Groundhog Day!
To borrow context from the immortalized 1993 movie featuring Bill Murray...
Wake up, clean up, get dressed, caffeinate, log on, breakfast, lunch, dinner, log off, go to bed.
Wake up, clean up, get dressed, caffeinate, log on, breakfast, lunch, dinner, log off, go to bed.
Wake up, clean up, get dressed, caffeinate, log on, breakfast, lunch, dinner, log off, go to bed.
All from the comfort of home...
over and over and over and over and over and over...
I remember back in December 2019 looking at our future bookings and thinking we are poised to turn the corner and have the best year so far as an entertainment business in 2020. With expansion seemingly unavoidable due to growth, the future's so bright I gotta wear shades!
AND THEN...
Fast forward a couple of months and what was elation turned into apprehension. Mentions of Wuhan virus, COVID-19, horseshoe bats, and other terms start making the news. Before you know it we're in lock down with a new norm of social distancing and shelter-in-place. What was a booming economy comes to a screeching halt, and with it the weddings and events industry suddenly finds itself without an audience. Unfortunately for us biologically vulnerable walking sacks of water, something that is 0.125 microns has proven to be a formidable foe.
In The Mean Time
So here we are, doing our part to isolate and contain. The good news is future bookings haven't slowed, the bad news is all current gatherings have been cancelled or rescheduled, leaving us with an inordinate amount of time on our hands. So what is one to do? It's definitely not time to throw in the towel and scream the sky is falling, resilience my friends, resilience. Now granted we are among those who have essentially had their livelihoods turned upside down financially, which presents a different set of issues. Fortunately we are in a decent position on that front. We're trying to see the silver lining despite the cloud being an enormous uncertainty.
We belong to a couple of national organizations for collaborating, networking, and educating. International Live Events Association (ILEA) and National Association for Catering & Events (NACE).
These associations are made up of professionals that have been there and done that. As one who doesn't enjoy reinventing the wheel, polishing the rims doesn't seem so bad. Early on we made a point to takeaway and apply at least one thing learned from each monthly seminar and/or guest speaker. During shelter-in-place we've made a few changes that align with the takeaways. Whether it's a change to our website making it more friendly and intuitive, reviewing our contracts for situational relevance, joining other groups for best practices, or learning new technologies that make it easier to do business over distance and time constraints - each change has made a measurable difference.
We all talk about having an open door policy, but is that door open with a 6 inch crack of light shining through, or is it off the hinges with a new puppy sitting on the welcome rug saying come on in!
Can't Stop the Beat
In addition to honing the business end of things, we haven't forgotten what's gotten us here. A DJ cannot walk away for an extended period of time and then just knock off the rust and go again. We're practicing, learning new techniques, acquiring new music, and even live streaming from time to time to make certain that once the orders are lifted and events can happen again we can hit the ground running. I expect that there will be an onslaught of post-viral parties, cookouts, make-up proms, and seeing how our calendars are filling up, Sunday and Friday rescheduled weddings on top of the previous booked Saturday ones. It will be a time of toiletries a plenty and empty beer coolers.
Reminiscing
Seems like so long ago...
A few snaps from gigs gone by.
Credit: Timmester Photography and Photos by Clay