A lesson learned.
I got schooled by some high school students on the value of crape paper and confetti.
I received a phone call from a high school looking for a DJ for their Prom. It is a small school in southern Minnesota that my wife’s nephew is a student of.
The teacher who has been the faculty member in charge of the Prom dance for many years gave me a call because I was highly recommended by many of the students who would be attending the event.
Several of the students and their parents had previously attended my wife’s nephew’s 16th birthday party that I entertained at earlier in the year.
The young folks had a great time and they actually surprised the parents in attendance because the kids danced all night and participated in the games.
I received a thank you note that read the teens wanted me to be their DJ for their prom because the other DJs in the past all “sucked”
As we spoke of their entertainment needs I found that it would be a much easier event to host then most Proms due to the teacher’s previous work and planning. I would have less pre-planning and pre-event preparation needed to handle the affair.
Because of this and the fact it was for my wife’s nephew’s school I offered my services at a slightly discounted rate.
I could hear the audible gasp on the other end of the line. Even with the discount I was more than twice the rate of the DJ who preformed last year and that I would be charging one third of the total prom budget.
Being that she was an intelligent school teacher I tried to logically explain my rates, how the students would not be disappointed and the school would not be unhappy with my performance as they are with the DJ last year.
She said she would have to take my rate back to the students on the planning committee and get their approval for my performance.
I hung up the phone feeling pretty confident that with those students having experienced my past work, would agree that I was worth the price I was charging.
When the teacher and I talked a week later I found that I got schooled by the female students on their perceived value of a DJ vs. crape paper and confetti.
It seems that much like a Wedding, the females of the planning committee make all the rules and all the decisions.
They decided it was much more important to have the hall, the ladies bathrooms and the table tops decorated pretty then the importance of having a quality professional entertainer to make their evening fun and memorable.
I tried to convince this teacher that she should inform the girls that although the bathrooms would look pretty, it didn’t have any effect on the overall success of the evening.
I tried to convince her that she should inform the girls on the importance of the entertainment when compared to crape paper, confetti or wall decorations but there was no changing her mind. This was what the girls wanted and this is what the girls will get.
It is unfortunate that the school didn’t use their influence as a learning experience and teach these kids about quality, service, value and worth.
I can’t help but think that if they did teach these important values and life lessons in school then there would be less disappointed Brides & Grooms who didn’t know the difference between a quality entertainer and the DJ that “Sucked”.
These DJs are typically their first and only experience with entertainers prior to their wedding day so when they hear of the higher, professional rates that many of us charge for quality entertainment, they automatically think back to that bad DJ at the school dance and automatically think that no DJ is worth that kind of money.
It’s a major catch 22.
The School doesn’t want to pay for quality entertainment because of the lack of students participating in the dances.
The students don’t go to the dance because they didn’t like the entertainment.
The DJs doing high school dances are the low priced, less experienced and less qualified entertainers who don’t know how to keep the students happy.
It’s an endless loop that gets worse and worse every year.
Jeff Richards: Party Time Productions