I've always been fascinated by shows like Ancient Aliens, Oak Island and Expedition Unknown. These shows demonstrate that history isn't written in stone and the world is still full of wonder and new discoveries. When I found out that Aliencon was coming to the east coast I just had to go. Luckily, my 50th birthday was in September and my wife got me a Gold Pass as a birthday present (she's a keeper). I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived. Would the convention be about exploring new ideas and learning about new discoveries? Would it be a big tin foil hat parade? Fortunately it was more about the former and less about the latter; although ... [read more]

Last night I had an amazing wedding. The bride and groom were super fun-loving and had invited well over 250 guests to their celebration. The ceremony was held outside in the courtyard, with the guests standing "in-the-round." When I first met with this couple, I went through my normal planning process, asking about their favorite and least favorite songs and artists. They simply told me "We trust you to do what you do best. The only thing we don't want is for a song to go on longer than a minute or two." I was super happy with that - I love quick mixing and consider couples like this to be my "golden couples." As we got closer to the wedding, they ended up gathering a sizable list of potential song suggestions from their many guests, with they shared with me. Many of them were great songs that I would be... [read more]

A question that often comes up is "how much should I charge for New Year's Eve gigs?" This is a very common question, and not a question that is easy to answer. The real answer is, it ultimately depends on you and how much you want to charge. A lot of DJs that are brand new will DJ for next to nothing, just to get gigs and get their name out there. I get it, you've got to get your name out there to get more experience, but to be honest, doing gigs for next to nothing gets old, very quickly. We've all been there at one point, but my advice is, don't stay there. Walmart has made a huge business out of being the lowest priced option. Everyone knows that you can save money buying from Walmart, but now, even Walmart is suffering since someone beat them at their own game. Ever heard of Amazon? :) These business... [read more]

No one likes to be taken advantage of, right? Have you ever booked a gig only to have the client want to change what is expected without changing the price? How often have you received these messages: "We're extending the event an hour, you don't mind staying do you?" Or "Do you mind bringing microphones and sound for the musicians?" How do you handle a repeat client that suddenly wants to rearrange their event but pay the same price as last year? Many of us fail miserably in these situations due to one simple error. Lack of ownership. I still get surprised by how many DJ's do not complete an in depth contract with their clients for each event. I re... [read more]

I first learned to DJ as a high school sophomore. Responding to an ad on Facebook for some old par cans, I became connected with one of the most well-established DJs in my small town. Wanting to learn how to run a mobile DJ business, I offered to haul his equipment at his school dances and community parties in exchange for looking over his shoulder during the event. As time went on, I received more and more responsibilities and training, eventually reaching the point where I was working for this DJ weekly. He taught me so many things; how to beat-match, how to program great music, how to set up a sound system, and much more. While I was supplementing that learning with dozens of Youtube videos and articles, it was his hands-on training that really locked in my fundamentals. He was my first mentor, and my busi... [read more]

MOBILE BEAT #199 - OCTOBER 2018 What's In Your Toolbox? So, my nightmare is over... OK, that may be an overly dramatic way of saying that this issue is out AFTER Halloween due to difficult circumstances for this one-man magazine production team. It's no reflection on my great freelance writers, who work very hard to hit the deadlines I give them and do their best to make my job of editing a lot easier than it could be. If only I had a personal clone or two in MY toolbox... In this issue, some of those writers answer the cover question, with either actual physical implements or tools of the more metaphorical kind. I'm sure that, despite its tardi... [read more]

All right. DJ tips in under a minute. Check it out, mints, hand sanitizer, two things that I keep in my control at all times, because throughout the night I may shake hands with people, I might drink or eat something and I think two parts of this job is not only good appearance, but also covering yourself. The biggest thing with this one is the fact that I'm paranoid about getting sick. So I'm one of those who always has hand sanitizer with them, guys and it seems to work. Knock on wood, I don't really get sick. So go to your gigs, bring some mints, bring some hand sanitizer, bring whatever you need to keep you fresh and composed. You know, I think we all bring an extra shirt, we all bring an extra t-shirt, we bring this, this and this, but the basic little stuff we forget. So hand sanitizer and mints, DJ ti... [read more]

When I first moved to Salt Lake City from my small hometown 3 years ago, I wasn't charging very much as a DJ. In fact, I was trying so hard to fill my calendar that I was taking every event I could at whatever price I could negotiate for. As you can imagine, I was underpaid and overworked. I was also determined to improve my company (and my meager income), and so I began a year and a half long experiment in raising my prices. The strangest thing happened, however - an unexpected trend in the amount of success I had closing my sales that I now call the "Mid-Priced Threshold." You see, I was booking weddings in the $300-$500 range when I first arrived in this new city. I raised my prices incrementally, by about $100 or $200 every couple of months. As expected, I experienced an initial dip in my sales as my p... [read more]

ADJ Lighting has added new Road Tour dates for fall 2018 to demo their latest lighting, audio and video technologies they debuted at LDI 2018 in Las Vegas.  ADJ Lighting announces new fall Road Tour dates to demonstrate their latest lighting, video and audio technologies. The company will highlight the latest lighting technologies that were on display at LDI 2018 in October at the Las Vegas Convention Center. “We had a very successful LDI show in Las Vegas,” said Alfred Gonzales, National Sales Manager of ADJ USA. “Each one of the 12 new products we introduced received great responses. The release of the two Hydro Series IP65 moving heads were especiall... [read more]

At the recent LDI tradeshow in Las Vegas, ADJ was presented by PLSN magazine with a Gold Star Product Award in recognition of the innovative new Design Series of LED video panels that allow the creation of large format video screens of almost any conceivable shape. PLSN’s publisher, Terry Lowe, visited the ADJ booth at the show to present the ‘2018 Best Innovation In LED Tiles’ award, which acknowledges the ground-breaking nature of this unique range of LED video panel products to ADJ National Sales Manager, Alfred Gonzales (right in photo). The Design Series comprises four modular panels of different shapes that can be connected together in any combinat... [read more]