Tips for Exchange-Creating Newbies

[Platypus]

Although many of the local crew here in Houston have participated in putting on large events, I am rather new at it. Given that I prefer to avoid chaos whenever possible, I figured that asking y'all for tips might be a great idea. I don't think we have talked much about the masterminding behind the booth.

What are your tips for organizing and scheduling the music?
How does a big event differ from a small event?
What do you take into consideration?
What did you do right?
What are some of the ocmmon pitfalls?
How do you make your visiting DJs be welcome?
Are there particular shifts that you save for your special guest stars?
What sort of ongoing support do you provide for the DJs throughout the event?
How did you create your DJ schedule? What factors should be taken into consideration? Length of shifts? Style of DJ?
Any questions I missed?

[Shanabanana]

I've lined up the DJs for the past 3 Denver Lindy Exchanges, so I figure I have a few things to offer.

What are your tips for organizing and scheduling the music? How did you create your DJ schedule? What factors should be taken into consideration? Length of shifts? Style of DJ?

I laid out a spreadsheet with all of the hours of dancing at the exchange, and then blacked out the hours that we'd have a band. I broke the time into 1-2 hour slots and then started filling in DJs. Any shift less than an hour is really hard to do. More than 2 hours, and it's a bummer for them that they can't dance. We've had up to 15 DJs at our exchange, so it took some shuffling, but it all falls into place.

I usually send an e-mail out to the DJs and ask which shifts they'd prefer, and also which shifts they won't be available for. That's a good starting point. Then, I tried to figure out good DJ combos...which lineup would make the night flow. If you know the Djs, you should think about how their style matches the time, and the venue. Hopefully, you'll have great DJs, so they'll be able to adjust to anything, but it's also good to schedule them when they'll shine.

What are some of the ocmmon pitfalls?

The biggest one: trying to use too many DJs. I really get irritated at events that have a zillion DJs that get 30 minute sets. It feels jarring every time they change personell. Plus, I'd rather dance to a few good DJs than a million mediocre ones.

Also, I don't like it when an exchange uses only Djs from other cities. Part of the point of an exchange is to show off your own city. So if you have enough people, try to use more locals than foreigners.

How do you make your visiting DJs be welcome?

I work on getting them good hosts. Also, we try to comp out-of-town DJs and give them a t-shirt for their efforts. I'm sure they'll enjoy helping out, but they're working at your event, so giving them some consideration is essential.

Are there particular shifts that you save for your special guest stars?

Prime time (10-12) at an evening event and the second hour of late night to the end seem to be the times when the music is most noticed.

What sort of ongoing support do you provide for the DJs throughout the event?

Mostly, I just give them a schedule of the music for the weekend, and my cell phone number. It helps to have someone around to explain the equipment and to check up on them, but you don't have to do very much to keep it rolling.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

[lindyholic]

I just finished organizing the DJs for the Vancouver Lindy Exchange. The head of the exchange made it known of some people he wanted to bring in, so I brought them in as per his request.

I didn't ask people what they wanted. I simply put people in slots that I felt were good. I found that unless they made a request already, that any time was ok. I had 0 complaints about the schedule.

For DJing, every DJ gets into the entire exchange for free as well as a t-shirt.

I don't suggest going out asking publicly "I'm looking for DJs" because you never know when bad DJs are gonna ask you to DJ. I say you invite people. Some people may ask to DJ. Tell them you will take them into consideration.

I had some people approach me just after we got our schedule figured out, which sucked, because I would have loved to have them DJ. But in the end, you won't please everyone, you just hope that you made the best choices possible and that as many people as possible enjoy the dance.

If you aren't sure about someone, I would suggest asking them for a playlist from a regular night of DJing, you'll be able to judge their tastes and such by looking at a set list.

Also, if you have a budget, fly in DJs, there's some DJs I would have LOVED to have brought to the VLE, but we weren't going to pay for the entire flight of a DJ. I know the organizer helped one or two DJs though. But yeah, if you can, fly in a DJ, cuz there are some amazing DJs out there.

Harrison

[Zot]

Kristina, I know your topic was specifically about DJ related stuff, but for a very helpful, general resource for putting on an Exchange, I highly recommend checking out:

http://www.lindyexchange.com/howto/default.htm

[Ron]

Shana-
What I thought was interesting about your exchange was that you said you only had 4 out-of-town djs, and limited the local djs to 4 or so, too. And you made sure each dj got two shifts, which I thought was a great idea. I sure appreciated it. I think Austin did the same thing--limited the number of djs, and gave them a decent amount of time.

[mark0tz]

Whole-heartedly agree with the above. If you have too many DJs, some dj's feel shafted by crappy slots. Not everybody gets a chance to shine...

[Nate Dogg]

Shana-
What I thought was interesting about your exchange was that you said you only had 4 out-of-town djs, and limited the local djs to 4 or so, too. And you made sure each dj got two shifts, which I thought was a great idea. I sure appreciated it. I think Austin did the same thing--limited the number of djs, and gave them a decent amount of time.

The dilemma is when you have more qualified DJs that slots. If you only rely on the fixed number DJs all weekend, you end up not allowing some DJs to work at all. So, which group feels more slighted? Those who are unhappy with their spots or those who are not welcome to DJ in any capacity.

Second, just to elaborate a bit more on what Ron was saying, the Exchange in Austin had at least 18 DJs last year. However, many of them only worked the alternate rooms or the afternoon dances. The main dances and prime after hours spots went to eight DJs. Believe it or not, several of those eight DJs were not happy with their spots.

[Shanabanana]

It was actually a struggle to keep the numbers small. Colorado has 16 (that we counted) DJs that play or have played on a semi-regular basis. But we didn't have enough time to get everyone a slot, and didn't necessarily want everyone to play. So we ended up having sort of an informal poll of the exchange organizers to see who they wanted to hear. Then my co-organizer (John Dyer) and I hashed it out from there.

We also had quite a few national DJs who wanted a slot, but we were determined to keep the exchange feeling Denver-y. It was tough to turn people down, but a nice problem to have...too much talent.

I think keeping it small was one of the best things we did music-wise. Glad to hear you agreed, Ron.

[Roy]

I like exchanges with more then 4 DJ's. I like the music mixed up and multiple DJ's who are not carbon copies fill that need for me.

[Shanabanana]

Shana-
What I thought was interesting about your exchange was that you said you only had 4 out-of-town djs, and limited the local djs to 4 or so, too.

And just for clarification, we had 11 DJs...5 from out of town, 6 from Colorado.

[Platypus]

Thanks for the ideas! Sorry it took so long to get back, but a computer-free vacation does that to a woman......