This week, I am making several presentations at the Mobile Beat Conference in Las Vegas. Monday, my friend, Jodi Harris (Sight’n'Sound) and I facilitated an all-day symposium for 25 mobile DJ company owners.
About one-third of our time was dedicated to an event planner panel, consisting of a wedding consultant, a senior catering sales manager, and an event specialist from a destination management company.
The purpose of the panel was to get their perspective on hiring and referring DJ entertainers. The presentation and the Q & A was frank and informative.
There was one answer that was precise, in unison, and clear. When asked, “Given the choice, would you prefer a DJ come self-contained or is it OK, in your mind, for the venue to provide a banquet table as needed.”
“Self-contained, self-contained, self-contained.”
It has prompted me to update a post from last April. It received the most traffic and comments of any, this site has received. Let’s play it again.
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Way back when, in the mid-1970′s, when Scott Foell and I founded Music Man Mobile DJ Service, off-the-shelf casing or consoles were not widely available for mobile disc jockeys. In order to look good, we had to design and construct our own. Having a partner who was an engineering genius didn’t hurt.
Scott designed and built a 1-piece console that he covered in black Formica. It looked stunning. It took a great deal of effort and money, but it was worth it. We always looked good.
Today, Mobile DJ’s can buy from a wide assortment of industrial-style cases, carpeted consoles, and electronic equipment designed to fit in those units. One can buy big or modular, depending on individual needs for venue access, transportation, and size of crew (1 or more people).
In spite of availability of professional, clean looking disc jockey equipment, I am thoroughly amazed and perplexed that many disc jockey entertainment services have an incredibly weak presentation (click on the image to show it larger). Here are some of the deficiencies I see again and again (not necessarily just in this case).
- Loose, unconcealed wires: From the customer’s point of view, it’s a mess. A guest should never be looking into the a jungle of wires.
- Use of venue banquet tables, typically draped in white, for the purpose of placing a DJ console on it. COMMENT: To me, a DJ service should arrive self-contained. If they require a table to place equipment upon, they should bring it. And, it should be consistent in look to what is placed on it. At a minimum, it should be skirted in black or fold-open facing should screen out the gear. The only requirements a DJ should have are: 1) A place to set up console and speakers. 2) Electricity.
photo supplied by A Dynamite DJ, Richmond, VA
Browsing the internet, I found a couple of photos explain the possibilities quite well. Grundorf, manufactures a hinged-DJ facade that wraps around gear that is not permanently mounted. It magically ‘cleans up the clutter’ to the casual guest.
As well as facades there entire 1-piece consoles, stacked consoles (full width or podium width). Any of those manner of presentation give the DJ a more permanent and polished look. There is no one right answer, as different disc jockeys service different sizes and types of events. Their individual needs, for the local market and their clients will dictate what gear they choose to use, and how it’s organized.
In the photo on the right, DJ Astrid Monroe (Musique Nonstop) shows off a custom white-covered podium-style console. You can see a white speaker in the right side of the photo. The company has beautifully 
constructed charcoal grey covered booths, and features the ‘white system’ as an upgrade, for an even more elegant presentation.
THIS SYNDROME IS NOT LIMITED TO DJ’s: There are plenty of photographers who need to carry lots of gear, and must keep it in a reception room for security. Yet, many never really address a clean way to stow it, in plain view. Videographers have some of the same challenges. Even vendors who don’t participate in the reception, such as florists and bakers, must deliver and set up in a professional manner.
The 1-piece console featured (lower right) belongs to Alan Franco of DJ Connection. His 1-piece unit displays at a comfortable height, showing the top portion of his laptop computer, and the microphone, well above it, on a gooseneck. It’s 
really quite an elegant presentation that is going to ‘show well’ in any situation.
Moral: It’s not enough to sound good and perform well it you want to earn top dollar and be referred at the highest possible rate. You must look good, too. When the wedding pictures come back and the set up looks like a cobbled together set of roadcases on a banquet table, you are not at your best. Brides and grooms are often oblivious to many things that go on around them at a wedding. That’s no excuse. They will see it in the wedding pictures. Guests and family will see it at the event.
Don’t kid yourself: People do care about how you look. And you’ll never know how many referrals you’ll lose, because you’ll never hear about them.
Who was the wedding consultant on the panel?