The
2006 International DJ Expo will be held August
21-24 at the Atlantic City Convention Center
in Atlantic City, N.J. This year’s Expo
will surely be the largest, most extravagant
show that we’ve ever presented. Stay tuned
to this website for news updates on events,
seminars, exhibits and parties. Don’t
miss the 2006 DJ Expo!
Here's a report from last year's show:
DJ
EXPO'05: WIDE-EYED IMPRESSIONS FROM FIRST-TIME
ATTENDEES
By David Cross
After a year of writing for DJ Times, and five
solid years of DJing, I finally made it to my
first International DJ Expo. I had absolutely
no idea what to expect, and am happy to say
that I came home to Nashville pleasantly surprised.
The three elements that make
up the Expo—educational seminars, exhibits
of DJ products, and evening events and parties—came
together wonderfully to form what ended up being
a very enjoyable four days.
My first day at the Expo featured
my favorite seminar, “Investing In Your
Business: Strategies for $uccess.” Featuring
DJ/financial manager Jerry Bazata of TD BankNorth,
the tutorial offered valuable tips for the business
side of DJing. Bazata is a true professional
speaker—someone who can provide useful
advice that combines good financial sense with
the realities of running a successful Mobile
operation. It was a pleasure seeing a professional
in his element, someone who eloquently states
his case and handles all questions with aplomb.
Another favorite seminar of
mine was the club DJ panel, “Going Global:
A Roadmap for Traveling DJs,” moderated
by Kickdrum Media’s Peter Anthony. It
was interesting to see frequent-flyer-accumulating
jocks like DJ Boris, Nigel Richards, DJ Three,
and Ivano Bellini as real people with real problems
offering genuine solutions to up-and-coming
DJs—like how to get a Passport in a hurry,
how to deal with custom agents in certain countries
and which countries (like Canada) are sticklers
for working papers. They also encouraged young
jocks to stay consistent with their gigs and
updated with their websites.
The exhibit floor was a pleasure
for me, as well. As opposed to other “pro-audio”
trade shows, where the DJ equipment always seems
to jockey for attention with saxophones, pianos
and guitar amps, the Expo floor was a DJ-gear
lover’s dream. A few pieces of gear that
piqued my interest: Denon’s DN-S3500,
a new high-end CD/MP3 player with a direct-drive
platter; Rane’s updated Empath mixer with
rotary faders; and VJ Live’s movable mirror
that uses an off-the-shelf LCD projector as
its light source.
Having all the major DJ-gear
manufacturers—Pioneer, Numark, Stanton,
Gemini, etc.—was terrific. However, it
was a little company from Finland called EKS
that knocked me off my feet. I had seen their
XP10 software control device on the web, and
passed it off as a gimmick. But, one spin of
its touch-sensitive jog dial quickly changed
my mind. This controller/sound card is the real
deal. Someone get them a U.S. distributor so
DJs using Traktor and Ableton Live can have
a true performance controller to work with!
The ’80s party at the
Nikki Beach Club was a lot of fun. Gary Deane
had some great mixes, John Hohman rocked out
on his custom PCDJ rig, and Steve Porter proved
he was more than just a house DJ. Just back
from his European tour, Porter—a former
mobile DJ—returned to his roots and played
retro party music for an appreciative audience.
The highlight of the trip
for me, however, was the final party with Junior
Sanchez and DJ Boris. Sanchez kicked into several
of his dance-rock-oriented remixes for acts
like Bloc Party and The Killers, while Boris
probably had to tone it down a little. Seeing
a “big-room” DJ like Boris in the
intimate confines of the Nikki Beach Club was
surreal, but it worked out well. Boris is another
true professional—someone who manages
to subtly control the atmosphere of a party
while maintaining his signature style.
Though the seminars, exhibits,
and parties were all great, the Expo’s
greatest benefit to me was its ability to get
like-minded individuals together in one place.
Only at the International DJ Expo could I have
had a philosophical argument about the future
of DJ technology, a bread-and-butter conversation
about playing house music in semi-rural locations,
and an academic discourse about DJ-mixer history—all
in the course of a single day.
Overall, my first DJ Expo
was a resounding success. I built relationships
with some incredibly helpful and nice people,
whetted my appetite for new gear, and learned
valuable lessons from professionals from all
facets of the industry. You can be sure I’ll
be back next year!
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