Fig Talk.

The Cell

2008-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 15, 2008, Andy and Staci had their wedding reception at the Stadium Club at The Cell (U.S. Cellular Field). The Stadium club is a tricky space to work in. The restaurant is a cool space with tiered seating. Above the dining room is a lounge area where we had cocktails and dancing. The tricky part of the space is the bar in the middle of the room. It's a long room and the bar separates the front and the back. Guests will tend to get caught in the front area and not make it to the back. The dance floor was set up in back and when it came time for dancing, it was difficult to bring people back with the music. Another challenge with this event was the playlist. Andy and Staci didn't want any 80's, funk, disco, classic rock, oldies, rock, etc. Basically, just Top 40 and 90's. We started off dancing with some crooners and then motown. It didn't work that great, so we jumped into Top 40. After playing the Electric Slide (it was a must play), we went into Let's Get it Started in Here by the Black Eyed Peas. That's what kicked it off for us. The crowd was really mellow and we only had about 20 people dancing at the peak, but they danced for a good 2 hours, almost non-stop. The other interesting thing about the crowd is how they followed the bride. If she was dancing, then they would dance. If she went to the bar, they would go to the bar. Our goal was to keep the bride on the dance floor as much as possible. While we stuck mostly to hip-hop and pop, Staci and Andy did give us other music they liked, such as Michael Jackson and Prince, and we sprinkled them in along the way.

Notes on working in this space:
- Have the bar on the far end of the upper floor open. It will draw people over to the dance floor.
- I wouldn't recommend doing introductions unless you do a second setup, either upstairs or downstairs depending on where you want to be introduced.
- Save the special dances for after dinner, when the guests come back upstairs. This will help start off dancing. It may be challenging to get guests to come upstairs if they're rowdy or not responsive to directions.
- Have at least 150 guests to utilize the space best. Less crowd, and they'll spread out. It's important for dancing to have a pressure cooker effect. The more people you have in less space, the greater the likelyhood of dancing to occur. (One caveat, if there are too many people in a space, then they'll get iritated and may just get upset as opposed to dance.)

--Jonathan

The Check-ins: Week of 11.10.08

2008-11-16T19:07:00.001-08:00

FRIDAY

Brian @ Rockit
(from Brian:) "Wins: The place was crowded when I got there. More and more people showed up as the night went on. I got $40 to play "as much Van Halen and Rush that you can". Then I received $20 to play "Come Sail Away" by Styx.
Erik came by after the More Life Training that night. That was cool. The next thing I know, four girls are in the booth dancing behind us. Wowsers!"

"Learns: The same guy who requested Van Halen and Rush offered me $100 to play "all Van Halen and Rush". There was no way that was going to happen. That would kill the vibe, and piss everyone off. He was wasted, and testing my limits."

"Losses: The songs didn't seem to have the same big reaction as I'm used to. I haven't deejayed a Friday night at Rockit in a long time. I will be going to school on Hafeez and learn what songs he plays and what order that he plays them in."

"I got a total of $65 in tips!"

SATURDAY

Garner/French @ US Cellular Field's Stadium Club
Lead: Jon Hood; Assistant: Brian Carey
(from Jon:) "Wins: Excellent rapport with everyone. It's becoming very natural to have conversations with people even if they don't know how to initiate a conversation (photographers). Working with a tight playlist (no 80s, disco, funk, classic rock, oldies) and getting a dance floor going. Satisfied clients. $250 tip. Great mixing. Introduced Brian to the clients and family and using him to help guide the wedding party up the steps for intros. Wasn't a dancing crowd, yet we got them dancing (those that would) and kept them dancing most of the night."

"Losses: Tough space to work in. I should have had a speaker placed further out for cocktails and intros. Only 20 people danced. It took us a while to get a dance floor going. Some waitress there thought she was a DJ and came up and told us what to play to get them dancing. The guests would only dance when the bride was dancing."

"Learns: even if not that many people dance, that doesn't mean the bride and groom aren't having fun. Gotta freshen up on my 90's. Don't be afraid to go to hip hop early."

The James Hotel/Northshore Health Fundraiser @ the James Hotel
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Tobey Geise
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from AB3:) "Wins: Having Erik and Brent drop our gear off earlier in the day; Tobey is a great assist— she made contact with all the necessary parties, completed the venue form promptly, and kept an eye on what's going on in the room and acting if I saw something like a broken glass. We complement each other well on gigs. I rocked the dance floor! Transitions: "I Kissed a Girl" into "Bizarre Love Triangle," "Disturbia" into "You Shook Me All Night Long;" "Shout" into "Hey Ya." These were the best transitions of the night. The client said that no one has danced at this event before, and they want to book for next year; I got kudos from the Associate Board Chair on the microphone."

"Learns: Have an exit strategy in place when gear is dropped off—look for a cart after setting up so there's no gap at the end of the night while one is searched out."

Roadhouse/Noone @ Prairie Productions
Lead/Producer: Erik Friedly; Assistant: Brent Rolland
(Brent's check-in:) Guests and sports fans alike gathered for the wedding of Kate and David—a representative at ESPN radio and a big fan of the New York Giants, respectively. I was happy to assist this gig alongside Erik, as I had a positive interaction with Kate on the phone before this event; I just felt good vibes from her. And good vibes were exuded as well from the day-of crew, which included planner Lisa (last name escapes me at the moment), Justin from Berghoff Catering, and photographers Claire and Mariah from Rick Aguilar Studios.

Kate and David were quite particular about how they wanted things to be done during the night (including the presentation of a special New York Giants cake to "We Are The Champions"), and Erik set me up well during the night to make sure all key points in the timeline were done well. I was a bit nervous on some respects, such as when and how to fade out of the couple's first dance and Kate's dance with her father, but everything worked out well. I talked to Erik on our breaks and let him know how I felt about transitions or the timeline as to clear myself and my thoughts so I could focus on the next transition of the night. Erik and I worked quite well with each other, as well as with the day-of team, and we were on-target with all of our cues.

Our dance floor started a bit slow, but it totally picked up as the evening progressed. As the clients liked such artists as Wilco, The Who, and other rock/indie rock bands, I felt—not to say "out of place"—but more along the lines of not fully knowledgeable about the music. Still, I was able to partner with Erik well, who knew the music much better, and insert myself when I felt comfortable. We played a mix of crowd-pleasers (i.e. Aretha's "Think" and Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough") and songs that David and Kate totally rocked out to (Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out"). Because the couple and their family were huge Rolling Stones fans, we played at least five or six hits through the night, including "Miss You" and "Honky Tonk Women."

I seriously swear, Kate's father, also named David, was Mick Jagger incarnate: He had all the facial expression, finger poses, and the undeniably recognizable "Jagger strut" down pat. Not to mention that he looked like Mick…just older. Try imagining that for size! Of course, you don't have to…

The couple acknowledged us highly at the end of the night and repeatedly said, "You're awesome!" to the both of us. Not to over-use the word, but we were awesome because the couple was awesome. Their trust and how they carried themselves helped Erik and I to focus on our work and serve our clients well. As they say in football, this wedding was a "touchdown"! (I'll work on a more exciting and original closure paragraph later!)

The Check-ins: Week of 11.3.08

2008-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

TUESDAY

Robert Neubert/Hilton Chicago @ Hilton & Towers (DJ)
Lead: Brian Carey; Assistant: Jon Hood
Setup Assistant: Erik Friedly
Producers: James Gustin and Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Brian): "Jon and I deejayed at the Hilton Chicago, in the grand ballroom. The client was Robert Neubert, Catering Manager at the Hilton. The setup was four speakers in the balcony level, so Erik and I made sure to get in there early (10:30am) for setup [that day], because of the election traffic downtown. I parked and left the car there all day, also to avoid traffic. The gig's starting time was 7pm. The music was down-tempo background cocktail music for the first half, and then more upbeat, top 40 hip-hop for the second half. The crowd was employees of different Hilton hotels. Wins: Early setup. Learn: I played a lot of chill lounge music. It's been some time since I have played that style. Losses: The guests left early and didn't seem interested in the party because of the election."

FRIDAY

Hafeez @ Rockit
This Friday's Rockit was super-packed; great dance crowd. Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz worked, along with some "girl rock" hits, including Pink. Mainly, the girls that were there were dancing, so Hafeez focused on them and rocked them out. He ended the night with his signature, "Crazy Game of Poker" and "Send Me On My Way."

Infinium Capital Management @ Infinium Capital Management (DJ)
Lead: Brian Carey; Assistant: Alvin Black III
Producer: Tobey Geise
(from Brian:) "Infinium Capital hit their goal this year, so as a reward to their employees (95% men), they each received an envelope with $1,000 in cash. They had about 2 hours to spend it on themselves only. No gifts for others, no Internet purchases, they had to have receipts for everything, and if they anyone had money left over it was given back. The result was more mild than Alvin and I anticipated: Watches, clothing, shoes, video games, a computer, bottles of liquor, etc. One guy used the money towards purchasing a $3800 bed for him and his wife. Most of them ended spending more than $1,000. Very cool idea. It reminded me of our sales teams last year. Music included JayZ, top 40, rock, etc. Wins: Getting there early. We ate lunch at Infinium (Stefani's). We each received a $250 tip at the end of the night. We went 1 hour of overtime."

SATURDAY

Tom Kandziora @ Winthrop Harbor Yacht Club (DJ)
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Tobey Geise
Producer: Michele Gustin
(from Alvin): "Wins: Fast load in/break down; Tom @ the Yacht Club was appreciative of us coming out, we were well treated and received there; facilitating other people during the evening—there was a speaker who we ran through our system, and there was a slideshow with music that we also ran through our speakers. Tobey was a great assist, getting information from all the players present There will be a tip ! Learns: To get more specifics around who has the most information about what is occurring during the evening – in this case it was not our contact, who himself didn't even have all of the data. Losses: Not asking enough questions before the gig, which hampered our ability to effectively impact the evening."

Jacob Gudeman's Bar Mitzvah @ Hotel Sax (DJ)
Lead: Hafeez Sarumi; Assistant: Tanya Cascoe
Producer: Megan Taylor
There were 130 people in attendance—65 kids and 65 adults. Hafeez and Tanya played a lot of music and a good handful of games, including a hula hoop contest. Tanya was a great assist and helped a lot facilitating the games. The only foible (and a rather pleasant one) was that that they were there one hour earlier than they needed to be (7:15pm as opposed to 8:15pm). $300 tip!

Weinketz/Lindsay @ A New Leaf (DJ)
Lead: Brian Carey; Assistant: Dan In
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from Brian:) "Wins: playing Kristina and Andrews must plays, which was not your typical list: Indie rock, new wave; Johnny Cash. Andrew was a big Cash fan, so I played 3 of his songs by requests. Kristina liked new wave (German versions of songs by Nena were a big hit). Their first dance was "Sea of Love" by Cat Power, and their early exit last dance was "Sea of Love" by Tom Waits. Dan was a big help. He set up the wireless and two 10s for intros and toasts. I had him play some music during dancing. Also, James stopped by!"

"Learns: When I was downloading music off of iTunes, I was unable to download this requested CD for cocktails, I was only able to get half of the songs. I ended up looping what I had. The learn is that if it's on iTunes, it doesn't mean that all music on there is available to buy. Talk to me if your confused."

"Losses: After the three toasts, Andrew was going to say a thank you. I missed this in my notes, and was about to announce dinner stations, when Andrew stopped me. I gave him the mic and apologized in the moment. (I met with them a while ago, and wasn't 100%. So, when I meet the client early, I will make sure to go over my notes more precisely.)"

Benson/Welsh @ Newberry Library (DJ)
Lead: Brent Rolland; Assistant: Emily Hard
Equipment Assistance: Erik Friedly and Tim Musho
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
A good book is generally enjoyable from beginning to end. The same can be said for the wedding reception of my clients, Meredith and Ryan. This was my second time at the Newberry Library—first as a lead. Emily and I had the pleasure of working with this pleasant couple, as well as with our fellow teammates: Debra Nauman (from Simply Elegant Catering) and Misty Winter (with her partner, Shelly Huffman), who were the photographers. We also worked with Karen, River and Keisha at the Newberry. Talk about girl power! Here's a synopsis of the evening:

Wins:
– I had solid rapport with my couple—"solid" refers to that I responded promptly to all of Meredith's e-mails, sent her my thoughts about the timeline and music, and also sent her the same materials she sent me (as her computer unfortunately crashed). I was there for the couple whenever they needed me.
– We received a lot of day-of help from our team: Since Erik and Tim were working at the Four Seasons (mere blocks away from us), they were so kind to drop off our gear for us. Tim also came by at the end of the night with Andrew's car to pick us up and our gear. Hafeez and Tanya were equally accommodating, as they dropped Emily and I off at the Newberry on their way to Hotel Sax.
– We had a fast setup (less than 30 minutes) and a record breakdown time of 15 minutes. The speed was due in part to our teamwork, and the fact that we had Jon's all-in-one rig.
– The timeline ran exactly—and I do mean exactly—on schedule, thanks to Debra's excellent timing and planning. Debra was also helpful in orchestrating the people doing the toasts, including one that was added on during the evening (Meredith's mom, Ann).
– Emily was a great assistant! She gave good suggestions for songs during the night, as well as how some songs should be ordered (i.e. Gaye's "Let's Get it On" into Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" into Morrisson's "Into the Mystic" and ending the night with Denver's "Country Roads, Take Me Home"). She also played a few songs during the night and took requests during the night from the guests.
– Misty and Shelly were very easy and fun to work with—they knew the timeline and were always ready to go for every photo opportunity. Best of all, they had positive, laid-back attitudes and often asked us if we wanted drinks or anything. Very appreciable!
– Dancing was simply amazing! We had a three-hour dance set and the long, narrow floor was packed with people for the whole three hours. There was one small interruption (see the "Losses" category), but overall, people were really enjoying the music. My greatest moment was when I had a forgotten 90's song that the mom wanted that I have never received a request for: "Would I Lie To You?" by Charles & Eddie. I was like, "Wow! So not expecting that, but I'm glad I have it!"
– I received hearty thank-yous from the bride and groom, who will be passing our name along to their friends and family. Ryan's mother thought we did and excellent job, and Ryan's sister thought I was the "best DJ she and her guests have ever heard" and also told me that "this was the most fun wedding her and her guests have been to."
– Emily and I received a nice $180 tip at the end of the night—quite awesome!

Losses:
– I did not have a microphone in my setup, but after Emily gave a call to Michele (our on-call person), we were given some useful guidance. I asked Keisha (from the Newberry) if she could provide me with a microphone, and she gave us their wireless microphone which connected to their house system. As additional backup, I met Tim on Walton St. and he gave us Erik's microphone as backup.
– Dancing got a bit interrupted around 11:30pm, as I lost my groove after I played Jay-Z's "H to the Izzo." I thought it was worth a try at the time, but it didn't work. It was also pecuilar that I played Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" (originally requested by the bride), but she wasn't into it when I played it. Her fellow girlfriends kept coming up to the table and requesting Britney Spears, and we eventually played "Gimme More" and "Slave 4 U" back to back; it was much to the display of some rather dirty dancing and one couple making out right in front of Emily and I.

Learns:
– Even if I'm not driving, have driving and public transportation directions printed out. We got a bit lost downtown trying to find the Newberry, quite to Emily's dismay.
– On the day before my gig, I will ask to check out my gear to make sure that I have everything I need.
– In addition to having my own headphones, connectors, and other DJ gear, having my own microphone is a must-have.

Discoveries:
– I did not know this before, but the Newberry has a house system in Ruggles Hall (their multi-purpose ballroom, where we were situated).
– Misty's partner, Shelly, is the wife of Tyler Huffman—owner of a competitor DJ service, Cage & Aquarium. Shelly also works with Chris Guillen.

Overall:
– I had a really fun time, to say the least. My first gig at the Newberry was not as exciting as this one; in fact, it was rather dry. Seeing so many people "flood" the floor and respond to my musical selections was pure joy. Meredith and Ryan enjoyed themselves and trusted me with the evening; this is what made me feel comfortable and confident working with them. It was a pretty simple wedding considering the timeline, but I took it seriously and had fun along the way. but Great party!

The Check-ins: Week of 10.27.08

2008-11-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Carmel/Higgins Halloween Party @ Wilmette Park Lakeview Center
Lead: Andrew Ettenhofer; Assistant: Alvin Black
Producer: James Gustin
This was a fun Halloween Party out in Wilmette, hosted by Carmel's clients, the Higgins Family. The celebration featured tons of food for their guests and a costume contest where such figures as Pamela Anderson and the "Dark Knight" version of the Joker were glorified. Andrew and Alvin provided the soundtrack for people to mingle and to dance to. They had a lot of fun splitting the decks and playing great music. It did take a long time for the guests to get into it and get on the dance floor. Their client, Bob Higgins, kept asking for "modern funk;" it was he that helped to get the dance floor started. The only losses on this event was that one of the wheels broke on the dolly that Andrew and Alvin took, and the cord to the mixer was missing; thankfully, Andrew carried a spare with him. The two received a lot of good food at the end of the night (including pizza, subs and cupcakes), and because of the great job they did, the Higgins want to have them back for their Christmas party—a tip in itself!

Bleeden/Linker @ West Loop Studio
Leads/Producers: Brent Rolland and Erik Friedly
Producer: James Gustin
This is the fifth gig that I have both deejayed and produced, as well as my second time at West Loop Studio. I had the pleasure of working with Jamie from WLS and one of Fig's fave brides, Jessica McLean, from Blue Plate Catering. The party was for a cool Jewish couple and 130 of their dearest friends. Erik and I set up early before the ceremony and provided music for cocktails, dinner, and dancing. Erik and I partnered well through the night with splitting the decks, managing playtime with eating, and with setup. There were a few last-minute add-ons that Erik and I handled well: One was that Sarah's parents were going to make a speech and Erik communicated with Steve and Sarah (the couple) and pointed out those people to me so I could introduce them. (I didn't get their names, but that was okay for this very casual wedding.) Another item was that Steve wanted to dance with his mom to a salsa (!) number just a minute or so after Sarah finished her dance with her father, so I rapidly grabbed my salsa mix to set Erik up well for that. Also, their cake cutting was unannounced, and I did not have a song chosen (or discussed) for that moment, so I picked out the Nouvelle Vague version of Modern English's "I Melt With You," which was perfect, as it was Sarah's favorite song. As for music, I played a cool mix of Latin jazz, electronic, downtempo, and reggae for dinner and dancing, and then switched up to downbeat 60s and Motown as the night progressed. Erik slipped some blue-eyed and classic soul into the mix. We went all over the place with music, which was due in part to Steve and Sarah's must-play list, as well as a list of songs hand-picked by their guests, which was a welcome idea. Everyone from the older generation (who liked "Misty" and "Fly Me To The Moon") to the younger generation ("Sexyback" and "Rapper's Delight") got to hear something that they enjoyed. We ended the night with the original version of "I Melt With You," which everyone rocked out to. The only losses that occurred during the night was that loading out was quite difficult, as Hall's Rental truck arrived earlier than expected, making it hard for Erik and I to wheel our cart around the narrow load-in lot. Other than that, this was a really fun party, and Steve and Sarah regarded us as "awesome" with a $150 tip for our services. Very fun wedding!

The Check-ins: Week of 10.20.08

2008-10-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY

Jon @ Rockit
(from Jon:) "The place was packed when I got there because of the baseball game. People kept coming in until about 10:30 when it tapered off. People started leaving around 11:30 and it became kind of low-key. I wanted to get the crowd fist-pumping but it never happened. I did get a pot of screams though, so I'll settle with that. I met the new manager Brad. I started my set off kind of slow and tried out Lennoe Annox "Train in Vain." Brad came over and told me to switch it. After that, I stuck to what I knew would work. I like pushing the envelope. Probably not the best first impression, but i'm pretty sure I made up for it with the rest of the music. I like throwing in 80's songs during modern rock sets. I got some people singing at one point, but it never got to the point where I could kill a song and have them still sing along. This was the first night I didn't play the Outfield or Journey. I'm soooo over those songs now."

THURSDAY

ALSAC/St. Jude's Fundraiser @ Galleria Marchetti
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Tanya Cascoe
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Being involved in the planning of the layout of the room so that I could be placed optimally for the setup, which was a bit on the cramped side due to game tables being setup in the room as well; bringing the setup into the DJ meeting, which gave me an alternative to doing a 200ft cord run; having done this gig last year, I was familiar with the crowd and the contacts were pleased to see me again, kudos on the music during and at the end of the night; better contact with the persons involved all around, from venue people, to people on the board to the band, even reminding Rodrigo ( contact ) of things that needed to happen before the event started; got Tanya on the decks a lot – mostly split the deck during the jazzier first hour, then I gave her some beatmatching lessons once we got into some newer stuff – I would go through my process of picking songs and give her options to play and have her mix them, then we split it again for the last 45 minutes when It was old school hip hop lounge; this was the second gig in a row that I've done the same party this year and last. Learns: I am getting good at articulating my reasoning for making song choices. Losses: No tip…"

SATURDAY

Hartwig/Parisi @ the Palmer House
Lead DJ/Producer: Jon Hood; Assistant: Alvin Black III
(from Jon:) "This gig came about because the couple had seen me at two other weddings: Darrin and Chelli, and Kelly and Jamie. I was a little concerned going into the gig that I hadn't met with the Groom at all, except at the other weddings. In my final, I asked a lot of grounded leadership questions, pulling out her concerns and frustrations. She had been doing a lot of the planning because Dan was living in Las Vegas and she was still here. She was also having some trouble with the hotel. The catering manager she was working with kept making mistakes in her package. It was a good heads up into the dynamics of the wedding. It's also a new thing for me to be working with these concerns ahead of time as opposed to dealing with them in the moment. I felt more prepared going in."

"At the gig, I ran into Carl. He was doing video. I forgot we worked together on the first gig in this series: Kelly and Jamie. I also didn't realize we were doing a video gig at the Palmer House. I called up Billy and got them some coffee during my down time after I got here. We had to wait for the ceremony to be done before we set up."

"Wins: Alvonathan Blood III is still batting 1.000! Great music all night. I tried out the genius button on iTunes for dinner. It brought up some Christmas songs, so I deleted them from the playlist. It was great seeing my former clients and they were delighted to see me. Alvin had a few really sweet transitions and samples. One was the beginning of Spin Me Right Round over Bust a Move. We had roughly 3.5 hours of non-stop dance floor filled fun."

"Loss: Alvin's computer didn't work at one point and we had dead air for 5-10 seconds. Also, some really lame requests, such as Haddaway. We played a couple of them to see if it would work, not so much, so we moved on quickly."

"Learns: Ask planners ahead of time what they're going to be responsible for. I was expecting the planner to line up the wedding party, she didn't so I did. Also, don't expect the planner to make sure the photographer, videographer, or parents are in the room when they need to be. This planner had a stunned look on her face when she said we were ready to for the first dances and I asked her if the parents were in the room as well for the parent dances. No more losses on dances like those for me, thank you very much. I'm also wondering if it's okay to tell a guest their request is lame. I'm guessing no, but oh how cool it would be."

Hafeez @ Rockit
Rockit was packed with party-ready people, and Hafeez catered to them excellently. It was aroiund 11pm or so that the crowd began to dance and sing to Hafeez's choices. Classic sing-alongs like "Paradise City" (Guns 'N Roses) were a hit, and the transition of Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold" to Metro Station's "Shake It" to another Katy Perry hit, "I Kissed a Girl" and ending with Pink's "So What" rocked the house. The final song of the night was Lionel Richie's "All Night Long;" a fitting testament to the upbeat evening itself. New discovery: There is another new manager at the famed bar and grill…and that person doesn't go by a manly name like "Mitch" or "Steve!" The manager was a woman, actually. She has been there a month; Hafeez had the pleasure of meeting her on Saturday. Overall, it was a high-energy night and Hafeez created and kept his groove to satisfy all.

SUNDAY

"It's A Nice Day For a Green Wedding" Bridal Show @ Chaos Theory Cakes
Lead DJ: Brent Rolland; Assistant/Networking: Joe Martinez
Producer/Networking: Tobey Geise
Vision/Networking: Michele Gustin
Brides-to-be satisfied their sweet tooth and their wedding to-do list at the "It's a Nice Day For A Green Wedding" event, hosted and staged at Chaos Theory Cakes. This Lincoln Park hidden treasure specializes in decadent dessert creations (such as chocolate-covered "bacon" and gun-shaped chocolate bars) in addition to an assortment of cakes and other confections. Here's what's sweeter: All their concoctions are made from 100% organic ingredients. Definite food for thought! In addition to other local vendors, Chaos asked Fig to join in on their bridal show. We provided a "lounge DJ" setup using their furniture and had a table of our videos, photo books, and out signature nail files ready for the taking. I had a blast being the DJ for the event, as well as meeting a lot of people while I was behind the decks. Because I didn't have a playlist to go off of, I simply played what I liked. This helped me to stretch into numerous genres—Turkish, Latin, modern rock, electronic, older vocal jazz—to match with the eclectic style that was Chaos Theory. Oh, I didn't stray away from classic faves like Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and the Beatles. My fun challenge that I made for myself was to come up with as many "cake" or sweets-related songs that I could and play them. I ended up hitting "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" (Ohio Express), a hip-hop trio of "What's Your Flava" (Craig David), "Milkshake" (Kelis), and "Peaches and Cream" (112); the song "I Will Survive" by the BAND Cake, and ending the night with "Brown Sugar" (Rolling Stones) and Louis Jordan, "Knock Me a Kiss"—famous for its line, "I like cake/that's no mistake!" I love the interactivity of the music I played and the lounge setting that we had at the venue. What was really fun was that I gave Julia, one of the principals of Flourish Studios, a mini-lesson on deejaying! For a Sunday, we had a nice turnout. What was best about doing this event was that we supported a bakery that fully cares about making desserts from natural ingredients. How should I describe this event as a whole? One word: Sweet.

The Check-ins: Week of October 13th, 2008

2008-10-19T20:25:00.001-07:00

WEDNESDAY

Hafeez @ Rockit
This past Wednesday, there was a private party that lasted until 10pm—totally unbeknownst to Hafeez. As a suggestion (and system change) for the future, all Rockit DJs should ask the managers to let them know in advance whether or not a party is happening before the DJ plays their set. The night was pretty slow overall, but Hafeez tantalized the musical tastebuds of the Rockit waitresses with such "girl pop" tracks as Pink's "So What" (which he played for the first time).

Shops at North Bridge @ Shops at North Bridge [DJ/Audio]
Lead DJ: Erik Friedly; Assistant: Jon Hood
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Erik:) "Tough gig. I had two lavalier mics and a handheld wireless. The lavaliers picked up a lot of crowd noise that I didn't anticipate during sound check. It made it really hard for the speaker's to hear themselves and and some of the guests. I would use Countrymans (headset microphones) next time, the same mic Bob and Judith Wright use. The handheld was great and we ended up having the speaker's put their lav mics to their mouth so they could be heard. This worked for what we needed, however, not having them work the way I wanted was upsetting. We got many compliments on Jon's deejaying."

(from Jon:) "This gig was a speaking engagement for a self-help writer tailoring to women's fashion and make-up. I played the music while Erik handled the mics. We hand a wireless handheld and two lav mics. The mall is very acoustically challenged and we couldn't turn the lavs up very high without getting feedback. The speakers ended up taking them off and talking directly into them. We had the speakers off to one side, which we thought would work because they were away from the mics. What ended up happening is the sound from the speakers bounced off the far room, echoed around the alcove we were in, combined with chatter it the crowd and made it difficult to get good audio. When we tested the mics, they sounded fine, a little hollow from the space we were in, but I figures the people would absorb the hollow sound. The crowd actually made it worse because of their chatter. The only thing different we could have done was to use the countrymans we use at the Wright Institute (which should be standard anyway on speaking engagements). My big learn on this one is how much of an impact glass, marble, no hanging fabric or anything to absorb sound, and background noise can impact the audio."

THURSDAY

"It's Raining Cats and Dogs!" Fundraiser @ the Anti-Cruelty Society [DJ]
Lead DJ: Andrew Ettenhofer: Assistant/Networker: Brent Rolland
Producer: Megan Taylor
Fig provided the musical background for the "It's Raining Cats and Dogs!" fundraiser for the Anti-Cruelty Society. This year's annual animal shindig featured a live auction with live performances and the hosting of NBC-5's Andy Avalos, a silent auction area for fabulous prizes, and a gigantic tasting room where guests could sample various dishes prepared by some of Chicagoland's best chefs and and restaurants. Best of all, guests could bring their own domestic buddies and mingle with other pet-owners.

This was the first time the Anti-Cruelty society used DJs for their yearly fundraiser; knowing that, Andrew and I—as the lead DJs—wanted to make a good impression. We had two areas of music: one was a cocktail setup with a iPod mix of various genres positioned in one of the bar/lounge areas, and the other was where Andrew and I were stationed: the silent auction area. The good about this: We were able to meet many cool people—guests and volunteers alike—and pass out our signature nail files and business cards. The not-so-good: It was a tight space to work in! You could even say we were catty-cornered. Ah, animal humor. We were in the back corner of ACS' garage, which was surrounded by tables of auction items, auction items…liquor…and more auction items. There was not much space to put our speakers next to us, or in a more favorable area. Andrew and I brainstormed ideas together and came up with a solution: With our table being fine as it was, we put one speaker inside pointing towards the entryway, and we put the other speaker outside (there was a diamond-pattern gate that closed off the garage area) facing the auction room. It took a lot of cords and a bit of time to get it together, but the setup worked great, and everyone was able to hear the music.

Speaking of music, Andrew and I played almost every genre we could think of. We started off with some Latin, electronic, and jazz, and moved into more well-known songs during the night. I had a fun idea that I played with during the evening: Try to play as many dog, cat and animal-related songs. I did just that, indeed! Some of my selections included "Bird Dog" by the Everly Brothers; "Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray Cats; Yoko Kanno's "Doggy Dog" (from the Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless album), "Hungry Like The Wolf" by Duran Duran, and "Gonna Buy Me A Dog" by the Monkees (which was well-received by one of the volunteers who thought, until that moment, that she was the only one who knew that song). I thought that the animal-related songs would be quite humorous and serve as a creative way to interact with the crowd. As the night moved on, Andrew and I split the decks and played a mix of upbeat and current songs, like "Please Don't Stop The Music" (Rihanna) and "Canned Heat." After playing one of my favorite "ender" songs, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, my client Helen came up to me and started to lip-synch the song with me as well. We could'nt help but dance to it as well. It's always great when your client is having fun and wants to include the "entertainment" at a more personal level in the party.

Now…for the best part of the night! Sure—you thought the last paragraph was the end-all, be-all, huh? Not necessarily so. I mentioned that there was a gigantic tasting room at this event. This is where I stepped away from the DJ decks and partook in some serious noshing and networking. I samped various dishes from the fine and hospitable folks at Saloon Steakhouse, Viand Restaurant, The Hotel Orrington, 312 Chicago, and numerous other venues. My particular and most notable meeting was with Sandy, one of the managers of Ai, a fine Chicago Japanese restaurant (owned by the same group who owns Tsuki in Lincoln Park). Between bites of their delectable sushi and whitetail, I mentioned to her how it's been a dream of mine to find a venue in which I can spin laid-back Japanese pop and anime soundtrack cuts. Little did I know that I was going to receive her card and a request to send an e-mail to set up a site visit. That meeting right there put a very sweet taste in my mouth. I guarantee it was not wasabi.

During the night, we received a lot of compliments on our music and lots of thank-yous for being a part of the event. Being the third fundraiser that I have deejayed this year thus far, this one has been the most enjoyable in terms of making a positive impact on the people there. From the fact that a lot of people came out to support the Society and its strong efforts in providing services and shelter for needy pets, I would say this event was a fun success. The cat's meow. The tail o' the dog. Well…you get the picture!

Jon @ Rockit
(from Jon:) "This was a typical Rockit gig. Lots of people there when I got there and played great music that kept them around. Not that many requests, which felt kind of good. One table right in front of me kept requesting songs I didn't have. I kept talking with them throughout the night and finally came on a Pearl Jam song, "Ocean." It's kind of slow, but it's short so I played and they enjoyed it. I met one of the new managers, Dan. Billy Dec came in at one point, and disappeared. It seems like the staff at Rockit is almost all new. I recognized one of the bouncers, but that was it."

FRIDAY

Carmel/NAWBO @ the Palmer House [DJ]
Lead DJ: Jon Hood; Assistant: Tanya Cascoe
Producers: James Gustin and Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Jon:) "This was a networking event for NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners). They did a few speakers and then a fashion while having lunch. We played music while guests came in and then the music for the show. I guided Tanya on the kind of music I was looking for that would work for the event and she narrowed in on it and we took sides on the decks. I also have a formula for fashion shows that seems to work. I aim for a song every 2-3 dresses to keep the energy up and dynamic. To do that, I need to have songs picked out ahead of time. Prior to the show, Tanya and I listened to songs to find stuff that would work. We also met the different people involved to get their thoughts on the music. They gave us some direction and left it up to us as the professionals. They loved what we picked and it was a great event. One of the challenges was the older crowd that didn't want the music up very loud. We kept the music soft before and after, and during we couldn't put it up that loud anyway because one of women was describing what they were wearing. We also took the cue of older women not wanting the music loud to guide us in what music we picked. We didn't play anything too out there, kept it upbeat and kind of house-y but with a jazzy feel. Think St. Germain or Verve remixes."

SATURDAY

Lee/Ko @ Westin Chicago North Shore (Wheeling) [DJ/PHOTO]
Lead DJ: Hafeez Sarumi; Assistant: Adam Whitten
Lead Photo: Brian Carey; Assistant: Billy Rood
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
The only loss at this wedding reception is that the microphone went out on the groom's friend's speech. Hafeez learned something interesting after the fact: The master volume control on our DJM-800 mixer sometimes, on its own will, shut off accidentally. Thankfully, that mistake happened only once. Hafeez established a great relationship with the couple, who were not upset at all at the microphone's outage. Dancing was on-and-off during the night; the crowd was tough to get out on the floor. Hafeez served up some great beatmatching during his dance sets. The couple was very happy and tipped Hafeez $60 for his fine efforts.

Morris/Verson @ the Standard Club
Lead DJ: Brent Rolland
Producers: Michele Gustin, Emily Hard, and Brent Rolland
Recently, the names Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh came to my mind. No, I wasn't on a super-happy PBS binge…these were two pioneers of aviation that took solo flights and made history. As a DJ, I made some personal history last night due to my gig at the Standard Club on Saturday. This was the first time that I deejayed a wedding…by myself. Thankfully, I had a wonderful, warm couple, Shawn (female!) and Dan (definitely male!), who were expecting a lot out of me and looking forward to a wonderful night for them and their 70+ guests.

I provided music for the ceremony, cocktails, dinner, and dancing. Because of my experience and training, I had no trouble preparing each of the setups. I learned that the Standard Club had a "standard" of timeliness, so I made sure to be as fast as possible with my work, as well as communicate with Jill and Rafael (the SC's Asst. Director of Catering and one of the banquet managers, respectively) with any questions that I had with the timeline. There were a few additions to the timeline—namely, a speech by Shawn's grandfather, an additional toast by John, one of Dan's friends; and the reading of Shawn's vows by her father (as she was so overwhelmed by happiness and tears to read them during the ceremony). I worked with Jill and Rafael on all of these to make sure the timing went well—which it did. That was one of the ways that I "took care of myself" so that I couldrun the show well.

If there were any upsets during the evening, my only one was setting up my main rig for the cocktail hour. Since the same room that the ceremony was held was also utilized as the dining hall, the transition was nutty! Workers were moving tables and chairs, cords and stuff were strewn about, and there was no escape from constant noise of clinking dishes and men yelling in Spanish. Heh. There were also some periods where I couldn't find things—like my bags, for example. Luckily, the photographers, Dan and Mike, knew where they were, and told me where they were.

I'd like to think that I am a pretty independent person on most accounts. When it comes to performing at a wedding, there's a higher sense of responsibility and awareness that I had preparing for this day. The funny (and rather awesome) thing is, God put a lot of people in my day to make sure I was well-supported: My cab driver helped me pack my rig into his Prius; Jill and her team at the Standard Club answered any questions that I had and made sure I was well-fed and that I had everything that I need; I received supportive text messages from my team at Fig, my fellow DJs Jon and Dan stopped by at the end of the night to pick up the gear from my gig; and best of all, James (our beloved owner) stopped by to say hello! Simply put: I may have deejayed alone, but I was not alone by any means.

As for dancing, there were as many courses as there were courses of dinner! The first was the couple's first dance followed by two songs for the crowd; the second was a fun classics and Motown set before the entree, and the third and final one was right after the couple danced with their parents. With the exception of one small flub being my transition from "Canned Heat" to "Thriller" (I forgot I didn't have the latter song at the starting point!), I felt totally in control with all the music. Guests were coming up to me and saying, "You're awesome!" or "Great selections!" which was very reassuring. After my last song of the night, which was Clapton's timeless ballad "Wonderful Tonight," I received a huge round of applause from the crowd, as well as many random hugs and affirmations from the guests and family. Shawn and Dan both noted that this night, the music, and me—were perfect. Maybe I was not perfect with everything, but I'll gladly take that adjective any day. I chalk this win up to great training and a fantastic support system, as well as hard work and being receptive to learning. Just like Amelia and Chuck, I took a solo flight—and had a lot of help to boot.

Kosman/Pisney @ Salvage One [DJ]
Lead: Erik Friedly; Assistant: Joe Martinez
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Erik:) "Joe was great at networking, meeting people from the venue and Blue Plate and helped me talk through the gig and issues outside the gig. We had a great ceremony and with the cocktail area just outside the the space made for the ceremony we did not need to move the speaker. It was 65 people and the space was large which spread out the crowd. People gathered around easily for the 1st dances; it was hard to get the crowd up dancing after that. Salvage One is like Architectural Artifacts. We found out there that AA actually owns them now. They have old classic pieces from buildings for sale. The hard thing about the area for the dance floor is that the ceiling lights they are trying
to sell are hanging over it. They are not connected to a switch but individually plugged into the ceiling. We had to have the staff there get a ladder to unplug four lights above the dance floor. We got the bride on our side and she helped get people out to the floor and we had a good dance set for about 30-40 min. It slowly dwindled after that and I played good music for the crowd as they hung out and drank. We got $100 tip. I really enjoy the smaller intimate receptions. I didn't have enough knowledge of the space to make it a 10. I think it was an 8."

Vanhootegem/Scott (double artists' gig!) @ Cafe Brauer
Lead DJ: Jon Hood; Assistant: Dan In
Lead Videographer: Melissa Martens; Assistant: Emily Hard
Producer: Brian Carey
(from Jon:) "The success of this gig began in the sales meeting when Brian brought me in because they were looking at my profile online. It was a meeting with the mom of the bride (Diana), the bride (Cara), and the mom's sister (unsure of her name). The mom wanted a band and Cara wanted a DJ. I came and started asking about what their concerns were and why they would want a DJ or band. I spoke to their concerns and let them know what they could expect. I developed a mutuality between the different cultures at the wedding. There was the older that wanted a band and a younger crowd that wanted a DJ. One of the concerns with the older crowd is that we would play music they would want to hear. We did that and we stuck with it for a while during night. There was a band playing during cocktails and dinner and we came on for dancing. Brian and I did a great job pulling information from them about what they wanted from a band. From that information, we recommended someone that we worked with before that I found amazing and who would give them exactly what they were looking for. Her name is Lisa Roti. It was great working with her because we had a previous relationship on the Jason and Michael wedding. I also had great rapport with Cara and Diana (and eventually Tom, Cara's father, and Tyler, the groom) throughout the lead-up process. The theme for me on this gig was listening. I would listen to what they wanted and then gave it to them! There were a couple times during the night when I thought one of their ideas wouldn't work, but I went with of because they wanted it and I trusted that it would heighten the evening. One example is Diana wanting one of the women at the wedding to sing a song. I worked with her on picking out a song and it was one of the highlights of the night. There was also a theme of "Let's make it work" attitude that we had that came in handy. They had a slideshow playing outside and after dinner, we were told that there was supposed to be music playing from it. Dan and I were going to take the speakers from cocktails inside to supplement our inside gear, but our stuff sounded great and decided not to do that. It came in handy with the slideshow because patched the DVD player into our speakers that we left set up. Dan was great to be able to take care of things like that while I handled what was going on inside. One loss was that I didn't double check the timeline when Christine (the planner) sent it to me. Cara wanted us to go an extra half-hour and that wasn't reflected on the time line. I didn't look at the end part of the timeline close enough to see that it ended at 11:30 as opposed to 12am which is what Cara wanted. It caused a little hiccup when the planner wanted to wrap things up and the photographer wasn't able to capture their send off. Another win was playing to the different crowds. We hit just about every genre and it helped create a mutual feel to the evening where everyone felt included. This leaded to a massive dance floor in the later part of the night where it went nuts. I threw on "Billie Jean" and a huge circle formed where people would go into the middle and impersonate Michael Jackson, even older ladies! After we ended, Cara ran up to me and gave me a big hug. They were very satisfied with the night and this was my best artist gig to date. Diana kept coming up to me throughout the night and saying what a great job we were doing and that we were changing the older crowd's minds about bands vs. DJs. She also said we need to deejay their house parties when they come into town and stay at their lake house."

The Check-Ins: Week of October 5th, 2008

2008-10-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY

A4$ Transformational Sales Workshop @ Wright Institute (Wednesday and Thursday; A/V)
Lead: Hafeez Sarumi; Assistant: Adam Whitten
This was a two-day seminar hosted by Bob Wright and the friendly folks at the Wright Institute that taught its guests the secrets, strategies and human technologies behind effective salesmanship. A robust amount of media was integrated into both days, including 10 movie clips, PowerPoint presentations, and audio soundbites galore. The media used during the two days had to be ready on the spot at all given times, and there were numerous transitions between media that happened as well (i.e. going from a PowerPoint slide to a presentation from Bob to a movie clip). Hafeez and Adam worked swiftly to prepare and play all media without missing a beat. Barb complimented Hafeez on how quickly he worked. Hafeez also made sure the timer ready for Bob during paired sharings. Efficiency was the key to ensuring that the A4$ weekend went excellently.

Chicago Karaoke Tournament @ The Spot
Producer: Joe Martinez; Host: Brent Rolland; Karaoke DJ: Adam Whitten; Co-producer: Hafeez Sarumi; Judges: Joe Janes, Darren Stephens, and Tobey Geise; Assistants: Megan Goodwin, Melissa Martens, Tanya Cascoe, and Emily Hard

(Host Check-in from Brent:) Two of my fond loves—music and hosting—fused together for a great cause last Wednesday at the Chicago Karaoke Tournament. This was a fundraiser produced by fellow Fig Joe Martinez in support of "Reginald," his upcoming independent film project about domestic violence. Singers of all walks of life loosened their pipes and sang out at The Spot, an honest-to-goodness restaurant/bar on Chicago's north side. The enjoyable and promising evening not only had the karaoke competition, but also included a rousing guitar performance by Dan In and Tim Musho, hot beats from our DJ Adam Whitten, a raffle, and a live auction (hosted by Matt Lewis) for some terrific prizes. In my role as the host of the evening, I welcomed guests, introduced each of the singers to the stage, interacted with the judges, and announced the winners of the karaoke and raffle at the end of the evening. I also stepped away from the microphone and stepped behind the DJ decks to play the song cues for the live auction.

In the pre-production process of this event, I took a lot of ownership in the flow of the events in the evening. Being a DJ, as well as an avid fan of game show, truly helped as it provided the drive and energy I needed to ensure that Joe and the event was going to be a success. I asked myself, "If this was my own game show, what would I do? How would it go?" I made sure to ask Joe a lot of questions about the evening as well as push for a timeline and lists of the raffle/karaoke prizes. I also made a lot of suggestions about the flow of the night (i.e. incorporating the "American Idol" concept of welcoming the contestant, having them sing, having the judges deliberate, and having the contestant walk off) and addressed my concerns whenever they came up. When the night of the event came, there were some last-minute things that came up, such as the setup of the DJ rig and judges having song cues for the aucion prizes, but I was able to come to Joe and the team and work out solutions in a jiffy. If anything, the one thing that I slipped up on was not having the list of raffle and karaoke prizes ready—unfortunately, they were combined with the live auction prize list that Joe supplied me. I was a little embarrassed that I didn't know what the karaoke prize winners were receiving—other than a handshake or hug from me! Having three separated lists would have helped me present each of the winners with their correct prizes. Even with that little, yet noticeable tinge, the evening as a whole was a blast. The singers had too much fun on stage, and the audience loved every minute of each performance. As for me, this was a great step into doing more hosting and producing at Fig. Singing? Well…I'll save that for the next fundraiser to come.

(Hafeez's check-in, as interpreted by Brent:) Adding to the above check-in, Hafeez worked alongside Joe and assisted him with the overall production of the event, as well as partnered with Matt Lewis for the live auction and with me for hosting/passing me messages from Joe during the night. Hafeez's main goal was to keep the show running smoothly and to make sure the evening ended at 9pm (as there was another karaoke group at The Spot coming in at that time). Hafeez did a great job in all aspects, and also built crisp relationships with the staff and guests through conversation and thanking people for coming.

THURSDAY

Chicago Committee @ Carnivale (DJ)
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Brian Carey
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Getting there early for setup—there was a salsa instructor an hour before I was supposed to start, and I made sure that we were setup before she went–before that day, I was told that she would be running her music through the house, but when she arrived, she handed me the CDs to play—which worked better for the lesson, more flexibility with the songs. Recognizing a lot of the people in the crowd from the last Chi. Committee Bash that I did, and remembering their preferences when dancing occurred; being in good relationship with the Chicago Committee ladies and Alexandra of exquisite events – got hugs from them when I came and left and just generally well-affirmed; the salsa instructor liked my mixing of the Latin music, and I gave her a card."

"Learns: I learned that Carnivale has DJs on Friday nights, and I want to be one; I'm realizing that I've been trained well in the art of sequencing, and I could've chimed in earlier about the salsa lesson—which started when people arrived, but they were largely preoccupied with getting a drink and raffle ticket—it would've worked much better an hour into the event. I'll let them know this in a follow-up email."

SATURDAY

Gudac/Ribolzi @ Maxim's (DJ/Photo)
Lead DJ: Hafeez Sarumi
Photo: Brian Carey and Billy Rood
Producers: James Gustin and Emily Hard
(DJ check-in from Hafeez as interpreted by Brent:) This was a simple wedding reception—cocktails, dinner and dancing—but this wedding was a bit of a challenge for Hafeez, as he did not have an assistant. How did he manage? He worked with the photo team, Brian and Billy, who were very helpful, as well as asked for help and figured things out on his own whenever he had to. One of the tasks Hafeez had to complete was to move his ceremony/cocktail setup over to the bar area for dancing. The setup in question was in the middle portion near the spiral staircase in the restaurant, which was a goodly distance from the bar area (which was in another room). Hafeez was able to change the setup nicely and in a short amount of time. The rest of the night went well—dancing was on/off for the evening, but there were some real-crowd pleasers, such as "Dancing With Myself" and "Hey Ya." The couple was very satisfied, and Hafeez received a tip for his service.

Malinowski/Hanauer @ Driehaus Warehouse (DJ)
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Tobey Geise
Producers: James Gustin and Joe Martinez
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Going over my concerns in advance with the team—felt very well supported going into the gig; Tobey was a great assist – the ceremony was late which pushed everything back, which then got compounded by the speeches – but TG was good about pushing things through—I would let her know when I was ready to do certain things and she could filter the info to the appropriate people, which made things easier on me. Sound was good in both spaces cocktails and dinner; We made a good impression on the staff there, which Is great since they will be converting the space into a full-on event space after this wedding; dancefloor was great most of the night—I was concerned because we had no dances to start it with, but when I played Etta James' "At Last," the bride was like, "Turn it up!" and things were kicked off; got kudos from the staff and guests at the end of the night, a kiss on the cheek from the bride; had a very helpful Sound Investment guy, Steve."

"Learns: I will get a long hora to use when I have gigs that need it, because I usually end up replaying it at least once."

"Losses: The floorplan didn't have us very close to the dance floor—the room was large, but small for the layout of people."

Eliason/Sebastian @ The Sutton Place Hotel
Lead: Brent Rolland; Assistant: Sarah Stambaugh
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
It has been two weeks since I have led a DJ gig, and that time has given me the privilege to work with a really fun couple, Lauren and Mark. Their wedding reception at the Gold Coast hidden treasure, The Sutton Place Hotel, was a total success. Typically, I go into detail about the day itself, but being the budding and open-minded writer that I am (and am becoming!), I am going to bullet-point the triumphs of this sentimental day:

Rapport with the couple.
A successful wedding reception starts with establishing a sound relationship with the couple. This is where I hit it big. For starters, I met Lauren and Mark at a place that was convenient for them: Julius Meinl on Southport Avenue (just blocks away from their home). I totally understand that not all of our clients can make it out to our office on the far north side, so picking an appropriate venue, such as a coffee shop like Meinl, created a win-win situation for us. Apparently, this was their first time getting married, as they had a lot of questions with the timeline as well as the music of their evening. I shared a lot of my experience from past events as well as great suggestions that would enhance the evening (i.e. having the bride and groom say thank-you at the end of the evening).

Rapport with the hotel staff and vendors.
Being unfamiliar with the people at the Sutton Place (minus Anna, post our inital meeting), I made sure to introduce myself to as many Suttoners as possible. The day of the reception, I met with Norman, who was one of the banquet captains; Maya, who worked alongside Anna in the Catering department; Ricky and Nathan, two of the servers, and a few other individuals as well. (You can tell I've probably forgotten their names with the line, "a few other individuals as well!" It's true!) As for the media of the event, I worked with an experienced team: Paul and Joseph, who were the photographers, and Roman, who was the videographer. I made sure to run through the timeline with everyone at least once, as well as gather the video and photo teams before any major event. Additionally, I made any and all announcements that the hotel asked for. As I have experienced more and more this year, I have been more than a DJ—I am an event coordinator and a trusted advisor.

Communication with Lauren and Mark's guests.
One of my learns from the weddings I lead is that not everyone will know what is going on during the evening, and that it's best to involve anyone who is giving a speech or will be used during the evening. I made it a priority to ask the bride, Lauren, to introduce me to all the people who were going to make speeches: Her father, Mark's father, Mark's brother John (the best man), Lauren's friend Amber (the maid of honor), and Mark's cousin Kristy, who read a poem during the night. This totally helped, as all the toasters felt way more comfortable and were in-the-know about when they were going to be on the microphone. This "DJ tactic" worked so well, all the people who did the toasts in the middle of the evening came to me before I went to see them! I loved making everyone feel included and cared for in the process of the evening.

Following my instincts.
After doing my site visit at the Sutton Place, my instincts were reacting to one of the equipment needs for the party. Call it my "Brent-sense," if you will. (Sorry to steal that line, dear Caped Crusader.) For starters, I knew that a third speaker was going to be vital for the ballroom. The room looks like this: Imagine the letter "L" with its longer limb extended and tilted to the right. Two speakers would have not been enough to make the sound full in the room, so I made sure to suggest to the couple to add a third speaker to their package. Three words: Best. Decision. Ever. I could have not been happier with the sound in the room with that third speaker added in. I think I walked back-and-forth in that space nine or ten times because I was so elated about the spread of sound! The proof was in the laughter that came from the guests in the very far back of the room during the time Mark's father gave his speech.

Another thing I thought about was incorporating a wireless microphone, which would have been a good idea for the toasts and welcomes, but that would have been hell for the videographer, Roman, who would have had to take his camera off of his tripod to get a steady, close shot.

Building the timeline and running through it.
The night went as such: Cocktails at 6pm; doors open for dinner at 7pm; intros at 7:15pm followed by first dance, welcome and blessing, then going into the first course, toasts, second course, dessert, and dancing wrapping up at 11pm. With the exception of dancing, which started around fifteen minutes after I originally thought it would begin, everything was on-schedule. Surprised? You should be! The swiftness of the dinner service compensated for the timeliness of the night. What was ironic about the agenda I made with Lauren and Anna was that all the times were mere guesses based on what was happening during the evening and my past experience with wedding receptions. I infused both to create a timeline that worked well for the hotel and equally well with Lauren and Mark.

Working with Sarah.
This was Sarah's (one of Fig's newest interns) first DJ gig, and I felt comfortable working with her for one main reason: She wanted to learn how to DJ. Some people I have worked with are there "just because," but Sarah toted a sizable amount of excitement that made me feel more-than-comfortable and ready to work with her. Although she was recovering from a twisted ankle, Ms. Stambaugh was eager to assist me and at any given moment. I broke my teaching down into three segments: Technical (how to set up a DJ rig; how to operate CD decks); Aesthetics (wrapping cords, taping, keeping the table neat and clean), and Social/Organizational (how to communicate with others at the event, how to take requests). This segmented learning process helped me to see how best I can use her and what kind of learning "style" she works best with. In every case, Sarah was highly teachable and did not put herself in the "shame closet" if she did not get something right. Sarah made sure to take care of herself by sitting down during the night and take breaks to give her ever-healing foot a rest. Overall, she was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I felt well-supported by her.

Wowie! Quite a mouthful, no? There are more successes that happened on this wedding, but I will wrap this up for now. In short, a combination of taking care of my clients and their concerns, using my past experience well, and using the principle of unity to get everyone on the same page helped to make this a fun and successful event.

The Check-ins: Week of Sept. 29th, 2008

2008-10-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

MONDAY

SAPNA Fashion Shoot @ Fig East

Fig Producer/Photographer: Billy Rood; Lighting Assistant: Tim Musho; Assistant/Sustaining: Michelle Henniges; Assistant: Dan In; Stylist: Justin Min from AKIRA; Sapna Producer: Vaishali Rao

(from Billy:) "This photo shoot was a great experience. From co-producing it with Vaishali and bringing in Justin from Dan's connection and having him help with styling was key to having such a successful shoot. Vaishali brought her team of models and clothes and jewelry. Justin brought in his sister to do makeup and he did hair and brought in clothes from AKIRA. He used all the clothes and jewelry to style the shoot."

"He would use clothes from AKIRA, shoes, clothes from another shop and jewelry and make them all look hot. I would then look at the style and detemine how I want it shot and lit. I also took into account of the makeup and what should be used as a "beauty" shot, which means close up or a cover shot, which means more attitude but a little less tight of a shot."

"From there I used Dan and Tim to help make my vision happen in the moment. Without them it would've definitely not as moved so far and or looked as good. Fine tuning it really made my excitement infectious to everyone else. The energy was also a concern I had when I was shooting each model. I had some difficulty with 2 of the 5 and their confidence. All of the models except one were inexperienced. It really made an impact on me when they weren't and so being energetic and supportive was the way to go. Having your picture taken is venerable especially for the first time and with people watching you. That was my main concern in having too many people over there was to respect the models because its a very venerable thing having people you don't know watching and staring at you."

"But in the end my losses & learns were how best to use the team and communicating the download. 2nd how to keep on moving and bringing people along. Communication and documenting seems to be the best way, and also training and teaching what I know. I did a lot of research and educated myself on fashion and this world, I know that's why it was so successful. I prepped everything for myself because I knew no one was going to do it for me. I think that is something that needs to be respected and taught to every bigger contract we do. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT."

"I also know that people were jealous of me...how do I deal with that? Some people can be maliciously jealous and some can be supportive and wanting something and being jealous. I've never had to deal with this kind of level before. Especially the malicious. In order for me to keep going I want people to empower me and want to come along from the beginning. Not after the fact and try to bring me down because now they want to be apart of it. That was a huge learn and perspective on how people are when I succeed and don't succeed. Big wake up call. But overall I am very proud of my team and my work. It has kept me going and is something I will never forget."

TUESDAY

Jenny Yoo Photo Shoot @ Jenny Yoo Chicago

Lead Photo: Billy Rood; Assistant: Andrea Giampoli

Producer: Jon Hood

(from Billy:) "So after the fashion shoot I realize how important lighting is for these kind of fashion things. So I was able to book one extra light and the 1D Mark 3 again to do this shoot. Man did it pay off! Working with 2 models and the space was a challenge. How was I going to create a visual story and make the photos conceptualize to tell it was what I was struggling with. Because there was no way I was just going to shoot it as a documentary/journalistic style. It just wasn't going to work."

"So I saw two mirrors and some flowers. The more and more I shot and noticed how I was reacting to my shots I realized that I found something. I was able to connect looking into a mirror with the model and thinking...looks look a reflection. Then the story happened. I also liked how the dressing rooms just had curtains...looking into them in a very voyeur way told a story. It was just an image but it was like seeing someone right before they come out from changing into their dress. Taking these pictures is a lot like cinematography. How can I shoot something to tell the best story? What is the one shot that will communicate a story without words or text? That is why I love films and this is why shooting these shoots are so interesting to me. Its a deeper level of telling and showing how I see the world."

"Jon and Andrea were great. I couldn't have done the shots without them. They empowered me to do my thing and supported any direction. It was total freedom for me. Having a fashion shoot and then this Jenny Yoo shoot back to back was such a blessing and such a challenge. But I am really proud of my work and so is Tania and Janessa!"

TUESDAY

Erik @ Rockit
(from Erik:) "I had to work hard to concentrate when I first got there. I had just booked myself for the Metro that afternoon and was thinking about what I needed to get done to promote it. What helped was a Google party that was there and I used it to find out more about them and their parties. This one was a Cubs party and the party dies as the night went on since the Cubs lost. Not to say that people left, they just were not getting into the music. All the songs that people typically sing along to, people just sat in their conversation. Basically the Cubs loss was a major buzz kill. I made it a great night for myself playing stuff that the staff likes that I might not typically play. New Metallica, Motorhead and Rob Zombie."

THURSDAY

Jenny Yoo Fashion Show @ Lumen
Producer and Slideshow Construction: Jonathan Hood; Lead DJ: Megan Taylor; Assistant DJ: Tanya Cascoe; Lead Photographer: Billy Rood; Assistant/Networker: Brent Rolland; Company Vision Holder: Michele Gustin

(Event/Production Check-in from Jon:) "This is the third year in a row we've been a part of their fashion show, and the last couple times, we didn't get much business off of it. This time around, I wanted to make sure it was worth our while by making sure people knew who fig was. My biggest win on this event was talking through my concerns with Tania. We were investing a lot in their event, both with time and expertise. After our conversation, I felt a lot more comfortable about what we were committing to, we set clear boundaries about exactly what we were doing, and she bounced back with offering Megan a free dress. I was blown away. It wasn't even something I asked for. I think what it was, was that I said what we were contributing doesn't quite match up with what we're getting in return. That could be why. But that's not all. At the event, I had the best rapport I've ever had at an event. My goal was to meet everyone there, guests and vendors. While I didn't meet everyone, those I did meet I had great rapport with. I also invested a lot of my time and energy into it and I think others saw that and recognized it. I was there early to make sure the slideshow I put together worked. I was up late the night before making sure we had CD's to pass out. I was ready to go at every moment of the show, either getting the microphone ready, making sure that Megan knew what was happening next, knowing that there's 5 minutes until show time and checking in with Tania if things were good to go. The manager at the venue, Alison, was going to get the mic ready, and we already had it ready to go, and she was impressed with that. She could just sit back and let us do all the work. I'm seeing that that's one of our dynamic values. We allow others to relax and enjoy themselves while we take care of all the details. I also helped Alison a few weeks ago find someone to do audio for a show they had coming up. Their budget was low and I gave her some options and one of them worked out (Sound Investment). She was very thankful for that. I also did a great job with making sure people knew fig. Our logo was all over the slideshow, our vendor table was very attractive with super 8 footage, a couple photo albums out, and nail files for people to take, cd's in the bag along with a nail file, and thanked on the mic. I did a great job asking for what I should have on our table. I did a great job at our table, talking to brides about who fig is and what we do. The very next day, we get a lead from the show. Yes! This is a three year relationship I've developed and maintained over the years, and it's starting to blossom. I also liked that we did photography this year instead of video. Billy was fantastic with editing the photos over night, and we gave them a disc the very next day. Megan was awesome at seeing where we were putting a lot into this and coaching me on where I should be pushing back. YEAH! THIS EVENT ROCKED!"

(Photo Check-in from Billy:)
"I was really excited to shoot the show. I learned a lot about flash and how to shoot a show without the best lighting. The more and more I shoot these shows the more I'm learning how to aim the flash...how to make it soft and make the clothes look more natural than have it look "lit" with a flash. There's is not much I hate more than seeing a photo and knowing that the flash work looks like shit. When I was shooting the show I noticed that something wasn't working. The way I was moving and taking pictures from side to side. So I moved myself and got a better angle. That was a big move because looking at some of the photos I was like they just don't look as good as they could. So I thought maybe I should move, maybe I should not use my flash. But first I tried just moving...easiest option so I did and it changed it all. I was very happy with it and being the only photographer there I had to get the shots. I had to period. So I didn't care of the people behind me or the flash going off in peoples faces. I just knew I had to get the shot. By the end of it I was very happy with what I got under the circumstances and delivered them the next day by 9am."

(DJ Check-in from Megan:)
"I felt very supported by Jon; I felt setup really well and really wanted to come in and play great music for 2 hours! Billy was super fun engaging with me in taking photos, loved having Michele stop by and see me, awesome when Tanya showed up, loss—I was not making sure I got her there. Tania and I have like the same taste in music, so I played just hip fun stuff, love playing in such a nice system and like working in a space like that, fun and time to be creative. "

THURSDAY and FRIDAY

CS Shops
Photographers: Billy Rood, Dan In and Andrea Giampoli
Producers: Tobey Geise & James Gustin

(from Billy:) "I love doing these shoots. They are fucking hard. There's a challenge to them that is frustrating but a huge empowering feeling once you get that shot. Working with Dan and Andrea was harder than I thought at the beginning. There was a learning curve and we had a timeline we had to stick to. So My concerns with them was getting the shot to reflect the entire store and monitoring their shooting. When they were shooting a lot I got concerned and was continually looking at their work and giving feedback. I was also making sure they were feeling good about themselves because I know how it is to be in that positiion. I empowered them to play and by the end of the shoot they were very happy about what they got and also got some experience with art direction and styling for the single item shots. They also met Simone and feel in love with her lol. I think andrea really liked working with the clothes and seeing the fashion so I was monitoring that and making sure she wasn't getting high and over excited about doing the work. Kept her grounded and shooting. But overall its a lot of work and great experience again. Had a lot of fun and felt stretched and challenged but am loving it."

FRIDAY

DJ Erik @ The Double Door Nightclub
Photo Assist: Dan In
Bands: JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, The Midnight Shows, Andre Williams and the Gold Stars, Coldcock Jones and the S**thawks.
(from Erik:) "It was great getting out of the car to unload and immediately seeing my name on the marque. I was nervous DJing at the Double Door, but was eased as this would be my third time DJing for the S**thawks and have gotten to know them pretty well, three of them work at the Double Door and they helped me with any questions I had. I also DJ'd at the Redline Tap with two of the sound guys and their band, Lasers & Fast & Shit. Knowing that many people made me fell fairly comfortable in a new place for me as a DJ. I had a great time playing and watching JC Brooks…great soul!"

"I plan on booking them in the future as a "fig presents" show. I got people dancing between sets and got thanked by the first two bands for playing songs they liked. Andre Williams was a
hoot, with hits like "Pu$$y Stank (but so do marijuana)", "Come on, Baby (let me put it in you)", "Jail Bait" and "Bacon Fat". Coldcock then added to the dirty mayhem and I finished
with three soul tracks."

Below is a list of some of the tracks I played:
"I'm In Love" – Wilson Pickett
"A Sunday Kind Of Love" – Etta James
"Gee Whiz, Look At His Eyes" Carla Thomas
"Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
"I've Been Loving You Too Long" – Otis Redding
"Rock Me Baby" – Otis Redding
"Show Me" – Joe Tex
"Boot-Leg" – Booker T. & The MG's
"Mess Around" – Ray Charles
"I Just Want To Make Love To You" – Etta James
"In The Midnight Hour" – Wilson Pickett
"Hold On, I'm Comin'" – Sam & Dave
"Good Times" – Sam Cooke
"I Found A Love" – The Falcons
"My Girl" – Eddie Floyd
"Cupid" – Sam Cooke
"Groovin'" – Booker T. & The MG's
"That's How Strong My Love Is" – Otis Redding
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" Aretha Franklin
"Soothe Me" – Sam & Dave
"Hard To Handle" – Otis Redding

Burnham Bash @ the Navy Pier Ballroom
Lead DJ: Jon Hood; Assistant DJ: Brian Carey
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Jon:) "The event on Friday was the Burnham Bash. This is a high-end gala fundraiser where they've done a band every year. It was a HUGE risk for them to go with a DJ, and Andrew sold them hard on going with a dj this year. There was a lot of pressure on us to do a great job. It wasn't just a gala, though. This was a production worthy of the Oscars. Roughly 1,000 people. Three large screens up by the stage, and four big screens hanging over the dance floor. I'll attach a photo so you know what I'm talking about. I worked with Brian Carey, with him doing the music cues, and I did the Voice of God. I've done VOG before, but this raised the bar. I felt scared about making sure I enunciated well and pronounced everything right. There was also a sound delay between me talking in the mic and hearing it through the speakers. We were on the opposite side of this large, cavernous ballroom. We had a monitor by us that needed to be turned up really loud to drown out the front speakers while I talked on the mic. That was the only way I could stay sane while doing VOG. Anyway, this was a huge event with a lot of pressure. We handled it beautifully and I can see where all my training came in to play with this. I also like that I'm the go-to-guy with events like this. Andrew came to me and let me know the importance of this event and what he had riding on it and I came through. More than came through. We blew their freakin' minds. After the gig, I'm saying goodbye to my the coordinators of the event, and they introduced me to the woman in charge. They were proud of me and wanted to show me off. It feels good to get this kind of respect on an event like this. Brian was awesome as my assist. We had great teamwork during the show and we came up with hand signals in the moment, as I couldn't talk with the microphone on. We also did good with relieving the pressure and making jokes about either the music we were going to play or how we were going to talk on the mic. We'll share some of that tomorrow. YEAH! ANOTHER EVENT THAT ROCKED!"

SATURDAY

DJ Erik @ the Metro
Assistant/Photographer: Tanya Cascoe
Bands: Fashion Bomb, The Last Vegas, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
(from Erik:) "This gig had me scared. I was able to eat as heartily as I usually do before gigs as my stomach had a family of mammoth butterflies flying around. Soon as I got on the "L" my stomach really started churning. I got there, got setup and a few minutes later Tanya showed up. It calmed me when she was there. What was different about this night, compared to the night before, was the guys I knew in the band where not in the building. Talking to the other bands as I was getting ready to go on calmed me the night before. Tanya was a big help in this way as she helped get my access pass, get her hooked up with hers and let me talk through some nervousness."

"Once I got going it was great! I had people cheering as certain songs were played, guys were air guitaring, and I was dancing in the booth. The sound seemed to be entertained by my antics. The bands also commented on how much I was enjoying their music, they were able to see me in the booth from the stage. The sound guy for TKK and I had a great time dancing in the booth and talked about "if you can't have fun doing your job, why do it". I then went upstairs and bumped into Joe who thanked me and said great job and talked to Nick from Jam to keep myself in his head. I loved the rush from the fear and excitement of the night!"

Here's a sample of what I played:

"Stone Cold Crazy" – Metallica
"The Number of the Beast" – Iron Maiden
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" – Hanoi Rocks
"No One's Gonna Do It For You" Vains of Jenna
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now" – Slade
"Needles In the Camel's Eye" – Brian Eno
"I'm Eighteen" – Alice Cooper
"I Love Livin' In The City" – Fear
"She's So Modern" – The Boomtown Rats
"South of Heaven" – Slayer

Lopuszynski/Swiger @ Pazzo's
Lead DJ: Megan Taylor; Assistant: Hafeez Sarumi
Producer: Emily Hard
(from Megan:) "Hafeez was a kick-ass assist—we had a fun time and were in great shape the whole time. Event was at Pazzo's; I have never worked there, I worked with Faye who was great and I expected her to be more of a coordinator, but I did all coordination with Hafeez and a lot of announcements, a lot of Polish people, they loved all music, and their list was like rock, industrial rock, hip hop, old school, so I was all over the place. They liked to "geek it out" and "offend people" and there were many interesting people to watch when DJing. Bottom line was I had excellent rapport, the bride trusted me in a way I don't think I have built relationships, like I advised her around her not having her bouquet, how for them to leave, enter, when to eat, are things going to long, so I played a much bigger role than the music. 4 speakers is awesome there w/a wireless mic. We engaged a lot with photographer and videographer, $300 tip. The groom kept complimenting, hugging, so did the bride…so many compliments!"

Purpura/Mahramas @ the Knollwood Country Club
Lead DJ: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Jonathan Hood
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Quick setup, great treatment by the staff at the Knollwood Country Club – got to order dinner from the country club's restaurant[amazing food!], worked well with the planner Sally – she gave me a hug at the end of the night and wants to work with me again; Great dance set – started off with "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen and went from there; Dealing with drunk, demanding guests without resorting to violence – as the night progressed the crowd got drunker and some people got high and the barrage at the DJ booth began, everyone saying that the song they requested was from the bride, when clearly at least one person is lying… talking with jon constantly about being angry with the guests; Working in 2 different songlists – one from the bride's mother as well as the one from the couple, mixing them up to keep everyone happy. Jalvonathon Blood III strikes again! Still batting 1.000 after over a year! $100 tip – 6th lead in a row being tipped!"

"Learns: Working in additional unplanned announcements – if at all possible, group them in with existing announcements to minimize the break in the dancefloor."

"Losses: Not getting a floorplan – had I seen the layout beforehand, I would have suggested adding a 10" – there were 2 rooms with a doorway connecting them. We had one speaker near us, and the other at the intersection of the 2 rooms, and it sounded good, but it would've been better with that extra 10" in that second room."

Jenny Yoo 2008

2008-10-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Date: October 2
Client: Jenny Yoo
Venue: Lumen
Role: Producer, slideshow builder
Lead DJ: Megan
Lead Photo: Billy
Assistant DJ: Tanya
Assistant Networker: Brent
Company Vision Holder: Michele

This is the third year in a row we’ve been a part of their fashion show, and the last couple times, we didn’t get much business off of it. This time around, I wanted to make sure it was worth our while by making sure people knew who fig was. My biggest win on this event was talking through my concerns with Tania. We were investing a lot in their event, both with time and expertise. After our conversation, I felt a lot more comfortable about what we were committing to, we set clear boundaries about exactly what we were doing, and she bounced back with offering Megan a free dress. I was blown away. It wasn’t even something I asked for. I think what it was, was that I said what we were contributing doesn’t quite match up with what we’re getting in return. That could be why. But that’s not all. At the event, I had the best rapport I’ve ever had at an event. My goal was to meet everyone there, guests and vendors. While I didn’t meet everyone, those I did meet I had great rapport with. I also invested a lot of my time and energy into it and I think others saw that and recognized it. I was there early to make sure the slideshow I put together worked. I was up late the night before making sure we had CD’s to pass out. I was ready to go at every moment of the show, either getting the microphone ready, making sure that Megan knew what was happening next, knowing that there’s 5 minutes until show time and checking in with Tania if things were good to go. The manager at the venue, Alison, was going to get the mic ready, and we already had it ready to go, and she was impressed with that. She could just sit back and let us do all the work. I’m seeing that that’s one of our dynamic values. We allow others to relax and enjoy themselves while we take care of all the details. I also helped Alison a few weeks ago find someone to do audio for a show they had coming up. Their budget was low and I gave her some options and one of them worked out (Sound Investment). She was very thankful for that. I also did a great job with making sure people knew fig. Our logo was all over the slideshow, our vendor table was very attractive with super 8 footage, a couple photo albums out, and nail files for people to take, cd’s in the bag along with a nail file, and thanked on the mic. I did a great job asking for what I should have on our table. I did a great job at our table, talking to brides about who fig is and what we do. The very next day, we get a lead from the show. Yes! This is a three year relationship I’ve developed and maintained over the years, and it’s starting to blossom. I also liked that we did photography this year instead of video. Billy was fantastic with editing the photos over night, and we gave them a disc the very next day. Megan was awesome at seeing where we were putting a lot into this and coaching me on where I should be pushing back. YEAH! THIS EVENT ROCKED!

The Burnham Bash 2008!

2008-10-05T10:40:00.001-07:00

Date: October 3
Event: Burnham Bash
Venue: Navy Pier Ballroom
Producer: Andrew
Lead DJ: Jonathan
Assistant (really 2nd lead): Brian

The event on Friday was the Burnham Bash. This is a high-end gala fundraiser where they’ve done a band every year. It was a HUGE risk for them to go with a dj, and Andrew sold them hard on going with a dj this year. There was a lot of pressure on us to do a great job. It wasn’t just a gala, though. This was a production worthy of the Oscars. Roughly 1,000 people. Three large screens up by the stage, and four big screens hanging over the dance floor. I’ll attach a photo so you know what I’m talking about. I worked with Brian Carey, with him doing the music cues, and I did the Voice of God. I’ve done VOG before, but this raised the bar. I felt scared about making sure I enunciated well and pronounced everything right. There was also a sound delay between me talking in the mic and hearing it through the speakers. We were on the opposite side of this large, cavernous ballroom. We had a monitor by us that needed to be turned up really loud to drown out the front speakers while I talked on the mic. That was the only way I could stay sane while doing VOG. Anyway, this was a huge event with a lot of pressure. We handled it beautifully and I can see where all my training came in to play with this. I also like that I’m the go-to-guy with events like this. Andrew came to me and let me know the importance of this event and what he had riding on it and I came through. More than came through. We blew their freakin’ minds. After the gig, I’m saying goodbye to my the coordinators of the event, and they introduced me to the woman in charge. They were proud of me and wanted to show me off. It feels good to get this kind of respect on an event like this. Brian was awesome as my assist. We had great teamwork during the show and we came up with hand signals in the moment, as I couldn't talk with the microphone on. We also did good with relieving the pressure and making jokes about either the music we were going to play or how we were going to talk on the mic. We'll share some of that tomorrow. YEAH! ANOTHER EVENT THAT ROCKED!

O.M.G. - The Chicago Field Museum

2008-09-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Client: Kellogg School of Business
Venue: Chicago Field Museum
Producer: TG
Lead: JH
Assistant: BC

**note: we're trying to see how many google hits we get from this posting about a gig at the Chicago Field Museum by including the words "Chicago Field Museum" throughout this blog. Have fun playing along by counting how many times we mention the words "Chicago Field Museum" and win a free consultation if you're right.**

My gig at the Chicago Field Museum last Saturday was freakin' sweet. I love huge crowds. This was also my first gig at the C.F.M. It was 950 people and they were ready to party as soon as they came in. I guess students at Kellogg like to dress up in costumes as well. I heard they enjoy wearing costumes to parties, but I didn't really take it seriously. The party at the Chicago Field Museum started at 8 with people slowly trickling in. Then busses started arriving outside the Field Museum dropping off groups of 20-30 people at a time. The first few waves of people weren't dressed up, so I thought it was all a plan to get the incoming freshman to look foolish when they would arrive in costumes and everyone else wasn't. Then I realized the prudish crowd tends to arrive first, so I waited it out. One of the first costumed groups that came in the Chicago Field Museum wore lights on their head. It was a bizarre sight, seeing a bunch of lights on heads pointing every which way. It looked like a sci-fi movie. Another bizarre crowd wore orange suits and top hats that appeared to be made out of felt. There were a bunch of groups that were dressed up similarly (one group all wore fake mustaches), so I think they were in fraternities. Anyway, it didn't take much to get this crowd dancing. Brian and I started off the night at the Chicago Field Museum with ragtime piano and big-band swing hits. We were theming the night in terms of decades, so we were playing hits from each era. The crowd quickly got into the swing hits and started swinging. We then hit some oldies and motown, and from their it was off to the races. We were only about an hour or so in before we realized we needed to grab our dinner before things got out of control. None too soon, because things got out of control fast. The masses centered on the dance floor and this was the largest group of people I think I've had on a dance floor. We easily had 400-500 people dancing in the Chicago Field Museum. It was such a bizarre sight. I was eating my dinner in another room at the Field Museum and could hear the music from where I was at, and occasionally I would hear screaming from the crowd when Brian would put on a song. Walking back to the dj booth, I made my way through the masses of people before coming up on this large mass in the middle of the Chicago Field Museum pulsating up and down. It was surreal. Like I was at an Oakenfold concert. Except it was Brian and I who were the Oakenfolds. It quickly became mayhem as a few people needed to be escorted out, bottles were breaking on the dance floor, somebody threw up on the dance floor, bathrooms got trashed, and (my favorite) the orange felt suits and some ladies came up on stage and danced behind us. It became a little too crowded as we were pushed up against the dj table and got knocked around a few times. At that point, we couldn't do our job that well and I asked them to step down. My favorite song of the night: Tunak Tunak Tun by Doler Mehndi. I made an announcement about the first wave of busses leaving the Chicago Field Museum, and then started the song with a few seconds of Doler moaning, and then BAM! the song kicks in and everyone was like, "Oh Sh@#$!" The Chicago Field Museum erupted! Bon Jovi was another favorite. 900 people singing along. Cutting the song out while their singing along takes on a whole new dimension with that many people at the Field Museum. We also hit The Perculator, Calabria, Disturbia, Tiny Dancer, and I Think We're Alone Now (not all at the same time and not all in this order). Our speaker setup was also pretty good, although this crowd wanted more volume. They needed the bass. We had the Mackie towers on either side of us, and my smaller 12" Mackies further out to the sides cranked up high on the stands. The towers were good for delivering the low end, I knew going in that we couldn't rely on them to push sound to the back of the dance floor if we have 900 people in the Chicago Field Museum. We aimed my Mackies to the sides as people came in. Once we got a decent dance floor, we turned the speakers towards the dance floor and those helped push sound to the back. They were above people's heads, so the sound wasn't blocked as it traveled back. All-in-all, freakin' awesome time at the Chicago Field Museum and I'm glad I don't have to clean that place up.

--the professor

The Check-ins: Week of September 22nd, 2008

2008-09-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY

Carmel/Atmospheric @ the Palmer House
Master DJ/Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer; Assistant: Alvin Black
(from Andrew:) "Wins: 2nd paid gig for Atmospheric; new sound guy was great; played in the new ballroom at the Palmer House. Losses: wrong entertainment for this type of event; not a good connection with crowd; set lists didn't go according to plan. Learns: Take the reins for advancing these Carmel gigs; I am better trained to ask good questions to get good data."

THURSDAY

ECC Dinner Crawl
(from Andrew:) "Wins: pushed the opening of the photo studio, make fig more known in our neighborhood, possible leads, good time and good music. Losses: not getting the whole team behind this networking event and the opening of the photo studio; could have been more intentional about the sales and marketing surrounding the event; could have been more professional vs. thrown together. Learns: lots of potential business in our own backyard, the studio has lots of potential, too."

SATURDAY

Jacobshagen/Groenik @ Prairie Productions
Lead Brent Rolland; Assistant: Dan In
This was a commitment ceremony…that almost wasn't. Have I caught your attention? Good.

The joining of two people in holy matrimony is a highly emotional event, with the majority, if not all, of the feelings in the space being that of a happy, joyful nature. In some cases, some rain must fall, and that is what happened in the case of my clients, Amy and Annette. The latter of the jovial pair had an immediate family emergency that very well impacted how the day was going to play out. When I heard the news myself, I was shell-shocked—sans the shells. This was going to be a new experience for me, as this was the first time I was in the question of wondering whether or not a party was going to happen.

(As a side note, I received the news as I was waiting for the bus to go to Fig.)

Instead of getting scared, I remained calm and vigilant for further news. I got in touch with Amy and Annette's friend, Jamie, who acted as the day-of coordinator for the couple. She left a message on my phone with the saddening news, and told me to hang tight—the event was either going to go on, or be postponed. I received the same message from Tobey, the producer, and Jon, my fellow DJ and our director of operations. Jamie then called back and said, "The event is a go." I started to think to myself, "What is the best way to work with Amy and Annette?" "What are the right words I can say?" "What can I do?" "How should I be?" I knew that I was going to have to be a more conscious Brent for this event. I talked it out a bit with Jon, who then suggested to talk to Michele. I did that briefly, and she gave me some great insight on what to do:

"What's going on is very upsetting…just make sure that you can be of service as best as possible."

"Service." That was the magic word for me. And I didn't need a duck on a string descending from my face to remind me of it. I took that word to heart—and to the event.

My partner Dan and I arrived at Prairie Productions, located in Chicago's West Loop area. Along with Dan, I had the pleasure of working with an amazing team: Michael, the photographer and one of the owners of Prairie; Jo Bell, the officiant, and Steve from J & L Catering. There were other friends of the family and guests that I worked with during the night (such as four friends of A & A that recorded video during the night). Dan and I set up our equipment, went over the timeline, and, well…waited. Guests came around 5:00pm for the cocktail hour. Before and during the cocktail hour, I did my best to build rapport with my fellow vendors and workmates. I talked a lot with Scott and Michael, who also had connections with a few other people who were communicating with Amy and Annette during the day. Hearing the occasional, yet constant reports lessened my worries. Remembering what Michele wisely instructed, I decided to use my time to serve others: I retrieved chairs for two women that had a few leg complications and needed to sit down after a while. I brought water bottles for the women who were videotaping the event and getting the ceremony ready to go. Whatever anyone needed, I made myself available to get it. I knew that helping others out would put them at ease…especially seeing that the cocktail hour was now past two hours. The funny thing is, people continued to drink and mingle as if they didn't know what was happening. How much longer was the wait going to be?

The answer to that previous question came: At around 7:30, the side door to the area opened up, and I saw three women come in: one woman in a white dress, one in a red dress, and another in a dress color I can't remember. (Two out of three ain't bad, folks.) Everyone who was in the dance area was quickly shooed out by one of the women who came in; I don't remember who, exactly. I quickly figured out that the person in the white dress was definitely Amy. I found out later that the person in the red dress was Jamie. I could tell that Amy needed her space, and Jamie was working with her and getting things ready to go for the ceremony. About twenty minutes later, I then saw a tall, recognizable figure dash through the clapping crowd carrying a collection of dry-cleaned clothes. That was Annette, most definitely. Lo and behold, we have a pair of A's!

I was very pleased that both Amy and Annette were at their party. The time that they came could not be better. I wanted to speak with them, but my instincts held me back. It then hit me: Don't disturb the couple—work with their friends! Well, I'm sure there's a more refined way to say that, but I'll leave it as such. I worked with and through Jamie, their friend, to see how they were doing, and whether or not if they needed anything. I was also able to ask questions and let the couple know about anything by letting Jamie know. The same went for Steve and Michael as well. Before we knew it, the guests were putting down their drinks and moving into the ceremony. We were on.

So, here is the play-by-play of the party: Amy and Annette were both in Prairie around 7:30pm. The ceremony started around 8:00pm. After the ceremony, dinner began promptly, and people ate to their heart's content from J & L's fabulous buffet. Because the seating was widely scattered around Prairie (some tables were in the dance hall where we were; some were closer to the front door), one excellent idea that I executed was to get everyone into the dancing hall for toasts/speeches, which would then lead right into dancing. Brilliant! I started off with the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing", followed by EWF's September. Noticing that they were not hitting the crowd as expected, I then went into some Motown, and that got people out of their seats! Later on in the evening, I hit some of Amy and Annette's must-plays, which included Cher's "Different Kind of Love Song," Robyn's "Show Me Love," and Flo Rida's "Low." The night ended with Outkast's "The Way You Move" and a really sweet love song by Colbie Calliat called "Magic." And "magic" it was for Amy and Annette, who were holding each other so tight during that tune.

The most amazing thing about this night was that it played out as if there was no family emergency to begin with. Amy and Annette certainly had their feelings, but they danced and enjoyed their celebration with beautiful aliveness and presence. I do not always praise myself, but for this wedding, I do declare that I am very proud of my efforts. The level of service that I provided exceeded any that I have provided at my other gigs (and I will definitely take on all my events). My biggest learn that I utilized during the night was to work with and through other people. It's the best way to stay in communication without being too annoying. The best part of this event: Amy and Annette! Just having them here made the party a success.

Hopefully, I will not be in the question of if a wedding or event happens or not. I'll definitely be ready if it does!

Carmel/Murray wedding @ Skokie Country Club
Lead/Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer; Assistant: Mike Morris
(from Andrew:) "Wins: represented Carmel well - delivered my job impeccably; got an "iffy" crowd of 50 dancing. Losses: weird suburb vibe, not a fig client - all had me on edge all night; couldn't put my finger on the awkwardness. Learns: keep clearing about my resentments; didn't make sense that this was an artist gig; I didn't want to work this gig, but I knew that attitude would sink me; so I got over my resistance and just made sure I did a great job."

Larrichia/Campbell @ The Glen Club
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Adam Whitten
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Got there super early for setup, which gave us enough time to go find a staples because I needed a firewire for my external hard drive; Worked well with photo and video there; introducing 22 people - the most I've ever done; dancing got deep by the end of the night - bride and groom were appreciative. I played way more slower songs than i ever have
in a reception; A1 and myself got tipped separately for a total of $150—my 5th lead in a row getting tipped!"

"Learns: Champagne Parade: Make sure that everyone is seated before the parade starts. I was not thinking about that, so it made the photography/video not as great as it could have been during that portion. I got the feedback for the events person there, which will be helpful for next time i do one."

"Losses: Other than the Champagne parade footage not being the best, no real losses."

Kellogg School of Business @ the Field Museum
Lead DJ: Jon Hood; Assistant: Brian Carey
Producer: Tobey Geise
(from Jon:) "This gig was freakin' sweet. I love huge crowds. This was 950 people. And they were ready to party as soon as they came in. I guess students at Kellogg like to dress up as well. I heard they enjoy wearing costumes to parties, but I didn't really take it seriously. The party started at 8 with people slowly trickling in. Then busses started arriving dropping off groups of 20-30 people at a time. The first few waves of people weren't dressed up, so I thought it was all a plan to get the incoming freshman to look foolish when they would arrive in costumes and everyone else wasn't. Then I realized the prudish crowd tends to arrive first, so I waited it out. One of the first costumed groups that came in wore lights on their head. It was a bizarre sight, seeing a bunch of lights on heads pointing every which way as they're coming in. It looked like a sci-fi movie. Another bizarre crowd wore orange suits and top hats that appeared to be made out of felt. There were a bunch of groups that were dressed up similarly (one group all wore fake mustaches), so I think they were in fraternities. Anyway, it didn't take much to get this crowd dancing. Brian and I started off the night with ragtime piano and big-band swing hits. We were theming the night in terms of decades, so we were playing hits from each era. The crowd quickly got into the swing hits and started swinging. We then hit some oldies and motown, and from their it was off to the races. We were only about an hour or so in before we realized we needed to grab our dinner before things got out of control. None too soon, because things got out of control. The masses centered on the dance floor and this was the largest group of people I think I've had on a dance floor. We easily had 400-500 people dancing. It was such a bizarre sight. I was eating my dinner in another room and could hear the music from where I was at, and occasionally I would hear screaming when Brian would put on a song. Walking back to the dj booth, I made my way through the masses of people before coming up on this large mass pulsating up and down. It was surreal. Like I was at an Oakenfold concert. Except it was Brian and I who were the Oakenfolds. It became mayhem as a few people needed to be escorted out, bottles breaking on the dance floor, somebody throwing up on the dance floor, bathrooms getting trashed, and (my favorite) the orange felt suits and some ladies came up on stage and danced behind us. It got a little too crowded as we were pushed up against the dj table and got knocked around a few times. At that point, we couldn't do our job that well and I asked them to step down. My favorite song of the night: "Tunak Tunak" Tun by Daler Mehndi. I made an announcement about the first wave of busses leaving, and then started the song with a few seconds of Doler moaning, and then BAM! the song kicks in and everyone was like, "Oh Sh@#$!" The place erupted! Bon Jovi was another favorite. 900 people singing along. Cutting the song out while their singing along takes on a whole new dimension with that many people. We also hit "The Perculator," "Calabria," "Disturbia," "Tiny Dancer," and "I Think We're Alone Now" (not all at the same time and not all in this order). Our speaker setup was also pretty good, although this crowd wanted more volume. They needed the bass. We had the Mackie towers on either side of us, and my Mackies further out to the sides cranked up high on the stands. The towers were good for delivering the low end, I knew going in that we couldn't rely on them to push sound to the back of the dance floor if we have 900 people in here. We aimed my Mackies to the sides as people came in. Once we got a decent dance floor, we turned the speakers towards the dance floor and those helped push sound to the back. They were above people's heads, so the sound wasn't blocked as it traveled back. All-in-all, freakin' awesome time and I'm glad I don't have to clean that place up."

Diamonds!

2008-09-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Lisa and Mark's Wedding
@ St. Alphonsis Chuch and Trump Towers
Video - Emily and Adam W.
Producer - Emily

This wedding was tricked out. Lisa was covered in diamonds. But the best part is that she and Mark were so genuinely sweet and in love - so all of the decor and 'wow' factor was just icing on the cake.
Adam and I shot for the ceremony and came back and covered cocktails, reception, and the after party. We worked with another videographer, Ben Mahoney, who is actually friends with Lisa and Mark and wanted to attend most of the wedding - so he shot the getting ready and photo section.
I mic the groom during the ceremonies and this one was so cute. They were talking to each other the whole time and he was saying things like 'I'm so glad you're my wife' and 'you're a knockout' and just overall sweet sweet things. I love listening to the couples during the ceremony, I realize how lucky I am to be the only other person at that moment who gets to share that with them. The church was a challenge to work with because of strict guidelines for where videographers can be. So unlike most weddings I could only get a profile shot which I hate - but there is nothing I can do about that.
At the reception we covered the details of the fabulously designed ballroom. It was beautiful but really tight - 275 people, 16 piece band, DJ, and a dance floor. It made for some interesting challenges during dancing because there was no space to move around amongst the guests. Also, Adam and I were careful to be discrete and not disctract from the party.
Overall, a beautiful event and I can't wait to see what Ben does with the footage!

Emily

The LOOK!

2008-09-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

Ashley Edgar and Dan Al-Bazi
@ Chicago Cultural Center, Friday September 19th
Videographers - Emily and Michelle
Producer - Tobey

In our final meeting Ashley said she wanted to capture 'the look' she always gives Dan - like when he says something totally off the wall! She also loves how Dan dances. And I had to capture the mini PBJ and grilled cheese for cocktails! Ashley wore her mom's dress and veil.
I knew it was going to be an awesome wedding! It was fun from the start, Ashley was cracking jokes and as calm as can be while getting her hair done. The Chicago Cultural Center has AMAZING views for getting ready, floor to ceiling windows with a view of Millenium Park. Michelle got footage of Dan and his groomsman getting ready including the best man googling 'how to give a best man speech'. It cracked me up when I got footage of Ashley seeing Dan for the first time and he hadn't ironed his shirt!
We headed out to the trolley to go around town for photos (it was a green trolly not a red one, which I think it much cuter). We stopped at Oak St. Beach, the Wrigley Building, and the Bean. All make for gorgeous photos. I took a minute to get all of the silly groomsman doing a Resevoir Dogs style walk. We got great footage during the photo section.
The ceremony was stunning, Ashley kept making this face when she was trying not to cry and her nose would move back and forth. Adorable. Then at the reception they had an Armenian band do the intros with a giant drum and horn - the whole room exploded in the pinky dance! It made for excellent footage.
Overall it was a beautiful wedding and I can't wait for Ashley and Dan to see the footage!

Emily

Rainy Wedding Day

2008-09-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and Robert's Wedding
@ Cuneo Museum, September 13th, 2008

If you were around the Chicago area on September 13th then you know what CRAZY weather we had! It took my assistant Eugene and I 3 hours to meet our bride at her home in Libertyville! 94 was totally shut down because of flooding. But it didn't effect how beautiful the day was. I arrived at Jennifer's home to capture getting ready on video and Eugene headed to the museum to catch up with Robert. I enjoyed covering Jennifer's pre-wedding jitters and it's always fun to shoot video in homes because I bet it will be fun for the family to look back on 10 years from now. Then we headed over to the museum. Even though it was rainy the venue still looked amazing. I definitely recommend the Cuneo Museum, the grand historic decor and stunning gardens are perfect for a wedding. It was the location for the movie 'My Best Friends Wedding'.

The whole ceremony and reception took place in the tent outside of the museum. Eugene and I got such sweet footage during the ceremony, they looked so in love and excited to start their lives together. Robert and his groomsman were a lot of fun to shoot - they were there to have a great time! The best part of the wedding is during the reception instead of having people clink glasses to get the B+G kiss, they had to say a quote from a movie about love. We captured it on video and will be so sweet in the edit! What a great way to integrate all of your guests! Jennifer and Robert are honeymooning in Germany and Italy - I can't wait to show them the footage when they get back!

Emily

A Night at the Newberry

2008-09-21T13:19:00.001-07:00

Stacy & David
Producer: Emily
Assistant: Brian
Venue: Newberry Library

This couple was so awesome! I really enjoyed working with them. Partly because they were a cute couple, partly because the groom looked just like my best friend Scott and we both have a scar on our right eyebrow. It was fortuitous. They were very pleased and enjoyed our professionalism. One of the downsides to this gig was that the banquet captain wasn't partnering well with me. I could tell that she had her hands full with the kitchen, though, and I compensated for that. I would approach her when things were supposed to happen and get her okay before moving forward. Another downside was that the food was coming out really slow. It ended up working out okay, though. Somehow we started dancing right on time. I think people ate their entrees really fast because there was such a long break after their salads. Another loss was one of the 10's. It was one that Andrew and I had trouble with on our gig at the Palmer House. It started working fine on that gig and I didn't think much of it until this gig. It sounded like it was blown. I knew on the other gig, it just needed some time to warm up, so I waited it out. Eventually, I went over and started fussing with it and it came on really loud. It was only a split second before I turned it down, but it did get quite a reaction from the guests that were there. Kind of awkward and I wanted to curl up into a ball and hide. I didn't, though, and just gave a "woops!" look on my face with a little chuckle. Not the way I wanted to start the night. One final loss, guests showed up a half-hour early when the lobby wasn't completely shut down and tables weren't set up yet. We just needed to readjust a cord as they were closing up one of the rooms, but it looked a little awkward for the caterers to be moving tables in. They didn't have much choice as the Newberry wouldn't allow them to move in until 5:30 because the library closes at 5. It all worked out okay and I think guests understood. It was a great crowd and mostly young. We started off with some Greek music (the Bride's side was Greek) and that got a lot of people out. We then went into some oldies, motown, disco, 80's, etc. We had a really big dance floor at the beginning, which I liked a lot because we had some clients stop by to check us out. This was a really cool win for us. Brian and I invited our clients, Cara Vanhootegem and her family, to see us perform. They were in town for the weekend and wouldn't get another chance to see us in action, and they really wanted to see us in action. They saw Lisa Roti (who will be performing for cocktails and dinner) the night before. Tonight, they got to see us. It was cool having them there and I'm seeing that we're giving them the VIP treatment. This is how every client should be treated. We have incredible rapport with them and I'm seeing this is another talent of mine is that I have great rapport with my clients. With Cara and family, they saw from across the room and Brian and I waved at them. Big smiles came on their faces and they waved back. Brian went up to talk to them and then me. When I came up, smiles lit up their faces. I talked to them about how things went so far and where we were at in the night. I also talked about the dynamics in the room, how it was a younger crowd, but I didn't want to play all new stuff at this point because it would tire them out and the party would be over at 10:30. I wanted to build it up, play something new so they knew we were going to hit it later, and then slow it down to sustain the crowd through the night. I also brought over my client's must play list for the evening and walked them through what they had come up with to give them an idea of what they should come up with. I've never tended to a client the way we have with them. Anyway, back to the party at hand. We hit a lot of new stuff and through in older songs throughout the rest of the night. The energy kind of died around 11:30 and it was tough to keep it going past that. We mainly were just concerned with playing good music and less worried about dancing. I think they were all tuckered out at that point. Great night!

--Jonathan

Casey & Matt

2008-09-12T10:18:00.001-07:00

Casey and Matt @ Chicago Illuminating Company
Lead: Jonathan Hood
Assistant: Brian Carey

This gig was intense. We had a setup in each of the rooms. The ceremony was upfront, cocktails in the middle, dinner in the back, and then dancing back in the middle. The layout was great. I enjoyed having dancing in the middle and I think this is how it should be. We were set up in the middle of the doors to the side which is ideal for that room. I don’t know why they try to shove the dj into the corner, but that needs to stop. The placement between the doors along the side wall is great for several reasons: it’s right next to the dance floor, good eyesight into both rooms, easy to run cables into each room, not next to the bar, speakers can be on either side of us and not near the bar, sound can be focused easier on the dance floor, easy to place a speaker outside if needed.

The intensity of the gig was in part to the large setup. The other part of it was that was no real down time. During cocktails, we broke down the front. During dinner, we moved the front to the car. Coordinating speeches was tricky. The speeches were insanely long. The father of the bride wanted to do his speech after the Maid of Honor and Best Man, when we had him going after salads were served. The timing of this threw everything off after that. Dinner ended up going an hour later than was planned and we started dancing before entrees were taken away. Had we waited to start dancing, the guests would have been too antsy and would have left us with about an hour and a half of dancing. I did not want that. We just made an announcement that the dance floor was open and went ahead and kicked up the music. Creating the dance floor generically worked great. Shortly into dancing, when it was a good time to slow it down, we through in the father/daughter and mother/son dances. Those worked great, then we followed it up with some more slow songs for everyone else. In general, there was a great energy to the night and everyone had a great time.

--Jonathan Hood

Courtney & Jeff

2008-09-12T10:17:00.001-07:00

Courtney & Jeff @ Salvatore’s
Lead: Jonathan Hood
Assistant: Erik Friedly

This gig came off of another one of my gigs, Liz and Mario who were married almost a year ago. A few great wins on this were having the date that Liz and Mario were married in my contact info for them. They happened to be there, along with other guests from that wedding, and when I was talking to them, I made a reference to their anniversary coming up. When I hit the day right on, they were really impressed. I also new a few other guests at the party. I knew Courtney’s uncle and his family. I’ve known them for a few years now, and didn’t make the connection until our final meeting. They have the same last name, but it didn’t click until Courtney asked me if I knew Deb and Kevin. It was great dj’ing for the same crowd again. We played a lot of similar songs, and included some new ones. I was a little nervous, because I wanted to recreate the experience they had at the previous wedding, but it’s a different crowd and might not react the same. Erik and I talked about this ahead of time and helped me keep in my mind that I don’t need to recreate the same night. It’s a different crowd and I should use my instincts and not the list from last year. This gig also reaffirmed our way of having two people on gigs. At one point, I was in a bit of a funk and Erik took over and tore it up. At one point, he was in a funk and I jumped on. It was great team work on both our parts that created a great night for everyone. We got lots of props from all the guests, and I’m hoping someone else from that wedding is getting married.

--Jonathan Hood

The Check-ins: Week of August 25th, 2008

2008-08-31T19:15:00.003-07:00

THURSDAY

Hafeez @ Rockit (Thursday)
Rockit was packed! This past Thursday felt more like a Saturday, as the Thursday crowd was much larger than usual. Labor Day arrivals? Possibly so. Hafeez treated this day well and played everything that has worked for him. (I'm not for certain the exact songs he played, but I take it that he kept the crowd going.) What worked for Hafeez is that he spread out his sing-alongs among his other choices. He ended with his signature song duo, "Crazy Game of Poker" and "Send me on My Way", and that got people dancing. Throughout this gig, he had the news and the memory of his friend and fellow Wright Institute colleague, Phil Calkins, in his mind. This gig was some sort of a release for Hafeez and his feelings towards Phil. All in all, it was a very successful gig—and not even a Saturday to boot!

SATURDAY

Phil Calkins Service
Audio: Jon Hood and Tim Musho
Synopsis: Jon and Tim set up the audio for the funeral service of Phil Calkins (from the Wright Institute).
Wins: Being on the gig itself was a win for Jon. He provided a great service for a dear friend and showed much ownership in the process. An additional win was that he and Tim set their audio rig up the day before the funeral and had enough time the next morning to get additional equipment.
Loss: Jon accidentally forgot his headphones on the day of the funeral; as stated above, he had enough time to run to the Institute and grab what he needed.
Learns: Remember to double-check equipment before you leave Fig.
Overall: For Jon, this was an honor for him to set up and run excellent audio for his friend and fellow Institute colleague.

Jon @ Rockit
(from Jon:) "Last night I dj'd at rockit. The night took a little while before people starting coming in. It ended up getting packed around 11 and stayed that way until 2:30 when I shut it down. And I shut it down! It's been a couple months since I dj'd at Rockit and was a little nervous that I might not be able to last 7 hours. Well, that was some stinkin' thinkin' because I could have gone another hour on top of it. One thing I was doing was scattering the sing-alongs and "must plays" like The Outfield, "Livin' on a Prayer," etc. throughout the night. By spacing them out, the crowd would go crazy when they came on. I would play three or four in a row and then make my way into other fun stuff. Some songs I thought went over well that I've never played before were, "It's the End of the World as We Know It" (REM), "Roxanne" (The Police), "Shut Up and Let Me Go" (The Ting Tings), "Spiderwebs" (No Doubt), "All Star" (Smash Mouth), "One Week" (Barenaked Ladies), and "I Touch Myself" (The Divinyls). Mixing up the genres is key to a successful night. I stuck in 80's too long and the energy went down. There are a lot of different tastes in the crowd and it's important to hit them. At one point, a LOT of women came in at the same time and I threw on "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Motley Crue. Great choice. Main theme of this gig: screaming when songs were played."

Pam McGaan/Paulina St. Block Party [DJ]
Lead: Brent Rolland; Assistant: Eugene Ramos
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
I am blessed to say that I have been the DJ at hip corporate parties, fun bar mitzvahs and birthday celebratons, and countless memorable weddings. This weekend's goings-on added a new tickmark to my repertoire: Block parties. I'll be honest with you: I've never done one in my life. It was all the more reason I was excited (and repeatedly asked!) to be the head of this gig. Eugene and I worked with the wonderful Pam McGaan, who was one of the planners for her neighborhood's yearly block party on Paulina St. In previous years, they have had other kinds of entertainment that did not fit the party exceptionally well; this time, Pam decided to get a live DJ to provide the sunny soundtrack for their summery 2008 shindig. Eugene and I were just the guys to serve this celebration.

We arrived two hours early to the party. Paulina St. was blocked off with bright yellow barriers, as I forecasted. One call to our client, Pam, gave me the green light to to temporarily move the barriers to enter the block. As we parked on the sidewalk, we were welcomed by Pam, as well as "Mayor" Keith, a retired policeman. The current scene was certainly bubbling: The grill was being fired up, tables were still being prepared with food and beverages, and kids—glorious kids—were playing and running around with high entitlement to the weather and their Saturday freedom. The day was definitely crafted by Pam and her team to for both kids and their parents to enjoy together and individually. For the older generation, a beer and wine-tasting competition table was set up, while the kids had a mini-swimming pool, a Little Tykes™ bounce pit, and lots of other activities, such as frisbee and football, for the group to enjoy. There was also a mini-flea market table that sold books and other trinkets and a area where people could leave their contact information. There was a lot going on, to say the least; soon, we were going to be somewhat of the center of attention, especially with the kids.

Speaking of kids, during our setup, a girl named Avery (but her friends called her "Charlie"), became my "second assistant" during the party, as she hung out with Eugene and I for a good amount of time. Having experience with kids, I knew that our DJ rig would be totally attractive to the young folks out there. I happily let Charlie and her other block buddies "play" on the decks for about 20 or so minutes before the party started. This was a really enriching thing to do, as it gave the kids another activity to learn, as well as it created engagement between myself and the party's attendees. The kids got a kick out of the "wheels" on our Pioneer decks—they spun them to no tomorrow. And the whole block heard it. Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard" never sounded so funky-fresh. Later on in the day, I was affirmed by one of the parents, Liz, who said, "Thank you for being so sweet to the kids." Words like that were more nourishing than the patriotic blue-and-white cupcakes I had during the party. Delicious!

One of the wins that I had on this party was that I did a good amount of planning before the event. With this being my first block party, I wrote down all my concerns and then addressed them with Pam, resulting in a good conversation/meeting that built trust and created comfort for the both of us. At the event, Eugene and I talked a lot about our setup and the best placement for our speakers and our table. We worked together well with Pam to ensure all announcements were made and that the partiers knew what was going on during the day. Musically, I hit a lot of summery songs, like "Good Vibrations" (Beach Boys), "I'm A Believer" (The Monkees), "She Loves You" (The Beatles), as well as some good Motown, 80s, and a few hip-hop songs, like the Gorillaz' "19-2000" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." My focus was to provide a great background for the party, and not to emphasize the subliminal message, "Get up and dance NOW!" This was a "no pushy DJ" area, and I liked it like that. There were times where I did resort to more songs that had the line, "Shake" or "Dance" in them, as I did not know what to play at some moments. Still, I showed no My assistant, Eugene, did a great job of keeping me sustained, as well as sensing things that were happening in the party (such as letting me know that people were playing football not too far from us.) Eugene also deejayed while I ate, and he made some great choices and transitions! Maybe "Lady Marmalade" was not the best of those choices…but I was able to get us out of that song early on.

I can't think of any real losses to the party, to tell the truth. The party did dissipate at one point, though: Around 6:45pm, the kids and adults participated in a scavenger hunt on the block. Not everyone knew the rules, so Pam and her cohorts got on the microphone and let everyone know the rules. There was also an egg toss game (which involved—you guessed it—tossing eggs and hitting your opponents with them) that occurred after the hunt completed. Those two activities caused nearly all the attendees to shift their focus and bodies towards the north end of the street, while the central area had very few people hanging out. I decided to turn the music down a bit while the people were having fun. I knew that the hunt and the egg toss were happening, so I was not surprised when it came up. Musically, I did not know what to specifically play or know if the people were listening. As for learns, I do need to look at my books better and know my songs better…I have a version of "Cotton Eye Joe" (which is typically a kid-pleaser) that was a bit questionable: The boys in the chorus sounded like they were saying, "Oh, s**t!" Eugene and I were definitely puzzled about that song. I'm sure the original singers were having some fun on that track. Thankfully, every other song we played were family-friendly and worked well with the party.

Eugene and I received lots of thank-yous and a bit of applause at the end, as well as a personal thank you from Pam herself, who said that we were "awesome, perfect, and that we made the party." I agree with her sentiments, and I also believe it was our teamwork that made the party successful as well. Pam is such an ideal client—she was super-easy to work with, was always available when we needed something, answered all of my inquiries, was super-accommodating, and she checked on us during the day as well to make sure we were good to go. (Sounds like I should post this on LinkedIn as well, huh?) Maybe there was not a lot of dancing or everyone got to do what they wanted, but overall, this was a fun, laid-back event attended by a lot of good people. I'm happy to say that I now have the experience of what a block party is; my future ones will have a hard bar to raise.

The Check-ins: Week of August 18th, 2008

2008-08-31T19:15:00.001-07:00

WEDNESDAY

DJ Contest @ Jackhammer's
(from Jon:) "While not an official gig, I want to check in on it because it was a very growthful experience. I was incredibly nervous going, but what got me to go was what other people would say if I didn't. I'd have Hafeez all over my shit because I asked him to take Rockit so I could do this. And then there would be the general response from others about not doing something I agreed to. Imagining the hazing made the risk seem worth it. Whatever hurt could present itself wouldn't be as bad as the hurt of others ridicule from not doing it. I didn't bring all my books and tried to plan out what I wanted to play ahead of time. I brought a few different scenarios: house (latin, disco, and progressive), mash-ups, and hip-hop. I then made cds filled with my favorite/best stuff given these scenarios. The hip-hop, I just brought my books because I wanted the freedom of everything I have if I went that route. I decided to go latin/jazzy house based off what the other dj was playing and because I wanted to hear it. It was difficult to read the crowd. There were only about 15 people in that room and they seemed more interested in talking, flirting, making out, and watching porn than dancing. So I decided to go with what I wanted to hear. I never get to play this stuff and I LOVE it! A little "Sunday Shouting" always makes me go nuts! I was pissed that my disco house cds weren't working. I actually wanted to go that route, but they wouldn't read in their cd players. Their cd players didn't work right, either. I get pampered with our stuff, but I'm glad I know how to work through stuff like this. The cue button wouldn't stutter start effectively (it was very sensitive and you had to press it down really hard to get it to stick with the song). The play button was a little slow and the right cd player had to be pressed in the right spot for it to play. Given the challenges, I chose to stick to what I new and not try anything to crazy like I normally do on my gigs. I stuck to just great music. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again! Next time, I'm going to practice my set ahead of time and anticipate the finicky buttons. Everyone loved my music and my transitions and I gave out a couple Nocturnal CDs."

SATURDAY

Butler/Orzoff @ Chicago History Museum
Lead: Jon Hood; Assistant: Tanya Cascoe
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from Jon:) "I really like seeing the ceremony with couples that I've spent a lot of time with and care a lot about. This couple was very interesting from start to finish and I loved working with them. They differed in opinions quite a bit and I found myself mediating a lot and giving my advice. I love when my advice can solve situations. I could tell that they both wanted the event to go well and be special."

"Wins: Planning well ahead of time. Super prepared. I had my must play songs ready to go ahead of time so doing our final meeting was a breeze when we were going through songs. I quickly edited H to the Izzo to meet their introduction desires (they wanted "Thank you for coming out tonight..." at the beginning, but cut in a way that doesn't drag out for 30 seconds like the original). Expressed my concerns as they came up. Served the clients well throughout our process, making sure they're satisfied. Let them know that if they have a lot going on, it's going to effect the dance floor and not many people will dance (exactly what happened). On top of the rain plan; we packed up the gear when it rained, and had it right back up as soon as it stopped; I also used my iphone to get radar maps of the rain and communicated that with the various people involved in the wedding. I had great rapport and relationships with everyone there."

"Losses: Not a strong dance floor (we had a good 30-45 dance crowd, but it was tough to get them going, they never "peaked," and the last hour was mainly background music) due mostly to a lot of stuff going on. In the middle area, there was a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream bar along with several desert tables. Further out by the exhibits was a photo booth where guests took their photos and put them in a scrapbook. Later in the night, a hot dog cart came out. The line for the ice cream bar wrapped around the middle room. Another reason for the lack of a strong dance floor was that we didn't get the music from dinner upbeat enough before dancing. We had put on a playlist and went to eat and when we came back, the bride and groom wanted to go right into dancing. Box lunches."

"Learns: Be easier on myself. I tend to judge the success of a party based on the size and energy of the dance crowd. We did the best job we could given the circumstances and I warned them upfront. Build the dance floor during dinner and when we set up a playlist, have it build as well and don't wait until we come back for that to happen because things may move faster than expected."

Banks/Mahlum @ Cafe Brauer
Lead: Brent Rolland; Assistant: Andrew Ettenhofer
Producer: Brian Carey
What a gig! I usually stray away from such expressive, yet vague declarations as that when I have my DJ gigs, but I am actually going to give myself a reprieve from more original, wittier language to describe this event. This was one of the enjoyable—not to mention longest—weddings I have done this year. Here's the quick stats: Jackie and Mike were the couple; the Great Hall at Cafe Brauer (in Lincoln Park Zoo) was the venue, and myself and my partner, Andrew Ettenhofer, were the men responsible for the audio and music for their ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner/dancing reception. This was my first time at Brauer

Wins: My biggest win, overall, was having a good connection with the couple and being there for the initial walk-through and the rehearsal. One of Jackie's concerns was that this was going to be my first time at Cafe Brauer, so I did my best to learn the space at the visits, as well as partner with someone who has experience with Brauer—Andrew. Another win was that I used my team well and brought up numerous concerns about the space, speaker placement, and the ceremony. The latter, in fact, was supposed to be held outside at a grassy, treed area outside the Cafe; since there was no power outside, we were going to use a generator or another source of power. I brought this issue up to my team and received different options to try (i.e. communicating with the venue contact about other power sources, etc.). Ironically and thankfully, because of the rain and weather, the ceremony was moved from the outside to the south loggia connected to the Great Hall. (This was an amazingly smart move, as on the day of the wedding, right after the ceremony ended, it rained royally!) The ceremony was a success; thanks to Andrew's guidance and advice, I worked with Trey, the officiant, and taught him how to use the wireless microphone to his advantage (including using the "mute" function when transporting the mic from the readers to the clip on the stand). Other than that, the dance party was so much fun! Most of the guests dispersed due to photo opportunities and the ever-attractive weather outside, but we kept people going for the whole time that they were there. I felt that each song Oh, by the way…this was a three-and-a-half-hour dance set. That's so right! Jackie and Mike left at 11:30pm with their exit song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" (Israel K.), and even after that, guests continued to dance and enjoy themselves. We received a lot of compliments from the guests—even as Andrew and I were packing our gear in our car! Tip: $100. We also had great box lunches from Food For Thought. Yum!

Losses: One minor loss I had is that I forgot to announce that the shuttle back to downtown Chicago was available for guests after 10:30pm. Additionally, my CD player on my Mac was acting weird, and I could not burn extra CDs of their must-plays.

Learns: My major learn is that I learned about Cafe Brauer—how to load in, where to park, where to place speakers and where the optimal table placement is.

Overall: This was a successful wedding—period. I had a few fears about the ceremony and how the night would play out, but I talked about my concerns, communicated well with my clients, and believed that all would go well—thusly, the night went well. Additionally, dancing went better than I expected! Jackie and Mike are a relaxed couple who did not want to have to think or worry about the details of the evening, and I did a good job of handling those details so they could come into their wedding and enjoy their day. Best of all, I have a new venue in my knowledge bank, and I'm looking forward to working there again soon.

History in the Making

2008-08-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

Client: Stephanie and Scott
Venue: Chicago History Museum
Date: August 23, 2008
Producer: Megan Taylor
Lead: Jonathan Hood
Assistant: Tanya Cascoe

I really like seeing the ceremony with couples that I've spent a lot of time with and care a lot about. This couple was very interesting from start to finish and I loved working with them. They differed in opinions quite a bit and I found myself mediating a lot and giving my advice. I love when my advice can solve situations. I could tell that they both wanted the event to go well and be special.

Wins: Planning well ahead of time. Super prepared. I had my must play songs ready to go ahead of time so doing our final meeting was a breeze when we were going through songs. I quickly edited H to the Izzo to meet their introduction desires (they wanted "Thank you for coming out tonight..." at the beginning, but cut in a way that doesn't drag out for 30 seconds like the original). Expressed my concerns as they came up. Served the clients well throughout our process, making sure they're satisfied. Let them know that if they have a lot going on, it's going to effect the dance floor and not many people will dance (exactly what happened). On top of the rain plan; we packed up the gear when it rained, and had it right back up as soon as it stopped; I also used my iphone to get radar maps of the rain and communicated that with the various people involved in the wedding. I had great rapport and relationships with everyone there.

Losses: Not a strong dance floor (we had a good 30-45 dance crowd, but it was tough to get them going, they never "peaked," and the last hour was mainly background music) due mostly to a lot of stuff going on. In the middle area, there was a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream bar along with several desert tables. Further out by the exhibits was a photo booth where guests took their photos and put them in a scrapbook. Later in the night, a hot dog cart came out. The line for the ice cream bar wrapped around the middle room. Another reason for the lack of a strong dance floor was that we didn't get the music from dinner upbeat enough before dancing. We had put on a playlist and went to eat and when we came back, the bride and groom wanted to go right into dancing. Box lunches.

Learns: Be easier on myself. I tend to judge the success of a party based on the size and energy of the dance crowd. We did the best job we could given the circumstances and I warned them upfront. Build the dance floor during dinner and when we set up a playlist, have it build as well and don't wait until we come back for that to happen because things may move faster than expected.

--Jonathan

The Check-ins: Week of August 4th, 2008

2008-08-10T19:50:00.001-07:00

(What you are about to see is just a portion of all the great gigs we had this week. Please read and enjoy!)

FRIDAY

Glynn/Penk @ 400 E. Randolph (Private Residence)
Lead: Hafeez Sarumi; Assistant: Jon Hood
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
This was a wedding reception in a loft-like space in a condominium building in downtown Chicago. Small-world factor: The space is run by people from Split Pillow, whom our very own Melissa Martens knows. The space itself and the view, as Hafeez noted, were simply breathtaking. They set up their gear quickly and ran their mixer through the venue's house system. The vibe of the night was fun and low-key; Hafeez only introduced the bride and groom and the cake cutting was not announced (a certain song was played when it was their time to cut their cake). All the speeches were held outside—which was a great decision from Hafeez, as their microphones sounded better outside. As for dancing, it was awesome! Hafeez and Jon worked together well and totally bounced off each other. They started dancing with a rather offbeat tune: Jay-Z's "H.O.V.A." ("H to the Izzo"). Dancing kicked off incredibly well with that song! Since the groom really liked lyrical hip-hop, Hafeez and Jon served much of that during the night. Overall, this was a very inspiring gig for Hafeez—working with such a warm and lovely couple, partnering with Jill, their planner, from Gowder, and the experience of working in a gorgeous place (that he would love to live in!) was nothing short of memorable. There was no tip, but the experience alone was the tip itself. One of Hafeez's top gigs!

SATURDAY

McAuliffe/Carey @ The Adler Planetarium (DJ)
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assistant: Adam Whitten
Producer: Megan Taylor
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Fast setup/breakdown, helped Karen at the Adler with microphone situation for ceremony (apparently she could not find one, so I supplied ours and found the input to their house system; got the floorplans for all three portions of the day—ceremony, cocktails, reception—from Food For Thought; did a good job of meeting the other key people involved—catering, video, photo, and the guitar players; rolled with mistakes on the mic and used humor to keep things moving along; awesome dancing; unusual set had no 50s/60s, Motown, or funk really. Got a pound (?) from the bride, groom was very appreciative and wants to keep in touch; A1 (Adam Whitten) was a great assist; I had him playing during dinner, fed him CDs and he had a country song that a guest requested; crowd chanted my name at the end of the night for an encore; $200 tip."

"Learns: "Callin' on Baton Rouge" (Garth Brooks) beat-matches into "Billie Jean;" don't expect the Adler contact to be on top of technical stuff."

"Losses: [We received] boxed meals—whenever I don't push for it, it does happen; not having promo CDs on hand—I got asked twice for one."

Vargas/Schreiner @ Swissotel (Photo and DJ; DJ checking in)
Lead: Jonathan Hood; Assistant: Brent Rolland
Producers: James Gustin, Andrew Ettenhofer and Brent Rolland This was a lively, multi-cultural wedding at the Swissotel; this is my third event as a producer that I have also assisted or led. Dan Schreiner, the groom, was a former Fig intern about four or five years ago. His and his lovely wife Ana's wedding celebration was at the ever-triangular Edelweiss Room on the 43rd floor at the Swissotel. Overall, this was a fun evening with a Latin twist. Here's the wins, losses and learns:

Wins: I was glad to be on this gig, not only because I was one of the producers and I had established a good relationship with the couple, but because I knew the load-in and parking situation for the Swiss pretty well. I got upstairs with the gear with no trouble. Although we had only two 15's (I prefer and recommend three in the Edelweiss room) Jon and I were able to set up our speakers in a way that worked for the dining area and the dance floor: One next to our table, and another one near the support beam near the entrance. We had enough time to chill before the night began. As the bride, her family and several of her friends were Mexican, cocktail and dinner music was provided by Real Guadalajara—a n 8-piece Mexican mariachi band. They were awesome and their leader, Victor, was professional and friendly. Jon and I got through the overall timeline well, and created an amazing dancefloor that lasted the whole night! Except for one incident where I tried to beatmatch "This is How We Do It" into "Hip Hop Hooray" that did not work out well, the floor was never empty. Jon and I took turns behind the decks and played mini-sets here and there. I loved how we were almost competing against each other, trumping each other's songs. My favorite transition was "Cecilia" (Jon's choice) into "Billie Jean" (my choice). We even pointed out when a certain transition belonged to a certain DJ. "Let's Get it Started" into "Crazy in Love" is totally a Brent move! Jon did it, though. We played everything from Motown to sixties to Latin and hip-hop. The crowd was delightful overall, and they were most keen to Celia Cruz and The Beatles. We received a CD from one of the guests, Cal, who had some good dance songs that we played during the night (including "Galvanized"). We ended with "Digital Love" by Daft Punk. Ana and Dan were super-thankful and highly pleased, and the guests had a great time. Additionally, Jon did a great job coordinating shots with Brian and Tanya, who were doing photo, and was great on the mike! Dan's father inadvertently interrupteed Ana's father's speech (and started to talk about baseball), to which Jon said, being serious, "Was that your speech?" The whole crowd had a good laugh. Fun!

Losses: For one thing, the Edelweiss was nearly packed to the gills—140 guests, to be exact. The dining area looked so cramped (and probably was)! I didn't blame people for getting up and out of their seats during the night. We could have used an extra 10" speaker in the back as I would have preferred, especially in the Edelweiss), but we didn't have the space to do it anyway. Additionally, there was one flub that we had during the family dances: Everyone but Dan's mom was in the room after Jon made the announcement. This caused some awkwardness, but when she came back, we carried through successfully.

Learns: Two 15" speakers are adequate in the Edelweiss room—if you place them strategically, that is.

The Check-ins: Week of July 21st, 2008

2008-07-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY

Brian @ Rockit
(from Brian:) "New rock songs that worked: Metro Station "Shake It", "I Kissed a Girl", The Bravery "Believe", Flobots "Handle Bars". I had people coming up and requesting songs that were rock, and I was able to hit. I got compliments from guests that were from out-of-town. Played a good mix of 80's, 90's, and modern rock. I would say I played mostly 90's music."

THURSDAY

Weddings 826
Lead: Jonathan Hood; Assistant: Erik Friedly
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Jon:) "This was a networking gig that Andrew set up through our connections with Kara Underwood at Magnificent Milestones. Erik set me up as I came from a coaching session. I played mostly off our promo discs which freed me up to network with people. I played mostly from one of my mp3 CDs and Megan's bliss 1 cd, just going back and forth from track to track. I love not thinking about music at events like this and focus on the people. Interestig thing I noticed was that brides tended to avoid me. This event ended up being more about the relationship with the vendors. I knew a few and met some new ones. The people loved the music and I left a bunch of cards."

Erik @ Rockit
(from Erik): "I got to Rockit 1-1/2 hours early and their was a law firm party there. It gave me time to talk to Rich and Pete. Mostly chit-chat and good relationship building. About an hour and a half into my set Jason informed that was going to be a guest DJ from the movie, "Tropic Thunder." It was Brandon T. Jackson. I felt like I was in a crossfire at first with Brandon asking if I got the music I sent. I not knowing anything about it and Jason trying to find out what music I had sent. Finding out it was hip-hop and Jason telling him that we could only play rock. I was surprised this conversation had not happened before he got up to the booth, since he had already been at Rockit for about 45 minutes. Anyway, I did well with Brandon picking rock songs off the top of his head and telling Jason to get out the booth and let me find the songs. That's when I started having fun. Playing off of Brandon's ideas for 4 songs and dancing behind the booth. We hugged afterwards and it had a movie style ending with me rocking the party the rest of night."

FRIDAY

Boeder/Harris @ A New Leaf (Friday) and Lincoln Park Conservatory/Café Brauer (Saturday)
Lead: Tim Musho; Assistant: Adam Whitten
Producers: Tobey Geise and Michele Gustin
(from Tim:) "Adam was my assistant for both days:
Friday: We did a cocktail setup with a projector at New Leaf. I got a lot of compliments on the music. I made a five-hour plus mix of world beats. I had a lot of Brazilian and Latino songs with a little dub thrown in. What was cool was I met the crowd before Saturday.
Saturday: We supervised Soundtronix on the ceremony setup in Lincoln park conservatory. They were great, very professional. I learned about their equpiment also. Then we did the cocktail hour at Café Brauer. A win for me was controlling the crowd with my mix skills. I am getting better at it. Then dancing! We rocked the crowd with such hits as The Dead, Phish, Daft and more! We got tipped and a round of applause. The bride and groom were the best and they said " I thought everyone would leave at 11 but the dance floor was packed all night!" Our last song was "Rose Rouge" by St Germain.

SATURDAY

Kremer/Kazanow @ The Four Seasons
Lead: Erik Friedly; Assistant: Tanya Cascoe
Producer: Andrew Ettenhofer
(from Erik:) "Did well with the planner, talked to Gowder and the 4 Seasons contacts. Had a three-piece band for dinner so I only did announcements during that time. It was great because it gave more time to talk to the planner about how she works and what she doesn't like. I started DJing then gave the decks over to Tanya while I gave songs to play. Tanya had great ideas on what to play and was starting to get the flow of the crowd. No tip and a good night overall."

Westerhold/Marofske @ Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Lead: Alvin Black III; Assist: Joe Martinez
Producer: Erik Friedly
(from Alvin:) "Wins: Got in early enough to do the setup in the upstairs, ravine, and lobby with time to spare; doing a site visit; Joe asking for things got us hot meals as opposed to box lunches; talking with Joe a lot during the evening on how I am feeling with regards to the crowd, the flow of events; had some craziness on the dancefloor; learned a lot of music in working with the song list that I hadn't heard before which I liked and integrated during the evening when appropriate; didn't get many requests; nephew of the groom played guitar during cocktails had him set up in ravine and lobby – sounded great outside, inside and on the second floor . end of the night kudos from guests; went through site visit and asking the DJ team about any issues with the space to make sure I had a cart, etc."

"Learns: Check final timeline from planner with B + G – there was a song cue not in the timeline that I should've accounted for; when dealing with a long song list, find out if there is any story attached to any of them, use significance to prioritize and generate the "must plays" from a long list of general likes; Peggy N. has a crappy house mic, use fig mic when doing ceremony there; when working with a planner, still take the initiative to coordinate with the other vendors – photographer missed family dance because I did not make sure he was in the room. I was trusting her to do my job."

"Losses: The missed photo, the missed song cue; not communicating with Joe about song sequencing led to a mix-up at the end of the night where the song I meant to play didn't; didn't make sure planner had my back.

Nelson/Sasse @ The Chicago History Museum [MOD DEAL]
DJ: Brent Rolland and Alex Zeier
Video: Melissa Martens and Emily Hard
Photo: James Gustin and Brian Carey
Producer/Coordinator: Tobey Geise
(DJ Check-in from Alex:)
Wins:
– lively crowd.
– packed dance floor all night long.
– worked well with brent
– pepped before hand. had good communication with him and supported him well throughout
– quick tear down
– played through dinner, special dances and speeches. brent emceed and took over the decks for dancing. i played the last few songs of the night.
– tobey did great supporting all of us figgers present. she had it down

learns:
– make sure both speakers are on mic level.
– mic issue with brent - had to use xlr - 1/4 inch adaptor. (brent knows more details)
– be assertive to get people out of your way (kehoe)

losses:
– kehoe had their stuff where we were needed to set up; it stalled our setup.

"this was an awesome gig. so much fun and the crowd was great. we kept it going throughout the night. there was never an empty dancefloor. they loved us! woot!"

(from Brent:) Alex pretty much outlined all of the wins, losses, learns, and celebrations of this super-lavish wedding ceremony/reception. We worked with Symphony Sounds, Food For Thought, and Kehoe, who created the most beautiful settings for the night—including chandelier-style centerpieces with plants on top of them and amazing . Here are my additions:
Wins:
– Tobey, Tobey, Tobey! Alex mentioned her earlier, but I certainly second his emotion. Tobey did an amazing job building a good relationship with Amanda and Scott, creating the timeline of the night and using her team to flesh it out, and tending to the whole wedding. She made sure that we were on cue for every event, kept us sustained with water and hot food, and Most of all, Tobey was zero-drama for the whole night and kept a go-to-it, upbeat attitude. I felt extremely tended to and the night was handled excellently. This is one of Tobey's most successful Mod Deals yet!
– Alex, Alex, Alex! He did a fantastic job working the decks and keeping me sustained during the night. He was very attentive and took direction and coaching quite well. We had a blast singing songs and dancing behind the table!
– Arrived early: Even with Venetian Night, traffic on LSD at 3pm was quite clear. We arrived at the Museum in less than a
– Pepping before introductions: Tobey suggested Alex and I do that for five minutes. Alex and I both had some frustrations about the setup, and clearing about it helped greatly.
– Visioning before the event: The whole team huddled up and we collaboratively laid out the vision of the night. We called it, and our vision happened!
– Great dance party! I started off super-slow with Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight," and followed that up with "Can't Help Falling in Love" (Elvis) and "My Kind of Town" (Sinatra). From there, I went all over the place with fun music! The dance floor was always populated with people dancing; the biggest contingency was closer to the end of the night, where I started with a Michael Jackson double-header: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" into "Billie Jean." I then went into "Kiss" (Prince), "Sweet Escape" (Stefani), "Let's Get it Started" (Black Eyed Peas), and "Sexyback" (Timberlake), to name a few. The crowd went nuts after I hit some rock songs, including The Outfield's "Your Love." Best transition: "Hit Me Baby One More Time" (Spears), "Since U Been Gone" (Clarkson), and "Footloose" (Loggins). I let Alex play the last three songs of the night: U of W Varsity song, "Jump Around" (House of Pain), and "Wonderful Tonight" (Clapton). I did a great job with the music overall and kept the night fun and spontaneous. The couple had a long list of music, and I worked well picking songs and working with it, adding in my own choices when need be. The crowd was delightful, and even a few of the older women came and danced with Alex and I
– Requests: I received several requests, and guests were understanding if I said "no" or if I couldn't get to it. Very pleasant!

Losses:
– The biggest loss was that our setup time in the dining hall (Chicago Room) was slowed down, due to the fact that Kehoe was preparing their floral arrangements in the area where my table was supposed to go. Alex, Tobey and I worked around Kehoe and used each other to get our setup going.
– It was a bit difficult to hear the officiant, even though Tobey prepped him well. Both our speakers' volume controls were past three o'clock! It worked out, though.

Learns:
– When daisy-chaining speakers and connecting the wireless microphone receiver directly into the main speaker, both speakers have to be on "MIC" level. I thought it was only the speaker that has the receiver plugged into it, but both have to be powered up.
– The wireless microphone does not work, apparently, without the use of a true male/female XLR and a female XLR to 1/4-inch adapter. I tried a female XLR to 1/4-inch cord, but that did not work.
– If you have a transition between the first dance and the beginning of dinner, gauge if you have to say something after the first dance is done. Ours was simply awesome—guests stood up for the whole first dance, and as it ended, a round of applause ensued, and Alex kicked up the music. Guests sat down and knew that dinner was coming—no announcement needed.

Overall, this was a beautiful and fun wedding, and one of my most favorite Mod Deals to date. My only hope is that all gigs will include the planning and visioning that this one had. Awesome!

(from Brian:) "I did getting ready shots at the Hotel Intercontinental. We got Amanda and her bridemaids out on the median on Michigan Ave. James went with the ladies in the limo bus. We did group shots on the steps of Chicago History Museum. The ceremony was outside. Kehoe did all of the decor. Intros, toasts, dances, open dancing for the rest of the night. Wins: Going for my satisfaction with the formals, and getting Amanda and Scott out by the fountain for a night shot."

Blue Ball @ the Shedd Aquarium (DJ)
DJ/Producer: Megan Taylor
Assistants: Alex Zeier, Adam Sokolowski, and Liz Renneisen
(Setup Check-in from Alex:)
"i made my way over to shedd to assist megan, A2 and liz with setting up for their gig. set up was smooth. when i got there, they were finishing up the setup on the terrace. we made our way downstairs and cranked out the setup pretty quickly. that went smoothly. looked like they were gonna have a lot of fun, and i hear that they did. im glad i could help out with making their night successful. the only issue was the fact that traffic is a bitch. the directions i printed out told me to turn somewhere where the turn lanes were blocked off. so i had to find my way. that was the main frustration. i wish i could have gotten there sooner to help out more. but when i got there, it went smooth and we cranked it out. i got back to the museum a little after 7 with plenty of time to breathe and get ready to assist brent for a successful night!"

Hession/Turensick @ the University Club
Lead: Hafeez Sarumi; Assistant: Amanda Senn
Producers: Brent Rolland and James Gustin
This was a wedding reception that had guests that came to party. There were numerous dance sets spread out during the night: There was a 15-minute block before salads; a 15-minute block after entrees, and then the grand three-hour dance set after all of dinner was completed. Hafeez was nervous about the numerous dance sets, but he did a great job planning each one out and talking about the music he would do for each one of them. Amanda did a great job assisting Hafeez: She was eager to learn throughout and played all cues for introductions and dances. Hafeez set her up well and instructed Amanda to pay attention to the dynamics of the room as a whole. At one point in the evening, Amanda was able to point out tables that would get up and dance first, and she was right! Hafeez also used his senses well: If his assistant wasn't grooving with the music, it was time to change it up. The dance party was amazing, and the bride and groom had a whole lot of fun. Additionally, Hafeez worked with Joseph Monastero, the planner of the wedding. He was fun to work with and was very organized. There was only one flub with the introductions: He had the flower girl and best man walk in together, which was different with Hafeez's listing. Still, it worked out nicely, as Hafeez added the forgotten name (the flower girl) at the end. Tip: $75. A great time overall!

Early Childhood Development Weekend
(from Jon:) Jon held the role as Reflecting for the ECD Training Weekend, and his responsibility was to ensure all audio and visual elements were going on in the space. He made sure that there was sound in the room, that video was being broadcasted, and that photos were continuously being taken throughout. This was his first time holding this role for this weekend, and he did amazing job! There were a few losses; the more significant one being that Jon did not have all the equipment he needed to be successful (i.e. video adapter, and some other elements). Jon held a can-do attitude through the whole weekend and held a lot of success for the weekend.

Alvonathan Blood the Third Strikes Again!

2008-07-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Alvin and I freakin' rock the after-parties. This time, we had some of the sweetest transitions of ALL TIME! My favorite: Perculator into Don't Stop the Music with Perculator beat matched for about a minute with the bubbles in the background. Another cool transition: Around the World into Stop! In the Name of Love. Yes! That's right, Daft Punk into Diana Ross. It was a request from one of the bridesmaids. Downside of thi is that she didn't recognize it when it came on. Kristin and Aaron wanted the after party to be club-like and as we talked more awith the band and the couple, we discovered that the groom was more for the band and the bride was more for the dj. Kristin was on the dance floor pretty much the whole night. It being a "club" night, I was going for sweet-ass transitions and creative mixing. Going back to the Daft Supremes mix, I would have done everything the same, maybe overlay it a little more, then let the Daft Punk song end, then hit Stop! from the beginning.

We were a little worried with how the whole evening would play out once we saw the crowd. It was an older crowd and the bride and groom wanted mostly hip-hop. When I introduced myself to the couple, I expressed this concern and the bride said to do what it takes to get them out. I'm glad I had that discussion up front, because it set me at ease and it was easier to get them out. I'm glad I had that discussion up front, because it set me at ease and it was easier to deviate when guests gave requests. For the most part though, we hit all their stuff and then some. There was a pretty good contingency at the end of the night and we went strong through 1:30 when the bar closed. After that, the crowd started to slowly leave, with us rapping things up a little after 2:30.

Fulton's on the River

2008-07-02T09:58:00.001-07:00

This gig was pretty challenging. One was the playlist. They had a bunch of stuff I was unfamiliar with. I prepared really well, downloading and listening to the songs I was unfamiliar with. Putting together the playlist for cocktails and dinner was pretty easy after that. Dancing was the other challenging part of the evening. There were several factors that were between us and a good dance floor. They had a photo station set up in corner that attracted most of the young crowd. The weather was also nice and some people went outside by the river. Dancing started off well and we started getting requests for hip hop right off the bat. I tried hitting some genres that the bride and groom wanted, but they didn't quite hit. I put on some salsa, but it was too fast. I learned I need a salsa lesson on what's appropriate to ballroom dance to. Which brings me to another interesting part of the night, it looked like everyone was a professional ballroom dancer. Another learn for me is to know what music is good for ballroom dancing. When salsa didn't hit, I slowed it down with songs the bride and groom requested (they had a lot of slow stuff they wanted to hear at the beginning). I then hit the hip hop and all the young crowd came out.

The bride and groom wanted techno in the later half, but didn't hit. I moved into it going from Flo Rida into Hung Up into Music Sounds Better With You. Stardust didn't hit, so I brought it back to Don't Stop the Music. I tried hitting the techno again later with Red Alert and Around the World, but again, nothing. Michele was great to talk things through with and also was very affirming of what I was doing. She also was great at noticing the dynamics in the room. Guest left around 11 with the core few staying around because they could. I slowed it down after that and played a lot of Sinatra like stuff that had the occassional dancer come out. We got complimented by a few guests after it ended and I even got a hug from the groom!

--jonathan hood, resident artist