The Jeff Bell Experience: 10 Questions with Jeff Bell

DJs - Jeff Bell

Business: The Jeff Bell Experience
Location: Jacksonville, Florida FL
Experience: 24 Years
Profile: The Jeff Bell Experience
Website: www.thejeffbellexperience.com

1. Introduction: What's your story?

My Story:
My mother had me perform in my first talent show when I was in kindergarten back in my hometown of Colorado Springs, Co. I won first place and was addicted to being on stage. I continued to perform anywhere I could. As I got older my skills grew to include singing, dancing, acting, modeling, and DJing. In my teenage years I did a lot of television work including various TV commercials, a spot on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries (I did a reenactment of a guy who claimed to have been chased by Bigfoot as a child), and I was a featured dancer on a local dance show.

I joined the Navy after high school and found myself in Jacksonville, Fl. When the ship I was stationed on was being decommissioned we threw ourselves a party. The ship hired a DJ and in hindsight, I know now that company parties are some of the most difficult parties to get people up and dancing. I went up to the DJ and asked him if I could use his mic. Everyone on my ship already knew me for being outgoing and being very entertaining so I got on the mic and got everyone up singing, dancing, and chanting. After that, it was a great party. At the end of the night, the DJ came up to me and asked me if I wanted a job. So that’s how I got into the business.

Professional Stats:
I’ve been DJing professionally for over 19 yrs. I’ve been one of the TOP wedding DJs for the last 15 yrs. This is not a part-time job for me. This is all I do and I take what I do very personally.

Career Highlights:
Performing on the Sprint Fanzone stage at The Daytona International Speedway. Being the Field MC for the Jacksonville Tomcats Arena Football team. Performing at The Jacksonville Landing stage for pre-Superbowl parties.

Favorite movies:
The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Hangover, and all the Toy Story movies. What?? They’re well written!

Favorite food:
Crab legs, Corned Beef and Cabbage, sandwiches, and anything with Sriracha on it!

Interesting fact:
I produced and hosted a hit local TV show in Jacksonville called Club @ccess as seen on FOX! I was a Casting Director for about a year in LA and provide background talent for music videos including Missy Elliot’s Gossip Folks, B2K’s Girlfriend, and 50 Cent’s In Da Club.

P.S. I want to thank my wonderful wife for helping me become the man I am today…

2. What's your experience as a wedding DJ? How many weddings have you done?

The Jeff Bell Experience is known for having the hardest working most highly trained interactive DJ entertainers in North Florida. We pride ourselves on our professionalism, entertainment, and the continuing study of understanding how to make people want to dance. We are professional family entertainers. Most of our entertainers got their start in the industry performing for family events such as weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah and birthday parties. We are not night club DJs who moonlight in the family entertainment business. We specialize in rockin’ family functions without risking family values. Can you imagine your grandma and your best friend partying and dancing next to one another? We can! Because we make it happen every weekend.

CREDENTIALS
I'm very proud to announce that The Jeff Bell Experience won "Best DJ" by Jacksonville Magazine as well as "Best Reception Entertainment" by Folio Weekly. We are very proud of the strides we've made to maintain our high level of integrity and professionalism. And we are still very proud that we are still one of only two professional DJ companies in North East Florida to hold perfect 5.0 out of 5.0 rating on Facebook, Google, The Knot & Wedding Wire. We’ve been featured on TLC’ Four Weddings as well as TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta.

3. How far in advance do couples need to book your services?

Typically around 9 months.

4. What's your rate? What does that include?

OUR PRICING
"Quality never needs to come in a package because it’s quality."

The reason we charge hourly instead of a package rate is because we charge premium prices for our premium services which is during the peak hours of your event. This is when we are able to provide interactive services to help elevate your event. This is why we do not charge our premium prices for services like cocktail hour or your wedding ceremony. Because during these times we are basically offering equipment rental with minimal services provided by us. This is how we help you offset the price of your wedding by only paying premium prices for premium services.

Our hourly rates start at $100 an hour and go up from there. The rate is determined by the type of event and which entertainer you choose. The difference in cost of entertainers is based on experience and time in the business.

To get a more detailed quote on your event please feel free to contact us with the date, type of event and how many hours you would need entertainment.

5. Are you available to travel if needed?

Yes we do! We often travel from The Carolina to The keys for weddings but we are willing on traveling farther.

Travel:
We require additional travel fees for any event further than 60 miles from our location.
A fee of $50 (subject to change) shall be paid for every hour of travel needed to reach the event.

Accommodations:
If the event is over 2 hours’ drive time away from entertainer(s) residence The Jeff Bell Experience (JBE) requires any and all clients who hire an entertainer(s) from JBE to provide accommodations for the entertainer(s) if entertainer(s) is not able to return to his/her residence by midnight of the event date by the same means of travel they arrived.

In addition, If the event is over 3 hours’ drive time away from entertainer(s) residence The Jeff Bell Experience (JBE) requires any and all clients who hire an entertainer(s) from JBE to provide accommodations for the entertainer(s) if entertainer(s) the night before the event to insure entertainer(s) are able to make it to the event on time.

JBE requires accommodations to be provided in a safe location in an establishment with a 3 star rating or higher. Accommodations must be approved my entertainer(s) and client both unless prior agreement is made and stated in contract.

6. How would you describe your style?

We are the most interactive entertainer in all North East Florida. Most DJs just play music and make awkward announcements. our entertainer are all professionally trained Masters of Ceremony who have also been trained in the psychology of how to get people to dance. That is why we are known for consistently getting more people on the dance floor than any other DJ company.

7. What's your backup plan if there's an equipment malfunction? Do you bring backup equipment?

Most all of our entertainer carry at least one additional laptop, and ipad, and smartphone with music downloaded on all device to handle almost any event. Our speakers are powerful enough that one alone would be enough to handle almost any wedding so in the case we were to loss a speaker we would simple just turn the other one up. In addition, we all carry wired mics as backup for our wireless mics.

8. What's your sick day policy?

In 24 yrs I myself have only missed one wedding due to blowing my knee out 2 days prior but the bride and groom still had a great DJ at their wedding. We have 6 highly trained DJ in The Jeff Bell Experience and we all train, practice and rehearse together to insure we are all putting on the same show. So incase we did have to swap out as DJ due to illness you would still get The Jeff Bell Experience.

9. How do you motivate a shy crowd to dance? What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is dancing?

We do not succumb to the notion that "some people just don't dance". We specialize in passively and psychologically breaking down people's insecurities to help them reach a level of celebration to where they feel comfortable enough to express themselves through dance often for the first time ever!

10. What is your cancellation and/or refund policy?

Cancelations must be submitted in writing 45 days before your wedding. If so, any moneys paid will be refunded minus the non-refundable deposit. If you cancel within the 45 days you are liable for the full amount of the contract.