Not Quite the Impression I Wanted to Give!

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Editor’s Note: The routine described (for those who care to orchestrate it) can work really well. The photos included herein are a transparent attempt to pretentiously brag about this, as well as testify to the routine’s apparent success. Things can backfire, so please read on.

As a mobile DJ, I admittedly love to provide the grounds for folks to participate in the entertainment and get out there, allowing themselves to have fun. I assume to varying extents, when serving as a party host, many of us DJs feel some semblance of pride when we can “get it on” at a party—control the room, maintain the focus, pack the floor. Whenever I can do this well, obviously due to some form of basic insecurity, my ego notoriously rears its head and endeavors to stake a claim in how wonderful a thing this is. It shouts out to any and all, “Look what’s happening, Look what I’ve accomplished! Acknowledge me! I am undoubtably a phenomenal success! See me! Agree with me!  Whoopee! High five!”

click images for larger view

Nowhere in my repertoire of interactive routines does this manifest as noticeably as when I can stage a well-executed “Shoulder Rub Party Start.” I learned this from the DJ industry’s good friend, Scott Faver. With all the various techniques employed to get folks from their seats en masse up on the dance floor, to me, this is about the quickest way to create a big splash and make fun happen. Essentially, what this process accomplishes is getting everybody to share a rather unique opportunity wherein they all stand up, make one big circle and then are charmed into participating in a room-wide conga line which is subsequently “knit” onto the dance floor. Like all worthwhile routines, bringing off an effective “Shoulder Rub Party Start” requires preparation, careful staging, confidence, and lots of practice. But, even when you think you’ve covered all the bases, a facilitator might still encounter hidden pitfalls, which can throw monkey wrenches of various sizes into the works!

I remember it well, Saturday, January 10, 2004, at the brand new Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort. My services were retained by Ryan’s Steakhouse for their annual, regional meeting. This was only the second function this beautiful hotel was accommodating, and I really wanted to make a big impression on their staff, and especially on the Food & Beverage Director who was empowered to make decisions regarding what direction to take for their outdoor pool side entertainment. It’s been my experience that trying to impress a potential decision maker, while he’s on the job working for the venue where the event is taking place, is blatantly a hit or miss proposition. Most of the time they’re way too busy to take in anything that definitely portrays your presentation in a positive light, or whenever the event is going exactly the way you’d like them to see it going, they’re out of the room and miss the whole thing. This was not the case that evening!

Myrtle Beach Marriott, 1/10/04

There he was, leaning against the wall at the front of the room, right near where I was set up, and right on time to observe how I was going to get the party started. I was thinking how cool an opportunity this was. What great timing! My intentions were to display how smoothly and impressively I was going to single-handedly transform the room from a scene where the 150 attendees were at their tables chatting with one another, into a major party where the overwhelming majority of these attendees would be up on the floor dancing. And so I proceeded with the “Shoulder Rub Party Start.” And it was going well. Everyone was up in the circle, not knowing what to expect, and we went right into the routine—massaging the person’s shoulders on the right and left, dropping arms and turning to the right, and putting hands on the hips of the person in front of you. I remember the Food & Beverage Director was taking it all in. Great! Now to start the conga line! As the music kicked in, I broke into the circle and would now lead everybody around at the head of the line, veering off, out of the circle and onto the dance floor. I’m thinking, just wait until I have them all woven onto the dance floor! What an impressive scene that’s going to be! I caught the eye of the man I wanted to impress, and he’s still keenly looking on with interest, but what’s this? He’s starting to look a little confused, even embarrassed. Why is he turning away? That’s when, to my chagrin, I realized that the only person following me was the lady who I broke in front of. The gal who had been behind her had nervously continued following everybody else, all of whom were still in one gigantic circle going nowhere. To make matters worse, when the two of us caught up with that gal, who was now about ten feet away, she stubbornly refused to leave the apparent security of the circle and follow the person behind me. I finally approached a guy nearby who consented to break away from “the herd” and those behind him followed suit. Whoa! Not the impression I wanted to give.