SEDA chairman’s report.
Hi all hope your diaries are filling up nice and fast for this year!
I’m glad to still be in the position I’m find myself in within SEDA, We had a great turnout on the March shownight and AGM and thankfully our members have great confidence in me carrying on as chairman for my third year as lead for such a wonderful organisation that is the South Eastern Disco Association, and rightfully so the longest running known disco association in the world.
As I sit here pondering what to write as my first Chairman’s report for the third term I revert back to my opening sentence of hoping everyone’s diaries are filling up, I sense the times have changed over the past couple of years especially now as more and more clients are booking their DJ’s after viewing content on social media, I also see some guys I truly respect struggling to get those leads in, Gone are the days we used to pay for a decent size advert in our local community magazines such as Friday ad, Yellow pages, which have since long gone since we started to digital, Word of mouth still holds its own but to reach out to the bigger mass you Do really need to work on your socials, On the other side of the advertising spectrum, Those I know that push regular advertising on the socials are absolutely killing it and have filled their diaries this year and beyond,
I always push the education and that regardless of how many years we have all been partying and the fact ‘you have that track on vinyl’ the advertising has (as with the music) gone digital too,
You often see Facebook ads on local wedding pages asking for a ‘reasonable’ DJ and I hate to say it but it’s always the same names recommending themselves,This to me screams desperation and a race to the bottom on pricing,
Let’s just put this into perspective so we can all see where we are at with pricing.. The average wedding now exceeds £25k, (mine was £18k 23 years ago..). The evening entertainment stands as 1 of the most important events at any wedding celebration so why sell yourself short just to win the gig? Preparation, correct insurance and test on your equipment is just the basics, Price of equipment and correctly owning the music will never change yet I see people fighting for the cheap and nasty gigs paying peanuts, I appreciate everyone has a budget to work to and there is a market for everyone, but come on, get educated, learn how to sell yourself and become in demand, There’s nothing worse than to attend a wedding as a guest and see a ‘professional’ absolutely mess up a couples dream evening, with ill prepared playlists and poor front of house appeal, This is where education comes in and you learn skills off guys that are absolutely smashing those nights and learn their secrets,
We are at an age where everyone can mix (to a fashion) with the new digital age but lip service is so much more important, This may come across as a moan but I can assure you it’s not, I recently attended the pro mobile conference and was astounded at the level of quality speakers that attended yet the delegate numbers were down this year, It’s truly imperative we all need education to forward ourselves in this ever so fast changing industry. There is of course a small cost for this event which of is tax deductible with your business, The value of this is very high as investment in yourself as a Dj/Entertainer and is priceless if you incorporate these skills into your businesses, Networking also plays a very big part in this industry as well, My last chairman’s report touched on this, being part of such a wonderful association makes networking and learning so much more easier too! So as we progress into 2026 we at SEDA, Are planning to put on more learning based events (SEDA BUZZ) and workshops for our members and non members are most welcome to attend (for a small fee) the timings and dates are yet to be released so keep an eye on socials in the very near future..
Tony Caliandro
SEDA Chairman