Amsterdam Dance Event Tips for Success

With ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) right around the corner, it means meetings, events, playgrounds, Amsterdam (dare I say coffee shops?), and the opportunity to expand your musical career.

Allow me to reference Wikipedia: The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is a five-day electronic music conference and festival held annually in mid-October. The event is organized by The Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation and offers a full program of daytime conferences alongside the nighttime ADE Festival which features 450 events and 2,200 artists over five days in 115 clubs and venues. The shows attract over 350,000 people from all over the world to the city, making Amsterdam one of the busiest and most inspiring clubbing cities in the world.

This would be the second year in a row that Symphonic Distribution attends, and for good reason. We were very impressed with this event as compared to some other conferences around the genre of dance music. We saw a lot of productive meetings, met with great artists, managers, and industry folks while enjoying the beautiful scenery (and FOOD) of Amsterdam. We had such a positive experience last year that we felt it was a must to make our presence known.

With that said, there’s some things that we learned through our first journey that we’ll be applying, and they may potentially be helpful to you if you are making a repeat appearance and/or a new appearance in the event. These are tips more around the ability to network and try and engage with individuals for some sort of opportunity to expand your music, brand, and/or other.

1.Watch out for the bikes

Photo Source: IAMSTERDAM

Photo Source: IAMSTERDAM

I have to start with this because your safety comes first. There is a tremendous amount of bikes. I mean A LOT of bikes. When there’s bikes, there are bikers who are residents of Amsterdam and/or may had gone to a coffee shop or two and are a bit hell-bent on getting to their destination. So while crossing the street and getting to the conference venues and/or making your way around the playgrounds and events, be very safe because it’s a lot tougher to see and hear a bike after a long day. (If you have some time for R&R though, check out this interesting info regarding Cycling in Amsterdam.)

2. Search the delegates database

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Photo Source: Amsterdam Dance Event

The Amsterdam website is jam-packed with a database of individuals and businesses attending the conference. Spend some time researching the companies and actually hit people up to set up some meetings. Usually they will happen at the Dylan or the Felix, and during ADE, in order to enter these quite awesome venues, you will need a badge so also plan ahead and ensure you’ve taken care of the essentials: ADE badge, hotel, flights, etc. If you are making a long trek you almost want to fill your schedule up like a 9-5 type of a schedule to make this marathon of opportunities really worthwhile. So spend time searching and hitting people up PRIOR to leaving. Some of the profiles also have photos so you can put a face to the person.

3. Set a meeting location and get familiar with the venues

Photo Source: DJ Mag

Photo Source: DJ Mag

If you have a badge, try and set the same location for every meeting you do to be in the same area. This will make things a heck of a lot easier. Of course, not everyone will be able to come to you and things may change so just get there a little early and scope out the venues so that you are aware if you have to move around a little bit. (One funny tidbit is that the ground floor is actually floor 0, not the 1st floor. Something that tricked me a little bit at first).

4. Be available via phone, iPad, laptop and/or Internet

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If you don’t live in Amsterdam, make sure you’ve called your phone provider to give you international minutes so that you have the ability to communicate with any possible delegate or business you intend to meet. Also, while at the conference, make sure your communication devices are charged (sort of an obvious one). Good thing is that most of the venues do have free WiFi, but bring something to communicate with a prospective meeting you may have.

5. Bring something professional

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One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make is not having a professional business card or item to give to someone. Forgetting something can happen, but be sure you get a professional business card, USB drive, or pamphlet to give to someone you intend to meet with. You want them to have a good impression of you but also have some information on you for the long plane ride. CDs are cool too but personally, I prefer a USB or a link to your songs. I’d steer away from doing CDs for meetings and such because it’s just…old. Other tips: Artists, get yourself a professional EPK, (we design them too). Labels, bring a USB drive, and/or a brochure of what you have coming up. Businesses, brochures, flyers, etc… are all great to go along with your business cards. Need printing? Check this out!

6. Network and go up to people

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Photo Source: Bodytonic Music

There’s a lot of hanging out at ADE, both inside the conference but right outside of the conference and right next to the canals. Not only is it great scenery but great for conversation. You will see some of the biggest DJs and Producers in the world walking around as well as some very successful business owners that you can talk to, but don’t be annoying. Read the situation well and go up to them if you feel it wouldn’t be a bother or interruption to them. Also, the bars inside the conference serve as great meeting points and methods of networking. Buy a fellow a drink but don’t go there to get trashed. Treat it like a business meeting with drinks and it will potentially be productive and loosen you up.

7. Attend panels and playgrounds


The conference has great panels and areas called “Playgrounds” where companies showcase whatever product or service they are promoting. These are quite cool and innovative and are recommended, but plan this ahead so that you can still make the event itself productive. You may have the possibility of meeting someone and networking at these events too but it will most likely be a place for knowledge gathering. The panels can often times have interesting conversations with some successful individuals and brands but pick the ones you think are going to add immediate value and knowledge rather than just going for fun.

8. Have some fun too!


Of course, having a lot of meetings, going to panels and everything discussed is fun and productive but, you can have some R&R too. After your day of planned activities is complete, check out some events, enjoy Amsterdam and amazing food. To be in the music industry is a heck of a privilege and it may not be there forever, so if you have the opportunity to be in a country as beautiful as the Netherlands, then you deserve to check out one of its greatest areas and enjoy the sights, sounds, and “coffee.”

9. After the conference, FOLLOW UP!


This last tip isn’t really about the conference itself but what to do AFTER the conference. It’s simple, FOLLOW UP. It’s not easy to fit in right away especially after spending some time in a city and taking yourself out of a routine however, get back to work and try and accomplish what you set out to achieve. Just going and not contacting the individuals you met totally defeats the purpose. Also, understand that whomever you contact may not get back to you right away so plan some follow ups several weeks later if you don’t hear back this way you can at least make progress after your initial meeting.

Hopefully this guide helped! The event is amazing but be prepared that you may not strike a business deal at the event or even after. Sometimes people just want to meet you to get to know you and if they like you and what you are about, will want to work with you. In the industry and in business, you often hear “It’s about who you know” and yes, that’s true to an extent. I personally think that knowing someone, meeting them at conferences, etc., really starts to plant that seed not only for a possible way of doing business together, but to forge positive and inspiring friendships and relationships that can help you grow and expand whatever you wish not only with whomever you meet but potentially with someone they know. So if all of these tips don’t result in something happening, then take the positive experience out of it as a great memory that you can tell to others with any interest of getting involved in this jungle.