Corporate Event

San Francisco Corporate Sound Equipment Rentals

Every successful event shares a few similarities. Today, we’re talking about the importance of appropriate music selection and a quality sound system to support it. San Francisco is one of the world’s fastest-paced markets where competition for attention is fierce. The impression your event’s music imparts on attendees can help bring them back again next year.

Whether you are booking a charity function for a non-profit organization, having a gathering for colleagues and employees, or treating investors to a memorable evening, corporate functions require a special touch. Music is one of the most evocative elements that you can offer.

In fact, the right music can sway opinions, put your guests in a particular mindset, and even inspire them. Don’t overlook the power of this tool. It isn’t simply background music.

Furthermore, having great music isn’t the only important facet of corporate sound. Every event and venue holds different secrets that the right technician can unlock. Their experience helps them deconstruct the puzzle to ensure your event sounds as good as it looks. The equipment they bring supports both their song choices and their technical expertise.

Where To Rent A Sound System In San Francisco

We get it, it’s hard to know where to begin the task of finding good sound equipment for an event. This is an area where most event professionals need guidance from professional technicians. Most simply don’t know what they need, and that’s perfectly normal.

The right type of corporate sound vendor will not only have a wide range of equipment suited to different size venues, but they’ll have knowledgable staff. You can ask detailed questions and provide crucial information that results in a perfect fit. Your technician will help guide you.

Even though you start your search with a trip to Google to find San Francisco corporate sound equipment rentals, make sure the vendors you speak with offer robust choices based on your needs. You should also feel confident that they sound knowledgable about the necessary equipment and skill required to handle the sound at any size event.

Do They Have Brand Name Tools?

Your sound vendor should have well-assembled, high-quality components that appear in great working order. Ask them why they choose the brands they use to glean whether or not they’re using respected names in the world of sound.

Do Their Components Look Sleek?

If your sound company will have their equipment out where guests can see it, are you satisfied with its appearance? This isn’t the most important factor to consider, but you also don’t’ want a company rolling in with shoddy looking components. It looks unprofessional to your guests.

Sound Equipment Best Practices

Now, for a quick tutorial about some specifications.

Each speaker must accommodate between 800 to 1500 watts of power load. Speakers must have high sound clarity with a wide field of dispersment. Ask your potential technician why they recommend certain speakers for certain size venues.

The speakers themselves will all connect to a sound mixer or soundboard. This is a unit that controls the fine details of live sound levels. It must have at least 4 channels (inputs) to accommodate different devices including speakers, media players, and microphones.

Professional Sound Technicians

We’ve already mentioned that you should feel confident with the knowledge your sound tech displays, but their appearance matters as well. Corporate events require a certain level of professionalism, so discuss this with potential vendors. Let them know about the dress code at your event and ask if they can comply.

Hire A San Francisco Corporate Sound Equipment Vendor

We think you’ll find that all of the technicians at Diamond Sonic meet and exceed these requirements. If you need sound equipment rentals in the San Francisco area for your next corporate event, call us!

Blog / Corporate - 06/19/2019

A Day In The Life Of a Corporate Event DJ

They say if you find a job that you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. We take that to heart at Diamond Sonic. Each of us values the time we spend with clients, and most of all, on the job at events. We have a passion for music and helping a plan come together.

These qualities serve us well and we hope they help you also. In an effort to give you a better understanding of what we do, here’s a day in the life of a corporate event DJ.

Task #1 As a Corporate Event DJ: Intake

We spend a lot of time talking with potential clients and answering queries that come into the website. When you request a quote or reach out to us, we have some follow up to do.

The more information you can give us, the better. From this, we put together a quote, check our calendar to make sure we’re available, and reach out to you to keep the conversation going.

Task #2 As a Corporate Event DJ: Preparing The Quote

If you let us know your budget when you first reach out, we’ll try to meet you where you are. However, if our number is higher than you can accommodate, it’s always smart to tell us! We may be able to suggest a different approach or lighten our proposal to get you the essentials at a cost you can afford.

We talked about budgeting in a recent article and recommend that to anyone searching for a corporate event DJ.

Task #3 As a Corporate Event DJ: Equipment Maintenance

Some days, we have to go over our equipment and perform regular maintenance. This keeps it in top condition. Because we do this regularly, it cuts down on last-minute problems. We know you don’t want last-minute problems at your event and neither do we!

Task #4 As a Corporate Event DJ: Education

We also stay up to date on the latest tech news in our field as well as advancements that help us elevate your event. This way, we can improve our services and help innovate for you. Maybe we can suggest something fun you haven’t thought of!

We think that’s part of our job as entertainment professionals.

Task #5 As a Corporate Event DJ: Preparing Playlists

Part of that education factor is being immersed in the music itself. We try to always know what the hottest tracks are and keep in mind what goes over best at which types of events.

With that in mind, we can prepare meaningful playlists that are tailored to your event. This helps everyone have a good time and makes your event music a supporting environmental factor and not just background noise.

Task #6 As a Corporate Event DJ: On The Job

If we’re lucky, we get to go out and play some music! We show up early for set up and a soundcheck. This ensures that everything is ready to go when you are.

Sometimes we’re handling lights, photography, and videography as well as your music. If so, we coordinate all the techs on site so everyone is on the same page.

Hopefully, we get a few minutes with you to go over the game plan again and adjust to any last-minute changes. Keeping those to a minimum really helps!

Task #7 As a Corporate Event DJ: Follow Up

We love to talk with clients after the event to see how we did and if we can offer any services after the fact. If you booked us for an annual event, this is a great time to let us know the next date so we can pencil it in for you.

Corporate / Uncategorized - 04/08/2019

How To Brainstorm Fresh Ideas For Events: Inventing Wow Factors

How To Brainstorm Fresh Ideas For Events: Inventing Wow Factors

Whether you’re slightly stuck on how to plan your first event or feeling the burn out as a busy event professional, wow factors matter. Once you have the essential structures taken care of, you’ll want to spend time inventing a way to set your event apart.

You can accomplish that in several ways and we are here today to fire up your inspiration. This quick read will hopefully get your creative juices flowing!

Find Fresh Ideas For Events: Work With Vendors With A Reputation For Excellence

No man or woman is an island. Holding a successful event takes a team and each member of that team has insight that the others may lack. This is one reason that choosing vendors with stellar reputations is crucial.

When you select a professional vendor for your event, they have experience that breeds insight. Maybe they’ve seen the fun a photo booth can bring to a corporate event. Perhaps they know about a killer rental company with the most amazing seating arrangements for a steal. You won’t know unless you pick a leader in the field and foster an open, communicative relationship with them.

If you aren’t sure how to find these types of vendors, ask your colleagues, your venue, or even use online review systems like Yelp to narrow your search.

Find Fresh Ideas For Events: Go Beyond The First Page Of Google

While the idea behind Google’s ranking system is to give you the most accurate results for your query, sometimes it delivers the most popular results. That leaves you with the exact same ideas as everyone else who searches.

When you’re hunting for event planning inspiration, don’t be afraid to skip the first page of results. After all, you want bold ideas that are fresh. There could be something really special lurking a little further down the search page. This is a good area to be a trendsetter in.

Find Fresh Ideas For Events: Attend Events Yourself

Do you have the time and budget to attend a few local events yourself while you’re planning? This is an awesome way to get ideas! Event planners can regularly sneak in a few here and there- many are even low cost or free.

Don’t be afraid to take notes while you’re there and feel free to take contact info from vendors you see doing a great job. You can follow the event on social media to see how they campaign, too.

If you are planning your own wedding, you can still try this tactic. Ask the venue if there are any events coming up that are open to the public. For instance, wine tastings, silent auctions and charity events give you an opportunity to see how the venue ‘works’ in person and pick up all kinds of valuable tips from other planners.

Find Fresh Ideas For Events: Take A Tip From Marketers: Imagine You’re An Attendee

Marketers often create something called a customer persona or ‘ideal avatar’ to help them get inside the minds of their target audience. You can modify this tactic for your event as well.

Make a list of the types of people who will attend. For instance, “Professional Women In Their 30s” could be one group. Another could be “The Groom’s Family.”

Now, brainstorm separate interests these people have. Sure, you’ll be doing some guessing but it’s a more educated guess than a shot in the dark. Hopefully, you’ll see some patterns or easy ways to incorporate a few things from each persona that your guests will remember for months, if not years, to come.

If you’re really stuck, don’t forget what a valuable resource crowdsourcing can be! Your potential attendees can give you their own ideas for events- ones they’re likely to enjoy.

Blog / Corporate - 01/05/2019

Don’t Throw Another Outdoor Event Until You Read This!

Don’t Make This Crucial Mistake With Your Outdoor Event

Planning an outdoor event requires a lot of foresight. You have to understand your guests’ needs, factor in any business that needs to happen and find the right professionals to handle your sound and lighting. There are usually also rentals involved. You’ll need the proper equipment to ensure your outdoor event runs successfully.

Outdoor Event Disaster? – The Most Important Thing Is What You Forgot

Because details are so important with both corporate and social events, the most important thing is sometimes what you forgot. A glaring oversight can derail your otherwise perfectly planned event.

Your sound and lighting professionals can help you with the necessary rentals and give you advice about the equipment you need.

In our experience, one of the most crucially overlooked pieces of equipment for outdoor events is a generator.

Is it the most glamorous party item? Certainly not. It will quickly stand out as the most important thing you forgot, however. It stands between you and the proper power to run all of your other equipment.

Outdoor Event Power: What Is A Generator?

A generator is an external power source that may act as a primary or backup power supply. The one at your outdoor event could take quite a heavy load depending on the number of lights and your sound needs.

A generator … converts mechanical or chemical energy into electrical energy. Generators often use motors, turbines, engines, cranks, pistons, or other sources of mechanical energy. Likewise, generators may use chemicals or other materials that produce electricity when mixed or ignited. Generators do not produce electricity itself, but simply produce a flow of electricity by forcing electrons from an external source to flow through an electrical circuit. Generators are used for a wide variety of purposes and are available in many different forms. – Tech-Faq

As you can see, without a generator as a primary or backup source, you could be left in the silent darkness, without climate control, and with no way to entertain your guests.

Outdoor Event Power: What Is The Right Type Of Generator?

Multi-circuit, inverter-style, pull-behind generators are often the best for events with a DJ. The sound equipment draws too much power for most non-inverter style generators.

A general rule is to choose a generator with twice the power you need. The same goes for the fuel tank. Choose a generator with enough fuel capacity to run your equipment for twice as long as your event runs.

We’re happy to talk with you about the details and specifics as we help you plan the audiovisual portion of your event. We offer event rentals and will give whatever advice we can about any equipment you need to find elsewhere.

If you are booked with another lighting, DJ, videography or photography business, bring the power issue up. Ask them their thoughts on what you need to secure for a successful event.

A Personal Note And Cautionary Tale

This blog is a PSA to help you avoid something that breaks our heart: event planners left in a lurch. We recently experienced a client’s pain during an event when insufficient power really tied our hands. While we felt terrible, there isn’t much we can do to help once the event is underway.

This inspired us to share this tip with all our readers in the hopes that you avoid this potential pitfall. Awareness is the first step!

Please share it with someone who could also use the info.

Blog / Corporate - 11/01/2018

Music Matters: How The Right Event DJ Can Elevate Your Event

Music Matters How The Right Event DJ Can Elevate Your Event

Music is one of the most memorable parts of any event, however, it’s often overlooked. First of all, you want the sound equipment at your event to be suitable for the space. This is something an event DJ can really lend expertise to.

Next is the music you’ll select. For weddings and parties, these choices are often deeply personal. For corporate events, the psychology and objectives behind musical selections are different but no less important.

Today we’re exploring some things you should think about on the technical side as well as why music matters for your branding during professional events.

Things To Consider And Discuss With Your Event DJ

The following consideration list will help you have a meaningful conversation with your DJ.

Type Of Event

Planning your wedding? You’ll have a list of songs that are special to you and important to include. Make sure to provide that to your event DJ. Corporate event? Talk to your professionals about their recommendations for engaging, soothing background music.

Venue Requirements

Is your event indoors or outside? This, and the size of the space makes a huge difference for your event professional. A professional DJ will have all of the necessary equipment to suit the space. This is a huge benefit to hiring a DJ in the first place. Many, like Diamond Sonic, also include event rental equipment to suit any needs. They can speak with the venue to find out exactly what’s provided and what you need to rent from them.

Matching Tempo To Tone

Background sound and music impact the mood of any gathering and may also set the pace for festivities. The right tempo can inspire people to dance or help them relax. Some music can even boost creativity and make people feel more social. Professional DJs can pick music that is best suited for the specific requirements of your event.

Themed Event Music: if your event has a particular theme, your music can reinforce this. Because event DJs are so experienced, they have a huge knowledge base to pull from and can help you identify an appropriate soundtrack.

How An Event DJ Can Help You Decide on Music For Corporate Events

Music for business events is largely something that goes unnoticed in the background, but there are moments when you want it to stand out. Furthermore, just because something isn’t standing out doesn’t mean it isn’t having a subconscious effect on your audience.

Corporate event music should include a mix of relaxing music, energizing but unobtrusive music, and tracks that hype up your audience for certain speakers or brand reveals. Music can help shape the energy of group meetings, business dinners, conferences and trade shows while giving these events an air of sophistication.

Instrumental music is often the best choice, but there are so many styles to choose from. Classical and house music, for example, are vastly different although often instrumental. Your event DJ can help you make the right choices.

Your Event DJ Is A Valuable Resource When Choosing Music For Weddings And Parties

Weddings, anniversaries and planned social gatherings give an opportunity for you to share your personality with your guests. You’ll probably have a list of songs you’d like to hear. If you are concerned that your choices won’t last from start to finish, however, your DJ can help. Once you provide them with your ‘must haves,’ they can choose complementary music to mix in, extending the right energy from the moment guests arrive until they leave.

You might think you want to choose every single song, but once reality hits you could soon find this more stressful than you expect. Let your DJ help with this and speak with them about accepting requests from your guests to keep the party going.

Whether you want to be very involved in your event music selection or prefer to hand those reigns over completely, the right event DJ is a valuable resource.

Blog / Corporate - 09/01/2018

Event Videography: How To Choose A Video Editing Style

Video editing is a type of art in itself, which therefore can be quite subjective. One person will love an edgier video editing style while another prefers something classic. The purpose of your video also dictates the style in some ways. A video of your family reunion might not look the same as a corporate event video.

While the best way to describe what you want to your videographer is to show them some examples, this guide will get you started. It will help you think about video editing styles and understand enough to communicate your needs to your videographer.

Video Editing Style Guide: Romantic

A romantic editing style is very soft without much direct emphasis. Many mid shots are used to help keep it basic and illustrate people’s body language towards one another. The shots are longer and more fluid as the editors focus on the overall storyline and character relationships.

The style is straightforward and vulnerable, focused on shots and camera angles as well as setting the scene. The romantic style is all about flow, continuity, and storytelling.

Video Editing Style Guide: Classic Video Editing

Classic video editing entails many foreign sounding elements but you’ll recognize them in practice.

A classicly edited video clip (often excellent for company events) uses B roll footage to set the tone and provides context. This could be footage of other people checking into your event, a staged planning meeting, close up shots of your products, or maybe techs loading equipment into the venue.

These clips could be used in order to disguise cuts or smooth transitions between scenes.

Other technical details like camera angles and the shooting plane are also employed, but just understand a classicly edited video is subtle, smooth, and not distracting from the subject at hand.

Video Editing Style Guide: Modern Video Editing

Modern video editing, on the other hand, can stand out on its own. If you’ve watched a video and thought about the editing, it could be in the modern style. Things like jump cuts can be used deliberately in this style to create a sense of awareness in the viewer.

Party and concert footage may use modern video editing elements successfully, but you may not want them in your corporate video.

Video Editing Style Guide: Edgy Video Editing

Edgy video editing places pretty conspicuous editing techniques in the viewer’s line of sight to communicate an artistic and avant-guard tone. For instance, transitions in an edgy video could drop to color negatives or dissolve and shot angles may be unusual and compelling.

Basically, you’re pushing the envelope here making this style great for brands with a bit of bite to their identity, music videos, and art projects.

Highlight Reel vs Video

You also must decide if you want a quick highlight reel of your event that gives a quick 2-5 minute overview or a longer 30-40 minute video. Think of the highlight reel as a trailer or recap of the best moments in a sporting event. It’s more exciting and attention catching because it boils down the best parts of your event or message.

We often recommend highlight reels to our clients, both corporate and private. A highlight reel of your wedding or conference could be more useful than a longer piece of content. It prevents wandering attention and is more likely to get viewed in its entirety.

Communicating With Your Videographer

Even if you’re more confused than when we started, the real key is communicating effectively with your videography vendor. Spend time explaining exactly what you are looking for as well as what music you want in the final video. Provide examples when you can, particularly of videos the videographer you’re working with already shot.

We absolutely love collaborating with clients to come up with the right theme for them. Contact Diamond Sonic today to request a quote or schedule a time to talk about the best style of editing for your goals.

Blog / Corporate - 05/14/2018

Corporate Event Planning Logistics

Corporate Event Planning Logistics

An event is an event, right? What could go wrong? Take a professional’s advice and don’t even pose that question to yourself. There are real planning differences between a corporate event and a private event. Even if you are experienced in one, don’t blindly assume the same rules apply to the other. We’re here to share the logistics we find most important from our vast experience as a corporate event vendor.

Think about these things the very moment you decide to have an event. Putting them on the back burner could cost everything.

Corporate Event Planning Logistics: Liability And Disclosure

There are legalities and privacy concerns at play with corporate events that aren’t as obvious with weddings or family reunions. Although, it’s not a bad idea to ask for proper insurance at your wedding, either!

Event Liability Insurance

Event liability insurance provides coverage for damages you could be liable for. This includes accidents during your event that cause injury or property damage. Hundreds of people attend large corporate events and it’s impossible to prevent damages on that scale.

Many venues may require proof of insurance coverage from you before contracting to host your business event. Be prepared and talk to an agent before you venue shop.

Your vendors should also be properly insured. Specialty vendor insurance protects concessionaires, exhibitors, and vendors as well as the company holding the corporate event. Claims arise from limitless situations including operations, premises, products, completed operations, advertising or personal injuries.

Request a Certificate of Liability Coverage from the vendors working your event.

Request Additional Insured Coverage

You can take your caution a step further and ask for Additional Insured status on your vendor’s insurance policies. This covers any liability running to you if, for instance, a speaker falls over injuring someone.

The best practice is asking the vendor to add your business to their policy as an “Additional Insured” because this places you under the umbrella of their insurance. Your status should show on the Certificate of Insurance. Request this coverage for the day of the event and additional set up and tear down days also, if necessary.

Non-disclosure Agreements

NDAs are a different type of insurance. They protect your information from unwanted leaks whether intentional or unintentional.

You’ll work with many different individuals and companies to successfully plan an event. You may share information with them that is sensitive, proprietary or confidential. This is an important reason to establish a Non-disclosure Agreement with vendors. This ensures that no sensitive company data is breached before or during your event.

Corporate Event Planning Logistics: Team Planning

Entire teams often work together to plan corporate events and you need to manage this process correctly. Working with so many people can cause lags in communication when deadlines are at stake. It’s also easy to lose track of what each member of the team is doing.

It’s important to remain professional and courteous with your vendors and the venue. Give them as much advanced notice as possible when decisions are made. The same goes for changes in the plan.

Remember that vendors themselves are often involving 3rd party professionals or rentals and they need to secure those services in advance. In spite of the best intentions, corporate planning teams often suffer from an internal breakdown in communication that delays crucial details causing last-minute scrambles.

You must manage the input from your team and the needs of your vendors to keep your timeline intact.

Corporate Event Planning Logistics: Pulling It All Together

Your event is a big deal. You spent a lot of time planning so be sure you deilver your important message. That’s why proper planning is important. It’s the silent backbone of every successful event. When done expertly, it goes completely unnoticed. It’s glaringly apparent when it doesn’t go smoothly, however.

For help executing the videography, audio visual rental and support and photography for your next corporate event, contact Diamond Sonic. We’ll take it from there.

Blog / Corporate - 05/07/2018

3 Tips to throw the best office party

3 Tips to throw the best office party

Every once in a while, employees get together to celebrate. Whether it’s the annual Christmas party, or an important deal or promotion, we all know we’ll have to attend the office party eventually.

But what if you’re the one in charge? You would want everyone to have a good time and make the (usually boring) stereotype of the office party disappear. Scroll down to see how you can make your office party rock.

Corporate Event / Music / Venues - 11/28/2017

Buyer beware – does your corporate event DJ have insurance?

Does your corporate event DJ have insurance?

We wanted to bring up a topic here on the blog that is of the utmost importance for anyone looking to hire a DJ or A/V vendor. (By the way, this applies not only to corporate events and DJ’s – but also weddings, private events as well as photographers, videographers, etc.)

Corporate / DJ / Important / Music / Venues / Wedding - 04/25/2017

2df5c354b571fbd78f0e87570ea9442d_fmig-1440-c-90

We've got you covered

Contact Us

Via Telephone: 415-795-2840

Or via the Contact form

Check out Diamond Sonic on Yelp