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Maybe you’ve seen that Mercedes commercial; you know the
one—standing in front of a busy hotel, a man has accidentally
locked his keys inside his car. After waving away two porters
who offer to call for help, he then presses some buttons
on his cell phone; in a few seconds, his car doors, much
to the amazement of the porters, magically unlock.
To
do this, the man used a GPS-based satellite system. And
while this technology would no doubt provide your DJ business
with an enviable insurance policy against such “car-door-and-brain-lock”
inconveniences on your way to a gig, it’s probably not the
most cost-efficient investment. Or is it? Missing a gig—due
to a locked car door, a lost DJ or a physically fatigued
MC—costs your company far more than a refund of your client’s
money. It’s your sterling reputation that takes a hit, and
for that there is no price.
That’s
the wonder of technology. It not only levels the playing
field between a single-system DJ and multi-system company,
it can also manufacture time, freeing you up to earn additional
revenue, or pay attention to customer service, or simply
enjoy more leisure.
Are
you using technology, or is technology using you? Are you
spending time performing tasks that software or satellites
could do better? The following are some gadgets, both current
and futuristic, that you should be using—and will be using
in the future—to help you and your DJ business.
The
E-Newsletter
You have a website, but are you e-mailing a monthly e-newsletter
telling past clients and current vendors what your DJ business
has been up to? It’s a great, yet subtle way to plug your
company to clients, especially corporate clients who book
annual parties.
In
fact, readers will believe a newsletter, which gives the
impression that your company is an authority, before they’ll
believe an advertisement. Include in your e-newsletter news
about your employees, add client testimonials and, most
importantly, tack on articles about your industry that your
reader will find useful—such as what they should look for
when hiring a DJ; or list the five most common or quirky
questions about music you’re asked at a wedding. Readers
love to share information and will likely forward it to
someone else who might be interested. You now have reached
two (possibly more) people with a single e-newsletter.
There
are several types of e-newsletters, each with their benefits
and drawbacks, and it’s your job to decide which one will
reach the most readers. Remember, not everyone with an e-mail
account has access to the web, so providing links to your
website might be ineffective. Therefore, the most readable
type of newsletter, the one that’s easiest to compose, send
and download, is in plain text form, accessible to anyone
with an e-mail account. The downside to this is its plainness—you
can’t include any sizzling graphics or funky fonts.
An
HTML newsletter is much fancier, a Lexus next to a Gremlin.
It comes up on the viewer’s screen like a Web page, incorporating
graphics, columns and other goodies like photos. This type
of newsletter can also be received by anyone with an e-mail
account, but in order to see the included graphics, they
need an HTML-ready Internet browser. (FYI—Browsers are programs,
like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator,
that escort you to web pages.)
With
this type of newsletter, be aware of your intended viewers’
Internet access. In order to see the photos you’ve included,
they’ll need an open Internet connection. If their Internet
access is restricted at all, they might not be able to read
your newsletter. Of course, the same goes for viewers who
don’t have the all-important HTML-ready browser. When they
open the e-mail, instead of seeing your great-looking page,
they’ll only see a tangle of computer codes. Another drawback
is that all of the articles have to be put on the same page,
making one really long newsletter to print, should people
want a hard copy. Distribute your newsletter in both HTML
and plain-text forms, by offering a choice you’ll reach
more people.
Another
option is to create a newsletter in PDF format. This is
the Mercedes of e-newsletters. This newsletter, available
to people who have e-mail or web access, will show up looking
like a hard-copy brochure on screen, the only drawback being
viewers need Adobe Acrobat to open it. With PDF, you can
convert your printed brochures into electronic form without
losing graphic and design quality. The drawback, besides
the need for special software, is that PDFs are usually
large files and can take some time to download. Depending
on the terms of client’s e-mail providers, an e-mail is
usually limited, in size, to 5 megabytes and for some, much
less. A PDF file, if it’s loaded with photos, can quickly
exceed this.
Never
Get Lost
You may never need ask for directions while driving to a
gig again. That is, if you invest in a GPS e-Map, the ones
that give road maps of where you are versus where you need
to be. GPS, or Global Positioning System, operates through
a GPS receiver, which is installed in your vehicle and uses
time signals and triangulation (a method of locating an
object using three points) from a satellite to calculate
your position. Just punch in the location of the banquet
facility or wedding hall, and this can save you and your
DJ employees valuable time that otherwise might be spent
being lost while driving to a gig or stopping for directions.
Mike
Walters, owner of Eatontown, N.J.-based Elite Entertainment,
knows how valuable such technology can be. “One of my guys,
this past winter, was doing a party and the power blew during
a storm and they needed a generator,” he says. “So the client’s
brother called my DJ over and said, ‘Let’s go get a generator.’
They hopped in his car and the guy just typed in ‘hardware’
and the screen showed the three nearest hardware stores.
So they went and got a generator and had the music going
again in a half-hour. I was very impressed.”
Concord,
Calif.-based Brian Doyle wishes he too had things mapped
out. “We had one DJ who was three hours south of where he
needed to be and he was supposed to be at the gig in one-half
hour,” he says. “So we ended up comping the event plus paying
for a string quartet for the entire ceremony. It cost us
thousands of dollars. A GPS unit would’ve really helped
out.”
Depending
on what type you get, a GPS e-Map costs about $225. Other
versions can be installed into Palm Pilots or cell phones.
“I’m going to be giving all of my guys Palm Pilots soon
with a GPS situation attached to them,” says Gerry Siracusa
of Wayne, N.J.-based Golden Note Entertainment. “This way
you don’t even have to attach the system to your car. So
wherever the DJ is, he’ll know, even if he isn’t in his
car. I think it’s a $230 option on top of the Palm Pilot,
per Palm Pilot.”
No
more “I got lost on the way here.” Too bad there’s nothing
you can do about the traffic clogging up the highway.
The
+’s of Big Brother
Not only can satellites help you figure out where you made
that wrong turn, but when you’ve finished filling up your
gas tank and find yourself locked out of your car, they
can also unlock it for you. These telemetric systems, like
the GPS, work by wireless phones and connect with sensors
in your car. The press of a button can bring you help if
you’re in an accident or unlock your car if you’ve locked
the keys inside. These systems since 1999 have been included
in most new model luxury cars and as a feature of GPS systems
like OnStar. This, of course, prevents this always-unseemly
confession to an irritated client: “I apologize for being
late to your wedding. I was taking a slim-jim to my car
door.”
“You
call an 800 number and give the operator your pin number
and a satellite unlocks the car doors for you,” says Paradise
Mike Alexander of Orcutt, Calif.-based Paradise Entertainment.
“You don’t have to call AAA anymore. I’d do that if it were
affordable. Every little thing would help. Especially if
you’re a DJ on your way to a gig or something,”
High-Tech
Security
Changing your lock every time an employee loses a key or
leaves the company and “forgets” to return the equipment-room
key can get a bit costly. Key cards might be able to help
solve that problem. For anywhere from $250-$500, these systems
work by using a single controller that hooks up to a reader,
which is installed outside the door you want to secure.
Whoever has access to a particular room puts their card
(which has a little metal button in its center) to the reader,
which is a disc in the wall, and the door opens. You add
or delete who’s allowed access by using an “add” or “delete”
button. Such a security system might help you relax, knowing
that your (expensive) equipment is safely locked away.
Bond,
as in “James Bond”
You’re talking on the phone to a client, booking their event,
you announce the word “Calendar” and on your computer monitor
appears your calendar; you then tell it the date and time
of your event. Installing some voice recognition software
will free your hands from the keyboard and can save you
from the pain and expense of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Some
programs you can install to perform tasks and do Internet
searches, just by saying a word. Or, as you and your client
plan, you can take notes on your program. Voice recognition
software allows you to write e-mail while answering your
phone. Popular programs, like the DragonDictate, run on
a PC. It’s called a “discrete utterance system,” meaning
you must pause between words. This program contains a large
dictionary and lets you define “macros”—the program will
associate the sound of your choice with going online, opening
up Excel, or any other series of keystrokes (this might
make some overheard computer work sound pretty interesting).
Current
repetitive strain injuries, according to the U.S. Department
of Labor, account for close to $20 billion a year paid out
to businesses in worker’s compensation. Even if you’re the
only one doing the typing, repetitive strain injuries like
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome will affect your ability to DJ, which
would in turn adversely affect your income.
Drown
Your Problems in Oxygen
Loading in and loading out, coupled with the constant pounding
a DJ’s body endures while standing or dancing for four hours,
can exact a toll not only on the physique, but on your bottom
line—especially when a bruised employee calls in sick. There’s
always hyberbaric oxygen therapy. Forget ginseng, the next
time your DJ employee returns from a gig fatigued, sore
and herniated, throw them into an oxygen tent. Sitting in
a hyperbaric chamber, in 100-percent oxygen, instead of
our normally paltry 21-percent oxygen-rich atmosphere, will
accelerate the healing of wounds and sore muscles faster
than any vitamin, sports drink or herb.
“It’s usually a 30-minute treatment, “ says Victor Larivee,
a customer service rep for Los Angeles-based Solace Hyberbaric.
“Some people stay in longer but 30 minutes takes care of
exhaustion and muscle pain. From my own experience, I feel
invigorated.”
This
invigoration is the result of an increase in pressure to
twice that of our normal atmosphere, which drives more oxygen
into the blood, giving you more energy to heal sore muscles.
The chambers—they look more like the plastic pods that Sigourney
Weaver slept in during “Aliens”—can be expensive, but the
more affordable models that use ambient air and look like
inflated sleeping bags are as cheap as $3,995. “You don’t
need any oxygen tanks for these models,” says Larivee, “so
there aren’t any maintenance costs, except for maybe a filter,
which is basically a piece of paper. It’s pretty straightforward.
I wouldn’t even think in terms of maintenance costs, except
cleaning, of course. It should last you a lifetime.”
By
leaving no excuse for your employees to call in sick or
bruised, you stand to recoup your investment in less than
a year. “In the office we keep those pepped vitamins, you
know, the ones that wire you out, so I guess we’re pretty
much open to anything,” says Doyle. “I’d put my DJs into
an oxygen tank beforehand, because after the gig I’ll just
let them go home and go to bed...But if I could spend several
grand to throw them in an oxygen tank and wire them out,
I’d do it.”
Says
Paradise Mike: “If it’s good enough for Michael Jackson,
it’s good enough for my DJs.”
If
you have any questions for TCB, please write to
DJ
Times c/o TCB,
25 Willowdale Ave.
Port Washington, N.Y., 11050
fax 516-944-8372
e-mail djtimes@testa.com.
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