Event Pros, What To Accomplish During The Off Season

We are sometimes asked, what do event professionals do during the off season?  The answer is that we continue to stay busy but in different ways.

This post is really meant for our colleagues in the event and wedding industries but it may also be of interest to the broader population including brides and grooms, event planners and others in the field, so here we go!..

In northeast Ohio, where we operate, the busy season for us starts in late April and continues strong right to the end of the year.  Our slower season is January, February and March, although we still typically have a number of events to fulfill.

First let's acknowledge that for serious event pros, our busy season takes a lot out of us. We're constantly on the go, traveling from one event to the other, conducting planning meetings with clients, setting up, performing and taking down equipment, etc.  It's a long busy marathon that doesn't seem to end but when it does, we're truly exhausted. And I can say this because I've been in the industry for over 25 years now, the older one gets the more it seems to take its toll.

A funny thing happens, however, when we finally do enter our slow time of the year. After a couple of weeks of recovery in the way of sleep, rest, and maybe a short vacation, we begin to get antsy for the business again, don't we?  We begin to get excited about the coming year and we try to prepare in the best way possible.

Here are some important tasks for event professionals to accomplish during the off season:

Respond to inquiries and book events - Many bookings for the year happen during the down time, so we're actually really quite busy responding to inquiries, answering questions, meeting with prospective clients and generating contracts. The goal here, of course, is to fill up our calendar for the upcoming year!

Review your pricing strategy - If you are going to change your prices, now is the time to do it.  Are you adding new packages and prices?  How will this affect your marketing strategy?

Review your marketing strategy - If you are going to change your marketing strategy, make these changes while you can before things get busy again.  Does your website need an update?  Are you going to do more or less paid online marketing?  What kind of traditional marketing will you do, if any?  Review your print material, are these documents still accurate?

Prepare for the upcoming tax season - Consult your tax preparer, issue tax related documents to employees and contracted workers.  Gather and organize receipts, copies of contracts, etc.  Make changes in your book keeping routines if you need to in order to have a smoother year ahead.

Repair or upgrade equipment - The field is tough on equipment.  During the year you have probably noticed a need to repair or purchase new equipment.  Perhaps you finished the last few weeks by using your back-up stuff because something was dropped or broken but you really don't want to start the new season with back-up equipment.  Be sure everything works perfectly going out of the gate!

Communicate with your insurance broker - Annually, make or update a written list of equipment inventory (as detailed as possible) and send it off to your insurance broker.  Savvy event pros will also include photos for good measure.  You want to be sure they know what kind of stuff you own and how much it all costs.

Communicate with your lawyer - Send your lawyer a brief email describing any new services or assets that you've added recently or intend to add to your business.  For example make sure he or she knows how many people you employ, describe your services, especially anything new you are adding.  It would also be a good idea to have your lawyer do a review of the language in your contract.

Communicate with staff members - It's important to communicate with employees and others who help you operate your business in order to share with them your strategy for the upcoming year.  What will be expected of them?  How will their respective roles change?  Are you adding products or services?  Will training be necessary to learn about new equipment, software, etc.  Be sure everyone is on the same page about what you want the business to accomplish when things speed up again.

Back up files - You should be doing frequent, periodic back-ups of electronic files during the year but at least annually, be sure to have a back-up system in place.

Prepare for bridal fairs - If you participate in bridal fairs and other such gatherings you know how much work is involved in setting up a booth or table, preparing marketing materials, etc.  Be ready with these items so that you can concentrate on being with guests and prospective clients and not running around at the last minute!

Get serious about your health - Many people begin their new year's resolutions during the off season and this is a good time to get serious about your health.  As an entrepreneur, your health is an asset of the business.  When asked about their biggest fears, self employed people will often say staying healthy is always a big concern.  They know that if they should get sick or injured, their business could suffer affecting their ability to make a living.  So now is a good time to establish diet, exercise and sleep habits to promote better health for the whole year 'round.

Well, I hope these suggestions are helpful.  Please let me know of other tasks to accomplish during the slow season that I may have forgotten to list.  I will add them in future updates to the article.  Best wishes for a successful year!

Click here if you want to learn more about our DJ service or receive a price quote for your upcoming event!

What To Expect From Your DJ

Your DJ is an integral part of your event. An experienced, professional DJ will play several roles before and during the event to ensure that it will be a fun and memorable celebration.

Sound Technician

First, your DJ is responsible for delivering a sound system to the site of your event. He or she will assemble the sound system, conduct a sound check of the area and make sure everything is working and sounding great before your first guest arrives. This represents a lot of time, energy and work on the part of your DJ that very few people will see during the course of your event. In fact, this process may take several hours depending on travel time and the physical layout of the venue. In this sense, you have hired your DJ to be a delivery person and a sound technician.

Only through experience can one really understand the challenges and nuances of setting up electrical sound equipment in a safe manner that is out of the way of your guests, and making adjustments to provide the clearest possible sound. An experienced DJ will be able to do this in rooms of various shapes and sizes, inside or outside, making necessary adjustments throughout the event as people come and go (people in the room coming and going can change the way sound will travel). Your DJ will continually adjust the sound throughout the event so that your guests won’t be made uncomfortable by feedback, sound that is too high pitched or that may have too much bass, or is simply not well balanced. This is what many in the industry have traditionally called “sound mixing”, although the term now has several different interpretations.

Announcements and Coordination

Second, your DJ is responsible for making all necessary announcements throughout the event so that your guests and other vendors know what is going to happen. Photographers, for example, don’t appreciate when a DJ goes ahead with an unannounced portion of the event that might cause them to miss meaningful photos. Your DJ acts as the emcee of your party making sure that everything you want to happen, happens in an orderly way. Often your DJ will be playing and mixing pre-selected music while at the same time making announcements or facilitating festivities. This means that your DJ needs to be comfortable multi-tasking while coming off smooth, calm and collected. A DJ who effectively fulfills the role of coordinator and announcer will create a flow to the celebration and avoid a choppy, haphazard feel to the event.

A professional DJ will be prepared. Preparation is the key to making announcements at the appropriate time and ensuring that all that you want to happen, happens in smooth order. Preparation time is time well spent. Your DJ should communicate with you before your event to get from you the information necessary to act as emcee. There are various ways to go about planning. Some DJ services have online planning tools, many have planning documents that are completed by the client and returned to the DJ. Often a DJ will meet personally with their client to go over the details of the event. Your DJ will also be communicating with other vendors during the event to be sure everyone is on the same page for each planned festivity.

Music Selection and Engaging the Crowd

The third role is what most people think of when they imagine their DJ at work. He or she will be selecting music that reflects your musical tastes and will produce a fun and active celebration. Your DJ also needs to gauge the extent to which your guests need to be engaged and encouraged to get up and dance! Your DJ should be first and foremost concerned with the type of music you and your guests want to hear and dance to. Too many DJ’s show up with their own prescribed notion of what will be a fun time without consulting their clients. A professional DJ knows how to engage guests and encourage an active dance floor but without being obnoxious or too overwhelming. A pro will always remember that the celebration is not about the DJ but about you, your family and guests and will be more than willing to respect your choice of music.

Your DJ will, with your guidance, create the musical atmosphere you wish to have at your event. An experienced DJ knows that music has a powerful affect on the psychology of the group and therefore can influence the flow of the celebration. He or she needs to be able to “read the crowd” as quickly as possible and gain insight into what motivates guests to have fun. Your DJ will constantly monitor the energy level in the room and speed things up or slow things down when necessary. A pro will be sensitive to the diversity represented in the crowd (age differences, ethnic differences, etc.) and be sure to play music during the event that will be enjoyed by everyone. Be sure to ask your DJ how he or she prepares for the music selection of the event. Ask about the process that allows you to give input, song selections and how your DJ will incorporate requests from your guests. Be sure to mention, too, which types of music or specific song selections are NOT to be played.

A professionally operated DJ service will enable (and encourage) you to get to know your DJ and how he or she operates before the event. Don’t hesitate to communicate with your DJ by phone, website planning tools, email or a personal meeting. Your DJ will be glad to answer all of your questions because this type of communication leads to the effective fulfillment of the three roles discussed in this article. Remember, your DJ is your partner in planning and wants, more than anything, to give you a celebration that you will fondly remember forever.

Click here if you want to learn more about our DJ service or receive a price quote for your upcoming event!

Working With Wedding Vendors

A unique characteristic of the wedding industry is that it is primarily small business driven.  Sure, there are some national companies or "chains" that provide service or product in this arena but to a significant degree the success of a wedding will depend on how effective the bride and groom are in selecting the right small businesses as their vendors.

In some instances, planning a wedding may be the very first time either the bride or the groom have ever entered into a contractual agreement with anyone (except perhaps their cell phone carrier or a landlord to rent an apartment).  Now, with a wedding date set, the stress of interacting with multiple vendors to compare prices, negotiate contracts, plan for the festivities, etc. can be stressful and overwhelming.

Here are just a few tips on working with the small business community:

1) Learn as much as you can about the company and its history in the community.  Is it family owned and operated or does it have a different structure?  How long has it served the community?  Can you have access to referrals from past customers?  The more you know about the business the more secure you will feel about using it as a vendor.

2) If you can, arrange to meet with the owner or those who have a direct stake in the success of the business.  Small business owners understand that your satisfaction is crucial to future business, especially service related industries such as photography, DJ services, or catering.  Small businesses are often extensions of their owners and tend to take on the owner's characteristics.  So getting to know the owner will help you determine the type of service you'll receive.  It will also give you someone influential to call (other than a salesperson) if you should have a concern.

3) Ask many questions.  A lot of couples are either too shy to ask questions of the vendor or they simply don't know how to go about the inquiry.  A proud business owner or manager is always willing to explain their service.  It gives small business people great joy to talk about their livelihood and special talents.  If you feel that you are getting the "run-around" or not getting clear answers to your questions, this is a sign of confusion, or worse, reluctance to share all of the truth.  At the very least, ask for a full explanation of all that the service promises to deliver.

4) Get it in writing.  A reputable company will understand the importance of using a written contract.  If you get resistance from a vendor to get details in writing, this should be a "red flag" to warn you away from using that particular vendor.  Ask for an addendum to the contract if you want specific items included in the service you'll receive.

5) Use information technology to compare vendors.  In today's business environment you can find a lot of information at the touch of a computer keyboard.  Most small businesses who work in the wedding industry will indeed have some internet presence as the web has become a wonderful tool for brides and grooms looking for vendors.  Use the internet to seek referrals and testimonials from past customers, get price quotes and learn about services.

6) Call or visit the vendor.  While the internet is great for gathering information, as mentioned earlier, you'll still want to visit the vendors who made your top three or four choices.  Did the vendor respond quickly to your call or did you wait days before receiving a reply?  Was the vendor hesitant to meet with you in person?  During the meeting, was the representative personable and professional?  Did he or she seem to genuinely care about delivering a great service or did it seem that it was "just their job" to meet with you?

7) Does the vendor play nicely with the other vendors?  Ask your photographer if he or she has ever worked with your choice of DJ service or band.  Have the caterers ever heard of the florist that you are considering?  The best vendors like working with their favorite associates.  They've established a good working relationship over the years and know how to communicate with each other.  There's nothing like a vendor who refuses to demonstrate some flexibility when things call for a change in plan.  You might get some useful "inside" information about a vendor from others in the industry.

The good news is that most small businesses are dedicated to providing brides and grooms with exceptional product and service.  Those who follow through with a little homework and communication will avoid the few "bad apple" vendors that are the source of wedding day nightmares and find their way to the great quality vendors who pride themselves on making wedding events fun, memorable experiences for everyone!

Click here if you want to learn more about our DJ service or receive a price quote for your upcoming event!