There are tons of components that go into a successful event. Some of these are within in your control as a DJ, while others are not. I am going to explain what aspects of this event went well and how it contributed to the over all success of the event, but first some background.

The event was held at The College at Brockport, a State College in Western New York. It was put on by two student organizations. The First is called Late Night with Ellsworth. This organization plans events and programs every Friday and Saturday night of the semester. This group offers funding to other student organizations to put on events as well. The second organization was called DCSA, Delta College Student Association. This is a academic student organization.

Here is what they brought to the table that helped:

1.) Reputation: DCSA had put on events in the past that been successful.

2.) Advertising: DCSA used 2 different flyers before and after mid-semester break promoting the program. This helped spark buzz and continued it through the semester.

3.) Reach: Late Night with Ellsworth has been established for 2 years on the campus and has many students subscribed to their facebook page. This also helped with getting the word out.

4.) Promotion: DCSA also did a mask making event the night before the event in every freshmen hall. They Promoted the event to the specific target audience that would most likely attend the event.

5.) Timing: The event was held on the last Friday night of the semester. This was a perfect time to hold an end of the year formal.

These were contributing factors leading up to the event. Now Here is what I did to help with their success.

1.) Communication: The night before the event I met with the clients at the venue and we discussed several details. We agreed upon the best location for myself to set up. This area gave us the biggest dance space as well as complementing other activities going on that evening.

2.) Map: The clients and myself mapped out a general timeline for the event. This gave us some structure to follow but we were open for adjustments on the fly.

3.) Don’t Hold Back: This is in regards to music. I typically try to keep a few big hits in the bank, just in case people leave the dance floor. This time I did not do this. I used every popular song I could find in my library that fit in the appropriate time slot. It not only kept people dancing but, people applauded after songs.

In the end, it is hard to pin one specific aspect of any event that makes it a “hit”, but these factors definitely contributed. I think the combinations of the things listed above and a little prayer made this event such a success.

*UPDATE*

Here is a highlight video I put together to give you a taste of the event. The quality of the video is very low due to the low lighting and quality of the camerae. The audio was inaudible so I replaced it with music made from garageband.