Hey Forum Members!

[Andrew@LasVegasNightclubs]

As many members may now know, our moderation team put in place strict new rules against any kind of solicitation within our member discussion boards last night. Most noticeably, this meant member hosts can no longer feature their contact information and solicit their own venues in this section of the site.

Riots were started, buildings were burned, cars were toppled, and children were crying. Clearly, it was a long night.

In this change, our goal is to promote an environment where members and site visitors can freely discuss real travel experiences and share advice, without the tone of conversation being tainted one way or another by commercial or personal interests.

In the past, we have always appreciated the involvement of industry professionals, but the growth of this section of JackColton.com has made it impractical due to the sheer numbers of hosts, promoters, and businesses who were only answering questions for promotional purposes.

As always, if anyone has suggestions that will improve the quality of our site, you are encouraged to speak freely. I'd put my contact information here, but, well, that isn't allowed anymore for anyone - including me. ;-)

Thanks for your continued involvement,

Jack Colton

[MikeyTantalo]

well done sir

[iamkhai]

First off I must state I am completely for the new policy and what it is trying to accomplish. With that said, 2 issues I have as a person who uses this forum for the purpose of planing my trip.

1. The removal of the entire forum for hosts to post events, specials, etc... seems a bit on the extreme side. I know this isn't the ONLY forum for vegas stuff, but it is the best as far as I can tell. My plans have been fluctuating dramatically over the past three months of planning, and I know that I was specifically looking for any events that were going to be going on during my trip to influence my decisions for where to go. Yes I said influence my decision. There's a lot of options out there and if say Club A has a special guest DJ on the night and Club B does not, this was an easy place to find that info out.

2. It is understandable for hosts to try and solicit their own club/business when asked a direct question. But sometimes that's what we, as visitors, need.

Case in point - someone recently posted that him and his buddies have $3k to spend per night and were asking where should they go. From what I recall they ended up at XS at least one of the nights because well this solicitation that we are trying to avoid. But the guy wanted information and now because of these rules someone else cannot get that info.

To quote you, we should be able to get advice without it being tainted to go in one direction or another. And I get that. But should we punish say Darryll from Cathouse because a host from Voodoo Lounge doesn't post on here at all?

And the removal of the host appreciation thread is a major bummer. It was through that thread that I figured out who I wanted to work with. That wasn't hosts pimping themselves out, it was real people like me who posted things like who has helped me with any issues even before I set foot on a plane to head to Vegas.

As I said, I am all for less soliciting, but I think there is a definite place for (the former hosts thread). I think a punishment for those that do solicit business outside of that thread should be warranted.

Just my 2 cents.

[DeX]

I agree with #1. Why not have a sub forum just for upcoming event announcements. I'm not talking about a new thread for every upcoming event either. Make one thread for every nightclub, example: "Surrender Upcoming Events" where people can post flyers for upcoming events. None of that "hit me up for guestlists" or "bottle specials" stuff. Just videos and flyers about the events. Of course it will need some maintenance after every event to keep the thread between 1-2 pages with just the most up to date news in it to make it easier on people.

[MikeyTantalo]

I agree with #1. Why not have a sub forum just for upcoming event announcements. I'm not talking about a new thread for every upcoming event either. Make one thread for every nightclub, example: "Surrender Upcoming Events" where people can post flyers for upcoming events. None of that "hit me up for guestlists" or "bottle specials" stuff. Just videos and flyers about the events. Of course it will need some maintenance after every event to keep the thread between 1-2 pages with just the most up to date news in it to make it easier on people.

I agree with this.. upcoming events.. and then PM the guy for details..

+2

[Andrew@LasVegasNightclubs]

Iamkhai,

Thanks for your reply and your input into the changes. Let me respond to your two key points to help in understanding how they will be addressed with continued changes to our site.

1) Regarding event information, this is something that will be solved within the next two weeks as we replace the existing outer site with our new interactive one. A part of the major upgrades include, what I believe to be, one of the most thorough searchable Las Vegas nightlife calendars in existence. As event flyers are hot of the any of the nightclub graphic designer's 'proverbial' press, they are immediately entered into our searchable database - making our events and performance calendar an accurate combination of everything currently available by any Las Vegas nightclub or pool party. Taken further, visitors will be able to signup for guestlists and inquire for reservations from a specific contact at every venue. If a genuine recommendation is offered by forum members, then we would hope they would directly message one another with contact information of their suggested host.

2) Darryll from Cathouse is a long friend of the site and is highly regarded by many of our frequent users as an excellent host who takes care of everyone's needs well past their expectations. For this reason, he is being added as our recommended contact for CatHouse. Using this example, we can point to a number of general questions by new members that have possibly led them to Cathouse solely because of Darryll's strong relationship with so many of our members, regardless of whether or not that was the type of venue they were really seeking.

What we are wanting to see is more "it sounds like you will love _____ venue. When I went there, I experienced ______," and less the simple "talk to ____ host at _____, they will take care of you on a Friday night!"

Our entire new site is interactive in the same way that Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com are in that every business profiled is up for public comment and review. Because of this, it is especially important to remove the solicitation element from all aspects of our site.

[Andrew@LasVegasNightclubs]

Mikey, will you message me your e-mail address and phone number? I'd like you as our featured Surrender contact.

[MikeyTantalo]

wow... I am honored sir... thank you

[Andrew@LasVegasNightclubs]

I agree with #1. Why not have a sub forum just for upcoming event announcements. I'm not talking about a new thread for every upcoming event either. Make one thread for every nightclub, example: "Surrender Upcoming Events" where people can post flyers for upcoming events. None of that "hit me up for guestlists" or "bottle specials" stuff. Just videos and flyers about the events. Of course it will need some maintenance after every event to keep the thread between 1-2 pages with just the most up to date news in it to make it easier on people.

I like this idea, but would like to wait until we have enforced the no solicitation rule long enough to have it become a known standard. Also, lets watch and see if we can do so without being redundant to the larger event calendar system.

[ChadNoyesRPM]

agreed

i do think that it was getting a bit crazy as far as the solicitation was going but i also think it was a way for people to reach out to other hosts not just the ones from direct contacts. also all the changes that happen in vegas 24/7 its an easy way for the nightclub people to get information out to others. theres always speculation about a club or prices ect and its an easy way to clear the air. like for example all the changes from nikki beach to rpm nightclub ect. as all the hosts know we get plenty of emails/calls/texts and peole just ask us what they should do or plan there vacation. which is what this website helps everyone do to a T. i do think there should be some kind of host thread just minimize what can be said or done and what if a host leaves that club from the direct contacts or what not? and especially from this site i get so many people contacting me saying hey heard about u on jc can u help me set up something or so and so referred me from jc. i think it benefits both the people coming to vegas and also the hosts in vegas..just a thought

[KristinK]

Thank God, I put all my favorite host's contact info in my phone before this.

[Andrew@LasVegasNightclubs]

i do think that it was getting a bit crazy as far as the solicitation was going but i also think it was a way for people to reach out to other hosts not just the ones from direct contacts. also all the changes that happen in vegas 24/7 its an easy way for the nightclub people to get information out to others. theres always speculation about a club or prices ect and its an easy way to clear the air. like for example all the changes from nikki beach to rpm nightclub ect. as all the hosts know we get plenty of emails/calls/texts and peole just ask us what they should do or plan there vacation. which is what this website helps everyone do to a T. i do think there should be some kind of host thread just minimize what can be said or done and what if a host leaves that club from the direct contacts or what not? and especially from this site i get so many people contacting me saying hey heard about u on jc can u help me set up something or so and so referred me from jc. i think it benefits both the people coming to vegas and also the hosts in vegas..just a thought

Definitely would love to list you for RPM. Regarding information and clearing the air, that is definitely still encouraged. If someone posts something news related, a question about your venue, etc....it isn't soliciting to say "this is what is going on."

[MikeyTantalo]

[/quote]

Definitely would love to list you for RPM. Regarding information and clearing the air, that is definitely still encouraged. If someone posts something news related, a question about your venue, etc....it isn't soliciting to say "this is what is going on."[/QUOTE]

+1

[iamkhai]

Thank you for clearing things up. I have been thinking a lot about this from my stand point being as my trip is in two weeks and how these changes will affect me.

Some other suggestions based on the changes that I have seen implemented already just from my point of view.

1. The recommended hosts on the main page need to be forum members in my opinion and they should be posting on here as well. The reason for this is that I had sent an email to two different hosts and they didn't respond within 48 hours. I came onto the forums and found a host at each venue I was inquiring about and one replied in less than 2 minutes, the other within the hour. To me, if they are going to be recommended to the vast user base, they should be interacting with the users.

2. There should be some badge, icon or something that clearly identifies a host compared to other members. This should be something other than a signature just due to the fact that most people ignore the signatures.

3. Other businesses should be allowed to post their specials, but they need to be monitored and need to post on the forums regularly. The one in particular I see is missing is ***** ******** in the resorts and hotels. The truth of the matter is, he saved me over 50% off my hotel rate. That means more money I can spend while I am in Vegas because of his rates.

3b. There needs to be a limit for who can post what type of business they have. IE: BellaVita limos posts here, then say presidential, then another, it could be too many. There needs to be a recommended list for these services as well.

4. With regards to the recommended list, activity on these forums and feedback needs to be made publicly aware. Just as an example if John Doe was the host for XS and people came on here complaining about him, then he needs to be removed. Likewise if John Doe is doing a good job, but Todd Smith who also happens to be a host at XS is getting better feedback, Todd should be the one to get the spot. The reason for this idea is since the website gets ZERO kickback from the hosts as far as financial compensation is concerned, the website needs to get something else in return.

[AnthonyHyde]

jack, why don't you start a host directory. Kind of a Yelp for vegas nightclub host. You already have the forum and the audience to do so. Peer to peer ratings of host they've gone though and that their experience was like. Its better than people digging through the forum for someones number anyways.