Blue Water

The sweetest couple on Earth. And the most supportive guests on Earth. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but check this out. Their wedding was at the Blue Water Grill and the space upstairs got a little tight for dinner. Our plan was to introduce Andy and Kelly (bride and groom) into their first dance and invite the guests up for a second song. When I saw the space, I was concerned that the guests might not get up because it was so tight. I expressed this concern to Andy and said it might be better to just go with the first dance song and not invite guests. That didn't feel right either. Compromise: invite the guests up half-way through the song. But I would need a trick to get them up. What if I made a game out of it? The dancefloor was tiny and I used that to my advantage. Before I did introductions, I walked the guests through what was about to happen so they were prepared. Something like, "Dinner will be starting soon, but before it does there are few things we are going to do first. I'm going to introduce the wedding party, and then the bride and groom. They will then go into their first dance and half-way through, I'll invite all of you to join them." And this is where I play the game. "It's a small dance floor" [state the obvious because everyone already sees it but doesn't want to say anything] "and we might not be able to fit everyone, but I want to try. Let's see how many people we can fit up here." We do introductions, the bride and groom go into their first dance, I make the announcement, "Andy and Kelly would now like to invite all of you to join them on the dancefloor" (making it about the bride and groom is a great way to celebrate them and makes it more inviting to the guests. Who am I? They don't know me.). EVERYONE got up from their tables. I couldn't have predicted anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. It was magic. The dancefloor was packed, and those that didn't make it, danced at their table. It was beautiful.

Edgar assisted me on this, his first dj gig. I was showing him the ropes, how to hook up equipment and read crowds. We had a lot of fun with the music and joking around. The crowd was a rock crowd, which isn't my strong suit. That can actually be a good thing. It was cool stretching my mind around a genre that I don't use often enough to encompass most of dancing. Edgar made a great suggestion as to how to end the night. He suggested a song by The Rolling Stones. The song he picked wasn't quite it, but I knew it was the right band. I did some searching and found "Start Me Up." Perfect. What a great way to end the night.

Jonathan, lead dj
Edgar, assistant

Elvis has left the building!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No... It's Elvis! He lives. Again...again...again...and again. Five Elvis's? Could it really be? Yes! It is! We did this gig through Ken Arlen. He hired us to dj the Four Season's holiday party. Half-way through the party, there was a performance with five Elvis impersonators. They sang "Viva Las Vegas" and then did an encore of "Jailhouse Rock." Other cool things about the party was the dance contest where we switched from song to song to song, only playing a minute or so of each song while the contestants were being weeded down to the final winner.

Erik Friedly assisted me on this gig. I like working with him because he thinks so differently than me. His knowledge of rock music greatly surpasses mine and I was hearing stuff I haven't heard in a long time. I love playing with someone with different music tastes because it expands my knowledge. We hopped back and forth all night and when I got stuck, he would be there to back me up and take over. It kept the energy of the party up and moving and my creativity was totally sparked from those interactions.

Jonathan, lead dj
Erik, assistant dj (second lead)

Sutton Place

Zack and I were on this one. Great learning experience for both. Tough gig. Some of the things that I did not like about this one were all the raffle prizes that were given away. It really ate away at the time and the crowd wasn't excited about it. They gave away 54 prizes at three different times. Each time took about 10-15 minutes, with the final taking around 30. One of the challenges I was up against as a dj was to keep the crowd engaged while the raffle was happening. I started by playing theme songs during, then switched to rat pack stuff with the suggestion of the emcee. The second raffle, we played some funk. That got the crowd into it a little bit more than what I was playing earlier. The last one, we played some hip-hop and house. That totally worked. They switched emcees at this point which helped out also. The second emcee was more playful with the guests, so that helped out more. He was getting into the music, too.

The crowd was mostly hispanic, and the music I played tended to be either merengue and salsa or hip-hop and pop. While I was in a merengue set, one of the guests told me, "Enough of majority rules. Play something I can understand." That comment really pissed me off. 1.) It was racist. 2.) I was about to switch music anyway - although I almost reconsidered after she made that comment.

This was one of those gigs where there were a lot of things that pissed me off and I was talking a LOT with Zack about everything that was upsetting me. It was mostly about the comments people were making. It didn't seem like they were there to really support and celebrate each other. Zack was great support to be there as someone I could talk things out with so my anger wouldn't effect my judgement that much. It effected it a little, because I didn't say anything about the raffle once I found out there were 54 prizes and strategized about the best way to do it.

--Jonathan, lead dj
Zack, assistant dj

Fig is Part of Celebration at Hilton Towers

Last Saturday I deejayed a reception for Meghan Moffet and Dan Dzeicanokws, and it was a party. They held there ceremony and cocktail hour at the Hilton, and rented out the top tier suite, originally built for Elizabeth Taylor, for the reception. The suite was very large and quite perfect for a DJ, because of the layout and space. The suite was just for the party, so I believe the "home" feel really made people comfortable and ready to dance. The dancing floor was small enough that is gave a great vibe for dancing. The envoironment is key for dancing, because from my experience people/crowds like to be someone confined when busting a move, the intimacy builds a sense of security. So, I began the evening by playing high energy rock and lounge songs, that got poeple bopping. I choose this because it was 8pm, and I wanted to get people ready to rip up the dance floor. I then went into introductions, toasts, played music that the bride requested and that fit the atmospere. Then Meghan and Dan did their first dance, mother/son, father/daughter and I went straight into a polka which got many couples on the floor. I then played some fantastic Dean Martin and Sinatra hits, and then hit a few Italian hits, which really got the other crowd on the dance floor. I made the song go on repeat, so I built energy and momentum and had people joining the circle. When I felt the moment was right I ended the song and went straight into Respect by Arethra and everyone jumped on the dance floor. The night from that moment sailed onward hit after hit after hit, I played motown, disco, funk, 80's, blues.... The best part was hearing the crowds reaction when I began a new song, the song would begin everyone would look around and then scream when they realized what it was. Grandmothers were forming tango lines, people were breakdancing, jumping off of the walls, it was such a fun celebratory event! When I hit the old school 80's, Meghan and Dan's friends went crazy... I played a fantastic set... Bust A Move, Ice Ice Baby, Jump Around, You Have to Fight for your Right to Party, followed my Pust It. I was so pleased. I played until 1:30, when the dance floor was still going, but I had to say goodbye.
Lead DJ: Megan Taylor
Assistant DJ: David Joyce
Venue and Caterers: Hilton Towers

WJE Holiday Party

WJE is an architectural firm, located downtown on LaSalle. They were having their annual holiday party at the Westin River North. We worked with Laura Altman, who planned the party. I heard that Laura and her husband danced and danced some more! We were hired to shot a group photo of all of the employees. They were all gathered that night, and it was the perfect time to capture the group as a whole. So we did! Ryan and I, that is. We were there for about an hour, and covered group and couples as they arrived to the ballroom, along with the larger group. Tim and Lauren deejayed the party, so we had their support in gathering/directing the group for the shot. It was a lot of fun!

Brian Carey
photographer, deejay

Food life

Hafeez and I formed the dj part of our Integrated Experience for a gig at Food Life - food court in the Water Tower Place. After we got set up, I hopped on the decks and started playing some hip-hop. Older stuff I hadn't heard in a while. After I put on the first track, employees of Food Life who were setting up, started dancing. These two guys started doing the dance from House Party. I was just doing my thing, playing music I wanted to hear. It's so cool to see people dance to music I like. Hafeez took over to warm up and started using some of the tricks I use (stutter starts, blending, etc.). He's getting pretty good with his mixing. It was cool to see him learn and use what I'm doing. I didn't even know he was picking that up while I was spinning. I often talk about what I'm doing, but it's more about what I'm seeing and thinking. Mixing is more instinctual to me now.

During the event, little things here and there were really pissing me off. A woman requested Sexyback when we were about to start the raffle, and she was very persistant about wanting it played. NOW! I did not play it. Hafeez took her to the side and talked to her. They talked for a good ten, fifteen minutes - she must have been really upset. Another thing was that one of the women who was part of the raffle asked me to make an anouncement and to say that it was happening in five minutes and to ask everyone to come to the dancefloor. I started to make the anouncement and as I was talking, she's telling me what to say and that I'm forgetting to tell them to come over. This is how far I got into my anouncement before she interupted me: "The raffle will be starting in five minutes, once again the raffle will be starting--" When things upset me during a gig, I immediately pull my assistant aside and talk with them about what happened so it doesn't effect my performance on my gig. It seemed like things were happening non stop during the night and I kept talking with people during the whole event. Hafeez would take over when this would happen and I would pull one of our other teammates aside to talk. I finally got it all out by the end of the raffle and we kicked into dancing hardcore. I was back on my game and tore it up.

--Jonathan

Photos!

I like photography! I've been dj'ing with fig media for almost three years now and I have to say, I'm pretty freakin' good. Even gigs that I'm not satisfied with are pretty freakin' good. I'm not sure when the urge came up for me to grab a camera and start taking photos, but it did. And I'm finding I'm pretty good at that, too. I've got a ton to learn, but I LOVE it! These are some sample photos from around the office and two from a gig...

I was on my first photo gig December 29 where I was taking photos (I had assisted Brian earlier last year with lighting, but didn't take photos). The gig was for Chicago Storm (indoor soccer). It was much different from what I was used to. It was fast paced and I kept thinking I needed to capture everything. There were all these cool things happening and I was getting upset that I wasn't getting it all. Ryan was leading this gig and he was giving me some good coaching. One, when people were past a certain point on the field, it was too far away and the photos would be useless. Two, listen to the crowd and when they're cheering, it might be good photo ops of the crowd. Three, be mindful of where I'm standing because people are trying to watch the game - I can get good shots while allowing the crowd to see the game. Ryan was still somewhat new to the Storm games, he had been on four or five games at this point, so there were still things we were both learning. One was to have the settings on the camera up high (shutter speed, ISO) because the action is happening so fast. We didn't actually learn this until we got back when we were looking at the photos on the computer. Looking at them in camera, they looked good. But blown up, a lot of them were blurry. We still got some great photos from the game, though.

--Jonathan

Max's Bar Mitzvah @ The Embassy Suites (Chicago)

My very first gig of 2007 consisted of mushroom soup, toilet paper, and inflatable monkeys. Yes, inflatable monkeys. Was this an bona fide, all-expenses paid acid trip? Sounds like it, but…no. This was a bar mitzvah. The thirteenth birthday of Max Smith was going to be celebrated in style at the splendid Embassy Suites Hotel (near Navy Pier) on the north side of Chicago. Cultural celebrations such as the one in question require a lot of positive and substantial energy, as they usually contain many mini-events packed into one five-hour evening. Honestly, your toes have to be on their toes to ensure that you are on the ball with everything. On this night, my partner Melissa and I were prepared to entertain a healthy crowd of 150 adults and children with games and music abound, and to give Max a 'mitzvah to remember.

Out of all the events of the night, the most rewarding for me was the games portion. Being an avid fan of television game shows (and their respective hosts), and wanting to host actual game shows in the future, I could not be any more elated to own this section of the evening. Max and his young friends engaged in a triad of tricky contests, which all had a payoff of the aforesaid inflatable monkeys: A musical chairs/scavenger hunt hybrid, a mummy wrap race, and a balloon-popping game. The first on the list was the most tense and most enjoyably memorable, as the objects to hunt became more obsucre and harder to find (i.e. safety pins), and the kids were highly competitive, which made this game rather compelling. The cutest thing happened in the last round: I announced that the item to find was a cell phone with a flippable cover, and this 8 or 9 year-old contestant by the name of Joanna pulled her own phone out of her pocket to the sheer delight of the crowd. Talk about living in the fast lane, eh? (Ironically, she ended up winning the game by successfully retrieving someone else's flippable mobile phone.) Throughout this game and all the rest, I handled the hosting while Melissa deejayed the background music with extremely thoughful selection and timing. I have done a lot of different hosting jobs at bridal shows, weddings and such, but never before was I this calm and mellifluous on the microphone. I simply felt great and believed that I was going to perform well in something that I enjoyed doing.

Dancing, just in case you are wondering, was an all-night event in itself. Max and several of his friends were hanging out in the ballroom during cocktails, and Melissa and I decided to rock them out with some cuts from Kelly Clarkson, the Stray Cats, and Elvis himself. When dinner arrived, some of the older folks took command of the dance floor…to songs I had piping from an iPod mix! Thank you, Steve Jobs. Of course, being a Jewish event, the Israeli folk dancing commenced with Harry Belafonte's "Hava Nagila" and extended to a fifteen-minute set of Israeli folk tunes until I switched over to the Isley Brothers' version of "Shout." From there, we did a mixture of dancing, games, and one snowball dance, per the request of our 'mitzvah man. We even partook in a fun and complimentary salsa lesson from Hannah, a friend of the Smith family. (I think that was the only thing that I was not quite good at, heh.) Looking back in my deejay career, I recall assisting on a bat mitzvah (the Jewish celebration of a girl's thirteenth birthday) last year in which the younger generation overtook the adults on the dance floor by a landslide. Max's event had nearly everyone on the dance floor in a brilliant blend of the young and the young at heart. It brings me joy when the two distinct age groups come together to the same centre, as opposed to having one group having all the fun. This was a very enjoyable crowd, to say the least.

I went into this event with a full confidence and desire to succeed. The many prayers I sent to God for this premiere gig of my '07 season were certainly heard, as I was relaxed from the beginning of the day to the very end. It is amazing how one's confidence can be contagious, and I felt as if everyone "caught" the good vibes I emitted. I was, for that one night, a game show host, a musician, a facilitator, and a couple of other hard-to-name jobs. With so many invisible hats on my head, I do have one inquiry: Where in the hell was my yarmulke?

– Brent Rolland, resident deejay

(Special thanks to the Smith family and to Amanda and everyone at the Embassy for a terrific night!)

The Peninsula Holiday Party

Just like the week before, fig's Integrated Experience (deejay, video mixing, and live photography) was in effect. This time being the Peninsula Hotel holiday staff party. We had Jon and Megan on the music, Tim and Keren on the video/photo mixing, and Eric and myself strike again a the live photographers. Yes, we were live (in person) photo guys, and shooting/projecting our work onto the big screen.

Eric and I, once again, got into the nuts and bolts of a prominent Chicago hotel, courtesy of their staff members. We covered everything from the sales and catering offices to the staff cafeteria. As the guests arrived into the ballroom for food and drinks, we had these photos projecting onto the screens. The photos reflected all of the hard work, the positive attitude, and fun that the Peninsula staff put into their work, day in and day out.

We continued to shoot the party as it went on. This created a "buzz" as guests were starring at the IMAG projection, viewing themselves in amazement by the timeliness of the projecting photos. I was looking for back lighting when framing my shots. I got some really great color and natural lighting, while using what the space was giving me. My favorite part of the night was covering the awards portion of the party. It's important that the hard work of the individual employee of the months and year are celebrated in front of their peers.


Brian A. Carey
photographer, deejay

5,4,3,2,1 Happy New Year.... Get Down Tonight.

DJ Jon Hood and I (DJ Megan Taylor) rocked the New Years Eve Party at Transitions, sponsored by Fig Media, Wright Institute, and Transitions. The party was spectacular and it was honor to play music to such an engaged vibrant crowd. I had one of those "on nights" because I felt confident in all of my sets and alive and engaged with our MC James Gustin. There were two main obstacles of the evening that taught me about setup. One was the speaker setup..... we had to create great sound in all areas throughout the cafeteria and the bookstore. We had to create an atmosphere where people could boogy and also engage in conversation. We setup a 6 speaker setup placing speakers throughout the store on stands, behind curtains, and on the floor to create the dancefloor base. Another obstacle was having 4 wireless microphones that could be used throughout the space. The microphones were tested and ready to go, but after the space had been filled with 200 plus the dynamics shifted and we had to do last minute adjustments. These are skills that I am developing and want to master. Sound is important and delivery is a must. My sets ranged from great 80's, to funk, hip hop, and disco. I think I really was myself at this event positive, supportive, and excited, so I felt great supporting James with dance off's and raffle. Jon and I performed better than ever and we really supported each other my talking a lot, expressing our feelings, yelling with excitement, and switching on and off. I feel proud of the job I did and my ability to have an excellent time.

Ringin in the New Year @ Transitions!

fig media, one of the officials sponsors of the Wright Institute's conscious alternative New Year's Eve party, rocked Transitions Bookplace into the New Year! Megan Taylor and Jon Hood on DJ, Tobey Geise and Zack Redden video mixing music videos, live video and photographs, Melissa Martens on live video, Michele provided the flowers, James the emcee master, and yours truly, Lauren Pollock taking some kick ass photos!
I found out the night before New Years Eve that I would be the only photographer for the event. I was scared and excited all at once. It's a big job to cover an entire event solo! I had lots of support from the crew and had a blast!
It's pretty cool to see people's responses to seeing themselves up on screen and then coming to me asking me to take their pictures. I got lots of compliments, the crowd was energetic and so much fun!
Right before midnight, Judith Wright, one of the founders of the Wright Institute, spoke to the crowd. She said that the way you are at the turn of the New Year is most times an indicator to how you will be in the next year.
I freaked out at first--thought I had to figure out how I wanted to be or my New Year would be screwed! Instead, I surrounded myself with some great people, gave lots of hugs, then started shooting away! Looks like I'll be loved and loving while taking some killer photos in 2007! Watch out, here she comes!


Lauren Pollock
Assistant Office Manager, Photographer, Videographer, Video Editor--fig Extrardonaire!

Siva Strikes Again!

We received another call from the lovely Dr. Siva to photograph his company's EPIR holiday party. So, Lauren and Megan jumped in their car and headed to the Bowlingbrook Golf Club to document the evening. I have worked with the group in the past and again was met by a diverse group of tech's, Indians, and all ages. The group is friendly, fun and loves to dance. The night included a fabulous meal, dancing with and watching Polynesian dancers, and endless hits to dance too.

Photographers: Megan Taylor and Lauren Pollock
Venue: Bollingbrook Golf Club
Date: 12.29.06

"Beer of the Month Club"

Saturday Night in December, sounds like a holiday party. About 350 guests were at Galleria Marchetti for Bovis Lend Lease's annual holiday party.


Lauren and I were set-up out in the tented ballroom area of Marchetti. I was informed by Dennise Murray of Bovis that they needed an outside individual to select the winning tickets for each raffle. There was groups of winners announced every half an hour. I had a lot of fun picking and announcing the names. The winner of the "Beer of the Month Club" was not present, maybe at the bar, but his wife gladly accepted the award on his behalf. To plan was to use the spacing of the raffles to our advantage by sectioning genres of music in between them, but that didn't exactly happen. There was a big demand for hip-hop, so after the second raffle, Lauren hit the Black Eyed Peas "Let's Get It Started" and the place went nuts. We ended up playing tons of hip-hop, which everyone loved up. I really enjoyed playing for Bovis, they were a great group. I loved their great attitude and vibe!

Brian A. Carey
photographer, deejay