Would you say something if a client changed their mind at an event?

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Taso I was talking about a private event. Trust me the event I mentioned turned into a mess because it was the wrong music at the wrong time. Nobody could hear themselves talk while talking the time to eat. This was a retirement celebration. So the proper mix would have been music for the older people attending the event as well. This was a private event and not at a club. That's what the client had in mind once she got there. Her idea didn't work nor did it fit the type of event it was.

There were people way past 50 who attended the event. No disrespect to the older people. They would have liked some music to make them feel a part of the event as well.

I went to a surprise 50th birthday celebration and the DJ that did the event had some nice music to play but didn't know when to play what. The event was 5 hours. From 8PM to 1AM. He didn't know that in the beginning you play stuff that the older people will enjoy and some getting up to dance. Later on you can get into some other music that will have people up dancing.

My thing with that one is I figure you're not going to keep people in their mid 50's on up there till 1AM. So make them happy first and then move on to the younger people attending the event. I know if I was the DJ for that event I would have wowed the crowd out. At least the gear he used was very good.

So lets start from the top....

- Nobody could hear themselves talk = DJ's fault. Just cause you're playing house music doesn't mean volume control goes out the window. There are many weddings where I play deep house and vocal house during cocktail hour and dinner. No one said it had to be played at louder volumes.

- I do weddings all the time with guests aged 2 to 92... I play house music and hip hop etc... again people don't leave because of the music.

- I do many weddings where the client doesn't want older music at all, despite there being many older guests. I do as the couple wishes and only play current music... guess what, if done properly with the right enthusiasm and the right approach and the right volume control throughout the night, don't be surprised if grandma and grandpa are dancing. No one said it's a rule that old people only dance to older music. Yes... it's suggested but definitely not the rule.

- My wedding had NOTHING before the late 90's early 2000's... yet all of our relatives were dancing all night.

- I think your personal beliefs/assumptions and personal preferences are blinding you from the fact that you just didn't know how to accommodate the situation.
 
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So lets start from the top....

- Nobody could hear themselves talk = DJ's fault. Just cause you're playing house music doesn't mean volume control goes out the window. There are many weddings where I play deep house and vocal house during cocktail hour and dinner. No one said it had to be played at louder volumes.

- I do weddings all the time with guests aged 2 to 92... I play house music and hip hop etc... again people don't leave because of the music.

- I do many weddings where the client doesn't want older music at all, despite there being many older guests. I do as the couple wishes and only play current music... guess what, if done properly with the right enthusiasm and the right approach and the right volume control throughout the night, don't be surprised if grandma and grandpa are dancing. No one said it's a rule that old people only dance to older music. Yes... it's suggested but definitely not the rule.

- My wedding had NOTHING before the late 90's early 2000's... yet all of our relatives were dancing all night.

- I think your personal beliefs/assumptions and personal preferences are blinding you from the fact that you just didn't know how to accommodate the situation.
I agree with one thing you said. The volume could have been lower during dinner. Again check the title of the thread. She changed things at the last minute. All I said was accommodating the older people with music they would enjoy and have them feel a part of. Whatever that is. Got to read the crowd along with what the client wants and see how to work things.
 
I agree with one thing you said. The volume could have been lower during dinner. Again check the title of the thread. She changed things at the last minute. All I said was accommodating the older people with music they would enjoy and have them feel a part of. Whatever that is. Got to read the crowd along with what the client wants and see how to work things.
And you only read the first line of what I said. Just cause she changed the music doesn’t mean you couldn’t get successful results... whether she changed it that moment or that morning. Clients change things on me all the time. I then listed a number of examples in how what you said wasn’t the only way to a successful outcome, and how I’ve done the opposite of what you’ve done and achieved such results.
 
And you only read the first line of what I said. Just cause she changed the music doesn’t mean you couldn’t get successful results... whether she changed it that moment or that morning. Clients change things on me all the time. I then listed a number of examples in how what you said wasn’t the only way to a successful outcome, and how I’ve done the opposite of what you’ve done and achieved such results.
I hear what you're saying. The problem was that there was no nice mixture of music. It was old disco and then house music. A few line dance songs and that was it. Well that event is long over with. I hope this next one turns out better.
 
I didn't mean for this thread to become World War 3.
I think you did - you are posting new threads about an event that you have already posted about - which has already been discussed several times in detail.

Some of that experience has come from making mistakes.
You've been here for several years - and yet you continue to make the same mistakes. Growth from mistakes only happens when you learn and change from it.
 
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When a client changes their mind at an event after things were discussed on how things should go before hand, would you say something or just do things the way they want?

Anybody have this happen to them while doing an event? I ask this question because we did an event where the person who got us to do the event and the one paying us decided while people were eating to have my partner play house music instead of what was discussed before hand. Which was easy listening music so people can hear themselves talk and mingle.

My partner decided to do what she wanted and not have a discussion with her about what was talked about prior to the event. Just do as he was told and get paid. What happened is after they finished eating a lot of people left.

Nobody got up to dance while he played that stuff as they were eating. So how would you have handled that situation?

I don't blame my partner at all. Even though we knew what was going to happen.

Are we still talking about the event where they asked you to play house music at dinner? You've brought this up at least 10 times on this site already.
 
Taso I was talking about a private event. Trust me the event I mentioned turned into a mess because it was the wrong music at the wrong time. Nobody could hear themselves talk while talking the time to eat. This was a retirement celebration. So the proper mix would have been music for the older people attending the event as well. This was a private event and not at a club. That's what the client had in mind once she got there. Her idea didn't work nor did it fit the type of event it was.

There were people way past 50 who attended the event. No disrespect to the older people. They would have liked some music to make them feel a part of the event as well.

I went to a surprise 50th birthday celebration and the DJ that did the event had some nice music to play but didn't know when to play what. The event was 5 hours. From 8PM to 1AM. He didn't know that in the beginning you play stuff that the older people will enjoy and some getting up to dance. Later on you can get into some other music that will have people up dancing.

My thing with that one is I figure you're not going to keep people in their mid 50's on up there till 1AM. So make them happy first and then move on to the younger people attending the event. I know if I was the DJ for that event I would have wowed the crowd out. At least the gear he used was very good.
Aren't you well past 50?
 
I hear what you're saying. The problem was that there was no nice mixture of music. It was old disco and then house music. A few line dance songs and that was it. Well that event is long over with. I hope this next one turns out better.
Isn’t that your job as a dj to make it flow? Even if it means saying to the client “ok let me transition there gradually in a song or two so it doesn’t sound so abrupt of a change in styles”, even though disco and house are typically in the same bpm range and a smooth transition could be had regardless
 
This coming from you Rocky? Let's say you go to a high end steakhouse this evening and order a medium rare and it comes back well done? Do you as the client just accept that because it was cooked by a "professional". As they payer do you have no say in decisions because you hired a professional? I think you put way too much ego in to it.
SWING & A BIG MISS!

Flawed analogies and false accusations are just more subterfuge for the mill, as it were. Don't swallow Proformance's hyperbolic jizz, I suspect it is as unsettling as anything he spews.

My behavior is 100% NON ego based and your assumption to the contrary is a window into your lazy intellect. You know nothing of my practices and client relationships other than what I post yet you LEAP, like a liming, to assumptions.

Too much nonsense in your comparison to warrant serious attention or deep analysis. Simply put, I know a few professional chefs and if their service staff delivered any customer a meal that was not consistent with the order and agreed upon quality & standards, those Chefs would ABSOLUTELY want to know immediately so as to rectify ans satisfy bot the customer's experience AND protect the restaurants's & Chef's valuable reputation.

What I, as simply the paying customer, do not have any standing to demand is to order incorrectly a well done steak and then complain it wasn't rare enough nor does my agreeing to pay for a meal bestow some universal right to demand the Chef prepare and serve a plate gruel. All transactions should be mutually beneficial and respectful, not selfish and totalitarian.

You are there to play music...Play music
That may be all you are hired for but I didn't assume to have any standing to answer for you or anyone else, specifically those that provide nothing more than jukebox impressions, so I did not.
 
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SWING & A BIG MISS!

Flawed analogies and false accusations are just more subterfuge for the mill, as it were. Don't swallow Proformance's hyperbolic jizz, I suspect it is as unsettling as anything he spews.

My behavior is 100% NON ego based and your assumption to the contrary is a window into your lazy intellect. You know nothing of my practices and client relationships other than what I post yet you LEAP, like a liming, to assumptions.

Too much nonsense in your comparison to warrant serious attention or deep analysis. Simply put, I know a few professional chefs and if their service staff delivered any customer a meal that was not consistent with the order and agreed upon quality & standards, those Chefs would ABSOLUTELY want to know immediately so as to rectify ans satisfy bot the customer's experience AND protect the restaurants's & Chef's valuable reputation.

What I, as simply the paying customer, do not have any standing to demand is to order incorrectly a well done steak and then complain it wasn't rare enough nor does my agreeing to pay for a meal bestow some universal right to demand the Chef prepare and serve a plate gruel. All transactions should be mutually beneficial and respectful, not selfish and totalitarian.


That may be all you are hired for but I didn't assume to have any standing to answer for you or anyone else, specifically those that provide nothing more than jukebox impressions, so I did not.

Trying to fully understand your chef analogy... is the steak you playing soft rock and the gruel the house music request?

So just to clarify...if your client comes up and wants house music for dinner.... you are going to stand there and discuss the pros and cons with her for several minutes... not budging on your stance... in order to satisfy your mutual transaction? This will endear her to you ....no harm no foul?

You have a vivid imagination you crazy cajun

cc
 
The issue when it comes to that event is this. What she wanted wasn't what the people attending the event wanted. There was no meeting in the middle. It's that simple. It was her call because she was footing the bill. She was into what she wanted. She is young and into the club scene thing. That's basically what she's used to.

What should have happened is once she saw there wasn't much dancing, she should have relinquished control and let the DJ take over.
 
Trying to fully understand your chef analogy... is the steak you playing soft rock and the gruel the house music request?
First things first, it was not my choice for an analogy, I was simply responding to the flawed analogy provided.

Back to the meal, the properly ordered and professionally prepared meal, of which the steak is a primary component, is the client's successful event and the gruel is surrender to selfish, likely ill considered demandsthat provide litle more than temporary sustenance.

Such demands are typically from outside, uninvolved and unvetted forces trying to manipulate stressed brides and grooms. It is my responsibility to alleviate such nonsense from my clients' enjoyment.

Getting on the mic and doing as you suggest is in effect and not much improvement on announcing, "Helo, Everyone. My name is (insert name here) and despite my better judgement, your host is making me play these crappy selections. Enjoy the celebration!"

So just to clarify...
LOL, like that would ever happen...but let us continue:

if your client comes up and wants house music for dinner
In conformance with or contrary to the planning and discussions that should occur in the prudent planning process?

.... you are going to stand there and discuss the pros and cons with her for several minutes...
[SARCASM]No lets make it hours so we can avoid any performance....[/SARCASM]f'n hyperbolic cover.

It would likely not take more than a minute or two to have an intelligent, honest exchange, if even necessary, to establish what the client really wants... either an immediate satisfaction of some fleeting desire or the enjoyment of ALL her family and friends with the aim being a successful celebration.

If you do not have that sort of trust and mutual respect established before the day off, you get what get/deserve.

not budging on your stance...
More transparent hyperbole.

Any stand I take is, in the vast, VAST, VAST majority of circumstances, to the benefit of the client's established and understood expectations and my promise and contractual responsibility to deliver on same.

If you think my clients are ANYTHING like dramacho's, you are SORELY mistaken.

I acknowledge that my experience is limited, barely over 30 years, but since I have abandoned the "get the gig and show up" mentality, some 25+ years ago, only one time that I can recall have I had a client make a demand that would so negatively impact THEIR celebration. I've certainly honored changes and alterations to the plans we've established but if, in the ABSURD/1 in a Thousand+ hypothetical, I experience a circumstance where a demand is made upon me to do something detrimental to the previously expressed, established intentions and I truly believed the result would not be beneficial, you bet your white flag waving, grab a mic and blame the client, surrender MO that I'd try polite and honest persuasion up to and until I needed to enforce my performance clauses that the client has agreed to in the written contract.

If you need an example of the ONE time in my limited decades of practice that such contractual enforcement was necessary, simply ask and I'll oblige.

in order to satisfy your mutual transaction? This will endear her to you ....no harm no foul?
WTF is that supposed to communicate?

You have a vivid imagination you crazy cajun
More assumptions to slay:

1) Nothing in my post is based on my imagination. It is all from real world, albeit as I stated, limited experience and consequence.

2) I'm about as cajun as a roast beef poor-boy or a Pat O'Briens Hurricane! (Don't assume what the movies offer as all encompassing culture and demography characterization for a diverse city like mine.)
 
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The issue when it comes to that event is this. What she wanted wasn't what the people attending the event wanted.
Selfish demands - as predicted.

There was no meeting in the middle.
More selfishness - as expected

It was her call because she was footing the bill.
Complete lack of trust - Obviously

She was into what she wanted. She is young and into the club scene thing.
Continued selfishness fostered by poor planning, lack of trust, and working for clients you'd likely not choose to socialize with...plant corn, harvest corn.

What should have happened is once she saw there wasn't much dancing, she should have relinquished control and let the DJ take over.
There is so SOOOOO much that should happen in this and any of your proposed scenarios that human longevity precludes anyone from any attempt to start to try and " 'splain 2 U!"
 
The issue when it comes to that event is this. What she wanted wasn't what the people attending the event wanted.

Her party is not a democracy, and the guest invitations are not requisition orders.
If she wants house music during dinner then I'm going to give her the best damn House Dinner Mix she's ever heard!
WTF is your problem with that?
 
So lets start from the top....
Obviously your talent/skill level and your clientele and are the polar opposite to dramacho and the imaginary clients of which he speaks.


EOS!
 
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Her party is not a democracy, and the guest invitations are not requisition orders.
If she wants house music during dinner then I'm going to give her the best damn House Dinner Mix she's ever heard!
WTF is your problem with that?
Dramacho is the problem with that.
 
I'm French .. it's a mistaken stereotype that we surrender .. sort of like assuming every Saint was in on BountyGate ...