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ahoustondj

DJ Extraordinaire
Aug 13, 2007
20,235
3,464
Texas
New trend as featured on GMA. Free Photographers and DJ. (These are supposed to be already professionals.). This part I cannot understand. If they are so Professional why do they have to do it for free just for the exposure.
Remember that a commercial comes first.
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6971963
 
"Professional" doesn't mean your phone is ringing!

Then again, what does "professional" mean anymore. Apparently it's now something anyone can call themselves...

Anymore, it simply means "someone who gets paid to do something."

When I was growing up, it seemed to mean so much more. :sqfrown:

Having standards, and constantly meeting and exceeding them used to be a prerequisite for the designation. A "professional" was someone who met a certain benchmark of service quality.

Now, anyone with Limewire, some speakers, a laptop, and a Craigslist account is suddenly "a professional."
 
"Professional" doesn't mean your phone is ringing!

Then again, what does "professional" mean anymore. Apparently it's now something anyone can call themselves...

Anymore, it simply means "someone who gets paid to do something."

When I was growing up, it seemed to mean so much more. :sqfrown:

Having standards, and constantly meeting and exceeding them used to be a prerequisite for the designation. A "professional" was someone who met a certain benchmark of service quality.

Now, anyone with Limewire, some speakers, a laptop, and a Craigslist account is suddenly "a professional."
I wholeheartedly agree with you. I am looking into belonging to a Record pool again. When I was in Boston in the 70's to 1981, the Promo Music was only supplied to Professional DJs. We also played a great part in "breaking out" new music. Once the Radio Stations started playing the music (Radio & Album versions) we stopped playing those songs and moved on to new ones.

I belong to a subscription of sorts now, all free. All I have to do is listen to the music, fill out an online feedback form and the song is mine to download. It is mostly Hip Hop and Rap though. I get an average of 5 per day.
 
They gave the DJ & Photographer the opportunity to "break into the market" by not even mentioning them in the piece. (They showed the photos though)

Yeah, they got played and I suppose they had it coming. Still, I'd be pretty pissed after seeing the story made it GMA.
 
They gave the DJ & Photographer the opportunity to "break into the market" by not even mentioning them in the piece. (They showed the photos though)

Yeah, they got played and I suppose they had it coming. Still, I'd be pretty pissed after seeing the story made it GMA.

I am surprised they did not used an Ipod hooked up to some speakers.
 
Yeah that's a no-win scenario. The only kinds of leads you are going to get from one of those scams is from other peeps "generous enough" to "help you" get yet MORE visibility by doing THEM for next to nothing or free as well!
 
The exposure might have had its worth as stated the vendors mentioned were attempting to break into the Wedding market. However as Hank mentioned they didnt get anything for their effort but play time. Free rep in the article may have been worth something. Since it appears it didnt have rep it was a scam in my humble opinion.
 
I'm going to be the odd man out on this one (big surprise, huh:sqwink:).

I thought the young couple were pretty clever on what they did and how they did it. They were happy and they didn't have to hold a gun to the Photographer or DJs head to get them to cooperate, so as far as I see it, "no harm, no foul." :)
 
The only kinds of leads you are going to get from one of those scams is from other peeps "generous enough" to "help you" get yet MORE visibility by doing THEM for next to nothing or free as well!
Ab-so friggin-lutly!!!

Leeches beget more leeches.
 
I'm going to be the odd man out on this one (big surprise, huh:sqwink:).

I thought the young couple were pretty clever on what they did and how they did it. They were happy and they didn't have to hold a gun to the Photographer or DJs head to get them to cooperate, so as far as I see it, "no harm, no foul." :)

Yep! In don't blame the couple one bit for being creative. The bad thing is that now a lot of Brides who saw that segment on GMA will be going out expecting the same thing too. How will the Photographer and DJ get hired by the Bride's friends or attendees at the wedding when they know that they can request the same? To me its a bad precedent. I have learned that instead of giving away your services for free, just add a few more extras at no charge but get the initial fee.
 
Yep! In don't blame the couple one bit for being creative. The bad thing is that now a lot of Brides who saw that segment on GMA will be going out expecting the same thing too. How will the Photographer and DJ get hired by the Bride's friends or attendees at the wedding when they know that they can request the same? To me its a bad precedent. I have learned that instead of giving away your services for free, just add a few more extras at no charge but get the initial fee.

I understand what you're saying, but let's revisit this in a year or so and see how little of an impact this story has or hasn't had, ok?

My money is on it not having much or any impact whatsoever.

We don't know the background story on the vendors, such as maybe they are just starting out and wanting to do anything for exposure. Just because the National Media didn't mention them in the piece doesn't mean that the local media didn't pick up on it and provided more information.

Without knowing the behind the scenes agreements, motivation of the vendors, etc., we can only speculate and impose our beliefs and standards to what they did.

Just my opinion... :)
 
If the vendors got had, it was due to their own incompetence.

If that seems harsh, chalk it up to an old DJ who's seen it firsthand. Providing a service "just for the exposure" without a contract that stipulates mention in promotional material, both print and broadcast, is flushing your money and time down the toilet.

Have you ever watched all those credits at the end of a film? Hell, the electrician's girlfriend's cousin's dog gets a mention in the credits. Film credits are a resume. People get recognized for their work.

To provide service pro bono, there'd better be something tangible in return for it. The opportunity to "be seen" or hand out business cards is not my definition of tangible. :)
 
I'm going to be the odd man out on this one (big surprise, huh:sqwink:).

I thought the young couple were pretty clever on what they did and how they did it. They were happy and they didn't have to hold a gun to the Photographer or DJs head to get them to cooperate, so as far as I see it, "no harm, no foul." :)

I agree with that. I just don't like the way they wiped their feet and walked away after someone did them a solid.
 
Cheap ass!

I know times are tough but after you book your venue you should then allocate some of the budget toward the DJ and the photographer. Or book a company that can combine both services at a good rate like "Ball Photo"..

Why skim on two of the most major parts of such a memorable day?
 
I guess, I'm missing something so I went back and watched and listened to the video again.

The piece states that the DJ and the Photographer were trying to break into the wedding business and wanted referrals, so evidently they were doing other events. Maybe the photographer might have only been doing senior pictures, pet photography, family portraits, etc. but had yet to do a wedding. It's possible that the DJ might have just been doing private parties, school events, etc and wanted to find a way to expand his business? They made their decisions to do this as a way to promote themselves into a new facet of their respective businesses.

Many of us have had to either donate or give a rock bottom price in the begining to either enter or jump-start our prescence into our resprective markets. When Coreen and I decided to reenter the business, we had to offer ridiculously low prices to get going and since have increased our fees in a steady and gradual pace.

We are only hearing part of the story that ABC network wants us to hear. The only two vendors that were actually named in the story were David's Bridal and Costco, which I'll bet dollars to donuts that they are paid advertisers with the ABC network somewhere down the line. Smaller businesses that do not advertise with media outlets very rarely get a "free plug" on a national TV show.

The couple would have had no say so about the editing and or mentioning of the vendors, so we can't lay the blame on them.

Everyone seems to be fixating on the word "free." It was the vendors decision to do what they did to gain good referrals from the couple. Nowhere in the video did I hear anything about the couple not upholding their end of the bargain by offering their names as solid referrals for the DJ or Photographer. In fact they mentioned that they were very pleased with the photos and that they had a fantastic time and the guests had a fantastic time also. Remember, they have no input into the editing of this story.

We are at a point where we don't have to give anything away, but at the last Bridal Show sponsored by a local broadcasting group we were part of a "Free Wedding Package" which we were donating our photography services as part of the package. So I guess we fit into the category of bottom sucking pond scum?


So in my humble opinion these were two businesses that needed exposure to kick-start their new ventures and did what they felt necessary.
 
....So in my humble opinion these were two businesses that needed exposure to kick-start their new ventures and did what they felt necessary.
True. But they still got dicked, just the same. ;)
 
How so? I'm curious.
Seems to me that the vendors got their noses rubbed in it, that's all.

Emphasis is on the fact they were free. Gigs for exposure only. I'm gonna presume that the free DJ company and photographer will find the "exposure" an exposure to more and more couples who want something for nothing. Or next to nothing.

Hey, it was on GMA. Right there on national television. DJs and photographers can be got for free. How do I get this? Simple. Just say you don't have the money but the exposure will be great. That's all they had to do.

The rental venue owners didn't give it away just for exposure, did they? Of course not. The B&G approached the venue, loaded with cash. Chair covers, the works. No VFW wedding venue for these folks. No, Sir.

Nobody missed the $14,000.00 they didn't spend? That's a matter of opinion. I can tell you this ~ I would not wish to be DJing a wedding reception where all the nice stuff around me had been paid for while I wasn't even getting so much as a rotten apple.

Folks I don't mean to come across as bitter. It's just that I've done many a wedding in my time where my service was the reception budget. Some were in VFW houses, others were in very nice rental venues. They paid well for open bars. They paid well for the DJ company. To these clients, dancing and entertainment for their guests took priority over chair covers and other kitsch.

And another thing.... the B&Gs didn't invite every coworker and shirttail relative they knew. If you want to save on your wedding expenses, that's how it's done.

Kirb, offering a service as a prize isn't bottom-feeding. I'd offer a discount in that scenario, not a complete freebie... but that's just me. :)