An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest... Nightclubbiz.com

The hobbyist/ roll playing approach

At present, almost all entertainment venues in Second Life are based on this model. Remember… Second Life is a universe where many (in a fantasy sort of way) may be whomever or whatever they want. This includes entertainment venues operators and DJ's. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not, however it will certainly invoke the same questions this same scenario does in real life clubs, and it's this: What 'quality' of entertainment product can you expect from 'inexperienced entertainment operators'?   How well can carpenters build cars?

At the risk of ruining anyone's fun, the increasing complaints of a 'lack' of quality entertainment offering on the grid, and or… "The venues are becoming so boring here" can be directly attributed to operators, that while having fun playing DJ and nightclub operator, really don't understand what their fundamental role is, nor can they acknowledge or interpret the demands of an increasingly demanding entertainment consumer in the virtual world.

No big surprise… As the virtual world of Second Life evolves, so does the demand for product, which is in synchronous with those 'evolving' needs. In all honesty, this is not the case here at all and consequently has driven demand for entertainment product "with a purpose" right off the scales of measure. In our opinion, there appears to be a real divide between the evolving social structure of the virtual world… And the ability of entertainment operators to acknowledge and respond accordingly. But alas… You can't accomplish this with an understanding of entertainment, which does not go much beyond a 'roll playing' understanding of entertainment product.

Hundreds of entertainment venues and no place to go?

Chuckles… Sounds like the real life social entertainment scene, does it not? The only difference in the virtual world is that you have access to 'all' of the worlds entertainment venues, as opposed to real life where you're limited to your local handful. Yet, these same 6-million dollar questions will continue to arise and they are… Where the hell do you go? Where is the action? Where is the lively party? Where are the hot tunes? Where can you actually meet people? I'm falling asleep!!!

The production entertainment approach.

Pretty much speaks for itself. You're not banging the doors open with your only credentials being that of wearing an owner tag. Your approach is premised on an accurate and solid understanding of the core consumer. You proceed with a mission, a vision, and thus a real purpose. You establish a 'defined' identity, market it, maintain it, and streamline it. You do not dump a bunch of roll playing DJ's and managers into the mix and allow them to run wild. You build, train, and manage a team of players, which are ABLE to follow simple instructions and carry them out minus continuous babysitting.

The result is a polished entertainment offering, which is built on premise, as opposed to dreams, thus a resulting product, which is entertaining, consistent, and highly addictive. Yes there is a real science behind social entertainment product that is "consistently" hot, as opposed to hit and miss on various nights.

Allow us to make one thing very clear

The virtual world does encompass a number of souls with varying degrees of personality disorders. These disorders manifest themselves in ways, which can be extremely disruptive to a production environment, largely because of the resulting behavioral conduct. While relatively harmless in general social circles, you can't run a production operation if you're continuously burdened by some, who instead of seeking professional help for their issues, figure they're going to use your environment as a stage where they feel they're 'entitled' to behave as they please and without accountability for their actions.

Indeed, there is a segment of the population who believes they may behave in ways that would never be acceptable in a real life social structure, and or possibly those who are so socially dysfunctional, the only place they could possibly exist is within the confines of the virtual world where they truly believe… Their conduct is acceptable. From our experience, allowing these individuals anywhere near the internal structure of a 'production' entertainment operation can be both undermining and destructive to it.

Is there a way to avoid this disaster?

The virtual world encompasses a great deal of anonymity, while most communications are carried out via im's /text messages. As most could appreciate, gathering an accurate impression of someone through a few instant messages, versus communicating with them in person can ultimately result in two very different impressions.

Our solution was simply this: If developing a committed and serious staff /management structure, instant message communications are abolished or extremely limited as they relate to operational issues. All business, beginning with first contact is conducted by phone. As simple as this sounds, it acts as a reasonably reliable means of 'filtering out' problematic individuals who are not team player material, but will likely serve as little more than a disruptive liability to the broader level operational structure.

Trust and confidence are two very essential components of building a winning team and even more so in an environment, such as the virtual world. If either one of these components is compromised, no matter how little… The resulting consequences can be catastrophic at very least.

To be 100% clear…

We are by no means claiming that most of the people in the virtual world are socially unbalanced, but that similar to the 'real life' nightclub industry, problematic souls are 'often' drawn to various occupations within a nightclub structure. This is no different in the virtual world of Second Life, so you need to be vigilant…

The virtual would is a universe filled with cultural and intellectual diversity. There is tremendous talent on the grid and much of which undiscovered. All we're really saying is to make sure you set your sights to this arena when seeking talent, while avoiding the problematic segments of the population.

The future belongs to those who see it coming…

Dave H
http://nightclubbiz.com/