Does Your DJ Have A “PLAN B?”

Let’s face it, life happens. Things can go wrong and Murphy’s Law states that they will always go wrong at the worst possible moment!

You would never see an athletic team take the field with only ONE play in their book!

A mountain climber always has another route planned out in case their first plan goes wrong!

Web service providers have duplicates of their databases in case something goes wrong with their main system to ensure your service never gets interrupted.

By this same token, you should NEVER hire a DJ for your special life moment without making sure they have a “PLAN B” in place should something go wrong with a major piece of their equipment (computer, speaker, microphone, etc.)

A mobile DJ has very expensive and very sensitive equipment which is constantly being set up, packed away, loaded and transported. In fact, a very large portion of what you pay a DJ goes into maintenance, upkeep and reinvestment into equipment. An experienced DJ knows that no matter how good the equipment they have is and no matter how well they stay on top of the maintenance and upkeep, it is not a matter of IF a piece of equipment will fail, but a matter of WHEN.

A professional DJ will be well prepared for just about any scenario which could arise. A novice DJ (or one that simply does not care about you or your special life moment) will not be prepared or will tell you that they have the best equipment, never have any failures and that plan B scenarios are simply not something you should be concerned about. You should run quickly away from any DJ who tells you this. They are either lying to you or they do not have the experience to know any better themselves.

I’ll give you a personal example of the importance of a DJ having backup systems in place. A couple of weeks ago, I was DJ-ing a wedding and it came time for the couple’s first dance. I started to play their first dance and suddenly my laptop computer which I had NEVER had a problem with EVER BEFORE froze up and would not play their song! It couldn’t have happened at a worse possible time! But because I keep a backup drive of my entire music library ready to go which feeds into my DJ mixer entirely independent of the laptop, I was able to get the couple’s first dance song up within seconds as well as prepare the next few songs to be played while I quietly rebooted my laptop off to the side. The couple had their first dance without incident and the main dance portion of the evening got underway without a hitch and once rebooted, my laptop performed flawlessly for the rest of the evening.

I of course ran a system repair program (on a Mac, it is called repairing the disc permissions for you techies out there) on my computer before the next event, but because I am experienced and know that anything can go wrong at any time, I have spent a great deal of time thinking through most every scenario imaginable and preparing backup plans for those scenarios down to cables, microphones, connection adapters, music libraries and speakers. I would be personally horrified if I were ever to be the cause of ruining someone’s special moment (any decent person would) so I am absolutely fanatical about being prepared! Any true professional DJ will have similar stories they can tell you. Don’t be afraid to ask about a time when something went wrong and how they handled it. You will find out a lot about the professionalism and character of the provider very quickly.

The moral of all of this is that if it is important to you, it should be important to the person you hire, so don’t be shy about asking a few probing questions and making really sure you are getting a pro. You never get a 2nd chance at your wedding’s grand entrance or your aisle walk or your first dance! Make sure your DJ has PLAN B preparations in place and ready to go!

Article Submitted By:

Neil Smith
dandydj.com