May 15, 2017

Meet William Petz of Quiet Events in Santa Monica

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Petz.

William “Will” Petz; is a Computer Science graduate from Baruch College, Will has held high-level technology positions at financial institutions including J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Bank, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

A published author, patent inventor, world traveler, extreme sports enthusiast, scuba diver, Latin dancer and testicular cancer survivor, Will is what one may call a modern-day renaissance man. He is most known for his entrepreneur passion. He is recognized for several successful business ventures including: Random Events®, an events company that brings people together to partake in fun and unique experiences; Scan Quest® a scavenger hunt app, and his latest company Quiet Events®, a unique nightlife experience company.

Will Petz a native New Yorker, grew up in a blue-collar working class family in Queens. Will studied architecture in High School, of which he was valedictorian within his field. During High School, he was also diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia. This “disability” would actually lead to his success. He needed to be very organized and ensure there were processes for everything, or else he would forget things. Being highly organized is a quality that allowed him to move up working in corporate technology.

In 2012, on a trip to the Bahamas, Will experienced a “Silent Disco”. The concept is simple, everyone gets headphones and you can switch between Live DJs. Don’t like what one DJ is playing, switch to another. The concept originally came from the UK to get around the noise restrictions.

Upon arriving back to New York, Will wanted to introduce this “silent disco” to his members of his Random Events company. After an extensive search, it appeared that no one was hosting these events. There were three companies on the west coast and in the south, that rented the equipment to large EDM festivals but didn’t have events that I could attend.

Will, seeing an opportunity, decided to research and purchase 350 headphones. These headphones had jacks to plug into phones. This would allow him to resell the equipment as regular headphones in the event the company would not be successful.

The first strategic decision that Will made was changing the term “Silent Disco” to “Quiet Clubbing”, never to use the word “Silent” or “Disco” in any aspect of the business. Registering the term “Quiet Clubbing”, blocked any of his competitors from using the term. Doing so allowed him to introduce this into a market that would know it as “Quiet Clubbing” making sure people knew it was parties his company was hosting vs. others.

The “Quiet Events Inc.” company name came from the use of “Quiet” from the new term “Quiet Clubbing” he used & “Events” knowing he wasn’t only going to do parties, but had in mind other activities like outdoor movies, comedy, fitness, tours, and even a theater performance. The difference between Quiet Events Inc. and the other companies was that with Will’s event company he could create public events in which people would pay tickets to attend, plus offer rentals to those that wanted to do it at their house.

The first Quiet Clubbing party happened November 2012 at Croton Reservoir Tavern in New York City. A two-level bar with a dance floor for 300 people. We sold just shy of 150 tickets and as people walked in, they took headphones put them around their neck or purse. They didn’t put them on their heads as it was “weird” than to wear headphones. It was almost 1 ½ hours until we were able to get 7 people to dance on the dance floor, 4 of which were Wills friends.

It has been five years since that awkward first party. In Q1 2017, Quiet Events has over 20,000 headphones, has offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, owns “Quiet Events Canada Corp” where the Ottawa office is and hosts 3-5 weekly parties with lines out the door. There is no stopping people now. They put the headphones on even before the DJs start playing the music.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
“Is it cool”, “Quiet Clubbing sounds weird”, “Stupid”; this is what most people think when they first hear that I throw parties where everyone wears headphones. First impression is everything and I have a business that people are very hesitant to try. On the surface, they think it’s anti-social and don’t understand why. The struggle was much harder 5 years ago. It took hours to get people on the dance floor. Now, the parties are popping every time. However, we still struggle with those who still think it’s “stupid” and don’t even try it.

Quiet Events Inc. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Quiet Events specializes in create unique events while wearing our special 3 channel headphones. What makes us different than others, is that not only do we rent the equipment so anyone can host these parties, but we do these WEEKLY across the country. We also have an app that people can download to find out where the next party is at, vote for their favorite DJs, get discounts and more.

I’m super proud that we have found a way to bring people of different ethnic backgrounds, ages, and music tastes all into one location to party together. Having the 3 channels of different music attracts a wide range of people. The headphones create a platform which connects everyone and you feel like your own family/team. Those without headphones become the “un-cool” people and the outsider.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Hiring staff! For a small business owner to take the leap to not only work hard to provide for himself/herself, but someone else is a big responsibility. When I brought on my first full-time hire, I was proud of what I had done and what I now could do for others. Each time I bring on another hire, it’s the next moment that I am the proudest.

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