‘Tis the season for parties! Nearly every office across the country is planning a holiday party. The entertainment at these parties is often dubious at best. It might be a co-worker who fancies himself a DJ. It might be a working, but very inexperienced, DJ who’s being paid what’s left of an already low budget. Whatever the case may be, there are lots of reasons why holiday office parties aren’t all that memorable … except for all the wrong reasons.
If you’ve been hired to DJ at one, you’re going to need to take the corporate environment into consideration. People at office parties take a long time to relax. Sometimes, they don’t relax at all. After all, it may be a party, but these people are all still at work, surrounded by their work mates and their bosses. How they might act at a club should be completely different than how they should act at an office party. So, if you’re waiting for everyone to stream onto the dance floor and let loose, you might be waiting a long time.
The type of music you play might be completely something out of your experience entirely. When you play a club, you can guess pretty accurately the age range and the music preferences of the people in the crowd. I mean, you’re just not going to find a country music-loving bunch at an EDM fest. The office party, however, is populated by an age range that can span 18 to 65. Those attending will be a mix of introverts, extroverts, political animals, networking professionals, and so on. Most people are there either because they feel they have to be, or because they want to mingle with the right people who can impact their careers. Although office parties are usually billed as opportunities to let loose, they really are anything but.
So, how does a DJ – hired or volunteer – handle those challenges? Let us know what tips you have from your own experience.
Check out Digital DJ Tips‘ approach to the situation here.
