stress and tension were high [Archive] - Our DJ Talk

the dogman

02-18-2007, 05:04 PM

About 3 to 4 weeks ago my partner received a phone call to do a wedding last night Feb 17th. Now some quick history he and I are combining our companies, we have been doing shows on and off for about a year now. The chemistry is great between the two of us, so we are making the transition this year to one company by 2008.

Now back to the call. This date I had a customer appreciation event from 10am to 3 pm at the grocery store I work at. The event itself starts at 5pm dinner and 7 to 11 dance. Now the wedding itself was at 2:30pm at the reception hall same room as the dance, no problem.

Now the dj they had hired before us was hired on a handshake or verbal or whatever and just before they called us he backed out due to overbook or better paying gig or whatever. Stress level 1

Now about a week and a half ago Mike (my partner) and I met with the bride and groom to finalize the details. They knew that I couldn't be there for the wedding itself but I would be on time for the rest, Mike would be there for the wedding so really no problem.

Fast forward to Monday Feb 12 the families are informed that the hall they have booked the roof has collapsed and the pipes are frozen, 5 days away and no place to go. Stress level 2

To make matters worse the guest list which they thought would be about 150 is now down to 50. They are concerned that the event will flop. Stress level 3

Well Mike and I find out the venue problem on Thursday. Fortunately they found a venue but all the extra headache has really caused everyone in the families a very long week. On Friday Mike and I went to the hall to set up early and be there to talk to everyone. There was table set up issues among other things. One being that Mike now had to work till 2pm Saturday, mandatory overtime, but Mike assured them he would be there on time. Stress level 4

After set up I went to pick up my son to go watch a movie and I turned off my cell phone. When the movie was over I turned the cell back on to read a text message. A red ant infestation was in the hall and a exterminator had to be called in that night. Stress level 5

Now before leaving the venue on Friday I had a talk with the families telling them that tonight was the end of the stress and Saturday the hardest thing they had to do was stand up in front of everyone and say I DO. The rest of the evening we would take charge and we would take care of the details.

Saturday arrives. Mike gets to the hall on time to provide sound I'm done at 3 pm and packed and pulling out the lot at 3:20 pm, arriving at the hall shortly after 4 pm. There is still some concern that just 50 people showed up. But Mike and I look at it this way 50 or 500 its all the same. This only means that 50 people are going to have a great time.

By nights end the bride/groom cant thank us enough the parents are happy and the guests have all had a good time. We are pretty sure that we will see some referrals from this event. Final stress level absolutely NONE

Sorry this was so long winded but it truly was one of the most gratifying events Ive been a part of. To create a memorable evening out of so much stress makes me glad to be a part all that goes into these events. Big thanks to Mike for an outstanding job.

Moral of story 50 or 500 make it a memory.

the dogman

02-21-2007, 12:24 AM

I'm going to play devil's advocate, and say you spent TOO MANY HOURS on that event.

Sure its great to give good customer service, but it looks like you gave up profitability because of the man-hours pumped into the event such as site visits and early setup visit.

The only site visit was the early set up on friday night. And we only did that because Mike had mandatory overtime and I had a prior commitment. As far as time spent, once we had the contract we then just had a sit down to discuss the details. We really dont have a great amount of overhead and the profit was still there. Dont worry we got it covered besides profits come in all sorts of ways and the phone rings again.


	Our DJ Talk - DJ Help and Resources Chat! > DJ Talk > Our DJ Talk Archives > stress and tension were high PDA stress and tension were high the dogman 02-18-2007, 05:04 PM About 3 to 4 weeks ago my partner received a phone call to do a wedding last night Feb 17th. Now some quick history he and I are combining our companies, we have been doing shows on and off for about a year now. The chemistry is great between the two of us, so we are making the transition this year to one company by 2008. Now back to the call. This date I had a customer appreciation event from 10am to 3 pm at the grocery store I work at. The event itself starts at 5pm dinner and 7 to 11 dance. Now the wedding itself was at 2:30pm at the reception hall same room as the dance, no problem. Now the dj they had hired before us was hired on a handshake or verbal or whatever and just before they called us he backed out due to overbook or better paying gig or whatever. Stress level 1 Now about a week and a half ago Mike (my partner) and I met with the bride and groom to finalize the details. They knew that I couldn't be there for the wedding itself but I would be on time for the rest, Mike would be there for the wedding so really no problem. Fast forward to Monday Feb 12 the families are informed that the hall they have booked the roof has collapsed and the pipes are frozen, 5 days away and no place to go. Stress level 2 To make matters worse the guest list which they thought would be about 150 is now down to 50. They are concerned that the event will flop. Stress level 3 Well Mike and I find out the venue problem on Thursday. Fortunately they found a venue but all the extra headache has really caused everyone in the families a very long week. On Friday Mike and I went to the hall to set up early and be there to talk to everyone. There was table set up issues among other things. One being that Mike now had to work till 2pm Saturday, mandatory overtime, but Mike assured them he would be there on time. Stress level 4 After set up I went to pick up my son to go watch a movie and I turned off my cell phone. When the movie was over I turned the cell back on to read a text message. A red ant infestation was in the hall and a exterminator had to be called in that night. Stress level 5 Now before leaving the venue on Friday I had a talk with the families telling them that tonight was the end of the stress and Saturday the hardest thing they had to do was stand up in front of everyone and say I DO. The rest of the evening we would take charge and we would take care of the details. Saturday arrives. Mike gets to the hall on time to provide sound I'm done at 3 pm and packed and pulling out the lot at 3:20 pm, arriving at the hall shortly after 4 pm. There is still some concern that just 50 people showed up. But Mike and I look at it this way 50 or 500 its all the same. This only means that 50 people are going to have a great time. By nights end the bride/groom cant thank us enough the parents are happy and the guests have all had a good time. We are pretty sure that we will see some referrals from this event. Final stress level absolutely NONE Sorry this was so long winded but it truly was one of the most gratifying events Ive been a part of. To create a memorable evening out of so much stress makes me glad to be a part all that goes into these events. Big thanks to Mike for an outstanding job. Moral of story 50 or 500 make it a memory. mysoulishome 02-20-2007, 06:16 AM Great job to you both for being professional and seeing these folks through all that! DJMC 02-20-2007, 07:59 AM I'm going to play devil's advocate, and say you spent TOO MANY HOURS on that event. Sure its great to give good customer service, but it looks like you gave up profitability because of the man-hours pumped into the event such as site visits and early setup visit. the dogman 02-21-2007, 12:24 AM I'm going to play devil's advocate, and say you spent TOO MANY HOURS on that event. Sure its great to give good customer service, but it looks like you gave up profitability because of the man-hours pumped into the event such as site visits and early setup visit. The only site visit was the early set up on friday night. And we only did that because Mike had mandatory overtime and I had a prior commitment. As far as time spent, once we had the contract we then just had a sit down to discuss the details. We really dont have a great amount of overhead and the profit was still there. Dont worry we got it covered besides profits come in all sorts of ways and the phone rings again. DJMC 02-21-2007, 03:24 AM OK, it just looked like a lot of phone time, from the way it was written.