Help Needed

[3guk]

Hi

 

There is a new site planned which hopefully is gonig to contain reviews of theatre/dj equip and guides on how to do simple things like wiring a plug to complex things like eq'ing a room or setting up a concert.

 

I was wondering if anybody would like to contribute.. To start of you would have to work for free but.... you would get recognition for your work.

 

Cheers

 

TO blue room admins I dont think that this post breaks any rules but if it does please accept my apologies

[3guk]

NO one interested??

 

I have been told by my mate who is runnig the whole thing that once the site gets going the contributers might get a teeshirt !!

 

Cheers

[Guest lightnix]

Without wishing to appear deliberately unhelpful, I think most people in here would like to know more about the site and the people behind it, before commiting any time to the project; it all appears a little vague at the moment.

 

As for giving time for free, bear in mind that most people here are already working very silly hours for nowhere near enough money and you are maybe being a little, ummm... presumptive in assuming that people will flock to you with offers of unpaid assistance, IMHO. I personally place a high value on my many years of hard-won lighting experience and am not prepared to just give it away free to complete strangers. Mercenary attitude ? Yes, of course it is. I've got bills to pay, food to buy and a vehicle to keep on the road; apart from which I'm a freelancer and don't do anything for nothing, on principle.

 

T-shirts ? I generally throw them away straight after the gig these days, unless they are of sufficient quality to get my windows really clean and shiny. A mention on the website ? Once again, I'm sorry, but you'll have to offer far better incentives than that.

 

Equipment reviews are ten a penny in the trade press. Anyway, most people form their opinions and make decisions on what to buy/hire, based on word of mouth opinions and experiences of friends and colleagues, whom they know and trust.

 

As for offering advice on the things you mention, be very careful there. For a start: any electrical advice you are going to offer, must comply with the 16th Edition of the IEE regs. If it doesn't, you will be advising people to commit illegal acts. If someone has followed your advice, it turns out to be wrong and things go pear-shaped as a result, you could well wind up on the receiving end of a writ.

 

I may not be a sound engineer, but I don't see how you can learn to EQ a room by reading a website. Similarly, setting up a concert is something you learn to do over a considerable period of time through proper training and experience; once again, there are several legal considerations when doing so, not least on the H&S front.

 

So, to begin with: can/will you please tell us a bit more about what is going on here and who is behind the site ?

[3guk]

Right ok then.

 

The site is going to be the home of the Ukslc. WHich is the UK sound and light community.

 

It is a completely free resource for DJ's and sound/light/theatre technicians alike.

 

We aim to offer something unique, a site this is both dedicated to and run by our users. All registered members will have full access to the UKSLC forum, can post news articles and stories, take part in polls, access useful FAQ's, a technical encyclopedia and much more. We rely on our members, and any comments or suggestions for improvement for the site will be taken on board.

 

As the community grows, we eventually hope to offer even more in the way of competitions, special trade events,knocked down prices, along with other special benefits.

 

That is basically the marketing blurb.

 

The site is run by me a theatre technician and a few other part time dj's / theatre technicians.

 

We looked round the internet and found that there were not many if any sites that were dedicated to Just dj's and technicians. So we set out in creating the UKslc.

 

Any more questions or info needed ??

 

I have no problems in telling you more !

[gareth]

My suggestion would be that, once you've got the initial version of the site up and running, you post a link here and ask again for contributions. I think people are more likely to feel inclined to contribute to a site once they have a clearer picture of exactly what it is that they're contributing to, and how (and in what context) their work is going to be presented.

 

Have to agree with Nix re. his comments about getting something for nothing, though. No-one minds helping out with technical questions on forums like this one - but sitting down and spending a few hours writing a piece about how to set up a PA system or whatever (things which, as Nix said, aren't really things you can know how to do just by reading it up on the web), in exchange for just a t-shirt and a namecheck, is a whole different ball game and not nearly such an enticing prospect.

 

Like I say, once you've got the basis of the site in place, post a link and you might get a more enthusiastic response.

[3guk]

http://www.dj-ads.co.uk/nuke/

 

thats its temporary address. It will be on the move in a few days once I sort out its new domain with my host !

 

But the content will stay the same thats why I am trying to get it filled now !!

 

Cheers

Edit: by Peter. Corrected link.

[Ike]

I don't mean to sound rude however I still can't work out what your site offers that others such as this, sheppered.co.uk, abtt, psa etc do not.

 

While a website like this may be suitable for mobile DJs I can not honestly see it being used by theatre technicians as there are already plenty out there for this very purpose.

[3guk]

It is hopefully going to have offers and news ok maybe its similar to some other sites out there.

 

But its just an alternative !!

[gareth]

It is hopefully going to have offers and news ok maybe its similar to some other sites out there.

 

But its just an alternative !!

Alternatives are good! I think the point that Ike is trying to make, though, is that too much duplication of existing resources isn't necessarily such a good thing. News-wise, there's ET Now and LSI Online, which are both pretty comprehensive industry news resources.

 

Regarding special offers, etc. - what sort of offers are we talking about? Discounts with specific companies? Invitations to product demos, etc.? Will it be suppliers who are likely to be of interest to the wider technical theatre community, or specifically targetted at mobile discos, etc.? Sorry, that's a lot of questions - but I'm curious about where you're pitching your site in terms of a target audience ...

[Guest lightnix]

Again no disrespect, but you can get just about all the news you need from around the world at L&Si online, The Stage, etnow, Prosound News, Mondiale Publishing, Nightclub & Bar magazine online, Stage Directions, Connections and Access All Areas, to name but a few.

 

There are already several "crew based sites" too, such as Redmonkey, Q1Go, Backstage World and roadie.net.

 

While I admire your enthusiasm, I don't see any particular Unique Selling Point here. What you need is something that you cannot get elsewhere, that will bring the business flocking to your door and make you the first choice of everybody.

[3guk]

Our resource aimes to be different and allows a lot more user interaction than a believe the other ones do !

 

Special offers - We are talking about discounts we certain companies insider news, chances to chat with the people that work for the different companies. Yes also invitations to product demos and hopefully money off tickets to industry events like plasa ect !

 

Suppliers - We are hoping to get supliers who are more theatre based than mobile dj based. But we aim to have both types on there ! So both sides will be happy.

 

Any More questions . I am happy to answer

[3guk]

nix what do you suggest then.

 

What would be in your eyes something that you cannot get elsewhere.

[Guest lightnix]

nix what do you suggest then.

I don't know to be honest, if I thought of something I'd possibly have a go at it myself. I'm not trying to put you down, honestly and I'm sorry if I'm coming across as a bit negative here, it's been one of those "long, uphill" types of week.

 

One thing you could try doing, in order to sharpen your vision of what you are trying to do, is prepare a Business Plan for the idea. It may well be a slog, but it will probably be a worthwhile exercise. You could also have a look at some basic marketing courses. I did a very good one with Learn Direct recently.

 

As you are web based, you could check out the Black Art of Search Engine Optimisation, too.

 

Finally, have a good look at the sites I listed in my last post. See what they do, don't do and what you think you could do better. Reseach your market , starting with asking your potential customers what they actually want from a site like yours.

[3guk]

Ok this post will now be dedicated to people telling me what they want out of a site like this !!

 

Fire away

[paulears]

Getting people to contibute will be fun. My experience is that initial interest soon wanes and you end up contributing more and more yourself. I suspect most people who contribute to forums like this one and abtt etc read first, then respond when they feel strongly about something. I don't know what the hit rate for members starting threads actually is - so waiting for copy to stick up may leave you in a panic. Already there is friction between users here and the abtt site - mainly people genuinely saying what they feel. Despite that, most look at both anyway, just for the occasional words of real wisdom.

 

I'm a little confused as to what the link is between DJ and technician. Bit like a muso & tec site, or actor and tec etc. Most times what they do appears to me to be in direct conflict.

 

best of luck - seems like a huge amount of work to me.