Event Production

When planning an inflatable toy party or Company picnic a few things to keep in mind.

1. What age group are you planning on entertaining?
   1. Younger children under 5, Older children between 8 and 12, teenage, or adult
      1. This is crucial to the success of the party. Children under 5 cannot typically understand what to do or where to go in an obstacle course. But they can understand jumping up and down in a Jump house or sliding down a slide. Teenage kids like interactive and stratagem. Adults over 30 like to think they are still capable of competing with the teenage group. Obstacles and mechanical bulls are favorites.
   2.   How many participants will be in attendance?
      1. This is a common mistake. If you plan on having inflatable toys, make sure you have enough to fit your crowd size. If you have one or two jump toys and 300 kids, you will do more harm than good. Lines will be long and parents will be annoyed.
      2. Rule of thumb: 30 participants = 1 inflatable toy minimum. My suggestion is to have at least two. One for older kids and one for the younger. If you only do jump houses, the older kids will be bored. So make sure you have variety.
   3. Reputable company
      1. Consider the following suggestions and questions
         1. How long have they been in business?
         2. Do they staff the event?
            1. Insurance companies will not cover a claim if staff is not present!
            2. Trained and experienced staff help you manage your event. They make sure kids are safe.
         3. Do they carry worker’s compensation for their staff?
            1. May not seem important until a worker is hurt at your event. Liability could fall back on you.
         4. Do they anchor down their toys?
            1. Weights, stakes, sand or water bags are crucial especially for outdoor events. Wind is always a factor and come with no notice at all.
         5. Do they have a list of rules and guidelines?
            1. Rules and guidelines are there for safety. While sometimes rules can be annoying, rules keep kids safe. It is crucial that the company you choose to hire, have a set of rules or stands by the rules they have in place. Rules may consist of height restrictions or no flipping etc. on toys?!
         6. Do they clean their toys?
         7. Are their toys made in the USA?
            1. The USA made toys are typically more durable and will withstand more abuse, especially when adults are participating. Toys purchased from local chain stores are not industrial made. China made toys are not as durable. This is important. Toys that are not as durable can have more problems. Problems can cause injury.
         8. Pricing
            1. Keep in mind:
               1. Lower prices typically mean…
                  1. The company does not deliver, or deliver and will not stay.
                  2. The company does not have insurance
                  3. The company buys china made toys
                  4. The company does not staff their events
                  5. Less experience
               2. Higher prices
                  1. Staff
                  2. Workers Comp
                  3. Insurance costs
                  4. Delivery costs
                  5. USA made toys
                  6. They Run a business not a hobby
               3. Weather
                  1. This is Crucial when planning your event
                     1. Wind is the most important.
                        1. On a windy or even breezy day, there is always gusts of wind. The Gusts of wind are dangerous. Typical rule of thumb breezy conditions 15 to 20 mph is taking a chance. Anything over 20, toys should be moved inside and cancelled. Toys inflated are like giant balloons and are easily moved.
                     2. Anchoring toys with stakes and weights are important.
                        1. We suggest anchoring them to something larger like trees or poles. Especially of the direction that the wind is blowing from.
                     3. Rain is not as crucial however the kids playing on a wet toy can be dangerous.
                     4. 80 plus degree days and Sun.
                        1. The material can get hot very quickly. Try to set the toys up in the shade. Try too judge where the shade may be in the hottest part of the day. We encourage kids of wear pants and socks.
                     5. Marketing
                        1. When doing Customer Appreciation Events consider the following:
                           1. Make A Statement: “Go BIG or Go Home” Small jump houses are typical. I recommend something unique, something that grabs attention. Like a giant slide. A giant slide could be 20’ tall. Everyone will see it. This grabs attention to the drive by. You have a better chance of someone stopping. You will have more kids begging mom and dad to stop. Have the Jump House too, but do something that gets their attention!
                           2. Something interactive is good. The best time on a mechanical bull or the fasted time in an obstacle course. This is something you can advertise as well. Give away prizes or offer discounts.

1. This is a list of criteria we suggest for cutting the guess work out of finding the right DJ for your school. These are suggestions, some are more crucial than others.
   1. Price.  Most kids that call me only have one question, “What is your price?”. The Cheapest price doesn’t mean you are getting the right DJ for your school and neither does the most expensive one.  Furthermore, hiring a friend or a student just because can work against you. Remember your you are trying to gain trust from your student body. They may give you a few chances. The experience is crucial to the success. Don’t let the price be the deciding factor when hiring the right DJ! Check out our post on Experience and Budget for more tips.
   2. A DJ without a website does not take his business seriously. If they do have one take the time to see what it is they offer, what makes them unique, do they look legit? You need to be careful with this one. Sometimes DJs will post other people’s or other company’s events to look legit. Not only on a website but also on social media. A good website will tell you a lot about the company you are looking to hire. The vibe you get from a website could be the deciding factor on who to hire.
   3. Social Media. While Social media is important and a useful tool, it is not necessary. However, seeing personality or past events or seeing a DJ’s experience can come out on social media. An amount of follows or likes is not always a positive factor when looking at social media. An Instagram or Facebook account can pay for likes and follows. Most of these likes or follows come from bots. A good way to know is to look at their pics and posts. If the account you are looking at has 2000 plus followers and on average, the post likes are less then 20 on average you know that they do not have true popularity followers.
   4. Personal Experience. How long has the company they work for been in business? Let’s say a company has 10 years of experience. Cool, now follow that question up with how many events have you done this year?
   5. References – This a crucial step. Especially if they have never been to your school. I know that it is a pain however, the success of your dance depends on it. This needs the most recent dance they did. The reference needs to be the adviser of the school. The phone number needs to be for that school. If they give you a cell number, this could be to anyone. If the most recent dance was 6 months ago, red flag! This doesn’t mean they won’t do a good job, just that you are taking a bigger risk.
   6. Business or Hobby. While this is not crucial, but will say how serious is the person you are talking to. I think this is important to know a little about there company. Knowing the background of a company tells you how many corners they may cut. The corners they cut as a company, tells you they also may not care about the success or vision you have for you events. Some things your might keep in mind…
      1. Full time job or Hobby. A full time DJ can spend a lot more time perfecting his skill and the quality of their service. If the person has a separate full time job, perhaps the DJ thing is more of a hobby or a way to make a few hundred extra bucks. In other words, they may not be concerned with perfecting their service or the quality.
      2. Insurance. While some School districts require this, this is another way that a business shows how serious they are about not cutting corners. This includes liability as well as workers compensation insurance for their staff. If a speaker falls on someone or a DJ comes and get’s hurt on the schools premises, the responsibility could fall on the school even if it is not their fault.
      3. Do they use subcontractors for their DJs or employees? This is crucial. The person you talk to on the phone isn’t necessarily the person coming to your dance. They may use staff employees or subcontractors. You may trust the company you are talking to, BUT, if they use sub-contractors you have no idea who they are sending to your event and if they have the same values. An employee has rules and guidelines they follow. A company sending a contractor has no control on what that DJ does or doesn’t do. A question you may ask is: Are you the DJ? Is the DJ an employee of your company or is it someone you know?
      4. Trash Talk. If you find the DJ does more to put down other companies, this is a red flag. Look for things they may say what sets them apart. What makes them different. Typically, the trash talking DJ describes their own business when trash talking other DJs.
      5. Music. Finding out a brief description on music. Finding out what the DJ likes to play before you ask for specifics. If they play music that is similar to what your school likes is crucial. If your DJ says on the phone I play mostly Rap music, and if that is not in your schools’ best interest, perhaps look around a little bit more. Once you decide on a DJ, then be specific with your requests.
      6. Do they take Requests. While most DJs will say they take requests on the phone, This can be a important subject for a lot of schools. Check out our post on making requests for guidelines.
      7. Equipment. This shouldn’t be a focused conversation however, it is important that the DJ is bring quality equipment to your dance. Especially speakers and the way they play their music.
         1. Speaker brand is crucial to the quality and loudness at the dance. Professional Equipment also says that they take their business seriously. Commons brands that you should look for: JBL, EV, Mackie, Peavey. While there are more high-end speakers out there, these are the most commonly used. There are also many other brands that are less quality and will not provide the loudness you need to throw on a good experience at your school.
         2. Loudness As a general rule of thumb 15 watts per person is how much loudness you need when trying to have a great experience at your dances. If you have an average attendance of 300 at your dances, you should plan to have a speaker system that is around 3500 to 4500 watts. Any less then this and kids in the back of the room will complain that they can’t hear. This also forces kids to get closer to the front and closer together. Can the company you are looking to hire provide this or not?
         3. Music Mix. This is a crucial part of the experience! If a phone or an Ipod of a chord plugged directly into a computer is the way a DJ or teacher plays the music at your school, this is a red flag. Please hang up and call someone else. No matter how much you save, the amount of damage created by bad mixing can ruin the experience. A professional DJ will use a computer with a media player that mixes the music on the computer. Some commonly used brands of professional media players are: Denon, Pioneer, Numark, Roland. Just because they have professional equipment doesn’t mean that the dance will be a full proof success, but it is a positive step in the right direction.
      8. The Condensed List for qualities and or red flags to look for
         1. Price
         2. Website
         3. Experience as a DJ
         4. References from school advisers not students
         5. Employees rather than contractors
         6. Actual Business
         7. Has Insurance
         8. Professional Equipment
         9. Playing the music that fits your school
         10. Music Mixing
   7. Last but not least, don’t be afraid to ask tough questions. Price cannot be the only question you ask. Come up with a series of questions. Compare the answers you get to each DJ that you call.  Don’t hesitate to call us if you have any further questions.

1. How long does it take you to decorate your dance?
2. How much does it cost?
3. Is it really what you envisioned?
4. How long does it take to tear down and return borrowed items?

1. While Decorations can be very effective and awesome, it is very time consuming and very costly if you are trying to decorate an entire location.  A good investment might be white pipe and drape. It can be used over and over. You can also rent it.
2. With up-lighting you can Choose any color. Creates Variety.
3. Setup is easy and fast.
4. Production or rental company may do the work of setup and take down.
5. Great for entrances and dance floor rooms.
6. DMX Is a way for the lighting system to be synced with all of the up-lights used. It might cost a little more but imagine if all of the lights in the room changed colors or strobe to the beat of the music. It would be incredible!
7. For maximum effect, use a light every 10’ feet or highlight areas of importance. Start with corners, beams/columns in the room or between windows and doorways. 4 to 8 per wall might be another rule of thumb.
8. Colors set the mood. Sky’s the limit. School colors, black light, multi-color for more casual settings.
9. Little or no decorations needed. Adding some white pipe and drape can be a useful tool to hide or create a smaller intimate room size.

• Things to remember
  1. Up-lights do not light the room, they are there to:
     1. Decorate
     2. Accent
     3. Ambient light
     4. To provide some light to a dark room
     5. Provides enough light to see in a dark room for administration. Leaving some gym lights on can take some of the experience away.
  2. Up-lights are bright
     1. Do not place in high traffic or where kids could be blinded
     2. Do not place in the middle of the floor – tripping hazard
     3. Cables, extension cords must be taped down

1. Do’s and Don’ts. If you are wondering why your DJ will not play your requests? The following tips will help.
   1. Get a professional! An experienced DJ will know what to play in the moment and how to work in your requests.
   2. Keep your list to 5 or 10 most requested by the school not by your class or club. This way the DJ is confident in playing songs that the majority of the students want. Have a way that the student body can make requests. The most duplicated songs make the list.
   3. Don’t take a picture of the request list from someone’s notebook.
   4. Don’t text the list. Email the typed list.
   5. Don’t send just the song title or just the artist. Title and Artist.
   6. Kinds of music are helpful. Example: we like Rap or we like EDM music. If a specific ethnic music is requested like Latin or Spanish, or even Country music, don’t expect your DJ just to know what to play. If you want more or less Slow songs, Be specific! This will help songs you request get played.
   7. On the list make notes of why or when you want certain songs played, like this is the Senior Song etc. For older songs or songs that are not popular mainstream, there needs to be a reason why you want that particular song. Otherwise it may not get played!
   8. Make Sure the songs you request’s are dance-able! This is crucial! There a lot of great songs out there that are great for the car but not on the dance floor.
   9. Random Songs: These are songs that are older or not mainstream or not popular. If the mainstream is rap and edm and you requests a random rock song from the 90’s, it may not get played.
   10. Songs must be clean or have clean versions.
   11. Songs need to be able to be purchased, YouTube versions are illegal to download.
   12. You have to give the DJ time! You can’t expect the DJ to find all of your music in a 24 hour period. Give them a week’s notice.
   13. If your DJ is still not playing your requests after following these guidelines, don’t be afraid to ask the DJ why? There could be a valid reason! If the DJ just chose not to or doesn’t have a valid reason, time to find a New DJ!

1. Bring 2019 in with a Bang!
2. 50% off only in the month of January
3. 50% of this – Mechanical Bull
4. 50% off this – Inflatable Toys
5. 50% off this – DJ Packages
6. 50% off this – Photo Booth

1. Minimum $500 – Anything $1000 or more is 50% off.
2. Event must land in the month of January 2019
3. Excluding Sundays
4. Example: All night Party Package: 6 inflatable toys, Guitar hero System with giant screen, Interactive DJ with games and contests, Mechanical Bull and Redneck games, photo booth, 5 hours. Cost: $3400 January Special: $1700
5. Example: Club XOC DJ Package with Center Floor DJ, 3 giant video screens, synchronized Lighting, 11,000 watts of sound Cost $3000 January Special $1500
6. Example: G-2 DJ Package with a Photo Booth Cost $1300 January Special $650
7. Travel Fee may apply.

Customize your January party today!

1. When you are Consistent you gain the TRUST of your Student Body. As you gain trust that the Experience will be good every time, attendance goes up.
2. If profit is your only concern, you cut corners to make more profit. You cut the experience out. You lose the trust and the attendance goes down. You might make more at first, over time you will lose all that you made extra.
3. The Experience has to be consistent every dance! If you have a dance that is not well attended, it is because the students don’t feel the experience will be worth their time and money!
4. Your Budget has to be consistent every dance! See our post on budget to learn tips and tricks
5. Your marketing has to be consistent. Don’t assume that everyone will hear about it.

Idaho Association of Student Councils

Conferences are the perfect place to network with other local councils, find new ideas to implement, and get inspired!

1. 800 plus in attendance – Councils from all  Idaho.
2. Strengthen your council through bonding and Service.
3. Leadership training
4. Interactive breakouts
5. Professional Keynote Speakers
6. Amazing Entertainment and fun
7. Get to know other leaders from all parts of Idaho
8. Create Life Long Memories

Register Today… https://sites.google.com/view/idahostuco/home?authuser=0

1. Drive and Exotic Car 15 minutes = $500
2. Skydive 6 minutes = $200
3. Twenty One Pilots: 2 to 3 hours, 1 person, $188 to $285, travel expenses not included
4. Movie: 2 hours, 2 people, 2 Drinks, Popcorn: Average $43
5. Average Homecoming: 2 people, 3 hours $20 to $40 No Pictures

1. Kids are willing to spend the money for an awesome experience!
   1. Kids are will to spend $43 to go to the movies and even more to go to a concert. Kids are will be willing to spend a little more for dances if the experience is worth the money.
   2. Question: What is the experience like at your School Dances? How early do kids leave at your school dances? Do kids complain about the DJ or the music? What is your Attendance?
2. A few tips on your dances:
   1. Set the tone for year with Homecoming
   2. From Homecoming be consistent with all your dances, not just prom!
   3. The Music Experience must be amazing for the majority of the attendees
   4. First Impression, decorations need to be focused on the entrance
   5. DJ should be a professional! One that your students already know is helpful especially homecoming.
   6. The DJ setup should be above average
   7. Set an appropriate Budget!
3. Improve the Experience = Better Attendance
   1. Be Patient, better attendance will come. it might take a few dances. kids need to see that you are serious about changing the experience!

When you look at this Experience, What do you see?

1. Can you see the decorations?
2. Does it seem well attended?
3. Is it worth spending a little more?

Check out other posts to improve the experience