DJ Impressions, LLC Dance Weblog

It was a rainy day but the evening lying ahead held lots of excitement to come.  DJ Larry Williams from Lake Tahoe, Nevada would be our presenter for the evening speaking on the topic of “Changing Public Perception”.  The evening is set to take place at Loft 150 in Old Town, Wichita, Kansas which is upstairs from River City Brewery.  We hold this membership drive once a year and invite all area DJ’s to come and learn from the best in the DJ Industry.  It is always a great evening and there is no cost for attending and learning. 

When I arrive, Cain is already in set up mode.  The rest of the gear arrives and is elevatored up.  On each side of the ADJA backdrop is 2 giant 46″ LCD TV’s for the power point part of the presentation and a great audio system for superb sound for the evening.  DJ Larry Williams is picked up from the airport and is brought to the Venue.  Jon and I jumped on the opportunity to meet with Larry and have a few minutes one on one with him.  I purchased Larry’s new book and had it autographed for my personal educational library at home.  While setting up video feed we encoutered a problem with the video card on the laptop trying to get it to send picture for the power point presentation to the TV’s.  This is why we always set up for events with plenty of time for these type of problems that can occur.  Problem solved and our first guest Kris Layton from Layton Entertainment arrived 15 minutes early.  The guest started coming in they were greated by Jon and myself as they filled out a registration slip and received a ticket for a door prize drawing.

The prize table was filled with great items and was divided into 2 seperate drawings.  Everyone attending received a ticket for the door prize drawing and everyone received a free t-shirt from PROMO ONLY.  The door prizes included a Full Mobile Beat Las Vegas Seminar Pass-$250 Value from Mobile Beat Magazine, a set of autographed books from DJ Larry Williams and a MMES09(Midwest Mobile Entertainers Seminar 2009) Pass from the Central Kansas Chapter of the ADJA (this is a seminar our ADJA Chapter produces yearly as is attended by over 100 dj’s from TX, OK, KS & MN).  Phil Uhlik Music provided a SHURE wireless microphone in our second section of prizes.  Also in the 2nd batch was a Laptop Computer purchased at Best Buy and donated by our Central Kansas ADJA Chapter and 2 seperate REVO II LED Lights donated by American Disc Jockey.  PHIL UHLIK Music of Wichita, PROMO ONLY, and American Disc Jockey have always supported our shows with quality product and support, they are greatly appreciated.  The 2nd drawing/raffle was $10 per ticket and all the proceeds are going to one of the members in the Houston Chapter of the ADJA, their house was lost during Hurricane Ike.  The prizes and proceeds were a Win-Win situation for everyone.

The evening started with a brief explanation of the Central Kansas Chapter of the ADJA from our President Ron Brown, this included  where we meet, times, topics etc.  Then the main course of the evening was presented.  Author, Mobile Beat Staff Writer and Accomplished Professional Disc Jockey, DJ Larry Williams took captivity of the audience.  He presented the differences on how we view ourselves as DJ’s and how the public/our clients view us as DJ’s.  All the little things we do can make a big impact on how our customer view us.  We have to take the steps ourselves to change their perception of how they value us, our services and the impact we have on their events.  The presentation was well received by members and guest alike. 

Next it was my turn.  As Membership Director of the Central Kansas Chapter of the ADJA I explained and only touched on a few of the dozens of membership benefits.  These benefits included free website hosting, access to educational Webinars, Pod Cast Seminars, Mentorship Programs, plenty of discounts from Audio & Lighting Companies, PROMO ONLY Discounts etc along with Affordable Liability Insurance(members have joined for this alone) and Health Insurance.  The best part was yet to come, “as great as all the National Benefits are” I said, “to me the best benefit has come from the Local Chapter Members and meetings”.  Jim Bob, Rick, Ryan and Chasen all gave accounts as to why the Local Chapter has been so important to them in both their business and family lives.  After that I announced about Jim Cerone, another Industry Leader  being at our next Chapter Meeting in November.  We wrapped up the meeting and most stuck around to network and share stories.  At the next meeting, all of the new members will be in a drawing for a special prize valued around $250.

We tore down, loaded up the equipment (alright I didn’t help much, I was still networking), went out to eat and discuss the sucessfull event we had.  A road trip was planned for the next morning as Ron, Cain and Rodney drove DJ Larry Williams to St Louis for another educational evening with the St Louis Chapter of the ADJA.  When ever we get a great presenter like Larry, we try to get as many Chapters involved as we can to help grow our Industry.

We always have a decent turn out, but I can’t imagine not taking an oportunity to attend a free seminar and learn how to improve your business while improving the whole outlook on your industry.  This is why I recommend when hiring a DJ that you find out if they are an active member in an organization and if they attend DJ Seminars.  These are the DJ’s that are passionate about their work and want to keep improving their performance and improve your events.  We have all of our meetings on Monday nights to try to avoid any conflicts and any DJ is invited to enjoy, learn and network at a couple of our meetings to see if it the right organization for them to join to further their business and the end result of satisfied customers.  I would like to thank all of the following companies for attending the seminar and taking this step toward bettering the Professional Mobile Entertainment Industry and helping to “Change the Public Perception”.

New faces I met were first and foremost DJ Larry Williams. Thank you for believing in our industry and pursuing to build each of us up as individual DJ’s and improve the Professional Mobile Entertainment Industry at the same time.  Other new faces that I wish to thank for joining us include Kris Layton of Layton Entertainment(Clearwater), Bob Allison of Allison Sounds(Derby), Jason Steuber of Dynamic Sound(Wichita), and Matt Smith (club DJ for America’s Pub)(Valley Center).  A new face to some of our members was Mark Thompson of MT Sound(Hutchinson), I have had the opporunity to network with Mark for several years.

Thank you to Professional Photographers Jeff and Tyffany of T&J Studios(Valley Center) and Professional Videographers Stephanie & Barry of FAT CAT Production(Valley Center) for attending.  Both of these companies have presented in our 10 things I hate about DJ’s Series at our local meetings.  We received a top 10 list of things from their professions that they hate about DJ’s.  These are things that make their job difficult or that makes the event not live up to it’s potential.  It was great to get a new perspective on the way we do things and suggestions for change.  Fortunately they said most of these things they have never seen from the members of our association.  Continued education is why.

Chapter Members and Chapter Board Members also sought to improve their education and change the way the public perceives our industry.  In attendance was Jim Bob Montgomery of Music and More(Rose Hill), Rick Caywood of db Extreme(Hutchinson), Gerald Castleberry of Dance Excitement(Derby), Steve Walsh of Advance DJ Service(Wichita), Tammy Bowden the new owner of Complete Music(Wichita), Sean Prolago of Elite Entertainment(Wichita), Doug Prochazka of Hottrax DJ Service(Newton), Ryan Funck of Absolute Sound DJ Entertainment(Wichita), Tony D of All Mobile Entertainment(Wichita), Ron Brown of Another Dimension Entertainment(Derby), Chasen Shaw of ACE Mobile Music(Stillwater), Cain Humphrey of FX Unlimited Mobile DJ Entertainment(Salina), Jon Graves of Totally Legal Sound And Lighting(Wichita) and myself Darren Goertz of DJ Impressions, LLC Professional Mobile Entertainment(Hutchinson). 

Many more were unable to attend due to conflicts but we welcome all to attend our next meeting on November 3rd, 2008 at Two Brothers BBQ on West Central @ 6:30 for social/7:00 for meeting with Industry Leader Jim Cerone.