Hey Seth

Space wrote:
Are you telling me Julian can hold down a job and make 20,000 posts on this website,

I like to think of those 26,000+ posts as my real job. I "work" on the side.

sweetcell wrote:

Julian, wrote:
It’s not an attempt at trolling. Vansmack agrees with me. If it’s not about money, then why? It’s about selling beer. Any person with half a brain knows that because NO OTHER PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION EXISTS OR HAS BEEN PROFFERED.

how about: it requires effort, and management might not see/believe in the payoff.  staph are already busy, updating the website every day isn't high on their priorities list, someone needs to be trained in the website backend, they need to chase after whoever is responsible for daily scheduling to get set times, etc.  it's not a lot of effort, but it's some.

But, again, they've been doing it for years.  It's suddenly difficult to do?

I think the point people are missing is that, in addition to it not being on the main page, Eddie has also stopped giving us itemized set times when queried in the FAQ section as well.

This is not a redesign thing or a coding issue or the coincidental loss of a staffer. The same dude who answered the question for the last decade+ is suddenly not doing so and is not doing so consistently, in a clear 180 from a decade+ of precedence. This clearly speaks to it being a conscious, calculated decision.

sweetcell wrote:

Julian, wrote:
It’s not an attempt at trolling. Vansmack agrees with me. If it’s not about money, then why? It’s about selling beer. Any person with half a brain knows that because NO OTHER PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION EXISTS OR HAS BEEN PROFFERED.

staph are already busy, updating the website every day isn't high on their priorities list, someone needs to be trained in the website backend, they need to chase after whoever is responsible for daily scheduling to get set times, etc.  it's not a lot of effort, but it's some.

The website is changed "daily" to reflect that night's show. You cannot play the "updating the website every day is hard and no one knows how to do it" card when they're literally already doing that.

Space wrote:

Julian, wrote:
It’s not an attempt at trolling. Vansmack agrees with me. If it’s not about money, then why? It’s about selling beer. Any person with half a brain knows that because NO OTHER PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION EXISTS OR HAS BEEN PROFFERED.

Maybe the bands prefer not being tied to a specific set time?

Never arrive late for Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Julian, wrote:

sweetcell wrote:

Julian, wrote:
It’s not an attempt at trolling. Vansmack agrees with me. If it’s not about money, then why? It’s about selling beer. Any person with half a brain knows that because NO OTHER PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION EXISTS OR HAS BEEN PROFFERED.

staph are already busy, updating the website every day isn't high on their priorities list, someone needs to be trained in the website backend, they need to chase after whoever is responsible for daily scheduling to get set times, etc.  it's not a lot of effort, but it's some.

The website is changed "daily" to reflect that night's show. You cannot play the "updating the website every day is hard and no one knows how to do it" card when they're literally already doing that.

This can be automated.

so…

set times…

a few different reasons…

they were often inaccurate, as we are dealing with human beings not videos and they just don't function like clockwork…we got complaints when the schedules weren't as posted, so we got tired of that

and the new website provider for some reason is now not able to add this info the day of, which is often when we figure this stuff out, so we just put door times now, which we do know in advance

but as you all are vastly experienced 930 goers…how are you not able to figure out approximately when the band you want to see goes on, and how often are you wrong and by how many minutes?

besides all that, yes we want you getting there early and not pre-gaming and spending your money elsewhere

So…maybe twitter is a better venue for set times?

Seth wrote:
and the new website provider for some reason is now not able to add this info the day of, which is often when we figure this stuff out, so we just put door times now, which we do know in advance

Is the new website provider the reason Eddie no longer gives the set times in the FAQ?

…bearman encapsulated my feelings in one simple gif
and excon has a great suggestion

Personally I've been amazed how well that 930 has been to get a generally unreliable group of people to keep to set times…but you do

How about you put a paywall up for set time access…charge maybe a quarter per request
that way..the person who has to manage that can generate income for IMP that might offset the one beer I might not get


but I do appreciate your response…unlike Julian's shtick seems to imply
by getting back to us shows me that you care about the unwashed masses that patronize your establishment

Appreciate the response Seth, but I for one don't think once in 15 years a band I came to see came on later than 15 minutes from the posted set time.

Yada wrote:
Appreciate the response Seth, but I for one don't think once in 15 years a band I came to see came on later than 15 minutes from the posted set time.

The set times were pretty much always dead on for every single show I've seen. Maybe once did times change.

I can tell you that if parking is sold out for a show and I'm relying on Metro, if I don't know when the headliner goes on I'm not going (still bummed about seeing 4 songs from Living Colour in 2001 before I had to leave to catch the last train).

Seth wrote:
so…

set times…

a few different reasons…

they were often inaccurate, as we are dealing with human beings not videos and they just don't function like clockwork…

in my experience, posted set times were very accurate.  i can't recall an event that was more than 10 minutes off.

Seth wrote:we got complaints when the schedules weren't as posted, so we got tired of that

that seems weak, seth.  i'm willing to believe that some complained about inaccuracies, but how many more complaints are you getting now that they aren't posted at all?  if number of complaints is truly your motivation, you'll be putting them back up again, right?

Seth wrote:
and the new website provider for some reason is now not able to add this info the day of, which is often when we figure this stuff out, so we just put door times now, which we do know in advance

i'm surprised to learn that "ability to easily and immediately update the website" wasn't included as a requirement for the new website.  if it wasn't, that was an oversight on the club's part.  patrons aren't happy.  to me, this amounts to something that should be fixed.

as others have pointed out, there are other avenues for posting this info.  FB and Tw seems perfect for this.

Seth wrote:but as you all are vastly experienced 930 goers…how are you not able to figure out approximately when the band you want to see goes on, and how often are you wrong and by how many minutes?

i can indeed make an educated guess: openers 30 to 60 mins after doors, play for 30-40 mins, 30-45 min break, second opener plays for 30-45 mins, 30-45 min break, headliner.  delta between low and high estimates: almost an hour and a half.  that's a pretty big window, enough to miss the headliners set entirely.  obviously that's an extreme, doubtful anyone would be that far off, but missing half of the headliner wouldn't be that hard.  there are occasions when we just can't hang out all night at the club and wait…

Seth wrote:
besides all that, yes we want you getting there early and not pre-gaming and spending your money elsewhere

fair enough, you run a business and you want to maximize revenue.  but at what cost?  are you going to take the airlines' strategy of nickle and diming us on everything?  pulling every trick in the book to get us to spend more?  of course not, that's never been your business model.  along with profitability, it's my belief that you care about the experience, about getting repeat business, and differentiating yourself from your competitors.  the posting of set times contributed to all 3 of these.

FWIW, I missed most of Alison Moyet at 930 because I didn't check the posted set times.

Rarely did a band hit the stage more than 15 minutes past the posted set times. I always thought it was incredible Seth and his Staph were able to get a stereotypical unpredictable lot to commit to a stage time. 

I realize this might not seem like a big deal, and in the grand scheme of life we deal with stuff and move on (if we survive another day that is). But this is a business and we are patrons, and this thread is a constructive way to come up with solutions to issues and money makes the world go round. So here's me stepping up to the mic one more time to whine. The more I think about this, the more annoyed I get simply because the excuses Seth gave weren't really valid reasons, as sweetcell showed. No disrespect at all to Seth, but if I think of the thousands and thousands of dollars I've spent and literally hundreds of nights I've spent at the 9:30 and IMP shows, it just feels like a slap away when all I've tried to do is be loyal. What bothers me is that in this day and age of technology, just send out a fuckin' Tweet or a Facebook update if your web site designer (who I'm sure got paid good money) can't be bothered to include a feature that clearly existed in previous versions. Stick a window on the main page like the Black Cat does to show the Twitter feed, which shows what the set times are. I don't even care if it goes out at 5pm when you have it locked in. I don't buy that people complained if set times weren't entirely accurate. I mean, like to the minute? Maybe the bands I choose to see deserve attendance and punctuality gold medals. Because I never had issues. 

Amen bearman… Seth really doesn't have a leg to stand on regarding this argument. By the way, I hope they didn't pay someone good money for this redesign.

It does leave you with the sense that now that the Anthem is opening, the 9:30 club, it's bookings, website, etc have become less important…