A few weeks ago a community centre, which hosts both regular events and allows members to book the venue for family events, called you explaining that their last DJ hurt his aging back during his gig last week and had to be ambulanced to hospital directly after the venue closed that night. Furthermore, you're told that the DJ has now informed the community centre that he has decided to hang up his headphones, and retire.

They initially ask you to cover his bookings, which you do, and your efforts pay off - after only your first nights booking with them, they ask you to take over all of the bookings which the previous DJ has now left up in the air.

Theres 15 bookings already confirmed, although you're already booked elsewhere for 4 of those. Another 5 provisional bookings appear to be penciled into the Community centres diary too. The agree to your fee, and book you - with all normal paperwork being exchanged. They agree to find someone else for the 4 dates which you cant do. Things look pretty llucrative.

The venue has a sizeable, deep stage which you set up on - toward the rear of the stage are heavy drapes which hang from ceiling to floor, with a gap of about 2 foot behind the drapes and the back wall, which makes an ideal space for you to hide your flightcase lids, suit carrier, toolkit, spares etc, and even change in. Judging by the dust, you're the only one who goes there.

Alas, the stage is about 4ft high, and there are no steps. Even the poor old caretaker/barman cant get up onto the stage, so has been asking you favours of lifting the odd chair or table etc, on or off the stage for him, on occasions.

Now...one week you're all set up and ready, and you're told that the times have been shoved back half an hour, so you've got some spare time on your hands. You decide that you'll tidy up your tool kit. As you reach behind the full length drapes where you put your toolkit, you notice a dusty metal box. Looking a little old and a bit dusty. - more interestingly, its got a lead and plug on it.

Closer (hidden) inspection of the unit reveals it to be a Zero88 Mercury Disco controller - almost a legend amongst lighting controllers. You give it a quick visual inspection; the right fuse is in the plug, no frayed wires - so you plug it in, and it works - 4 channels, 14 patterns, assignable to 4 different zones simultaneously, soft fading between channels hmmmmm nice - and not made anymore.

A little red devil pops up on your shoulder and suggests that you could give that unit a really good home....

You shake him off, and replace the controller, back behind the drapes, sprinkling a little dust back on - Wrapping the lead around it, in your favourite way.

Two weeks later, you're back at the venue, and during the background music, you glance behind the curtain - the Mercury controller is still there...exactly how you left it, a little dust on top, and the lead wrapped up in your favourite way.

The little devil pops up onto your shoulder again..."no one would miss that controller", "Everyones forgotton about it", "No one comes up here on the stage", "The next disco will 'ave it away when they cover you next week - for sure", "Should I?, Shouldn't I?"

You and your consciense make it to the end of another great gig, with the thought of that nice controller playing on your mind. It comes to the end of the gig, and you're packing away...you've got an opportunity, a spare box that the controller would fit in...

There are a few options open to you here.... what would YOU do?

Who do you think we are? Find out who the owner is, make an offer.

I don't use light screens/boxes etc. so wouldn't be any good to me.. probably just leave it unless the venue said i could take it and then see how much i could sell it for!

Make them, he, who , them, ect ect an offer as soon as poss.. like NOW

Leave the old piece of junk there.

Leave it where it is, its a piece of crap junk...

I'd try & make an offer, it could come in handy one day

Talk to the venue and see if they would like me to take it away for them.

I never turn my nose up at any equipment if it's free.

Try and find out who it belonged to and make them an off they couldn't refuse.

Or a bit cheeky say you found it report it to to the community centre leave your name and address with them and say you will look ater it for them and if the rightful owner arrives for it contact you and hand it over, or make them an offer for it. Then in 28 days it's yours all legalish, but don't use it in the mean time just store it in the condition you found it.



Anne

Stick it on Ebay!

This was something which actually happened to me (more or less) about 2 months ago - though luckily the circumstances leading up to me getting the bookings were happier and nothing to do with the previous DJ getting hurt.

The scenario of the stage being virtually inaccessable to the venue staff, and what was on the stage was unknown to the staff also...(I've not seen a brown "Marathon" wrapper for years..... yuuuh... )

As the venue pay cash about half way through the night (they bring it over to me with a beer! as soon as their bar till gets full-ish), I was in a situation where I could offer them some cash for it. I took in a couple of ebay printouts showing the unit available for about £60 - they sold it to me for £10 - and it was agreed that if anyone came back to the venue in the next couple of months claiming it was theirs, then I'd return the controller and get my tenner back.

The controller itself is "cosmetically-challenged" but works. I can now run my legacy 4 channel items in patterns eg: Zone 1 lights do a 4 channel pattern, then Zone 2 lights do a 4 channel pattern instead...all 4 zones can do different patterns at different speeds, all with soft crossfading. Does matrixing too, or can be used as a 16 channel controller - pretty versatile bit of kit - and for £10 - a handy spare.

Even without loads of confirmed and potential future bookings lined up, simply wandering off with the gear wasnt an option - and indeed no-one above, took that option.

If I find something like this, I would bring it to the attention of the responsible person. If its not theirs, they legally have no right to sell it to you. Who knows the actual status of ownership.

By the way, on a legal point, hyperthetically,if something is stolen from your van and later left in the community centre ( either by design or mistake) and a third party then sells it on, that property is still stolen property. Its status never changes, ie its all of a sudden no longer stolen.

I would leave it where it is!

I would point it out to the venue and let them know if they cant find the owner I would be interested in taking it off there hands for spares.....

I think I would have asked the community centre about it and if they responded that they didn't know anything about it I would have asked if they were interested in selling it.

Knowing my luck with things like this they would have offered it to me for free! But what I don't understand is why I never win the large box of chocolates at the raffles?

I'd nick it! How do you think I got most of my gear???

keep the "Marathon" wrapper it may be worth more than the controller

I'd ask the venue who the 'classic' equipment belonged to. If they didn't know, I would ask if they would mind keeping it secure for a month or three. After all, I wouldn't want anyone to use it without a PAT test!!!!

After this time, if no one claimed it, and after further investigations of trying to find out who owned it or may have left it, and no one could be found, I'd probably put it back in exactly the same place I found it!!!!

All considering I hadn't forgotten about it by then!