Hire a DJ with Personality

By Christopher Bruce

A few months back, a very kind man called me asking for a quote for his daughters Sweet 16 party. It was a very special event to him and he wanted to know that his DJ had a good personality and was capable of handling the event. After talking with him for a good 15 minutes asking him what he was looking for and what he expected, he hired me without question as to a price. Why? It was because I answered the phone and talked to him. When he told me that, I was flabbergasted to hear the whole story.

He had called two DJ services before he called me. One answered the phone and one did not. The one who answered would only tell him to log on to the Web site and “Chat” with him if he had further questions after getting the automated price quotes.

Where is the personality in that?

Automation has made life simple, I agree. And the internet is amazing, even for DJ’s. You can log in and get the hard facts about any company and grab a custom price quote without having to deal with anyone. No hassles when it comes to the DJ’s sales tactics to hurry and book. All that is great and I highly recommend it.

But before you click book on that automated system, you may want to consider calling the DJ. Find out what DJ will be going to your event if it is a larger company and ask for their experience level and specialty. Mobile DJ’s work so hard to know all music for all events, but some have better success with weddings than corporate events, for example.

The personality of the DJ you are about to hire is the most important. Is he funny, entertaining?

Does his voice sound clear? Can you understand him when he talks? It’s his personality that your guests will remember, not what equipment he had.

The DJ sets the mood at any event. What mood do you want your DJ to set?

I have heard so many horror stories of booking DJ’s online and getting someone who had little to no personality and acted as if your event was the last place they wanted to be. That energy carried over to the guests and no one wanted to stay for the party.

Also, don’t let big business practices fool you. Most DJ companies are either one man run or less than five people in the entire company. Mine consists of me, my wife and a few people we call on if the event is large enough to need them. I keep it very small and personal because that is the way the DJ needs to be, personal.