Do you consider yourself a creative entertainer? What I mean is do you consider new ways to use your lighting and present yourself at your gigs? Or do you do things pretty much the same way over and over again? I’m not suggesting either way is better than the other – great things come from repetition. Practice makes perfect, right? But if you do try to come up with new ways to use lighting or present announcements or set up your gear differently, where does your inspiration come from?

We produce a lot of video here at CHAUVET DJ. Obviously a lot of that video is meant to show you products in what we call “aspirational” settings. With big set ups with large amounts of fixtures most mobile entertainers couldn’t or wouldn’t want to use. 10 Intimidator moving heads on a giant truss structure makes for a very cool product video but not necessarily a realistic one. Or at least that’s what some of your feedback tells us. Of course “realistic” is in the eye of the beholder. Some of you larger event production people set up more than that for proms and bar mitzvahs every week. But I agree that for most mobile entertainers doing smaller scale events – which makes up most of our audience – these set-ups are not very realistic. We’re certainly not trying to tease you or dangle carrots in front of you you will never reach. So why do we do them?

Well one quick and easy answer is because our lights do really cool things and we can’t wait to show them to you in their very best – well – light. But the deeper reason is…inspiration.

Remember, our goal is to help your entertainment businesses thrive. We want to try to ignite a little bit of a creative spark when you see these aspirational product videos. When those creative light bulbs go off the potential for increased income goes up. Not our income because you suddenly go out and buy a hundred Intimidators – although that would be great too. No…but because you may simply ask yourself a vital question – “How can I do something really cool too?”

By asking ourselves questions like that we take critical looks at ourselves and how we entertain. “Is my DJ booth attractive?”. “What if I used my trussing horizontally instead of vertically?”. “Maybe if I explore DMX control more I could create a cool effect like that.”. Improvements should equal more income.

Think of other aspirational videos from other products. The new convertible cruising down the California coastline. Realistic? Not for a lot of people living in near Antarctic climates like my hometown of Cleveland where you may only be able to drop the top once or twice a year. How about that mouth watering, steaming hot, slow motion gourmet meal coming out of the microwave that in reality looks like a smoldering crime scene on a paper plate (and probably tastes like one too)? You may not buy that exact convertible or have a freezer full of frozen food, but you might be inspired to think about cooking some healthy food yourself or get your finances together to be able to car shop. Improvements.
So we’re going to keep on trying to inspire you in any way we can and in some ways we haven’t even thought of yet. Fantasy vs. reality?
As entertainers, we’re in the business of creating fantasy, and I for one don’t want to live – or entertain – in a world without it. Especially if it means you’ll go out an buy a hundred Intimidators.