We had the opportunity to interview one of our favorite clients and talented event planners, Brian Wasser of Electric Events DC. Electric Events DC provides clients with a unique, customized experience that makes planning one-in-a-lifetime events fun and stress-free. We know that you'll fall as in love with this company as we did!

1. Your website is one of the most engaging that we've seen. The energy of your events comes right through the screen. How do you bring the fun, sophisticated feel that you are known for to your events?
We live for experiences. The event industry is all about the experience and energy helps bring that to life. What makes me and my company so unique is how we understand psychology and thinking. I call it the "psychology of the guest." What are they thinking and why? What causes them to do and feel certain things? How do we bring that out of them? I understand how to evoke emotion and encourage people to act or feel a certain way. This lets me structure events in a specific way. Why should something happen at a specific time, or where do we put something for a given impact. I think being genuine and passionate in your approach is important, especially in today's day where people can see through everything and have information access at their fingertips any time they want it.

At every event we have a few what we call "signature wow moments." It can be something simple or elaborate but it's something unexpected you don't see everyday. From an entertainment standpoint, just playing good music is no longer good enough. Don't get me wrong; the energy/MC portion is by far the hardest part of entertainment, which is why so many DJ's and entertainment companies either don't do it or tell clients "you don't want that." People have this vision of the "wedding DJ" because it's hard to do it well and too often the cheesy and obnoxious way, or none at all, is what people experience. What makes us so unique is our talent and ability to elevate the guest experience from an entertainment and decor standpoint. Once our clients see the difference, there's no going back! But educating them all is hard. By thinking outside the box and understanding guest and event psychology, we're able to bring that fun, unexpected, and elevated experience to make all of our events unforgettable and unique.

2. Tell us about a few of your favorite event projects. What do they have in common, and what makes them unique?
One of our largest clients is the University of Maryland. We have become their "go-to" company and me their go-to guy. I love when they come to me with random projects and it's my job to solve them or figure out how to get it done. It means a lot that they trust us. We produced the groundbreaking/unveiling of their brand new athletic facility and came up with some really creative ideas. They wanted a signature moment (duh!) but didn't have the means to actually break ground. I had an idea of setting up a huge video wall as a stage backdrop. We created a video that looked like a concrete wall and brought in huge rubber mallets. The VIPs came on stage with the rubber mallets and at the right time, "smashed" the video wall. The video was set up so at the second of impact, the "wall" crumbled to reveal an artistic rendering of the completed project. It was an outside-the-box way to do something they didn't think they could do and the crowd loved it!

Another favorite project was a recent wedding that wanted to wow her guests. One of the centerpieces was a huge crystal chandelier treatment over the dance floor using a combination of your crystal chandeliers. The hotel, of course, said no rigging points and rigging isn't allowed so I had to Macguyver a way to hang a dozen chandeliers in the exact placement and design I wanted. I created a gerry-rigged loop with various hanging points and clips and found a way to make it work. It looked amazing! This same bride wanted fireworks at her wedding but wasn't allowed. So, I used a combination of video projection mapping and our indoor sparklers to create a digital fireworks show during her First Dance since she couldn't have the real thing! She was ecstatic.

I think these events all have a common theme of basically let me get creative and "figure out" how to do something. I like these events so much better than when a client comes to me with their list of what they want and all their concrete ideas. There are lots of companies that can just "execute." What makes us special is our ability and desire to think outside the box and go above and beyond for our clients. From an entertainment standpoint, I actually had the privilege of MCing a private event that David Tutera was the event planner for. I have done many celebrity events before for musicians, actors, and athletes, but to actually work with a "celebrity event planner" was such a cool experience different than other celebrities because he isn't really a celebrity but he is in our world! He was such an amazingly nice guy too.

3. We loved hearing about your starting your firm with gifts from your own Bar Mitzvah. If you had to tell us about one high point and one low point on the road to building a successful business, what would you say? What were the lessons that you learned from each?
I think we have had a few high points! One of them was, after doing a very high-profile event one year in DC, said high profile event was moved to San Francisco for the following year. The client called and asked if I would come out and do the event in San Francisco and basically said name your price! That area has so many great entertainment and event companies that it was so cool and humbling to have made such an impact on the organizations that they would have rather paid what it took to fly me out there and have me do the event than hire someone locally.

I would say another high point was the first time we eclipsed 7-figures in annual revenue. When I started this company in high school, I never imagined it would go this far! I think the overall low point is just the anxiety that goes into producing events. Our industry is so different from other industries. If a plumber makes a mistake, he can just come back the next day and fix it. If the car you buy breaks down, you can bring it back to the dealership to fix it or return it. With live events, there are no re-dos or do-overs. A bride can't just gather her friends and family the next weekend to try again if something goes wrong at her wedding! That added pressure of delivering on a one-time momentous occasion is unmatched because we are doing events that have an emotional component attached to them.

I'm also a perfectionist and believe details matter, so when you combine all of this, some of the anxiety can be overwhelming! But the reward for executing is well worth it. I learned that we're all human and things happen, but how you take care of and address them is what matters. Be kind to people, get excited for them, and genuinely care about the success of the event and you can do no wrong.

4. Your dream client is walking in the door in 5 minutes. What will he or she say to you that will let you know that your creativity is about to be unleashed? What ideas do you offer to let this client know that you're his or her dream event designer, too?
I am a personality-guy, which probably even comes through in these words! I love people, but more importantly, I love bringing out the best in people. My dream client lets me do that. They are outgoing and excited for their event like I am, have some ideas, but are also totally open to direction and creativity. My style is certainly modern/contemporary/sparkle/flashy whatever you want to call it. That is where I excel, so my dream client would want that style and vision. Don't get me wrong, we have b