Renters or Owners? What Should I Do?

We mentioned in our previous post the question of companies renting vs. owning the equipment they use for events. While many companies may rent if they book an event much larger than they're accustomed to, or that may only happen on rare occasions (making the expense of purchasing the equipment unreasonable), others do business only with rented equipment. So what does that mean to you? It means you should dig a bit deeper by asking some tough questions.

If the company is renting their equipment, be sure to ask if they're renting enough extra equipment to backup all the primary equipment they rent. This adds another large expense to the renting company, so in many cases they try to keep backups to a minimum or not rent them at all. Keep in mind, this question should be asked of companies that own their own equipment also, but it is very common for equipment owners to also purchase backup equipment or have 100% redundancy much like Firefly Audio did when purchasing our equipment.

A properly drafted contract, which we'll talk about later, should address any issues concerning the stoppage of entertainment during your event. This is fine for recurring events such as birthday parties and the like, but is of little consequence for once in a lifetime events such as wedding receptions or milestone anniversaries. Be sure that if you're planning one of these once in a lifetime events that the entertainment company you choose has complete redundancy to ensure that your event's entertainment continues from start to finish without interruption.

Last but not least, never accept "Don't worry, if something happens you get a full refund" as an answer. It's YOUR event, so in the end it's up to you to ask the tough questions and make the best choice for you and your event!

You Get What You Pay For - Part II

There are many issues that clients should address to find the entertainment company that is right for them and unfortunately many, if not most clients don't know what questions to ask. For instance, "Is your equipment owned or rented?" That might not seem like a major issue, but in many cases it is.

Most rental equipment is in decent shape, but aside from that, what does it tell you about the company itself? Our company, Firefly Audio has invested over $10,000 in equipment and lighting. Does that make us "better" than the competition? Not necessarily, but it does mean that we're committed to the business and plan on being in it for the long haul. That in itself has many implications. It makes our reputation and credibility more precious causing us to work harder to make sure we strive to go beyond any client expectations. We can't do a few mediocre jobs, get some shoddy reviews and simply decide to pack up shop by not renting equipment again.

And from a purely equipment standpoint, in most cases, owned equipment is in much better condition than comparable rented equipment. Firefly Audio stores their equipment in a climate controlled environment and performs a complete full-load system and backup test the day prior to every event. Unfortunately, in many cases companies that rent equipment don't rent backup equipment in order to lower their costs and increase their margin while leaving their client's event completely vulnerable to random equipment failures.

So this is where price comes in. Companies that rent equipment can often charge much lower prices because one-time rental fees for most run-of-the-mill DJ equipment is much lower than the cost of investing in state-of-the-art DJ equipment. Again, does this mean that higher priced DJs are always better or that all companies that rent equipment are substandard? Of course not, but these are some serious considerations to take into account when deciding on the entertainment for your particular event. As mentioned in Part I, is it worth the risk when planning once in a lifetime events?

You Get What You Pay For - Part I

As with most other purchases you make in your daily life, when it comes to DJ entertainment, generally, you get what you pay for. While this might seem obvious, with the recent economic downturn there has been an explosion of new "DJs" coming onto the scene because of the perceived low cost to start a DJ business. Unlike companies like Firefly Audio that spend more than $15,000 on state-of-the-art DJ equipment, lighting, and legal obtained music, many simply use home stereo equipment they have on hand and populate their music library with pirated music tracks illegally downloaded from the Internet. A "$150 a night!" free ad on Craig's List and suddenly there's another "DJ" business in town.

Don't misunderstand, "$150 a night!" DJ services shouldn't automatically be written off. There are "diamonds in the rough" and if you can stomach a little trial and error with anniversaries and birthday parties you just might find one. The drawback to this method is that it can result in some less than spectacular events and obviously wouldn't be wise for once in a lifetime events like wedding receptions. In our next "You Get What You Pay For" installment we'll talk about the differences between some DJ entertainment companies and others.

Welcome to our blog!

Firefly Audio is always dedicated to making sure that you choose the best entertainment for your event, whether or not you choose Firefly Audio. We've been in business long enough to know that sometimes we're not the perfect fit for your needs, or the job just isn't right for us. That being the case, we're going to dedicate this blog to helping you choose the entertainment that is right for you. Southeast Wisconsin is teeming with entertainment and as with anywhere, there are good companies, bad companies, new, old, experienced and inexperienced. What will follow in this blog will help you navigate the sometimes muddy waters and help you pick the best fit for you!

If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments, please feel free to contact us at rzink@fireflyaudio.net! Thanks and enjoy!