Unfortunately there are people that will take advantage of other folks hard work and investments and in our industry that can be absolutely devastating to the victim. If someone steals your wallet, you may lose any cash you had on you but otherwise it just an inconvenience replacing IDs and credit cards. Even if someone steals your entire car your insurance should help you get a new one. Now having a computer or hard drive with years of organized music taken or a turntable that is no longer manufactured is something you can’t get back. There are some proactive measures you can take to help prevent your risk of becoming victim to a robbery or theft and lessen the impact if you do.
You have probably heard this a million times before to not leave bags or valuables in visible sight within your vehicle. You hear this a lot for a reason as that is how most DJs get their equipment stolen. Thieves are typically cowards and don’t want to confront you face to face so they work while you are away. If you need to drive home first to drop off your equipment after a gig do so. Maybe you have a friend nearby who will let you park in their garage or there is a monitored public garage that you can park your car at if you absolutely must leave your gear in your vehicle. Paying $15 to park your car in a secure garage is much better than finding thousands of dollars to replace equipment. Plus you can write off those parking fees when tax season comes along.
Wherever you decide to park your vehicle, whether you bring your equipment with you or leave it in the car, make sure that you are in a well lit and populated area. We usually finish our events late and sometimes are the last ones out of the building which makes us sitting ducks if we are walking by ourselves. Walk with a friend if you can, then give them a ride to their vehicle. You are probably walking with over a thousand dollars worth of equipment if you include your laptop, dj gear and music collection. You can let that be known with your performance inside the club, but outside you should be a ghost in the wind. Treat your commute from the venue to your car like you need to make a B line as discretely as possible. Consider leaving your equipment in the DJ booth (with a watching eye) as you pull your car around to the venue and load up there. For almost any scenario there is a way to counteract the associated risk with a proactive measure.
Keep a backup at home. It may seem like a lot to have a multiple backups but having an additional one that is secure at home will leave your mind at ease incase anything happens to your computer or mobile backups. Most of the hardware and even some of the software you will be able to easily replace but when your data is gone, its gone. You can also utilize cloud services such as google drive and dropbox for a backup so you have your most important files always ready to go. Anything can happen so there is no point in living your life in fear but thinking a few steps ahead will help ease your mind and prepare you for anything that may occur. Remember most equipment can be replaced, lives cannot so be smart if ever confronted. Cheers to a safe and successful summer season.
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