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Event Spotlight: International DJ Expo

Logo Courtesy of DJ Times Magazine

It's been eight years since I went to the last DJ Expo. I often felt that it was not important to go every year and, after a while, I just stopped going completely. After the experience we had this year, I could not have been more wrong.

This year, as I evaluated the status of the company, I realized that we were lacking creativity. This lacking quality became my focus since we want to provide a much better performance and that is what's needed to succeed. In my experience, creativity is best generated when many people contribute and brainstorm together. When I worked for larger companies in the past, it was easy to collaborate ideas amongst each other. For Rob and I, we were looked upon by our staff to tell them what to do and we didn't have a lot of new ideas from other members of the team. That's when I realized it was time to get our staff to think for themselves. In order to do that, one of the things we needed them to see was how other companies in the industry operate and how they work together with each other in any environment. What better place than the International DJ Expo in Atlantic City, NJ.

Atlantic City Convention Center - setting for the DJ Expo

I had trained all of our staff members, including Rob. I wanted Rob to get the same experience I got when I worked for bigger companies, so this would be a great opportunity for him. It would also be a good learning opportunity for me. Rob has been advising me on what the hot party options are and I knew that these venues would be seen at the show.

The first day there consisted of networking and a series of seminars. I met three former co-workers and employers that have been key factors in my success as a DJ entertainer. John Murphy, former CEO of Star DJs and current CEO of Eventscape; Mike Walter, former VP of Operations of Star DJs and current CEO of Elite Entertainment; Randi Rae, former entertainer of Star DJs and currently the owner of Social Butterfly. These three entrepreneurs were key people in my development as a DJ as I learned from them first-hand how to make every party a success.

Later on during the evening, we met up with some of our friends from Partners in Sound Productions and Platinum Entertainment and headed to the special events planned for the Expo members. Nikki Beach was the first stop, where DJs from were spinning 80s music. Later on, we headed to Déjà Vu where the Cover Girls were performing.

Rob Dynamite with Anthony and Mike of Partners in Sound at Nikki Beach in Atlantic City.	Mossimo and Mike G of Platinum Entertainment hang out with other fellow DJs attending the Expo.	Cover Girls perform at Deja Vu

Day 2 consisted of more seminars during the day and the opening of the exhibit hall. We spent a good amount of time in seminars that helped with running the business more smoothly and with making the events more exciting. In the exhibit hall, we looked for vendors to help with managing the business more successfully and we looked for vendors carrying the latest technology. It is an exciting time to be a DJ. Computer technology is rapidly becoming a tool of choice. Computers can do so much in this industry. We were also amazed at how it also utilizes video and music editing.

The evening of Day 2 consisted of more parties, including the Hypnotiq lounge, and Promo Only’s Party at the Casbah in the Taj Mahal, where the nation’s top DJs were spinning, including The Riddler from WKTU. Reina was also there that evening and singing her current number one hit “Find Another Woman.” Later on, it was off to the Tun Tavern, where DJ Cin-Ful of the Playboy Mansion was spinning tunes for the after hours party.

With only four hours of sleep the night before, I was off to the seminars at 9:30 AM. Rob stayed behind for the first seminar to catch up on lost sleep. At some of the seminars, we were given ideas on how to enhance teen dances and we shared some ideas with other DJs on what they can do to improve the quality of their performance at Sweet 16s, Birthdays and Communions. Click here to - see video.

We didn’t stay for the Mobile DJ awards or the parties. We called it a day and headed back to implement the new ideas we learned from the experience. As for next year’s show, not only will we be attending, but participating more that we did this year. If fact, next year, I intend to bring our sales staff, hoping that they can feel the passion that this group has. It will definitely help them get the message to the client.

Check back with us as we add more information to this article...

Rob with our good friend from Extreme Entertainment, Dawn Michaels

Mike Kazis

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