Prequel aka “Pretty Cool”…see what I did there?

Last week Prequel DC had their launch party c/o RJ Whyte Event Production, and let me be (definitely not the first and absolutely not the last) one to say Holy Guacamole, Batman! That place looked awesome-sauce.

Three floors, each with a different theme and decor, scattered with 11, yes 11, talented entertainers from our site.

I’ll let the photos do the talking (a picture says a thousand words, after all), but before we even get to the magnificent visuals, let’s chat about the man who took them: Alexander Morozov. He also took our launch party photos, and he always captures the magic of the event! He manages to get the best expressions, candid conversations, and elegant setups.

Check out Alexander’s full album here.

A big thanks to all the entertainers who helped make the Prequel Launch shine!

Anna Pineapple – Human Statue | Second Floor

Jessie Campbell – Makeup Artist (she brought a lipstick bar!) | First Floor

DJ Wizdom | Second Floor

Rajan – Live Artist (he painted the huge canvas in under two hours!) | Second Floor

DJ Alkimist | Fourth Floor

DJ Civil | Second Floor, Roaming

DJ Sean J | First Floor

DJ Foster | Second & Fourth Floor, Roaming

Alexander Morozov – Photographer | Roaming

DJ Neekola | First Floor

Max Major – Mentalist | Roaming

Show these peeps some love, and book them for your next event! They can all be found on Pelonkey.com along with a slew of other serious talented groups and individuals.

We’re proud Mama Bears over here, always wanting to show off our Pelonkey users…can you blame us?

Pelonkey Grand Launch Video

That’s right, it’s business video time! Our grand launch video is finally here, and we would shout the YouTube link from the rooftops if we could! Since we cannot do that (roof access is blocked from our floor), you can help us metaphorically scream the web address by sharing the link with everyone you know and their mothers! (Feel free to share it across all social media networks, we’re on ’em all.)

If you didn’t make it to the launch party, you can read a full recap here. And if after reading you’re still dying to attend such a party, fear not! We plan to take this shindig to cities up and down the East Coast before moving west. Sign up for free on www.pelonkey.com to get involved & invited. And to help you manage and plan ALL your entertainment events. (OK, sales pitch over.)

Now go watch, ya silly!

Big thanks to Skipper Films for putting together this masterpiece! We think they captured the high energy perfectly, but you’ll have to watch and see for yourself…

Grand Launch Eats by Eco Caters

Since you follow our social media (Wait, you don’t?? We might have to suspend our friendship…) you know that our grand launch party is two days away. TWO DAYS AWAY. TWO. As in the minimum number of scoops that should be on any ice cream cone. Half the number of Oreos it’s acceptable to eat in a single sitting. You know, standard stuff.

Anyway, we’re, like, kind of excited and stuff…

And part of that excitement stems from the night’s menu that is alredy making our mouths water. Have you heard of Eco Caters? Guys. Get ready to drool all over your computer screens.

Smoked Sous-VIde Beef Carpaccio with Pickled Summer Vegetables. Described by Chef Robert Wood as “the cleanest and lightest barbecue anyone can eat…”

Eco Caters is a full-service, organic catering company that is aimed at both crazy flavorful cuisine and eco-consciousness. Their food is made 100% from scratch, is nutrient-dense, and brought directly from local organic farms in Virginia and Maryland. They’re yummy and “green”: they minimize their impact on Mama Earth and make their client’s event an eco-friendly affair while providing a customized spread of high-end dishes. For all you sports fans, they are also the official chefs and caterers for the Washington Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics.

Black Bean Slider with Lemon Garlic Aioli

Safe to say, Eco Caters are the super talented chefs at the cool kids table that we all wanna hang out with. This Wednesday night, you’ll get to! We don’t wanna reveal their specially-curated menu, but if you like savory meats, exotic flavors, and marinated veggies that will make you never want another Oreo again, you’ll be satisfied, to say the least.

A big shout out to EC and our other awesome sponsors for helping us make this a night you absolutely do not want to miss and might cause you to sulk for weeks after if you do.

See you in TWO!

What we learned in Vegas at Tech Cocktail Celebrate

The Pelonkey Team had an amazing time out in Vegas this past week for Tech Cocktail Celebrate! We easily had the coolest booth at the expo, and Max Major and DJ Neekola tore up the pitch competition, impressing all the attendees, judges, and mentors with their passion and vision for the company.

We learned some very important tips and lessons from the many great speakers and panelists at the conference, including 1776 Co-Founder, Donna Harris! Some of these pointers that we felt were especially applicable for our company, we have shared below.

1. Make your own path. We do not want to mimic or follow the rules and boundaries set by other companies, whether similar to Pelonkey’s goals or not. Pelonkey plans to completely revolutionize the event and entertainment industry, changing the way entertainers and party planners do biz together – that will take risks and traveling down the unbeaten path, a challenge we are more than excited to face!

2. Be selective about whom you choose to partner with. The Pelonkey Team has worked very hard to bring our customers only the best in local partnerships for the company. We chose one of the most popular night venues in the city, Heist, to host our awesome entertainer events at; the Beat Refinery DJ school offers discounted classes and sessions to local DJs, who can also test to become Beat Refinery certified; Chuck Levin’s offers discounted equipment specials to Pelonkey musicians; Digital DC is our connect with the local DC government; EventsDC brings Pelonkey all the latest in events around the area as well as an in to the party planner side of things. We are always looking out for the best interests of our Pelonkey peeps!

3. Know your audience and constantly customize your product to their needs. We want to know all the good stuff as well as what we can improve on here at Pelonkey – please reach out to us with any feedback! This site is for you all, so we want it to be the best experience possible.

4. Be responsive on social media. Pelonkey’s company values focus our priorities on customer service. If you need something, we try to be as accessible as possible to your request, whether it’s in a tweet, email, FB message, text, you name it!

There are many other awesome tips we received from the pros at the Celebrate Conference, and we wanted to outline these four super important lessons we learned for all of our great supporters and users! Vegas was awesome, and we can’t wait to launch Pelonkey officially in early 2015! For more deets into what we did while at Tech Cocktail Celebrate, check out our previous blog post here.

@Pelonkey Founder&CEO @DJNeekola Attends @The_Digital_DC #Launch

Digital DC hosted its launch party on the rooftop of City Market on O St earlier this month. Mayor Vincent Gray chose this as a platform to help bring attention to DC as the nation’s forerunner city and leader in the country for tech innovation.

DJ Neekola attended the launch to help boost awareness of her tech startup, Pelonkey, as well as participate in the growing interest of DC’s tech community, catching the attention of many VCs, angel investors, entrepreneurs, and many others looking into the city’s growing innovative business ideas.

DJ Neekola had a great time at the launch event! Digital DC is a great initiative for startups like Pelonkey to gain recognition and get pushed to the right people who will really help take the business to the next level.

Through all of the great resources right here in DC, entrepreneurs can boost their business to the world, making Washington a bright beacon of startup innovation.

Digital DC: http://digitaldc.co

DC Innovates: http://www.dcinnovates-us.org/tech-fund

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/digital-dc-to-debut-this-week-with-venture-fund-corridor-aimed-at-growing-tech-sector/2014/02/28/00962b0-9e57-11e3-a050-dc3322a94a7_story.html

Biz Journals: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/techflash/2014/02/gray-administration-plans-fund-tech.html?page=all

In The Capital: http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2014/06/03/digital-dc-now-wants-startups-applications-to-decide-how-to-spend-1m/ and http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/2014/03/06/mayor-gray-announces-digital-dc-tech-fund-and-corridor-but-is-he-missing-the-point/

Tech Cocktail: http://tech.co/event/digital-dc and http://tech.co/digital-dc-2014-04