This week I travelled to Sydney for the 2017 DJAA National Conference. This is the fourth of five annual conferences that I have attended that our Association has held. I wasn’t aware of the inaugural one until a few months after it had been held, but now that I’m on board, I will certainly not be missing any in the future.
This is our industry Association and while in its infancy, it has managed to bring together hundreds and hundreds of DJs not just in person, but ‘virtually’ for the betterment of our DJ community and more importantly, for the benefit of our clients.
I have been in this industry for over 30 years and I can honestly say that in the last four years since I’ve been a part of this Association I have learned more than I did in the previous thirty. Not only do we have a wide ranging array of presenters from both Australia and New Zealand but also the USA.
Many of the benefits I receive often come from the hallway meetings, breakfasts, dinners and breakouts in between presenters where I have learned so, so much. I can’t wait to get back to work and put some of these tips and concepts into practice.
I even learnt how to do a little magic this trip!
This year I also did Bill Hermann’s Entertainment Experience Workshop. I’ve heard quite a bit about this ‘experience’ over the years and was thrilled when I heard Bill and his lovely wife Maureen were coming down under to present at the Conference and also to offer this Workshop, naturally I jumped at the opportunity. Each day of that course I was up early and champing at the bit to get back into that room to stretch my imagination, push my boundaries and see how far this can take me – and my performance as a professional entertainer.
Professional development is it worth it? You bet it is!
See you all in Adelaide next year!
This post was contributed by Brent Officen. Brent is an Accredited Member of the Alliance based in Brisbane, Queensland and runs Decibels Entertainment servicing Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and beyond. Brent also offers Live Music, Photo Booth and complementary services.