If you want to help plan the future of Everyone’s a DJ, join us at Disgraceland tonight

After months of struggling to stay on top of Everyone’s a DJ as effectively as I did before my daughter came along, I’ve officially gone as far as I can go. Tonight’s edition will be a good one, but not because I put a lot of work into it. In fact, in the four years and change since I launched the series, this is probably the lousiest, sloppiest job I’ve ever done.

Hell, I haven’t even posted a confirmed schedule yet. There are people whose emails have gone unanswered. I’ll try to get in touch with everyone before we open, but the way my weekend’s going, I can’t even make that promise. If you requested a set, you’ll get one, but you deserve more than that in the way of organization.

For months now, I’ve been saying it’s time to hand this series off to someone else. But I’ve been saying it as someone who’s been doing his best to keep things afloat while he figured out the best way to hand it off. After months of treading water, it’s best to admit that I’m just not doing a good job, because my heart’s not in it.

Everyone’s a DJ is a great night, and if I do say so myself, a terrific idea. I love the fact that it exists, and I’m glad that so many DJs want to be a part of it. But the truth is, I don’t really want to be a part of it anymore, because I don’t have the time or energy for it.

And frankly, it shows! It shows in the schedules I’m not filling, the promotion I’m not doing, and the deadlines I’m not meeting. If this were an actual job that I was doing for someone else, they’d have every right to fire me.

So you know what? I’m fired.

But listen, I’m not such a bad guy. Because of my history of dedicated service, I’m giving myself a month’s notice. As my last official duty, I’ll put together a team of volunteers, and I’ll work with them to figure out the best way to hand the series off to them from August onward. I might stay on for a while in some greatly reduced capacity, but it’s going to be someone else’s show by this time next month.

That process starts tonight. If I’m going to be at the bar for six hours, in the company of some of the night’s most involved and supportive people, then we might as well get to work on a transition plan. If you want to be a part of that process, be there tonight - and if you can’t be there, do drop a line as soon as you can, so we can get you involved.

This is a job I don’t intend to do halfheartedly. Everyone’s a DJ can get along fine without me, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do the best transition we can. When I left Strong Words after five years, handing a reading series I’d founded off to a new team of organizers, it ran for another two or three months before coming to a sudden, unceremonious end. I don’t want that to happen again, and I don’t see any reason why it should.

Do join us tonight! I’m excited about committing to the transition, and I’m eager to hand the series off to a team of much more appropriate, capable people. Let’s get the ball rolling!

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