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Sween
02-23-2012, 04:08 PM
Okay... so anyone who has ever called me for a prom has went elsewhere. I have yet to get one. Why? Well it seems that every school has someone on the board who "knows" someone... And I also don't think they liked my realistic prices.

Well... this year I know someone on the board of a large school district. The person in charge. She used to be a good friend... Now I only see her occasionally through another friend. Well she just contacted me for pricing...

I'd like to get this. But not going to sell myself short. I don't know the details yet... and so my response to her was more asking for details than an actual quote. I'd like to be reasonable enough to get my foot in the door... and not to piss off a friend... but let's face it a prom has gotta be worth at least $2-3k to "do it right"... right???

So I figured I'd post here before I quote...

What are you guys doing for proms? On the big end AND the small end... Setups? Prices? Lighting?

Setups for 1000 kids in a gym... OR for 300 kids in a wedding hall...

Dix
02-23-2012, 04:18 PM
Sween, as you know, I stopped doing kids events including school events several years ago. However, the experience that I found in my area is, schools seem to contact every DJ they can find... every year. They check prices, period. They are on a low budget for events like this & are forced to take best price available. Seriously, seldom will a school around here keep a DJ because he is good or easy to work with etc. They check with every DJ.. every year. Simply checking price.

I got a call from private school in a nearby town a few days ago wanting a price. I told them that my minimum rates are $100 per hour with a three hour minimum then she was insistent about any other DJ's that I know that she could call.

This prom was to be in a barn about 10 miles away from the school.

LiteTrix
02-23-2012, 04:23 PM
Within the last few years I've seen proms costing around the 4k-5k mark. Those are proms that were pretty good. The more money the PTA and the student body raises for their prom, the more money that is likely to be spent on it.

I provided lighting for a few proms last year and just to give you some figures, one of them charged $1500 and the other charge $1200.


How many people are going to be at this prom?

danthedj
02-23-2012, 05:56 PM
It all depends. We spent $1-2k on our DJ for a 4hr prom in a banquet hall last year. Plasma Screens, Full Lighting setup, REAL DJ (had turntables and serato) etc.

Turned out to be a really decent DJ. We had a very diverse class and the DJ did a great job of making everyone happy without pissing anyone else off.

Overall a great success. AND DEFINITELY not the cheapest DJ that we called.

Sween
02-24-2012, 07:31 AM
I told her we're talking anywhere from $1000 to $4000 depending on what they want... Not even sure how many kids... but it's a big school so I'm thinking $2-3k is their likely budget.

$4000 for a gym and would mean getting together with another local guy and doing it big with projection screens and a 26 foot truss, 3 or 4 1500W subwoofers, and multiple tops (possibly small array), etc...

$1000 for just me in a banquet hall with a few lights...

Nick_EventPro
02-24-2012, 09:50 AM
Sween, you're on base with the pricing, and some schools CAN and WILL pay those rates.

I just sold a $6,800 package to a school to do their sr. prom in May.

It included, for 750 kids:

Flown JBL VRX system (6 over 6)
2 PRX 612m for monitors
Main stage risers
30 ft. truss on applied l-16's
47in. led panel for video mixing
2 10ft. truss totems for the rear of the room
16 puck q6a for uplighting around the room
4 movers, 2 beam fixtures
2 lasers
6 1w led stage bars for strobe, wash, effects whatever
radiance hazer
Video DJ
Light Jockey for full DMX lightshow

I'll probably tweak this a bit and might include a few extras but overall you get the idea of what's going to happen here.

Adam B
02-24-2012, 04:54 PM
I often wonder about this as well. I agree with you Sween that you may need to know someone to get into a school. I got refered to a school from a lady that was in charge of a wedding hall. She was also part head of the student council at the school which got my foot in the door to my first school. I have done 2 dances for them, and I like doing those better than weddings. To get my foot in the door, I did their homecoming for $1000 which I thought was dirt cheap "900 kids" and I brought a very nice set up, Martin Kryptons, large QSC speaker setup, music vids, etc... I didn't know what to ask because I have never done a school before. After doing the dance, I thought I did it way too cheap after seeing the amount of kids, oh well, live and learn.

They wanted me back for their winter formal and I squeezed $1300 out of them which only had about 350 kids. I brought a slightly better set up this time. 6 QSC HPR Subs, 4 QSC HPR Tops, Lasers, Martin heads, etc... They already booked me for their next year homecoming. I would like to up the prices more, but don't want to push them away. She says their Homecoming has way more money, so I would like to try and get more for next year, we havn't signed a contract yet, just a verbal agreement which i am not worried. I will take care of it soon, lol. She said the kids had such a great time, they have never had anything like that before "set up wise", Milwaukee has some pretty week set ups. They can't wait for the next dance. Between Homecoming and their winter formal, they wanted to have another dance last Dec. I asked her about Prom, she said that the student council isn't in charge of prom, the junior class was. They never did contact me, but I know they were very happy with the end results of their dances. No biggie, but I would like to do it, and I often wondered what their budget is for a DJ. What dance has the biggest budget, etc...

I honestly feel in my area, I should be getting 2-3000 for a larger dance with what I bring, but am in the same boat as you Sween. I want to get into more schools, try getting into PROM, I do feel there is money there! I know every market is different though. My market is flooded with corn balls with terrible equipment if you know what I mean, they will do it for cheap. But when a school lsees something different, they will pay and stick with you I feel.

Adam

GaFFLe
02-24-2012, 05:25 PM
Hats off to you multi-thou$and dollar DJ's. I still have yet to land a $1k+ gig. I've come close. I can at least deliver them a top notch sound system. No video. Don't think I'll ever go that route unless it lands in my lap.

Adam B
02-24-2012, 05:37 PM
BTW, Nice job Nick, thats the way to do it. :tup: I am embarrassed to comment on what I made compared to you :lol: I am working on it. Nick, I bet you will be back too when they see what you offer.

Gaffle, every market is different, and the dollar is different throughout the states as well. I keep hearing from everyone I should work my way down to Chicago for more moola. They say it is night and day between Chi-town and Milwaukee's market, which I believe. What I get in Milwaukee I could probably add on almost half for down there. That is talking about Weddings, I'm sure schools are the same. I know there is some huge companies down there like BOOM Entertainment, check them out on you tube, they are impressive!

Adam

Sween
02-29-2012, 10:07 AM
Okay... So I was way off on the "budget"... She got back to me with $800-$900 budget which to me is facking absurd for a prom with over 500 kids. And this is from a friend, so tough situation.

Not to mention the fact I have a giant wedding booked the day before and so we're talking about a tiring back-to-back weekend. Yeah, 2 of my only 4 solid events scheduled for 2013 are back-to-backs!

Good thing... it's in a banquet hall, not a gym. So I can probably get away with a large "wedding" setup and my larger lighting package.

Bad thing... Even for a wedding I would charge more than $800-$900 for that setup.

She's a friend though... I know I'm gonna end up doing it and being a whore... I just feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

What I will not do is give a substandard performance or setup just to meet their price...

Nick_EventPro
02-29-2012, 11:08 AM
Given that, here's how I'd approach it...

Are you confident that the setup you'd bring will blow them out of the water? (Or at least be a significant improvement over any DJ they've had in the past?)

If so, I'd play it like this...

Tell them that you're going to discount your package heavily because this is the first time you've worked with them and you want to EARN their business. (not because she's a friend) Explain that what you plan to do for them is far superior to what you're going to find in the area in terms of DJs and say that you usually sell this package for $3,000. Say that you'll only give them this deep of a discount once, and explain that they CAN afford it if they are selling tickets to the dance. (500 kids at just $5 a ticket is $2,500) Then say that because you are giving them a one time discount that unfortunately future events you wont be able to discount as heavily. (That's important because it implies you're still going to give a discount in the future) Then say, that because you're going to hook them up and you're giving them such a huge discount you need them to do something for you... "I need you to stretch your budget by just $100. I'm doing my absolute best for you here, get me to that $1,000 mark and help me cover my expenses on this one. That's the only way I can afford to get you this deal." (If you feel comfortable you can ask for another 2-300 that way you'll walk home with 1k in hand after expenses.)

As long as you put on a good show, if they don't use you in the future and go for another cheap DJ without giving you a real crack at future events, your friend is not a friend and is just straight up using you.

DJMC
02-29-2012, 11:45 AM
Ah -- Sween sounds like MOI -- 20 years ago.

Been there done that --

Listen to Nick (repped) -- he saved me lots of typing! Particularly the last paragraph (above)

In my world --$1k is a very reasonable price for 500 kids WITH NO LIGHTS. I would bring two powered 18s'.

However, if it was someone who's a friend or acquiantance -- I'd throw in Lights on a Friday, "basic dance lighting" (4-5 sound activated ADJ or Chauvet fixtures, thrown on a table).

Sween
02-29-2012, 12:28 PM
Nick, I think you hit the nail on the head.

It is more or less what I was thinking (although I didn't want to really push the extra $100 or 2...) Blow them away. Let them know that I'm doing this for half (or less) of what I should really be charging. And get my foot in the door for the future. At that point I can work on increasing the budget.

I think the key here is that if they have been doing previous proms on a similar budget, it should be pretty easy to prove my worth.

As for the setup... I'm going to scope out the room, but I feel this will probably be a dual sub with maybe 4 tops splayed... and lighting will probably be 13 foot truss with some heads and scanners.

I'll have to think about pushing the budget, but I'm afraid cutting myself out for an extra $100 might not be worth it.

Nick_EventPro
02-29-2012, 01:43 PM
I hear ya... but that's negotiations.

Let's pull emotion out of this and think logically for a minute...

Most people are reasonable. (somewhat) Most people also generally have bigger tastes than budgets. If you are going to offer them such a fantastic deal that puts the champagne they want close to their beer budget, don't you think they will stretch? You're placing such a higher quality product in front of them at so close to what they want to spend (not even what they can afford) that they'd be stupid not to take it. It's like saying I have $10,000 to spend for a car. Everyone wants a BMW, but 10G's buys you a honda. That's just how life works. But what if I came along and made that BMW a possibility for $11,000? I'd bet my bottom dollar you'd find another grand- somewhere.

With any reasonable person, the worst that's going to happen is they are going to say, really, $900 is my cap I cant spend a dollar more. Then they are going to give you puppy eyes and wait because they WANT the BMW. Then you cave- you were going to do it anyway, but I bet you get more money instead. She's your friend! Again, if she just blows it off without giving you a shot to counter, she ISN'T your friend.

You've got to realize (and leverage) the power you hold. It may not seem like it but:
1. She's your friend so she has an affinity towards you.
2. Everyone wants the better quality option. You have it.
3. You're in reach- all your asking is for them to stretch just a little and they get the prize.

I'll leave you with the golden rule of negotiations- NEVER give anything without getting something in return.

Do this on every event throughout the year, and you might just put a couple extra grand in your pocket. ;)

Sween
02-29-2012, 01:49 PM
Nick. You're the man.

:tup:

Ntertainment
03-09-2012, 11:51 PM
Nick. Great advice. Sween i'm in the same boat. Proms around here want to pay about $600. Maybe you've seen my setup maybe you haven't but it isn't far from what you bring. I'm moving up to 4 moving heads. The only way i can keep doing this price is they agree to book more dances with me. And i do 5-6 proms a year. It's my slow season, almost no weddings so it helps to keep me busy.

I tell schools i can cut them a deal if they book us for 3 or more school dances. In the past my only expense was my time and with a lot of personal businesses, we under value our time. Well that's hurt me because schools have gotten used to paying the lower price and it's like pulling teeth to get an extra $50. I try to raise the price $50 every year, and they seem to be ok with it so far. I had one school so far not ask to have us back after last year, not sure why. I know there isn't any good djs around there. I think a lot of schools have the senior who wants to be a DJ, DJ there dance. We all know how that plays out!

An older DJ pointed out to me that when he was in highschool in the early 90s, schools were charging $5 per dance for kids to get in and now in 2012 they are still charging $5 per dance. When all expenses have gone up, the school dance has remained the same price, it's like the cheesburger at mcdonalds, how do they do it??

I think we need to educate schools that going with a bad dj or the senior DJ they are exposing themselves to possible lawsuites, liability and copyright. We also need to point out that to pay only $5 for anything buys you a cheap chinese made peice of crap. Education in the thing. I want to start marketing to schools going out and pursing them, because it's the off season around here. I would love to talk with student council and show them what we have to offer, and of course the advisor.

DJ Rob One
03-10-2012, 03:32 AM
My cousin works for the school district out here. He put me in contact with people from 3 different schools that organize dances. Before the school year started I talked to all of them and for regular dances they were hoping to book me for $150 an event. I can't even imagine how low they would try for a prom. Since then I don't really want any part of school dances.