Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Cosco.
Ken, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was a champion debater at Vero Beach High School in Florida and was involved with mass media. A 6th grade magnet school called my teacher/coach and asked if there were some high school kids that wanted to DJ a sock hop. He spoke with me and my partner, the youngest radio DJ in the country at the time. We got together with 2 of our friends who had a ton of music and equipment. Then, we borrowed a mic and a mixer from the school. After the first event, Touch Of Class DJ’s was born. We locked up the entire county’s school dances within a year. After we graduated high school in 1992, I moved to MA to go to college. I sold part of the business to gain revenue when I moved up, and reestablished Touch Of Class (now A Touch Of Class DJ’s). I hired my first team member in 1993, and by the time I graduated college in 1996, we had 12 weekend event team staff and 96 events that year. We quickly increased to 400 events by 2000, and I chose to reduce the number to 300 events soon after in order to offer more personal attention to our clients. We have maintained about 300 events per year ever since. Now, we open for national artists including Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, C&C Music Factory, just to name a few. We have been the mobile entertainers for WXLO 104.5FM, The Pike, and NashIcon in Worcester for the last 8 years. We have even performed for KISS 108 at their flagship event, the Summer Kiss Concert a couple of years ago. We have also been speakers and presenters at the national DJ conferences since 1996 in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Orlando, and others.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Struggles come in many areas. First, staffing is always tough. Because we are not a full time job, finding reliable staff over the years is hard. People would come in and just expect to party every night. There is a lot of preparation, loading, unloading, and dealing with the public. Next, the government isn’t our friend. We just want to provide great entertainment without obstacles, and the overreaching in permitting, etc. drives me crazy. Every event is different, so sometimes we expect to have an easy party, only to find that it is challenging. Finally, expansion can be a tough sometimes because you take risks to buy items that you “know” will take off, only to find them flop. That happened with an item we bought called “Synthabeams”. It allowed guests to break beams of light to create sounds, but we never realized that it would compete with the DJ’s at events. That was an expensive lesson.
Please tell us about A Touch Of Class DJ’s.
A Touch of Class is a full scale entertainment company. We typically are categorized as DJ’s but what we provide is a dynamic interactive and captivating atmosphere for a whole variety of gatherings including weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, corporate holiday parties, corporate team building events, school dances, sweet 16 parties, and any other reason to celebrate. Our DJ’s and Emcees are known for our ability to deliver excitement and energy while still maintaining the elegance required to impress. We are proud to have a staff that is absolutely dedicated to each and every client from the time of booking. Customer service is where it all starts, and we personalize each party to exceed expectations and truly give our clients the time of their lives. There are many people who love music. They parlay that into a hobby and create a small business to compete in the DJ world, however, it’s nearly impossible to truly match the quality we bring to the table given our years of experience.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would change my approach to advertising knowing what I know now. However, the ups and downs that come with being an entrepreneur are essential to overall success. Every failure is an opportunity to learn.
Contact Info:
- Address: 318 Stearns Rd, Marlborough, MA 01752
- Website: http://www.atouchofclass.com/
- Phone: 508-229-0009
- Email: ken.cosco@atouchofclass.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atocdj/
- Facebook: facebook.com/atocdjs
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/atocdj
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/a-touch-of-class-djs-marlborough
- Other: http://www.atocweddings.com/
Image Credit:
Michael Heath Photography
Mark Wilson Photography
JC Photo Events, Inc.
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