell” comes off anything, it’s hard to keep putting your best foot forward every time. There’s undoubtedly more planning that goes into a first date than what to do on a Thursday night after four years of marriage. The new car that you insisted no one eat in or even ride in without washing their hands when it was new might have crushed soda cans and a couple of gum wrappers on the floor after a year or so. So it’s understandable if a DJ has done a company’s summer picnic/Christmas party/New Year’s Eve bash for the fourth year in a row, there might be a feeling of, “Well, I can do this one on autopilot.” Or if it’s another Saturday doing another wedding where we have to play “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” another time, the enthusiasm to do your best can waver. It’s human nature. But keep in mind that your 5th, 15th, or 50th gig of the year is someone else’s first. Just a thought.

Chris Feldman is filling in this month for Mike Lenstra.

Michael J. Lenstra is a 20-plusyear veteran of the Mobile Disc Jockey Industry, a full-time entertainer, and owner of Alexxus Entertainment in Dubuque, IA. He can be reached at mikelenstra@discjockeynews.com

PAGE 12 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

What Are You Saying?

By Dave Ternier

“I’m just completely dumbfounded.

100%. I’ve never seen such a thing. And unfortunately, he was positioned so that if I took a shot of the whole head table his head and book were in it. The father of the bride is telling a story of how the bride almost didn’t make it at birth… and this guy is reading his book. Bah, I guess there is only a certain kind of us that are invested.”

A friend of mine sent me that message earlier this year, along with the following photos for reference purposes. She could not comprehend the lack of consideration displayed by the DJ at this wedding.

Furthermore, she was frustrated that his lack of consideration was going to be on display in some of the photographs she had been hired to capture. Getting a clear photo of the head table and much of the front of the room was not possible without having this man, maybe confusing the wedding for a library or a study, in the photo.

Finally, she wasn’t the only one noticing and commenting on this. Others at the wedding were curiously observing this DJ too. For some, he had become a bit of a distraction.

Dan Carpenter Continued From Page 4 share their secrets and change the way you think about what it means to be a Signature MC.” There will be some similarities to Steve’s seminar, but with Mark’s creative spin. And from my experience with Mark, he will deliver! Cue excitement.

The All-star MCs seminar isn’t the only thing that’s getting revamped. In fact, this year’s expo seems to be all about changes.

For the past few years, the expo had been held at the Trump Taj Mahal. With it being closed, a new location had to be found, so the show is going back to the Atlantic City Convention Center. The only problem is that the convention center doesn’t have a hotel, which means a new hotel , the Tropicana. The good news is it looks like a beautiful hotel; however, the bad news is that it’s a little over a mile away from the Convention Ce nter. DJ Times say they will be running shuttles, but I’m preparing to walk just in case (keeping in the touristy sections the whole way). Yes there is a hotel right next to the Convention Center, but it’s more expensive, plus it’s not where the nightly entertainment is scheduled to be happening. Speaking of nightly entertainment, another change is Mike Walter and Elite Entertainment is no longer leading the “DJ of the Year” competition. In addition to the new host, Darryl “Jake” Jacobsen, the competition has been renamed more appropriately to “Entertainer of the Year.”

I’m pretty excited about this year’s expo, and can’t wait for it to come. I missed last year because my full-time job started the Monday of expo week. I’m not missing out this year, and I hope you won’t either. As long as you are reading this before August 14th, you can still make plans to attend. And during the show (whether you are there or not), make sure to check out the DJ News Facebook page as John Young and the crew bring you all the latest information on the show, including special up close looks from the showroom floor.

Dan Carpenter can be reached at dancarpenter@discjockeynews.com.

I do not know who the DJ is, nor is it of importance here. He is not to be ridiculed by you, me, or anyone else. This example is being shared with you as a reminder that we, as Bill Hermann has brought up many times, are always on stage.

Too often we focus on the fancy gear and cool lights and in the very same moment, neglect the very essentials of our behavior and presentation.

The moment we walk into a venue, a stage rests beneath our feet.

Wherever we walk, our stage travels with us.

Whoever talks with us, has approached

our stage.

When we unload our gear, we unload at the stage.

When we are packing our gear, we pack directly from the stage.

When the father of the bride is speaking about his daughter, we are on stage.

Expect that someone is always watching and be ever mindful of your behavior and presentation.

This DJ may have lost any chance of a referral from this wedding professional…and he didn’t have to play a single song to accomplish that.

We are always on stage.

Without saying a word, we have the ability to speak volumes.

This DJ said a lot, without uttering a single sentence.

What are you saying? ~ Dave Based in Manitoba, Canada, Dave Ternier is a single operator DJ/MCfor his company, Special Request Weddings and he is the founding author of aDJthought. com. Dave Ternier can be reached at DaveTernier@discjockeynews.com.

Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 13

7 Things To Make You A Better DJ Without Practicing

By Michael Joseph

Before I start, I just want to say that there is no substitute for practicing. It doesn’t matter if you are DJing, riding a bike or baking a cake, the more you do it, the better you will get. With that said, this is my list of things that will help you improve by building good habits or a stronger state of mind. Some are skills, and others are ways of thinking. Each will ultimately strengthen the foundation you already have.

1. .

K n o w Your Music… I’m not talking about knowing a genre or knowing a decade.

I’m talking about knowing the structure of the individual songs you currently own. You should know how they begin and end. You should know how long it takes to get to the first word of the first verse and if there is talking or singing on the intro. You should know how the song ends or if you can mix out during the bridge. You should know if there is a pre or post chorus so if you want to mix out, you will know when to begin and how long you have to mix. If you have more than one version of a song, you should know how each one sounds. You should know how it’s structured so you can pick the right one for the right event.

This is something I teach my DJ students all the time. If you know your music, you can not only pick the right songs, but you

can also know how to best make them fit.

They should not only work well with the song you are mixing with but the entire set and even the whole night.

2. Confidence … This isn’t about having a big ego; it’s the opposite. If you are already a good DJ, lack of confidence will knock your skill set to rock bottom. In the movie “Seven Days in Utopia,” actor Robert Duvall talks about not letting the other guy “take you out of your game.”

The world is full of haters and doubters.

It’s easy to hear a friend or stranger say something negative that completely derails you. Even worse, we are far too often our own worst enemy. It’s bad enough you have to hear it from others, you should never have to hear it from yourself. Like my friend Scott always use to say “It’s all a matter of confidence, not over, not under, just confidence.”

3. Get or Make Good Edits or Remixes … All too many times we get stuck in a rut of playing the same songs we’ve been using for years. Why not look for new versions. It can be a simple “hook first” edit, where the song jumps right to the best part to keep the crowd engaged.

ReDrums are also a great way to add a simple twist to old classics like Bon Jovi, Journey, and Bob Marley. Remember, it doesn’t have to be some crazy club mix.

A little extra drum beat to a radio edit will make it sound more modern and appeal to a wider audience. Digging for new music is not only fun, but it can also go a long way on the right night.

4. Practice Reading the Crowd Even When You Are Not DJing… Music is everywhere. Most of the time we don’t hear it. I know my brain works differently than most, so I hear it everywhere. It’s in the background of every TV or Youtube

commercial. Every TV show or movie has music in the background almost the entire time. It could be an endless playlist at the grocery store or mall. Every restaurant or bar you go to has some music playing.

Watch the crowd as the songs change. The mood of the music will affect people with our without them knowing it. They might tap their feet or smile or even start to sing along, either way; it’s a reaction. Start to learn to read that reaction as it is happening or even before it does. Imagine you are in charge of the music, practice steering it another direction in your mind. See what direction the person who chose the songs took them and how well it worked.

Practice being alert to the movement of the room and soon you will be able to move it, however and wherever you want.

5. Record and Review Yourself …

This is always one of the hardest things to do. No one likes to critique themselves but trust me it helps. It doesn’t matter if you are DJing, Emceeing or both - don’t be afraid to self-critique . Be kind to yourself but be honest. Remember the goal is to get better at what you are doing not knock the wind out of your sails.

Look at each mistake and find creative ways to improve. It may take a few tries to get something that works, but when it clicks you can feel it. Don’t think of it as “you looking better” but your personal brand getting an upgrade. Sometimes you have to tear things down before you build them up.

6. Watch Others for Ideas and Inspiration… We have all been there, watching someone who is in the zone doing what they love. It’s poetry in motion; it’s breathtaking, it’s magical. That feeling can reignite the passion we had when we first started. You could find a whole new

way of doing something you have done a million times or just remember how fun it should be. Watching someone who has passion is infectious. It can take you on a journey that makes you want to practice and perfect your skills. It makes you want to improve so you can then take others on that same kind of journey. You may get a new idea or copy what someone else did and make it all your own. Inspiration and Ideas can come from anywhere if you are open and willing to learn 7. Just Have Fun… A while back I was watching an online seminar from one of my favorite scratch DJs, DJ QBert. He was talking about the balance between the technical side of our brains and the creative side. He asks four time DMC champion, DJ Craze “how do you go from doing an extremely technical scratch routine to creatively putting on a show”? Craze’s answer was short and profound. He said, “I don’t know, I just have fun.” Sometimes we get caught up in trying to be the best. We forget what we do is basically celebrating with others.

Our job as a DJ is to celebrate with people. We celebrate everything from someone’s wedding day to celebrating at a club or bar to forget a crappy work week. If you are having fun, it will be contagious, and those around you will want to join in.

Someone once said, “to be a better dancer, dance like nobody’s watching.” I say to be a better DJ … Just Have Fun. Michael Joseph (MJ) is the host of The Rewind Report and My DJ Obsession on DJNTV and has been a DJ in residence in Pittsburgh for a number of years. You can contact MJ at MJ@discjockeynews.com.

PAGE 14 • Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017

Top 50 Charts for AUGUST 2017

http://www.discjockeynews.com • http://www.djntv.com Pop 1 LUIS FONSI & DADDY YANKEE Despacito f/Justin Bieber 2 ZEDD & ALESSIA CARA Stay 3 DJ KHALED I’m The One f/Bieber/Quavo...

4 HALSEY Now Or Never 5 SHAWN MENDES There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me...

6 IMAGINE DRAGONS Believer 7 ED SHEERAN Castle On The Hill 8 CHARLIE PUTH Attention 9 BRUNO MARS That’s What I Like 10 KYGO X SELENA GOMEZ It Ain’t Me 11 DJ KHALED F/RIHANNA/B. TILLER Wild Thoughts 12 NIALL HORAN Slow Hands 13 THE CHAINSMOKERS & COLDPLAY Something Just Like This 14 JULIA MICHAELS Issues 15 SELENA GOMEZ Bad Liar 16 SAM HUNT Body Like A Back Road 17 LIAM PAYNE Strip That Down f/Quavo 18 DAVID GUETTA 2U f/Justin Bieber 19 CALVIN HARRIS Feels f/Pharrell/Katy/Big Sean 20 MILEY CYRUS Malibu 21 CHILDISH GAMBINO Redbone 22 BRUNO MARS Versace On The Floor 23 CHEAT CODES No Promises f/Demi Lovato 24 POST MALONE Congratulations f/Quavo 25 FRENCH MONTANA Unforgettable f/Swae Lee 26 FIFTH HARMONY Down f/Gucci Mane 27 THE CHAINSMOKERS Honest 28 HAILEE STEINFELD Most Girls 29 LOGIC 1-800-273-8255 f/A.Cara/Khalid 30 KESHA Praying 31 MACKLEMORE Glorious f/Skylar Grey 32 ZEDD & LIAM PAYNE Get Low 33 BEBE REXHA F/LIL WAYNE The Way I Are (Dance With...)

34 KENDRICK LAMAR HUMBLE. 35 NOAH CYRUS Stay Together 36 CLEAN BANDIT Symphony f/Zara Larsson 37 KHALID Location 38 CAMILA CABELLO Crying In The Club 39 DEMI LOVATO Sorry Not Sorry 40 CALVIN HARRIS Slide f/Frank Ocean/Migos 41 MAX Lights Down Low f/Gnash 42 LADY GAGA The Cure 43 JULIA MICHAELS Uh Huh 44 MAJOR LAZER Know No Better f/T. Scott...

45 MACHINE GUN KELLY go for broke f/James Arthur 46 JONAS BLUE Mama f/William Singe 47 HEY VIOLET Hoodie 48 KYGO First Time f/Ellie Goulding 49 PORTUGAL. THE MAN Feel It Still 50 SELENA GOMEZ Fetish f/Gucci Mane Urban 1 YFN LUCCI Everyday We Lit f/PnB Rock 2 FRENCH MONTANA Unforgettable f/Swae Lee 3 KENDRICK LAMAR HUMBLE. 4 BRUNO MARS That’s What I Like 5 DJ KHALED F/RIHANNA/B. TILLER Wild Thoughts 6 CHILDISH GAMBINO Redbone 7 LIL UZI VERT XO Tour Llif3 8 CHRIS BROWN Privacy 9 FUTURE Mask Off 10 MIGOS Slippery f/Gucci Mane 11 YO GOTTI F/NICKI MINAJ Rake It Up 12 JACQUEES B.E.D. 13 JOE GIFTED Water f/FrontStreet 14 MEEK MILL Whatever You Need 15 SZA Love Galore f/Travis Scott 16 J. COLE Neighbors

17 2 CHAINZ It’s A Vibe f/Ty Dolla $ign...

18 GOLDLINK Crew f/Brent Faiyaz/Shy Glizzy 19 PLAYBOI CARTI Magnolia 20 KENDRICK LAMAR LOYALTY. f/ Rihanna 21 DJ KHALED I’m The One f/Bieber/Quavo...

22 BRYSON TILLER Somethin Tells Me 23 JAY-Z 4:44 24 GUCCI MANE Tone It Down f/Chris Brown 25 A BOOGIE WIT DA HOODIE Drowning (Water) f/Kodak Black 26 THE WEEKND Reminder 27 BIG SEAN Jump Out The Window 28 6LACK Ex Calling 29 KODAK BLACK Tunnel Vision 30 DEJ LOAF No Fear 31 SAHBABII Pull Up Wit Ah Stick 32 TEE GRIZZLEY No Effort 33 POST MALONE Congratulations f/Quavo 34 AUGUST ALSINA Don’t Matter 35 SKEME Red Coupe f/London Jae 36 MONEY MAN How It Feel 37 ONEINTHE4REST Jiu Jitsu f/Chris Brown 38 BRUNO MARS Versace On The Floor 39 BLAC YOUNGSTA Hip Hopper f/Lil Yachty 40 DRAKE F/KANYE WEST Glow 41 CARDI B Bodak Yellow 42 KENDRICK LAMAR DNA. 43 TREY SONGZ Nobody Else But You 44 METRO BOOMIN No Complaints f/Offset & Drake 45 DABABY Comin’ Over f/DJ Luke Nasty 46 AYO & TEO Rolex 47 DJ KHALED F/DRAKE To The Max 48 24HRS What You Like f/Ty$/WizKhalifa 49 WIZKID F/DRAKE Come Closer 50 TRAVIS SCOTT Butterfly Effect Adult Contempory 1 ED SHEERAN Shape Of You 2 ALESSIA CARA Scars To Your Beautiful 3 ADELE Water Under The Bridge 4 MAROON 5 Don’t Wanna Know f/K. Lamar 5 JAMES ARTHUR Say You Won’t Let Go 6 THE CHAINSMOKERS & COLDPLAY Something Just Like This 7 DJ SNAKE Let Me Love You f/J. Bieber 8 TRAIN Play That Song 9 RIHANNA Love On The Brain 10 ED SHEERAN Castle On The Hill 11 BRUNO MARS That’s What I Like 12 KATY PERRY Save As Draft 13 SHAWN MENDES There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me...

14 KYGO X SELENA GOMEZ It Ain’t Me 15 IMAGINE DRAGONS Believer 16 ZEDD & ALESSIA CARA Stay 17 MAROON 5 Cold f/Future 18 JENNIFER HUDSON Remember Me 19 SAM HUNT Body Like A Back Road 20 RUSSELL WATSON Now And Forever 21 JULIA MICHAELS Issues 22 CHARLIE PUTH Attention 23 LINDSEY STIRLING Love’s Just A Feeling f/Rooty 24 MILEY CYRUS Malibu 25 CHARLIE WILSON Smile For Me f/Robin Thicke 26 THE WEEKND I Feel It Coming f/Daft Punk 27 KATY PERRY Chained To The Rhythm 28 NIALL HORAN Slow Hands 29 THE REVIVALISTS Wish I Knew You 30 THE VILLAINS Believe In The Music 31 KATHRYN DEAN Bad Girls Make The News 32 OCEAN PARK STANDOFF Good News 33 ANDY GRAMMER Give Love f/Lunchmoney Lewis

34 LADY GAGA The Cure 35 MIRANDA LAMBERT Tin Man 36 LUIS FONSI & DADDY YANKEE Despacito f/Justin Bieber 37 COLBIE CAILLAT Never Gonna Let You Down 38 MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD Summertime Is In Our Hands 39 SPENCER DAY 72 And Sunny 40 ANDRA DAY Rise Up 41 KAZ BIELINSKI I’m On The Road 42 KEITH URBAN The Fighter f/Carrie Underwood 43 THOMAS RHETT Die A Happy Man 44 TRAIN Drink Up 45 SHANIA TWAIN Life’s About To Get Good 46 THE CHAINSMOKERS Don’t Let Me Down f/Daya 47 RIHANNA Sledgehammer 48 ARIANA GRANDE & JOHN LEGEND Beauty And The Beast 49 HALSEY Now Or Never 50 ARIANA GRANDE Dangerous Woman Country 1 RASCAL FLATTS Yours If You Want It 2 DYLAN SCOTT My Girl 3 THOMAS RHETT Craving You f/Maren Morris 4 BILLY CURRINGTON Do I Make You Wanna 5 KEITH URBAN The Fighter f/Carrie Underwood 6 COLE SWINDELL Flatliner 7 LADY ANTEBELLUM You Look Good 8 JUSTIN MOORE Somebody Else Will 9 MIDLAND Drinkin’ Problem 10 OLD DOMINION No Such Thing As A Broken...

11 DUSTIN LYNCH Small Town Boy 12 BLAKE SHELTON Every Time I Hear That Song 13 JASON ALDEAN They Don’t Know 14 JON PARDI Heartache On The Dance Floor 15 BROTHERS OSBORNE It Ain’t My Fault 16 KIP MOORE More Girls Like You 17 CHRIS LANE For Her 18 CARLY PEARCE Every Little Thing 19 KENNY CHESNEY All The Pretty Girls 20 KANE BROWN What Ifs f/Lauren Alaina 21 BRETT ELDREDGE Somethin’ I’m Good At 22 LOCASH Ring On Every Finger 23 GARTH BROOKS Ask Me How I Know 24 MAREN MORRIS I Could Use A Love Song 25 ERIC CHURCH Round Here Buzz 26 EASTON CORBIN A Girl Like You 27 BRAD PAISLEY Last Time For Everything 28 CHRIS JANSON Fix A Drink 29 ZAC BROWN BAND My Old Man 30 LUKE COMBS When It Rains It Pours 31 BIG & RICH California 32 AARON WATSON Outta Style 33 LANCO Greatest Love Story 34 MORGAN WALLEN The Way I Talk 35 MIRANDA LAMBERT Tin Man 36 CHRIS YOUNG Losing Sleep 37 RUSSELL DICKERSON Yours 38 JAKE OWEN Good Company 39 ADAM CRAIG Just A Phase 40 WALKER MCGUIRE Til Tomorrow 41 HIGH VALLEY She’s With Me 42 LEE BRICE Boy 43 BROOKE EDEN Act Like You Don’t 44 DEVIN DAWSON All On Me 45 KELSEA BALLERINI Legends 46 WALKER HAYES You Broke Up With Me 47 GRANGER SMITH Happens Like That 48 JORDAN DAVIS Singles You Up 49 JERROD NIEMANN God Made A Woman 50 PARMALEE Sunday Morning

Disc Jockey News • AUGUST 2017 • Page 15

Recurrent Hits For The Dance Floor For AUGUST 2017 http://www.discjockeynews.com • http://www.djntv.com

Pop Recurrents 1 LINKIN PARK Heavy f/Kiiara 2 KIIARA Gold 3 DRAKE Passionfruit 4 MAJOR LAZER Cold Water f/Justin Bieber, M 5 SIA The Greatest f/Kendrick Lamar 6 JUSTIN BIEBER Sorry 7 SELENA GOMEZ Good For You f/A$AP Rocky 8 NIALL HORAN This Town 9 MAJOR LAZER Lean On f/M 10 SHAWN MENDES Stitches 11 ZAYN Pillowtalk 12 ADELE Water Under The Bridge 13 WALK THE MOON Shut Up And Dance 14 JASON DERULO Want To Want Me 15 ARIANA GRANDE Dangerous Woman 16 G-EAZY Me Myself & I f/Bebe Rexha 17 DNCE Cake By The Ocean 18 THE WEEKND The Hills 19 FIFTH HARMONY Work From Home f/Ty Dolla $ign 20 THE WEEKND Can’t Feel My Face 21 ARIANA GRANDE Into You 22 FLO RIDA My House 23 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Heathens 24 MIKE POSNER I Took A Pill In Ibiza 25 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Stressed Out 26 SHAWN MENDES Treat You Better 27 HAILEE STEINFELD & GREY Starving f/Zedd 28 DJ SNAKE Let Me Love You f/J. Bieber 29 MAROON 5 Cold f/Future 30 THE CHAINSMOKERS Don’t Let Me Down f/Daya 31 CALVIN HARRIS This Is What You... f/Rihanna 32 SIA Cheap Thrills 33 MAROON 5 Don’t Wanna Know f/K. Lamar 34 MGK X CAMILA CABELLO Bad Things 35 BRUNO MARS 24K Magic 36 SHAWN MENDES Mercy 37 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Ride 38 RIHANNA Love On The Brain 39 DRAKE One Dance f/Wizkid & Kyla 40 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Can’t Stop The Feeling 41 ALESSIA CARA Scars To Your Beautiful 42 ZAYN/TAYLOR SWIFT I Don’t Wanna Live Forever 43 THE WEEKND I Feel It Coming f/Daft Punk 44 ARIANA GRANDE Side To Side f/Nicki Minaj 45 THE WEEKND Starboy f/Daft Punk 46 CLEAN BANDIT & ANNE-MARIE Rockabye f/Sean Paul 47 THE CHAINSMOKERS Closer f/Halsey 48 THE CHAINSMOKERS Paris 49 JAMES ARTHUR Say You Won’t Let Go 50 ED SHEERAN Shape Of You

Urban AC Recurrents 1 LEELA JAMES Set Me Free 2 AVANT Special 3 ALICIA KEYS In Common 4 AFTER 7 I Want You 5 JILL SCOTT Fool’s Gold 6 WALE The Matrimony f/Usher 7 ERIC BENET Sunshine 8 ANDRA DAY Rise Up 9 KEITH SWEAT Good Love 10 CHRIS BROWN Back To Sleep 11 BABYFACE Exceptional 12 USHER Missin U 13 RO JAMES Burn Slow 14 MAXWELL 1990x 15 JAZMINE SULLIVAN Let It Burn 16 JILL SCOTT Can’t Wait 17 DRAKE Hotline Bling 18 ANTHONY HAMILTON Amen 19 KIRK FRANKLIN Wanna Be Happy?

20 ADELE Hello 21 FANTASIA No Time For It 22 JAHEIM Back In My Arms 23 JOE So I Can Have You Back 24 DRAKE One Dance f/Wizkid & Kyla 25 JOHN LEGEND Love Me Now 26 MARK RONSON Uptown Funk f/Bruno Mars 27 JANET JACKSON No Sleeep 28 RIHANNA Work f/Drake 29 SOLANGE Cranes In The Sky 30 TYRESE Shame 31 TYRESE Waiting On You 32 THE WEEKND Earned It 33 YUNA Crush f/Usher 34 KEITH SWEAT Tonight f/Silk 35 YUNA Best Love 36 KEM Nobody 37 MAJOR. Why I Love You 38 RIHANNA Love On The Brain 39 GUORDAN BANKS Keep You In Mind 40 JOHNNY GILL This One’s For Me And You 41 MARY J. BLIGE Thick Of It 42 THE WEEKND I Feel It Coming f/Daft Punk 43 LA’PORSHA RENAE Good Woman 44 LEELA JAMES Don’t Want You Back 45 LETOYA LUCKETT Back 2 Life 46 KEVIN ROSS Long Song Away 47 CHARLIE WILSON I’m Blessed 48 MAXWELL Lake By The Ocean 49 RO JAMES Permission 50 LALAH HATHAWAY Angel

Hot Adult Contempory Recurrents 1 DAYA Sit Still, Look Pretty 2 THE WEEKND Can’t Feel My Face 3 CLEAN BANDIT & ANNE-MARIE Rockabye f/Sean Paul 4 X AMBASSADORS Renegades 5 JUSTIN BIEBER Sorry 6 MEGHAN TRAINOR Like I’m Gonna Lose You 7 FLO RIDA My House 8 ADELE Hello 9 SIA The Greatest f/Kendrick Lamar 10 THE CHAINSMOKERS Don’t Let Me Down f/Daya 11 TAYLOR SWIFT Style 12 FITZ & THE TANTRUMS HandClap 13 HAILEE STEINFELD & GREY Starving f/Zedd 14 ELLIE GOULDING Love Me Like You Do 15 SHAWN MENDES Stitches 16 THE WEEKND I Feel It Coming f/Daft Punk 17 RACHEL PLATTEN Fight Song 18 TAYLOR SWIFT Wildest Dreams 19 LADY GAGA Million Reasons 20 MARK RONSON Uptown Funk f/Bruno Mars 21 ELLE KING Ex’s And Oh’s 22 CALVIN HARRIS This Is What You... f/Rihanna 23 JUSTIN BIEBER Love Yourself 24 JASON DERULO Want To Want Me 25 MAROON 5 Sugar 26 X AMBASSADORS Unsteady 27 NIALL HORAN This Town 28 DNCE Cake By The Ocean 29 JAMES BAY Let It Go 30 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Heathens 31 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Ride 32 WALK THE MOON Shut Up And Dance 33 BRUNO MARS 24K Magic 34 TRAIN Play That Song 35 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Stressed Out 36 RIHANNA Love On The Brain 37 SHAWN MENDES Treat You Better 38 MAROON 5 Cold f/Future 39 PINK Just Like Fire 40 DJ SNAKE Let Me Love You f/J. Bieber 41 ADELE Send My Love (To Your New...

42 THE CHAINSMOKERS Closer f/Halsey 43 SHAWN MENDES Mercy 44 ZAYN/TAYLOR SWIFT I Don’t Wanna Live Forever 45 SIA Cheap Thrills 46 MAROON 5 Don’t Wanna Know f/K. Lamar 47 ALESSIA CARA Scars To Your Beautiful 48 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Can’t Stop The Feeling 49 BRUNO MARS That’s What I Like 50 ADELE Water Under The Bridge

Fake Grand Exits: How To Execute Them Without Killing The Dance Floor

By Brian Buonassissi

Grand exits – they happen at the end of the night with sparklers, bubbles or glow wands and the bride/ groom exit through a human catwalk tunnel. I know wedding formats are somewhat regional, but one trend I’m seeing more and more across the country are “fake” grand exits. I’ve had them in my last 10 consecutive weddings. They call it “fake” because the bride/groom aren’t really leaving the event – this is just to the get the grand exit picture before the photographer’s time is up.

Most photographers want to do this as the last thing before they leave. The problem is that the timing is terrible for wedding DJs. You have a full dance floor with maybe 30 minutes to an hour left and you kill the energy to get this photo. It can take anywhere from 15-20 minutes to set it up and have the photo taken. Even the best of DJs are going to have a tough time gaining back the momen-

tum they just lost. Add to it that the grand exit, in most guest’s minds, is considered the end of the event. Even if you mention that it is a “fake” exit, you’ll have some people take off.

With that in mind, let me share with you an idea that has changed the way I do these fake grand exits: move it to earlier in the evening.

It depends where in the country I’m DJ’ing but, on the West Coast and in the South, most toasts are done towards the end of the meal. With that scenario, I’ll recommend placing the fake grand exit there. If I’m in the Midwest or Northeast or DJ’ing internationally, the toasts are typically done before or in the middle of dinner so I’ll suggest doing the fake grand exit as soon as the meal has concluded. This assumes that nightfall has occurred so photos taken outside will truly represent an ending to the night.

There’s serious pros to this approach.

YOU HAVE THEIR ATTENTION…By making the announcement just after toasts or at the end of dinner, everyone is generally still seated. You have their undivided attention. It also takes much less effort to direct them to the grand exit location.

NO ONE HAS LEFT…I can’t tell you how many fake (and real) grand

exits are done where only 1/2 or 3/4 of the crowd is still there. By doing it just after dinner, not only do you have almost 100% of your crowd but they are not too intoxicated and are still looking great (make-up intact, ties/ jackets are on, etc.). The photos will turn out so much better with those things going for you.

IT GIVES THEM A REASON TO COME BACK…Again, depending on where you are in the country, you may not have done formality dances yet or at the very minimum, you still have the cake cut. Most guests want to see these formalities so I’ll say something like, “I’m going to take ask that you leave your things where they are and walk to the front lawn so our photographer can take our official grand exit photo. As soon as that is completed, we’ll be having our cake cut back here and will be inside to party the rest of the evening.” This gives clarity and lets people know what is coming up as well as entices them back to the room.

PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL BE HAPPY…Although photographers consider a fake grand exit a great photo opportunity, most dread it because it is so much work. As I alluded to earlier, most guests are intoxicated and all over the reception room at the end

of the night. Once the DJ has them to the location, trying to get everyone to listen to the photographer’s instructions (without a mic) is challenging.

By doing it earlier, it’s easier for the photographer to get the guests’ attention and once the photo is taken, they too can enjoy the rest of the evening.

THE CROWD ENERGY IS SAVED…With the fake grand exit executed, you can party the night away. No more formalities to interrupt your normal reception vibe.

You’ll have the photo for the client without sacrificing the flow of the reception.

This may challenge your thinking.

However, I’ve found it to be in the client’s best interest (as well as my own). Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

Based out of NYC, DJ Brian Buonassissi is a successful internationally traveling DJ/MC specializing in luxury destination private events.

He runs a multi-city mobile DJ/event business with offices in Southern California, Destin, FL and New York City.

You can connect with him at brianbuonassissi@discjockeynews. com.

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