Align Technology, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

At A Glance -

Type of Event: Employee Appreciation Party

Number of Guests: 150-200

Preferred Genres: Top 40/Latin/Hip-hop

Load In/Load Out: 4:30pm/11:00pm

Equipment: 400W Mains, Mixer/Controller, Microphones, Light Tree/Uplights/Dancelights

In September I DJed at the Santa Cruz Civic Center for the FashionArt Fashion Show (FashionArt). A connection from that event contacted me for this amazing privilege: Come DJ for Align Technology's Employee appreciation party held at BNY Mellon Club West on the field level of the 49ers new Levi's Stadium! Coming from a family of 49ers faithful, it was a dream come true to DJ at their new home!

Not only was the club impressive in size and location, complete with several buffet options for food, a massive bar in the center, 49er portraits and memorabilia throughout, but when guests walked to the outdoor patio area they were field level, just steps from the 50 yard line! There were guided 45 minute tours of the stadium leaving every 15 minutes, and the whole night we were treated to an endless loop of 49er highlights on dozens of flat screens overhead.

Getting the night started

As far as our set-up, we kept our reach to one side of the club designated as the dancefloor. That way our sound wasn't overbearing, and if guests preferred to have a quieter space for conversation, it was available. We placed uplights on the four corners of the dancefloor, and our light trees we mounted above our speakers. Folks were finishing dinner and ready to dance shortly after 8, so we turned on the lights and turned up the music!

The guests were not just from the bay area, there was a good part of the group in from Chicago as well, who were quite vocal about things when we turned on "California Love". So we made sure to appease them with some Kanye and Jeremih hits later in the evening. One thing is for sure, they really loved to dance! We had requests from covering everything from Bollywood, EDM, Funk, Latin to Taylor Swift. As always I did my best to honor their requests and keep the energy and mix smooth, challenging but fun!

Before I go, I just wanted to give a shout out to this guy in the purple shirt above, his name is Guga (Goo-gah). He was ready to dance from the moment he walked in, to be honest he was on the dancefloor a good half-hour before anyone else. When we reached our last song, the floor was still full and he convinced the crowd to cheer us on for one more song. We luckily had the time to oblige him, it was a great way to end the night!

Go Guga!

A big thank you to Cindy Zver, CMP who was the point of contact for all the pre-planning, night-of organization and making sure I was in contact with the right people. Also to Leila and especially Ariana from AlignTech who initially reached out to me regarding this event. I would also like to thank Lauren Hall, CMP from the 49ers Stadium Management Company, and all the staff that helped us out. We were attended to for every need, from pre-planning schematics, load-in/load-out (yay golf cart rides!), tour schedules, security, electrical tech, and food too! Things could not have gone smoother, every detail was taken care of and most of all the guests got to cut loose and dance the night away. 

This is one happy DJ!

  DJ Jeffty

Brittany's Sweet 16, Casino M8trix, San Jose, CA

At A Glance -

Type of Event: Sweet 16

Number of Guests: 50-60

Preferred Genres: Top 40/Hip-Hop/EDM

Load In/Load Out: 4:00pm/12:30am

Equipment: 400W Mains, Mixer/Controller, Microphones, Trussing/Uplights/Dancelights/Fog

If you're gonna turn 16, why not do it big? Why not do it big at a Casino?

 Last Saturday brought me out to Casino M8trix just off the 101 in San Jose. An 8-story special event space, cardroom, and on the 6th floor, home of Brittany's 16th Birthday Party!

Amy from M8trix made sure I was taken care of all the way from the parking lot, past security and up the elevator. I walked in to find the event space already set-up and beautifully uplit in preparation for the night's festivities. It looked fantastic! Nora from S&N event design had spent the day before and the day of the party decorating. She even made the birthday cupcakes! Amazing!

Just next to me were the guys from Box of Giggles Photo Booth. They were there super early, and right away I knew they were going to be fun to work with. They paid attention to detail, they were relaxed and professional. Their set-up was super simple and high quality, plus they had all kinds of props for the guests to dress up with. I've got some copies of the pictures we took, I'll tag them to the end of this entry. 

Now I don't normally offer A/V in my arsenal of services, but in crunch I was asked if I had a video camera that could link up to the house projectors. Luckily I got a hold of a gopro as I left Santa Cruz and we used an HDMI to project the party onto the projectors. As guests came in they got to see themselves on the big screen. 

But let's not forget who this night was all about, that's right... Brittany!

Before the party she said she was nervous that no one would want to dance, but not even an hour in, while people were still arriving, the dancefloor was packed. Even after we had to evacuate the area for a brief pause because of some "technical difficulties",guests were even MORE amped to dance! (I kinda set off the firealarm with my new fog machine. Now I'm not saying that to boast, in fact, I never want it to happen again. I have since learned that fog is best in moderation, and that Casino M8trix has a state-of-the-art fire alarm system ;) 

Now, if Brittany was nervous, she did NOT show it at all. As soon as she made her entrance in her gold dress she was instantly the life of the party. She went from heels most of the night to a fresh pair of converse, at one point she had a blinged out SWAG hat on, she even grabbed the mic and sang along to her friends on the couch that were too cool to dance. She was AWESOME!

The dancing broke for a bit as more than a half a dozen of Brittany's friends and family got on the mic to share memories and speeches celebrating Brittany. After that we sang the golden birthday girl Happy Birthday and had cupcakes and donuts. Sweet 16s don't get better than that!

Thank you to Lynn O'Brien for contacting me. And a HUGE Happy Birthday to you Brittany, and thank you for having me! Your friends got to dance for hours on end, got a surprise visit from the Santa Clara Fire Dept, and some even got to have an adventure in the elevator! No one's going to forget your Sweet 16 anytime soon.

DJ Jeffty

Box of Giggles

S & N Event Design

Casino M8trix

Nora, Brian, Paul... and me!

Tommy and Margie, La Selva Beach Clubhouse, La Selva Beach, CA

At A Glance -

Type of Event: Wedding Reception

Number of Guests: 110-125

Preferred Genres: Motown/Top40/Christian

Load In/Load Out: 11am/10pm

Equipment: Two Main Speakers, Mixer/Controller, Microphones, Trussing/Uplights/Dancelights

The love story of Tommy and Margie goes beyond just meeting and falling in love, in fact they both might say that they were in love with each other before they met. They are strong in their faith, and credit that with how they were able to plan a wedding in just 3 short months. He's from Florida, she's from Kentucky but they met and got married here in California!

The majority of my work is done in the greater Bay Area, but with the first Saturday of 2015 came my first wedding reception of 2015 and it took place in my hometown of Aptos. Friends and family came from near and far to witness their ceremony held at the Mount Hermon Chapel in Scott's Valley, then made the 30 minute drive to the reception site.

The reception was held at the La Selva Beach Clubhouse, a hidden gem of an event space just a stone's throw to the Ocean. The decorations were wonderful, the fireplace and the natural feel of the space made this Winter wedding feel cozy.

The food was absolutely amazing, guests went buffet style through the serving area for food and wine. Luckily, I brought my camera and while I was attending my duties at the DJ table, my wife Michelle was able to snap pictures of the reception hall and the happy couple.

After dinner toasts were made, then more toasts, then more! There was even a live performance complete with freestyle rapping. Definitely a first for me!

The night was lively and exciting, and it seemed like the dancing would never stop. There were requests for everything from country line dances, dougies, jerks, wobbles, even some emo karaoke. I did my best to keep up with requests and keep the energy steady. We even got to slow things down while the whole wedding party sang Aerosmith's "Don't Want to Miss a Thing." 

Even after Tommy and Margie made their grand exit, the wedding party insisted I keep things rolling. So we did and we danced until it was apparent it was time to clean up :)

Congratulations to Tommy and Margie, thank you for a wonderful January Wedding, and thank you for having me as your DJ! 

2015 is already off to a great start!