I am a proud SJSU alumni and I like to keep tabs on my school. I had an opportunity to play at a fundraiser. They were at first going to have a band and have me be the start of the night but that did not pan out. I did not get a special playlist but I was told to play appropriate music for the night. A lot of the time one would play background music during dinner time so the guests can be able to talk. Then the end, the dj would play the festive music at a louder volume to get everyone to the dance floor and keep them on the dance floor.

The venue was an Elks Lodge in San Jose. It was right off the 87 so it was really easy to go to. They do have a stage area for the dj and a huge dance floor.  I unloaded my gear and took it to the stage. They had the baseball and softball players there to help with the service of the food.

I knew the most of the crowd was going to be 30 and up. Also I knew the players were more about 20 years old.  So for the dinner portion of the night I was playing mellow familiar background music. All the players for both sports were introduced. Once they did all the auctions and the raffles it was time to pump up the volume. I went with the classic dance jams that all ages would enjoy.

Did a birthday party on Saturday at the Los Gatos Lodge. This was an enjoyable party since the Birthday girl gave me songs that went through many generations. She had the music she grew up with and some current songs. She invited her family and friends to the celebration.

She did not want to give a speech but some folks gave speeches about her after dinner. Birthday girl was the first one on the dance floor and was dancing the whole night. It was definitely a good vibe that night and the dancing itch was in full effect. It did make the night go faster. It was a 6-hour event and cocktail and dinner only took two hours and the remaining 4 hours was straight dancing. We did not finish early and went straight to 11. I have to applaud the birthday girl and the guests who danced the night away. They were not teenagers but with their energy they seemed to be like them. I took all requests and even played some super new music then the guest realized we had to go back to the old school and we did go back to the old school. Because we know old school rules!

What birthday girl wanted was some up lighting.  She ordered 6 up lights and I spaced them around the room. Up lights do add some class to the room.

Staff was very nice and made sure I got to eat too. It was a quick set up and a quick close out. I was able to park in front of the venue and put everything away in my suv.

 Less than half a block away from the happening downtown area is a very snazzy hotel called the Los Gatos Toll House Hotel. The first time I went there I was blown away with how classy the establishment was. They have a nice outside area for ceremonies then for the reception they have a nice reception area to dance the night away. They place the dance floor anywhere you want it. The staff members are always pleasant. They are the definition of good hospitality.

I did a holiday party at the Toll House this past weekend. The group really liked to party and they started at the bar first. It was cocktail hour and they wanted some party music. Then dinner started and they still wanted some music to jam to. This was not your typical dinner crowd where you are playing Sinatra and Nat King Cole.  

The owner had some inspiring words to his staff member and he mentioned it was their best year ever. Everyone was ready to celebrate. The party started early and it went straight to closing time. It seemed like everyone was heading downtown night scene which is like a half block away.

Again, if you want a classy place to have a wedding or an event then the Toll House in Los Gatos is the place to go. They have excellent service and a good venue to have a monumental event. And one of the coolest things about it, folks can walk half a block to continue the party if they want to or able to go upstairs to their room if they need to rest from all the fun they just had.

Right off Highway 152 in Gilroy, there is a winery that can hold many kinds of events. There is plenty of space around it to have a good festive event there. The winery is called Fortino Winery.

I had a call for a Holiday party for a school at Fortino Winery. I have gone to Fortino Winery a few times since its one of my favorites wineries with one of the best tasting rooms around. I do like the fact that it has a long bar at the tasting room and friendly hosts. I  always wanted to play there since it has a good feel.

At Fortino Winery they have a large area for big events. They are able to hold large weddings at their facility. They do also have a smaller venue area to have smaller parties. At this event they had about 10 tables with 10 seats each. You can easily fit 3 more tables to have at least 130 guests at this wine house venue. They had 10 tables and they had plenty of room for a dance floor and an area for the dj plus an area for the phtobooth and it’s props.  On the opposite end they had a self served drink station and a bartender serving drinks on the other end.  

Staff was very friendly and accommodating which a plus at a venue. At some venues, some staff members may say hi but Fortino staff made sure we were taking care of. So if they are that great to the vendors imagine how nice their guests.

  So I was fortunate to be at two different Marriott’s in two different cities and I was equally impressed with both Hotels. On Friday, I was in San Ramon Marriot. I had to park in the back in the dock of the hotel to unload my equipment. I was greeting by multiple workers. Most of the time I am ignored but it feels good to be greeted. In the back of the hotel they have rules to remind the employees. It just reinforces the concept of good customer service. On the sign, it mentions to smile to customers and also greet them. When I was unloading some employees asked if I need a bigger cart to help unload. Through out the night, I had to stay close to my mixer to make sure there was no feedback so I could not go out to eat but one of the employees asked if I need a drink and made sure I was hydrated.

  To have good customer service helps a venue become great. They hotel had 3 sources of entertainment going on at one time consisting of a band and two djs. In the room we were at we had a few chrismas trees that were decorated. They had outlets for power but also had power boxes incase I need more juice. Only a few places I have seen have that option of getting more power from the power box so it is good to have rather then not to have.  

   We had two events in two different Marriott’s and both of them excelled in customer service. Both places were elegant and the wait staff was very cheery. It was also nice that at the end of the event the staff was not trying to eagerly have me leave the premises with my equipment. Overall a top notch experience with a very good hotel chain.

 Last year I did a corporate holiday party in San Jose. It was a good time with lots of positive energy. They contacted me again and asked if I can do their event this year in Napa. For some reason I think of Napa being over 2 hours away but it is not that far from San Jose. Usually I only drive less than an hour to the events but I remember the positive vibe from the company event we had last year.

  I made sure we had two wireless microphones since at times there seems to be more than one event happening at a time. They were doing a raffle so they would read out numbers and the guests would receive nice prizes. It was their 25th year anniversary so we were instructed to stop what was happening every 25 minutes and make a game show sound and they would do a black jack game based on who was selected. The guests would have an option to keep the 50 dollars or a chance to double it by playing black jack. If they lose then they only get 25 dollars. It was fun on top of fun.

 As a dj you are supposed to not interrupt the speaker but with the 25-minute count down that did not matter. It was pretty humorous to play the Jeopardy daily double sound effect in the middle of someone speaking and it was black jack time.  Also during the night, they played the hi low game with big cards and guests had to predict if their card would be higher or lower than the dealer. The last guest standing would win a good prize.

 During the raffle, they would give out framed pictures of a comedian. So it felt like the white elephant prank. But the guests were not left out. Those three that got the gift was invited to play a game for big cash prizes at the end.

The company gave out nice prizes and the guests were super excited. The positive energy of playing of the games then transitioned to a night of dancing. It was an easy night of playing music since everyone was in positive spirits

In the South county area one has wineries to choose from for big spaces. But in Morgan Hill there is a restaurant that can boast that it has two areas to have parties. I was able to be part of a company party.

Mama Mia always had a big banquet room where I have djed a few times before. They also had a smaller room for small private dinners. Mama Mia did a genius thing and expanded that small room so it can hold bigger parties. On Saturday they had a band in their bigger room and they had me the dj in their newer room. They were able to add some flowers to the room to add a little color to the room. The party was served buffet style. The staff was on it in serving the party and keeping the space clutter free.

 They do have a private bathroom close to the back venue area but there are also the main bathrooms in the front that have more availability.

 One neat factor was even though a band was playing in the same restaurant I did not even hear any of their music. We were able to have two parties at one in close vicinity without the music interfering with each other. Another perk of the back room is that the back parking lot is only a few steps away so to decorate with flowers or to set up dj equipment is really easy.

 So now Mama Mia’s has two nice inside areas to host events and lets not forget their nice outside area so now it’s a triple threat in hosting nice events.