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In my time as a DJ i have seen all
kinds of fantastic management decisions but some immensely stupid,
crass and uneducated ones.
I will
point some of these out in later articles but there is one i want to
let you know about.
I was just recently in a nightclub in
Crawley, West Sussex, where a good friend of mine was performing for
the last time as a lighting jockey/DJ after being totally
disillusioned by the bad manners and unprofessional attitude he had
experienced by the manager that had been in residence of the club
for just about a month.
It was, actually a rapid decision made due to the managers inability
in man management and communication skills that precipitated the
decision and thus the DJ also decided that it was best to go as the
politics, which i am sure many a DJ has had to battle with, was
getting out of hand.
The night performed by
both parties, DJ and light jock, was of a professional manner in
which rules were adhered to
and the whole atmosphere of the night was electric and enjoyable by
all, to the point that the DJ made sure that he plugged the club
well and encouraged the customers to keep coming back even though he
was leaving.
After the end of business it was evident that the manager was around
and my friend and the DJ went over to speak to the manager to
explain and re-enforce their reason for leaving but the manager
acted aloof and dismissive and not willing to communicate at that
time.
A short while later, my friend tried to talk to the manager again
and his reply was basically, "there is the door, use it"......It was
clear that the manager had no intention of listening or engaging in
any form of dialogue and decided to engage himself into a hostile
attitude which he displayed by barring my friends way whilst he was
trying to return to DJ stand to retrieve his own CD's. This was
followed by the manager asking his head doorman to escort my friend
off the premises which the doorman tried to achieve with a very
violent and aggressive attitude. On retrieving his CD's my friend
was leaving whilst the doorman was using threatening language and I
believe that if i was not close by then that doorman would have got
physical.
Now if we are to look at this carefully then we must look at both
sides.
It is understandable that the manager would have been a bit annoyed
finding out that a DJ and light jockey had decided to leave on the
night although he had been given hints but due to his lack of people
skills was unable to try and resolve the situation.
Using a doorman, that was basically acting like a caveman, on
someone that had given 7 years of help, advise and backup to the
nightclub was a real cowardly way of dealing with the situation and,
in my mind, as I was a witness to the events, just proved my own
thoughts about `Yes men managers` that are the norm these days
within the large entertainment company network these days.
The result is now that my friend and the DJ are both glad that they
are out of there and look forward to applying their talents to a
club with a much more professional and appreciative management.
written by Nik Love
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