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Has it Been Four Years Already?
Our 4th anniversary of Junkyard Blues is coming next month. Way back on June 16th, 2006 I declared my rusty trailer and messy backyard to be a club after discovering that people were dancing and hanging out there day and night. I called the club “Junkyard Blues.” Dina arrived for her first visit that same day, and we’ve been messing around with it every since.
People sometimes ask us for advice on how to create a club of their own. They see that Junkyard Blues is popular and has been around for a long time, so we must have known a lot about creating a club, right? Wrong. As can be seen in our website’s “picture history” the club just seemed to happen, and we just stumbled along with it. But we have learned a lot about what makes clubs work, and we can look back at our beginnings and guess at what helped and what didn’t.
Based on our experiences here are a few thoughts. Start by quitting your day job and telling your first life friends you’ll be away for a long time. Decide on a music genre that has some general appeal. Decide upon a theme. “Club” isn’t a theme. Keep the venue simple at first. Avoid campers and bots to boost traffic numbers in “Search Places." They injure the spirit of your club and are illegal now anyway (although there is still plenty of fudging going on).
Invite friends to come by for music and dancing, and try fun things with them like theme nights. Think “community” instead of “business,” because you’ll make better choices, and you won’t be fooling yourself into thinking you’ll be paid for your efforts. Think about whether or not you really want or need the usual club enticements like sploders, money balls, and contests or the usual glitzy spotlights, flashers, and particle displays. This is your chance to create something unique that sets you apart from all the others.
Decide on your main hours. Be there as often as possible to enjoy yourself with your friends. New clubs with absentee owners don’t get many visitors. People don’t come to hang out with your furniture. Find DJs to play requests and party with you and your friends. Don’t look for slick and cool. People get plenty of that on their car radios. Look for friendly and engaging. Add hours and DJs as your club grows, and don't list the DJ shows in "Live Music" events. The DJ might be live, but the music is recorded, so play it straight with your listings.
Have some expectations about behavior. Expect people to behave respectfully to each other and to the venue. Decide what is appropriate for your venue and what isn’t, and communicate your expectations with a notecard giver. Be polite about it. Avoid hiring a burly guy with sunglasses who stands around with a “Security” tag over his head.
Assume the best about visitors, and deal with problems rationally instead of emotionally. Never get into negative verbal exchanges in open chat or complain to the peeps about problem people. Don’t publicly badmouth other clubs, and don’t get grumpy with friends who decide to start clubs of their own. There is room in SL for all of us, so wish them well. And don’t get annoyed with your patrons for visiting those other clubs. Even Dina and I like to visit other places sometimes.
Don’t start a serious club unless you’re obsessed or crazy and can commit serious time and effort to it. I suppose I’m obsessed, although some people might say crazy. Don’t start a club to make money either because most clubs don't make much money when you consider the expenses and time that can go into them. If it's not even partly about community then it's most likely doomed.
Make a Second Life club only if you enjoy people and music. Start small enough with land so you can support yourself without stressing about tier. With patience and realistic expectations you might do all right. “All right” means you’ll have fun and get a lot of satisfaction out of it even if you don’t make any money. “All right” means you have made a place for community to grow and thrive, and that has always been the biggest part for Dina and me. Good luck.
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