Looking Ahead with 20/20 Vision Plus: Corporate Events in Focus

#213 DEC MOBILEBEAT.COM 2019 LOOKING AHEAD WITH 20/20 VISION PLUS: CORPORATE EVENTS IN FOCUS It’s the final stretch on the road to Vegas! MBLV24 : Tropicana LV, Mar 16-19, 2020 Get your pass and room now at MobileBeatLasVegas.com Innovative LED www.innovativeledsales.com Roland www.roland.com FEATURE ��15 Versatility LOOKING AHEAD By DJ Dayna WITH A DIFFERENT BEAT ��16 Body Mechanics for DJs: The Basics 20/20 VISION By Stu Chisholm MUSIC NEWS �� 17 Wedding Songs to Watch in 2020 PLAYLIST By Matt Campbell FEATURE �� 8 PLAY SOMETHING WE CAN DANCE TO ��18 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Future Plans / Yacht Rock By Kevin Freese By Jay Maxwell THIS IS HOW WE DO IT �� 12 MOBILE MATTERS�� 20 Reset for Next Year Building a Brand... Part 3 of 3 By Joe Bunn By Matt Martindale FEATURE �� 13 FEATURE ��22 Showing Up: Scratch or Bust in 2020 Life Is a Highway: Danny Koker By Staci Nichols By Mike Cordeiro FEATURE �� 14 FEATURE ��27 What Makes You a PRO? Keeping the Count: Kevin Mack By Troy Adams By Mike Cordeiro ADVERTISERS P.18 DJ Event Planner www.djeventplanner.com 17 Frankenstand www.frankenstand.com 29 Innovative LED www.innovativeledsales.com 2 Mixware www.mixware.net 11 Mobile Beat Las Vegas www.mobilebeatlasvegas.com 30 Play Something We www.mobilebeat.com/store 19 Can Dance To! QSC www.qsc.com 5 Roland www.roland.com 3 Publisher Editor-in-Chief Events Director Emeritus Ryan Burger Dan Walsh Michael Buonaccorso Mobile Beat Editorial Assistant / Events Director Writer Jake Feldman Rebecca Burger TO ADVERTISE IN MOBILE BEAT OR EXHIBIT AT A MOBILE BEAT EVENT, CALL 515-986-3344 x300 OR EMAIL [email protected] 4 MOBILEBEAT.COM ▷ DECEMBER 2019 QSC .................... www.qsc.com FEATURE The Most Wonderful Time of the Year By Kevin Freese FEATURE The Most Wonderful Time of the Year CORPORATE HOLIDAY PARTY TRADITIONS AND TRENDS FROM COAST TO COAST By Kevin Freese parties. With several large companies such as Boeing, Redfin, and hat’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened Zillow headquartered in the booming Seattle area, Tim often “W to you as a DJ?” Along with inquiries about provides services to a corporate client multiple times over the the most popular song that I play and requests for season. This includes the tech giant Microsoft, one of Tim’s valued customers. “Companies like Microsoft can have seven different me to use my DJ voice, this question is among the holiday parties among their various departments,” says Tim. “Each top three that I’ve been asked over the years when party is independent of the other, so it’s like working for different someone finds out that I’m a disc jockey. While I’ve clients even though it’s the same company.” experienced my share of unique moments at events Renowned for its fish market, Seattle is also home to many of all kinds, it’s the ghost of holiday parties past major seafood companies. When working a room full of fishermen, Tim says that his top priority isn’t packing the dancefloor but that provides the largest collection of tales to tell. creating a pleasant environment for his audience. “They often These aren’t always the fondest of memories. There was the prefer to relax and visit with each other,” Tim says. “Their wives enjoy time a police officer had to help me out of a ditch so I could make dancing, so I end up playing a lot of requests from them.” it to an event on time. It was the closest that I’ve come to being Across the board, Tim finds that holiday party clients care most late for a gig. At another holiday party I got trapped on an icy patio about the production value of his services—oftentimes more so in the middle of the night while loading up my gear. Despite the than filling the dancefloor. “They’re looking for a strong presenta- challenges, holiday parties have always been one of my favorite tion as well as dependability,” he notes. types of events and performing at them has become as much of a The challenge of attracting guests to the dance floor is one seasonal tradition for me as putting up the Christmas tree, mailing of the aspects that Tim enjoys most about holiday parties, feeling greeting cards, or giving presents. that it gives him a great chance to hone his skills as a DJ. He finds Curious about the experiences of other DJs that perform at himself discovering new ways of seeking out those members of his holiday parties, I recently spoke with five disc jockeys from across the audience that are most engaged in his performance, whether it’s country to find out what makes these events valuable to them and to building upon a group of guests that are on the dancefloor, enticing learn what holiday trends they’ve noticed over the last few seasons. those that are near the dancefloor, or simply identifying individu- After being hit hard by the great recession of 2008, holiday parties als that are engaged in the music no matter where they are in the have come back into full swing over the last few years and each region room. “Holiday parties are a great way to practice these next-level of the country is experiencing growth in holiday party business. observations,” explains Tim. He has ultimately learned that creating MAKING A SPLASH IN SEATTLE an environment where dancing SHOULD happen almost always leads to dancing actually happening—even at holiday parties. We begin in Seattle. While most talented DJs are accustomed to repeat business year after year, Tim Humphrey of Ideal RISK AND REWARD IN BOSTON Entertainment has found that his region offers the opportunity to Josh Field of E.C.F. Entertainment in Boston is also appreciative of serve the same client week after week when it comes to holiday the opportunity that holiday parties give him to strengthen his 8 MOBILEBEAT.COM ▷ DECEMBER 2019 understanding of the craft. “I’ve found myself taking risks as far as says. “Specifically, I like to find out if they want only ambiguous song selections and overall performance at holiday events that I holiday music or if they are okay with songs that have a religious might not otherwise have taken, and they’ve paid off,” Josh says. connotation.” For clients in search of some guidance, Lee suggests He’s discovered that he’s able to take what he’s learned from trying several options including nonstop holiday music for the first 20- 40 something new at a holiday gig and applying it to his performance minutes or 1 to 2 holiday songs per every 4 to 5 songs played. “I’d at other events throughout the year. “If it’s a particular mix or setlist say about 30% want a heavy rotation of holiday songs, 50% want a that’s worked at a corporate event where guests may not feel as balanced mix, and 20% don’t want any holiday music.” open in front of bosses and directors then it’s likely something that Along with providing traditional DJ services, Lee has noticed will also work in other settings like weddings,” observes Josh who’s an uptick in photobooth and uplighting add-ons for holiday parties. been in the business for over two decades. “We’ve also been selling video screens with custom animated As for corporate clients that aren’t as interested in dancing, company logos and holiday-themed visuals,” he says. For clients that’s okay too as long as Josh is helping them to actualize the that don’t expect much dancing, Lee finds that karaoke, company type of event they’re looking for. “Just like with wedding clients, it’s trivia games, and lip sync battles are good options. Human gift- always important to have a lot of communication with corporate wrapping has been a lot of fun for crowds that are looking for high customers ahead of time in order to get a complete sense of the interaction, Lee reports. event before it happens,” Josh says. For customers that are orchestrating a raffle as part of their No matter how much of a role that dancing plays at a holiday event—an activity that’s always popular at holiday parties—Lee has party, Josh loves the unique way these types of events can infuse learned some great strategies for success. “My top tips for clients music into a company’s culture. He says, “Employees don’t often get are to limit the amount of prizes and also to steer clear of tickets to experience music together and I’m grateful for the role that I play with numbers,” he says. “Instead have raffle tickets with names so as a DJ in making that happen.” the process goes faster. You can also do a silent drawing for smaller Getting more specific about the music, Josh says that Christmas prizes and reserve the live drawing for the top ten prizes.” songs are most prominent during cocktail hour, but he loves sprinkling Although the disc jockeys at Hey Mr. DJ spend most of their them in throughout dancing. He has also found that services like BPM year performing at weddings, December is a nice time to shift gears Supreme and DJcity are great resources for danceable holiday remixes and provide a different style of entertainment,” says Lee. “Corporate and mashups that flow together well with standard dance music. parties can often begin with a certain level of awkwardness because As far as recent trends at holiday parties in the Boston area employees may not have socialized outside the office, so I find it are concerned, Josh reports that event design has become increas- rewarding when we are able to break that ice, getting everyone ingly popular over the last few years.

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