DJ Dave Live... A climax to the soul

How  do these services benefit a Second Life entertainment offering?

That depends on what your objectives are. If you're opening yet another one of many hundreds of entertainment related simulators as a hobbyist, then consulting services would be of little interest to you. If however, you're a little more ambitious and aiming to rollout an offering, which makes it into the top 2% that attracts 90% of the entertainment consumer in SL, you'll need a real vision and the operational means to carry it out.

But why are so many entertainment venues opening in SL, only to remain empty 98% of the time?

Ever heard this one? "nightclubs, bars, or other types of social entertainment venues in SL are NOT the same as RL… The fundemenatls simply don't apply in SL. LOL… That's absurd. Of course they apply! Why do you think the majority of entertainment venues are empty in SL, and despite demand for quality entertainment searing by the day? With all due respect to the people who 'without premise' arrive at these bizarre conclusions, you'd better be able to offer a very good explanation as to why there are endless amounts of entertainment related simulators sitting empty, or being abandoned, while a tiny few maintain 50k traffic, and less than 1% make it over 60k. How to you explain this phenomenon? Unfortunate happenstance?

The truth is… Similar to the RL entertainment industry, everyone and their mother believes they can be an entertainment operator. The business looks easy… Elementary, and no formal education is required. Hmmm… Well… If anyone can do it, then why is the RL nightclub failure rate still hovering around 75%? Do raise your hand if you know the answer.

Let's get real please… You're not going to take the grid by storm just because you've decided to take your dream club and implement it on a simulator. Not happening… And if you don't believe that… By all means, have another look at the obscene number of empty clubs in SL. Think you'll get lucky? Roll the dice and give it a shot then -it's your investment…

So you're going to tell me how to build my entertainment venue?

Not quite… The build is the easiest part of all. DJ Daves core focus and most notably over the past 12 years is an in depth and ongoing study of the radically changing 21st century social entertainment landscape. In a Nutshell… Forget RL nightclubs. That concept is almost dead in the water. We're light years beyond that now, while we embark on a platform, which is capable of allowing people to connect in ways never imagined possible. A concept, although still very much in its infancy stages termed... Social Networking.

Twitter, Facebook, and several others, but… Most recently… Second Life, (a more advanced variant), has entered the mainstream of social network mediums. In summary, social networking mediums allow far easer access to others of similar interests at the global level. Social networking mediums have actually been in existence since the early 90's, starting with online dating. This is now an antiquated concept, due largely to its outdated infrastructure, dated /cumbersome technologies, and a serious PR problem… Largely the result of their foolishness for pushing a 'false hope in return for profit model' for so long.

Going into the full history of online dating would take us beyond the scope of this document, so we'll save it for some other time. Nevertheless, despite its imminent demise, online dating did manage to bring 'social introductory services' into the mainstream, while the masses now consider online social networking of many types to be acceptable, and… In increasingly high demand.

As you some of you may surmise at this point, DJ Dave does not view Second Life entertainment deployments as a personal amusement or hobby. In his view, we're on the forefront of a whole new era in social networking, and while SL may appear as little more than a game to many at this stage, the Metaverse is slated to change the way people socially interact like never before.

So how can DJ Dave help?

DJ Dave's focus is not so much on the build. It is the underlying concept and how it approaches the rapidly progressing demands of the social demographic in SL. His studies in the field of social entertainment are not focused on trendy new nightclubs, or pop culture gimmicks, but instead… An avid study into sociology and behavioral science as they relate to an increasingly complex 21st century entertainment consumer.

This knowledge is combined with a 25-year background in social entertainment concept development, and further enhanced with a solid 2.5 year in-depth analysis of the SL social entertainment landscape, in addition to working with the grids busiest and most successful entertainment establishments.

Entertainment in Second Life is somewhat complex, is that it does not deal with the tangible elements of an RL entertainment venue. For example, eye contact and body language are attributes that are removed from a virtual world social venue. The fundamental reasons people engage in social entertainment, however does not change in SL. In fact, the SL social environment venue can be 'more intense' than its RL predecessor in many cases.

So you need a concept…

Success in the virtual world entertainment venue is largely reliant on a concept, vision, and the means to operationally carry it out. The concept needs to satisfy several primary objectives:

• Target the 32, to 45 or higher age demographic

• Concept appeal must be slanted in favor of a female audience

• Must be internationally friendly -to some degree

• Must stimulate social interaction at 'above average' levels

• Must make it easy for people to engage

• Must provide a strong sense of social comfort

• Must provide a sense of belonging

• Must immerse guests in a highly enchanting atmosphere

• Must maintain music content familiar to 80% of the audience at all times

• Must encompass the 'sticky factor'

• Must achieve higher retention and high return rates

• Physical environment must 'compliment' the above objectives in amazing ways

• Must stand alone - can't be remotely confused with any other offering

It's not rocket science… The vast majority of SL residents want to meet other SL residents. The fundamental purpose of a social entertainment venue is to create an environment 'conducive' to allowing this to occur. It could be a romance venue, or top one -does not matter… The 'fundamental objective' does not change. This is where 99% of SL venues really miss their mark, and badly. The 1% that do get it right are packed solid 24 X 7 and maintain traffic of 67k, to 73k. Now there are no doubt many reading this document thinking, sure… I can do that. Smirks…. You positively certain?

Demand in Second Life for 'premium' entertainment offerings is so off the scale, it's no longer registering. Sadly, many continue to dump considerable amounts of money into entertainment sims that do not… So much as come close to accommodating the demands of the vast and increasingly complex social entertainment consumer in SL.

But how the hell do we make money?

For starters, dismiss 90% of the 'unqualified' commentary and misguided belief from those who blindly claim that SL entertainment can't make money. No offence, but thus far, this babble should be taken with a grain of salt. Not only is the conclusion baseless, you would not be able to establish a premise for it if you tried. LOL.

The real truth of 'why can't SL entertainment venues turn revenue' is because of the 'lack' of business, or enterprise savvy of the people operating them -not because the SL demographic who by the way… Is currently spending 155-million USD a month on virtual goods and services will not spend money. Let's make sure we keep it in 'accurate' perspective please…

Getting into why SL entertainment venues do not turn real revenue is a topic that could easily result in a 5 page document, so we won't discuss that in depth here. In summary, most of the reasons why even the busiest entertainment venues in SL do not make money is the people behind them don't know what their next move is. Typically, they choke themselves off at 70 capacity, while progress or growth of their entertainment offering pretty much ceases at that point.

Sort of a shame… They have outrageous demand… Little supply… Endless complaints of a lack of capacity… And lag. Yet, most SL operators appear stumped on what it is they're supposed to do next. Adding additional resources at this point to accommodate demand is not possible, unless they want to funnel another several thousand of their personal funds into the deployment of additional simulators. Hardly a viable option for most, and even if it were… What is the point?

To spend another $400.00 USD a month so you can give the virtual world more 'free' entertainment on YOUR dime? Think again… You need cash flow. Without it, you're going nowhere. Vendors? LOL… Please, get real. You're not going to bog your entertainment sim down with vendors, in return for a few dollars -utter silliness. You need to think bigger… There are ways to generate this cash flow with the right concept and a 'solid team' of 'dedicated' players backing it. Not going into all that right now… Establish a solid entertainment offering with 65k plus traffic first, and then we'll discuss those options.

So could your venue be the next one to take the grid captive?

Depends on your approach and methodology… Contact Fdisk Nitely with details of what you want to achieve. Perhaps the DJ Dave's consulting services may be able to help.