Xplosive Blog

August 28, 2013 • No Comments

The 2013 DJ Expo has come and gone, thus we feel the compelled to share our experience with our friends, clients, and colleagues.

To begin, there is always a ton of anticipation with this annual pilgrimage to Atlantic City. Days leading up to the Expo, industry professionals abuse their social media outlets searching for long lost friends from across the country who will be joining them on the show floor, seminars and of course at the sponsored parties scattered amongst Atlantic City’s top nightclubs. Days leading to the show, our phone starts ringing… “What day are you going down…” “Where are you staying…” “Do you have any additional passes…”

For us at Xplosive, our plan was to work Monday in the office, tie up loose ends, drive down Monday night for dinner and stay through Wednesday night’s “DJ of the Year Competition.” We needed to rush home, as Thursday, we had a party showcase at the Palms Plaza and a fundraiser at Park 33. As one would expect, Monday turned out to be an insanely busy day in the office. We finally arrived at the Borgata, checked in, changed and went to Mur Mur where we enjoyed (to our surprise) Lil Jon as the celebrity guest DJ. After nearly closing out the club, it was time to call it a night. What a great way to kick off the week… drinks with industry friends from across the country!

Tuesday was the day where we at Xplosive Entertainment had the distinct pleasure to sit on two panels. We sat at the head table in meeting rooms packed to the gills with both young aspiring DJs and with many very experienced and accomplished entertainers. The first seminar we were asked to participate in was a session regarding party favors, how to use them at gigs, how to distinguish your services from other competitors, and how to stay in the forefront of the industry. Thank you to George from Sherman Novelty for asking us to participate in this seminar. The next seminar we were part of was the largest attended in the course of the three day conference. The topic was bar/bat mitzvahs and Jordan Marshall, the President and Founder of Xplosive Entertainment sat amongst a panel of superstar entertainers. Amongst the group were extremely successful business owners spanning from California through the Midwest and over to our home on the East Coast. Sean “Big Daddy” McKee assembled this superstar panel that consisted of national talents such as Marcellus Marz Lawhorn of Charizma Ent. out of Chicago, Shani Barnett of S.B Productions, Rick “Ricky G” Gunter from Double G Productions, and John “Johnny K” Kelly of Pure Energy Ent. out of Boston, MA. Each expert was assigned a topic to discuss. Every panelist took a slightly different approach, but each shared the commonality of truly being inspirational, well spoken, and portrayed the knowledge and confidence it takes to be known as an expert in a field. Jordan and the team from Xplosive were honored to be asked to participate in this panel.

We sat in on several other seminars for the day, took plenty of notes and enjoyed the knowledge being shared. Later that night, we had a scheduled dinner with some of the top entertainers from the country who are part of a distinguished group called “Think Tank.” Johnny K (Boston) performed his hysterical roast yet ended with a very touching and moving message. Kudos to Mark Klatskin, Marcello Pedalino, Mike Walter and Jeffery Craig for organizing this evening. In leaving that dinner, we had an incredible conversation with the highly respected Randy Bartlett, a teacher and mentor to entertainers throughout the country. Randy gave us many awesome antidotes from his experiences as a performer.

Later that night, we returned to Mur Mur to see one of our idols, DJ Enferno, Madonna’s touring DJ who we ironically caught a cab with earlier in the day. Enferno puts on an inspiring DJ set, remixing and creating his own music live on the spot!

Wednesday was like Christmas/Channukkah for us! We walked around the exhibit floor like little kids at Toys R Us. We left the show after purchasing plenty of new lighting fixtures and armed with catalogs of other gear to pick up in the near future. We then stayed for the always entertaining “DJ of the Year Competition” where we had the opportunity to learn some new games, see some new event ideas from entertainment talents such as Elisa Mortillo & Abra Sills, culminating with the highlights of Jack Bermeo bringing Pit Bull to the stage for a LIVE performance. Lastly, a huge SHOUT OUT to Jazmine from Chicago’s H.Y.P.E Productions winning the overall competition with a super high energy and motivating performance. Congratulations to H.YP.E. on a job well done!

Now back in the office, we are loaded up with fresh new ideas, amazing new inspirations, and are amped up to kick off the next season of entertainment. We look forward to working with each and every one of our upcoming brides, mitzvah families, corporate clients and sweet 16 superstars!