Looking for a DJ in Florida? Read some of my favorite events and call us today at 1-877-994-4200 to get a great DJ for YOUR party!
80% of my 2009 events are summarized here…. unfortunately a couple videos didn’t make it because 1) dumb hard drive deleted them 2) I didn’t film for privacy reasons.
Videos were done in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. 
Check it out!
No video on this one, as my camera’s settings were bad and it looked really dark, although it was very bright!
This is such a great school to work with! The principal and SRO joined in on an old school dance off to “It’s Tricky.” Click below to check some photos out!
WOW! This setup was wide, wide enough that even I wasn’t too sure how we’d make it fit– but sure enough we did!
The theme was Night in Atlantis, so with a custom logo was made for them by yours truly.
Our uplights added just the right colors and shadows arounds around the décor as special effects lighting created a “water reflection” along the walls. Two 14′ wide screens showed music videos and live video as a the center screen, 17.5′ wide, showed a giant aquarium.
Oh yeah, and we brought out massive light and sound show– but that’s how we do when we have 1100+ students!
Alex Gilliard and Tim Hicklin (Storybook Weddings) graciously tagged along to shoot some great footage. Tim shot the setup and Alex took photos of the dance itself. Any sub-par video was shot by our Flip as Tim wasn’t there for the dance itself. Tim drove all the way from Lakeland and Alex came in right after a wedding in Wauchula (over 2 hours away). These vendors are dedicated to their work and I appreciate all their help!
Check out the photos and videos below.. they’re all worth watching. My wife took the first two photos and shot the last video. I edited all the videos, so don’t blame Tim for my sub-par editing job on this one! lol
AHHH!! Could dances get any better? We had SO many kids pile up in the front of the dance floor. Every song I played was greeted with enthusiasm.. especially the old school hit, Hypnotize by Biggie! The Video Explosion Lite was a huge hit with the students!
Watch this video to see why they call me The Crunk Speciali$t!
Package chosen: Video Explosion Lite, Uplights, Live Video, Glowsticks
I do this school in Orlando/St. Cloud every year and they never cease to amaze me! What a great crowd! What makes this school a lil’ different is that there’s VERY LITTLE rap requested. We got lots of requests for techno, pop, some oldies, and any rap requested was faster stuff… none of that 70BPMS crap!
What made this school even better? 2000 Glowsticks were ordered. 2000!!!!! Check out some amazing video footage and photos below!
Package chosen: Video Explosion+, Uplights, Live Video, 2000 Glowstick Toss
In all our years in the school business, this is the first time a real homecoming theme has been set. What do I mean by real theme? I mean that the theme was “Go Blue & Orange” (the school colors). Homecoming is about the football team, and many lost sight of it. Hardee High School celebrated their theme college-style!
My fear this week was my health… I came down with the impeding signs of a nasty flu on THURSDAY– OH NO! With some Vitamin C, a little medicine (which I never take), and God’s gift of the best immune system one could ask for, I pulled everything off. Had it not been for the extra hard work, I am sure I’d be 100% by now, but it was all worth it!
Jamie, the teacher in charge, and her husband provided Amanda (my light tech) and I with a delicious lunch of Subway (I had a Philly Cheesesteak..mmm) and cookies. A cooler with drinks was provided for us behind the stage. I love Hardee, they ALWAYS treat me like family!!!! Could I ask for any better?
The crowd was amazing: students screamed to every song played, teachers danced, and we got lots of compliments. We also brought 2000 glowsticks! A big thanks to Derek (video and assist. DJ) and Amanda (Light Tech)!
….and a HUGE thanks to Alex Gilliard. He teamed up with us and shot some AMAZING photos! His work blew me away!! Check some of my faves out below along with a YouTube video!
Homecoming and proms have become a more elaborate affair ever year. Extravagant venues, Hollywood-quality décor, and even 5-star food can be seen at many of these dances. Unfortunately the cause of the dancing, the DJ, sets up a tacky 2 speaker system and a small tree with a light show that was decent back in the mid-90s.
Ouch. What an eyesore.
It’s not the school’s fault– after all, DJs are all the same, right?
Often, I’ve talked to too many schools that have hired a DJ who charges $300 – 500 because he’s a former student, teacher, or does it on the “side.”
But what else is out there? What if there’s a DJ company that does more than just send a random DJ with a Top40 list, pushing buttons, and telling students to wave their hands in the air like they just don’t care??
There is, and we won’t raise our hands because we DO care.
School Entertainment companies are a rare gem. Many DJs specialize in weddings, schools, corporate events, and backyard parties. There is nothing wrong with this, but the school business is a completely different animal than weddings. Our companies does all these events, but we have a dedicated staff that handles nothing BUT school dances. 4 Schools Only has a different structure than our wedding sector does.
School Entertainment Companies deal strictly with schools. We work daily with many issues that only a school dance can bring in: Appropriate dancing, music mediating between students and administrators, making the best out of available power, but most importantly, being 100% the success of your school dance!
100% I said.
Food, venue, & décor IS important, don’t get me wrong, and I won’t deviate from that point. These items are important to set the mood of the dance. If the right vendors are hired, then you’ve achieved success in setting the right mood. The proper entertainment will take that achieved ambience into the next level.
Use this for an example. If the DJ didn’t show up, would the dance be successful? The mood is set thanks to the right vendors, but now what will students do? No DJ means no dancing. No dancing means no one stays. No one stays means no food is eaten, décor and venue layout are not enjoyed.
If the DJ shows up but is AWFUL, or his equipment trips the breakers continuously– what percentage of success for the dance itself did he/she achieve?
But what if the right DJ shows up? Great setup, great sound, beautiful lightshow– and the right crew to make everything work! Students dance the entire night, eat ALL the food, take lots of photos with the décor and thank the venue staff and administrators for a job well done. The next day, the dance is the talk around school and ticket sales for next year look to be bigger than this one!
What percentage of success would you place on the aforementioned scenario?
I had a great chat with another DJ company who was asked if they can do a school dance for $395. When asked how the school chose that price, they told the DJ that’s what the other DJ charges.
Great! If they like that DJ and he’s $395, why keep calling? The school told him that the other DJ doesn’t have the equipment to pull off a dance of more than 100 kids.
So what is a dedicated school entertainment company worth? The truth is in the numbers. Let’s take a look:
Here’s a cost breakdown for a small DJ package that can handle around 500 kids.
Keep in mind, I didn’t add in gas, $2 million insurance policy and other business expenses, a computer (most DJs spin MP3s with a digital controller that works just like a CD player/turntables).
That’s $9080. All rental companies charge at least 10% of cost. This means that to rent out this system at 10% it would be $900. In the last three years this number has averaged to about 20%. We’ll stick with a low 10%.
What does this conclude of our $395 DJ?
$900 is $505 more than $395. This means the DJ either 1) values his skills at NEGATIVE $505 or 2) He’s bringing out low-grade equipment that won’t serve justice to the students.
Not to mention it’s not possible to run a business and provide effective equipment and service at $395. Even if they were booked 52 days of the year, that’s $20,000…. Barely double of what it costs to purchase the equipment, not including the costs of running a business itself.
Here’s something to think about: the numbers I gave you are for lower/middle-end equipment. Most school companies bring out a much more sophisticated system. We also didn’t talk about special effects, large video screens, or other add-ons.
Think back on the scenarios I gave you on the success of the dance. Is that success worth more than $395? Talent should be worth more than that if the dance depends on it.
You’ll see numbers from $1500 for a small setup to $20,000 for a large setup. A few companies, such as ours, can even bring celebrity performances to your school.
We’ve talked equipment, but what about service? A school company brings the following talent:
1) DJ / MC Hypeman who knows the music on a daily basis
2) CUSTOM edited music library. FCC standards are NOT school standards. A proper DJ will remove the 4 words that the radio plays that do NOT belong in a school dance.
3) Jessica Lunsford certified. This is a level-2 background check for the DJ that is REQUIRED by the state of Florida.
4) $2 million insurance policy.
5) Proper knowledge of electricity. You want to maximize the use of each outlet (power drops are not cheap) while leaving headroom in case of an insurge. Having everything shut off in the middle of the dance is not a good thing!
6) Marketing! The company should provide custom commercials / audio drops / lunch “jam” sessions to promote the dance!
7) A limit! Every school is different and at some point the DJ setup can be too much or not enough. The right team should be able to design a setup to fit your needs 100%. Overkill does nothing for the dance except pull away from it!
So where do you start? Research DJs, or many will attempt to call or email you. The first question you ask should be: Are you a dedicated school company?
If the answer’s yes, invite them in for an audition/consultation. If they insist on doing this over the phone, move on to the next company. Dedicated means they have a person/crew who will handle your event at your comfort level and schedule.
In conclusion, these dances need to be treated as a business. Whether or not they are fundraises, you want to be in the black, not the red. A “$395 DJ” cannot bring in the excitement via service AND equipment to make students say “I WANNA COME BACK NEXT YEAR!” There are competing schools, many on the same date, that want the same business you want; keep in mind that students will attend each other’s dances. When a rival school has a dance on the same date, you want your students and their dates to attend your dance.
How will YOUR next dance be the best?
This is APE – Pro!’s second year doing a turnkey solution for JW Mitchell High’s awards ceremony titled Night of Excellence. This time we brought out the 14′ screen instead of the 20′ screen for space reasons.
Check out some sweet photos and a quick video clip below!
Package Chosen: Keynote System – Medium
The 4SO and Thrill Da Playa & HB Fraternity tour continues onto Cypress Creek High’s “I Promised You the Stars” Prom 2009 hosted at the Wyndham Palace in Orlando, Florida.
After speaking with the SGA about their concerns with their last DJ and dance, I knew we had the perfect recipe to take it to the next level. Adding Thrill da Playa from world-famous group 69 Boyz was the extra special ingredient that really stirred the night. (You can tell I’m hungry as I write this, lol)
The setup was beautiful and was going to utilize our dry ice “dance on the clouds” system with our starfield laser (the original Blisslight, not a cheap knockoff laser). However, complications with acquiring a fire permit would not allow the use of that. CCHS was not worried, they knew that we would still deliver an amazing light show without haze and help carry their theme without the dry ice.
That we did!! We worked our butts off to make sure every corner of that room was lit! Even if all the lights went off, we had enough black lights to illuminate every part of the ballroom. It looked great!
Dinner was fun as we entertained the students using a very customized playlist and entertainment “secrets” we use to keep everyone on their toes. You’ll see in the first video how loud the room got when we announced that it was time to dance.
A mostly Hispanic school, we played reggaeton, Salsa, Merengue, and sprinkled in a few bachatas. We didn’t deny the large Jamaican population as we played smash hits like Dutty Wine, Signal Di Plane, Follow Di Leader, and my personal favorite: Welcome to Jamrock.
A surprising big hit of the night was *N Sync’s Bye Bye Bye. Don’t believe me? Check out the YouTube video!
This was my last prom for 2009, but the 4SO tour continues on to many other schools.
So click below and see all the photos we took as well as some video highlights. They’re short videos!
Hardee was real special this year… why? Because this was the senior prom for one of our very own: Derek! Alonso and I tore it up on the dance floor, playing all the big hits as well as classic throwbacks. This is the only school that requests Cumbia so I got to play a few smash hits including my personal favorite, Kumbia Kings.
This was done at the Wauchula Civic Center. The decorations (which were stunning) were done by the students, parents, and faculty.
It was a slow start, like last year, but once they were in it was blown out of proportions. The haze really made the lasers pop.
Check out the video and leave a comment!!!
