So I'm organizing my own event for my birthday. Any tips from the experienced folks ?

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So I'm organizing my own event for my birthday. Any tips from the experienced folks ?
Posted on: 07.10.2012 by Nereida Jasnoch
I'm trowing a party for my birthday. After a couple brainstorm sessions it's getting rather huge. Lots of people here organize their own events or own a club or something.

Can you believe of some general tips or stuff that didn't believe of at first or something ?
Legal issues perhaps. I'm also trying to keep it low cost for me but also keep entrance and drink fees as low as possible.
Nancey Inderlied
08.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
^I only have one close friend that is a DJ, and another guy I sort of know DJs but isn't crazy good actually. And I'd rather be enjoying the party with my friends then being separated from each other.

Also what is an SM ? Is it a set manager ? I'm a little bit afraid to google that one.

How do I contact event companies ? And isn't that more for general parties instead of a younger niche target audience ?
Well you might have to roll with what you've got then. In my old town, we could play a full 9-2 show with nothing but close friends, with little to no payroll.

A stage manager, or promoters someone who know's how to keep sets flowing smoothly, and accommodate and manage the hired talent. A DJ, or rather multiple DJs, you hire and don't know aren't just going to show up and talk to a guy then chill, you have to have some kind of management structure to ensure that contracts, setups, and the stage is running according to plan.

If your area is anything like mine, go cruise Facebook and find the local ravers, or ones you know and are connected with. Chances are they'll be running some kind of festival or club show, most likely pretty small time. Those kinds of guys are the ones you want to roll with, and they'll usually put up their tech in exchange for sets, if they get their name on the poster. If you're running an event, the small-time EDM event/festival companies are really who you should be gunning for anyway.
Nancey Inderlied
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
And as far the DJ is concerned this is the hypothetical timetable.

20:00-21:00 I'm allowed in the venue. I set up my Technics 1210 w/ Korg zero 4 and a mate's pioneer 400 setup. I hook up the speakers (I 'm starting to believe that I can't pull this off without a sound engineer, strangely tho I 've been at successful parties there without one) Is one hour enough time ?

21:00-22:30 I play for financial/practical reasons
22:30-00:00 Medisin: a lady drum&bass DJ with a thing for deep dubstep, she hasn't played much gigs at all and has as asking price "whatever you want to give me" I believe I'll give her €20 + a few drinks since she has to drive quite a bit.
00:00-1:30 District 49: Dubstep DJ from the area, has friends in the town of the venue, is very familiar with the venue (asking price for a 2 hour set: €30)
1:30-3:30 Highwise: D&B DJ with the most experience of them all. He charges €25/hour
3:30-5:00 I play again for financial and practical reasons. And at 5 we have to shut down everything because it's the law.

cost: just under € 100 probably
If this is a birthday party, you might want to consider running the setlist pretty loose. I'm not sure what venue you're at, but if you can roll with friends who know how to set their stuff up, and some DJs whom you personally know, you can cut costs down to practically nothing. If you're set on booking some names you've never met, that makes things significantly more complicated, since now you've got a talent-promoter relationship you have to be able to deliver on. If you're running this tight with hired talent without experienced promoters or an SM, you're gonna have to double down in the management department to keep things running nicely.

Tl;dr, fill the lineup with savvy friends, and trade tech for timeslots with event companies, if you've networked properly, you'll have a solid lineup that will run itself. Hiring talent just adds a layer of management that requires some experience to handle.
Nereida Jasnoch
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by Jester.NZ
where's our invites?!
Takes a while before my mail reaches new zealand.

Originally Posted by IznremiX
b) also, there may be some laws regarding how cheap you can sell alcohol. you may not be allowed to sell at the same price as the brewery provides it for.
Wow, never knew this was a thing. This is definitely something I need to look into.

And as far the DJ is concerned this is the hypothetical timetable.

20:00-21:00 I'm allowed in the venue. I set up my Technics 1210 w/ Korg zero 4 and a mate's pioneer 400 setup. I hook up the speakers (I 'm starting to believe that I can't pull this off without a sound engineer, strangely tho I 've been at successful parties there without one) Is one hour enough time ?

21:00-22:30 I play for financial/practical reasons
22:30-00:00 Medisin: a lady drum&bass DJ with a thing for deep dubstep, she hasn't played much gigs at all and has as asking price "whatever you want to give me" I believe I'll give her €20 + a few drinks since she has to drive quite a bit.
00:00-1:30 District 49: Dubstep DJ from the area, has friends in the town of the venue, is very familiar with the venue (asking price for a 2 hour set: €30)
1:30-3:30 Highwise: D&B DJ with the most experience of them all. He charges €25/hour
3:30-5:00 I play again for financial and practical reasons. And at 5 we have to shut down everything because it's the law.

cost: just under € 100 probably
Valeri Holderness
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
The plan is to promote the party just like a regular event. In other words also inviting strangers. They will have to cough up a small (€1 or 2) fee for entrance and exactly what the brewer charges us for beer is the serving price. My friends will be on the guestlist and will have free entrance and free drinks.

I did this because at regular birthdayparties with just friends there just aren't enough people to create a party atmosphere and if it's treated like a regular party there will be dancing.

Source: my firsthand experiences with both kinds of parties
not sure if the liquor laws are the same where you live but here are some things I'd look into:

a) do you or the place your throwing this at have a liquor license? If this is taking place at someones house then selling alcohol is a bad idea.

b) also, there may be some laws regarding how cheap you can sell alcohol. you may not be allowed to sell at the same price as the brewery provides it for.

not sure if those same laws apply where you live, but i'd take a look just to make sure
Nereida Jasnoch
07.10.2012		I'm trowing a party for my birthday. After a couple brainstorm sessions it's getting rather huge. Lots of people here organize their own events or own a club or something.

Can you believe of some general tips or stuff that didn't believe of at first or something ?
Legal issues perhaps. I'm also trying to keep it low cost for me but also keep entrance and drink fees as low as possible.
Brunilda Kora
08.10.2012
Originally Posted by Jest
...so you can get the bitc..


Coffee, meet nostril. Nostril, coffee.

Thanks for that, Jest.
Latoria Kavulich
08.10.2012		yeah for sure play early so you can get the bitc.. err keep an eye on things when it all turns project x later
Nancey Inderlied
08.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
^I only have one close friend that is a DJ, and another guy I sort of know DJs but isn't crazy good actually. And I'd rather be enjoying the party with my friends then being separated from each other.

Also what is an SM ? Is it a set manager ? I'm a little bit afraid to google that one.

How do I contact event companies ? And isn't that more for general parties instead of a younger niche target audience ?
Well you might have to roll with what you've got then. In my old town, we could play a full 9-2 show with nothing but close friends, with little to no payroll.

A stage manager, or promoters someone who know's how to keep sets flowing smoothly, and accommodate and manage the hired talent. A DJ, or rather multiple DJs, you hire and don't know aren't just going to show up and talk to a guy then chill, you have to have some kind of management structure to ensure that contracts, setups, and the stage is running according to plan.

If your area is anything like mine, go cruise Facebook and find the local ravers, or ones you know and are connected with. Chances are they'll be running some kind of festival or club show, most likely pretty small time. Those kinds of guys are the ones you want to roll with, and they'll usually put up their tech in exchange for sets, if they get their name on the poster. If you're running an event, the small-time EDM event/festival companies are really who you should be gunning for anyway.
Nereida Jasnoch
07.10.2012		^I only have one close friend that is a DJ, and another guy I sort of know DJs but isn't crazy good actually. And I'd rather be enjoying the party with my friends then being separated from each other.

Also what is an SM ? Is it a set manager ? I'm a little bit afraid to google that one.

How do I contact event companies ? And isn't that more for general parties instead of a younger niche target audience ?
Nancey Inderlied
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
And as far the DJ is concerned this is the hypothetical timetable.

20:00-21:00 I'm allowed in the venue. I set up my Technics 1210 w/ Korg zero 4 and a mate's pioneer 400 setup. I hook up the speakers (I 'm starting to believe that I can't pull this off without a sound engineer, strangely tho I 've been at successful parties there without one) Is one hour enough time ?

21:00-22:30 I play for financial/practical reasons
22:30-00:00 Medisin: a lady drum&bass DJ with a thing for deep dubstep, she hasn't played much gigs at all and has as asking price "whatever you want to give me" I believe I'll give her €20 + a few drinks since she has to drive quite a bit.
00:00-1:30 District 49: Dubstep DJ from the area, has friends in the town of the venue, is very familiar with the venue (asking price for a 2 hour set: €30)
1:30-3:30 Highwise: D&B DJ with the most experience of them all. He charges €25/hour
3:30-5:00 I play again for financial and practical reasons. And at 5 we have to shut down everything because it's the law.

cost: just under € 100 probably
If this is a birthday party, you might want to consider running the setlist pretty loose. I'm not sure what venue you're at, but if you can roll with friends who know how to set their stuff up, and some DJs whom you personally know, you can cut costs down to practically nothing. If you're set on booking some names you've never met, that makes things significantly more complicated, since now you've got a talent-promoter relationship you have to be able to deliver on. If you're running this tight with hired talent without experienced promoters or an SM, you're gonna have to double down in the management department to keep things running nicely.

Tl;dr, fill the lineup with savvy friends, and trade tech for timeslots with event companies, if you've networked properly, you'll have a solid lineup that will run itself. Hiring talent just adds a layer of management that requires some experience to handle.
Nereida Jasnoch
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by Jester.NZ
where's our invites?!
Takes a while before my mail reaches new zealand.

Originally Posted by IznremiX
b) also, there may be some laws regarding how cheap you can sell alcohol. you may not be allowed to sell at the same price as the brewery provides it for.
Wow, never knew this was a thing. This is definitely something I need to look into.

And as far the DJ is concerned this is the hypothetical timetable.

20:00-21:00 I'm allowed in the venue. I set up my Technics 1210 w/ Korg zero 4 and a mate's pioneer 400 setup. I hook up the speakers (I 'm starting to believe that I can't pull this off without a sound engineer, strangely tho I 've been at successful parties there without one) Is one hour enough time ?

21:00-22:30 I play for financial/practical reasons
22:30-00:00 Medisin: a lady drum&bass DJ with a thing for deep dubstep, she hasn't played much gigs at all and has as asking price "whatever you want to give me" I believe I'll give her €20 + a few drinks since she has to drive quite a bit.
00:00-1:30 District 49: Dubstep DJ from the area, has friends in the town of the venue, is very familiar with the venue (asking price for a 2 hour set: €30)
1:30-3:30 Highwise: D&B DJ with the most experience of them all. He charges €25/hour
3:30-5:00 I play again for financial and practical reasons. And at 5 we have to shut down everything because it's the law.

cost: just under € 100 probably
Audrey Pinda
07.10.2012		Basically, most these things are often set by the venue. If you find a spot, throwing an "event" isn't always super simple. Depending on what you have, it doesn't have to be difficult either.

Basically, first things first, is finding a venue. This can be anything really, and is going to set everything up correctly. You'll be charged generally for use of the space, and around here at least, security is generally provided for by the venue itself (and cost is reflected). Sometimes if it gets large enough they may require an extra fee for a police detail (often if the venue has done this kind of stuff before, they can arrange for that as well).

Next is sound and lighting. You guys might have your own stuff, or the venue may have some stock stuff. You can also rent stuff from local companies / other event promoters. The amount you want of whatever will drastically change your overall cost. Also consider this if you're going to need to rent CDJ's/Turntables/Mixer as well, or if you are going to be providing that of your own accord as well. For a lot of bigger rigs that you rent, you also have to pay for a sound tech as well (and honestly, smaller ones whoever owns the gear should be on top of that, or you should be familiar with the house system).

As it's a birthday party, I imagine you'll have friends come play for free. But if you do want to have a bigger name come out, calculate that into the cost as well. Even if they are friendly, it still is a business and it's not a bad idea to pay people if at all possible. As they will be working during the party.

Really though, it's just a matter of putting everything together, and making sure you have enough people to cover costs. Realistically it's a gamble throwing any kind of event, and it's not something that people believe of all the time. This shit gets really expensive, really quickly. And if you have bad turnout? The event organizers have to eat the cost.
Valeri Holderness
07.10.2012
Originally Posted by MyUsername
The plan is to promote the party just like a regular event. In other words also inviting strangers. They will have to cough up a small (€1 or 2) fee for entrance and exactly what the brewer charges us for beer is the serving price. My friends will be on the guestlist and will have free entrance and free drinks.

I did this because at regular birthdayparties with just friends there just aren't enough people to create a party atmosphere and if it's treated like a regular party there will be dancing.

Source: my firsthand experiences with both kinds of parties
not sure if the liquor laws are the same where you live but here are some things I'd look into:

a) do you or the place your throwing this at have a liquor license? If this is taking place at someones house then selling alcohol is a bad idea.

b) also, there may be some laws regarding how cheap you can sell alcohol. you may not be allowed to sell at the same price as the brewery provides it for.

not sure if those same laws apply where you live, but i'd take a look just to make sure
Latoria Kavulich
07.10.2012		where's our invites?!
Brunilda Kora
07.10.2012		Play an early set if you ARE playing. Enjoy the party after you've played.
Nereida Jasnoch
07.10.2012		The plan is to promote the party just like a regular event. In other words also inviting strangers. They will have to cough up a small (€1 or 2) fee for entrance and exactly what the brewer charges us for beer is the serving price. My friends will be on the guestlist and will have free entrance and free drinks.

I did this because at regular birthdayparties with just friends there just aren't enough people to create a party atmosphere and if it's treated like a regular party there will be dancing.

Source: my firsthand experiences with both kinds of parties
Kellie Myrum
07.10.2012		You charge drinks for your birthday? That's bad luck

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