This article is based around my experience of hosting in Second Life as well as my observations working with some super great, some great, some not-so-great and some pretty awful hosts at various clubs.
I do not claim to be a great host. I think I am average and I do not even host nowadays, only DJ thrice a week at Sharktooth Beach Club, Tiki Nights and Tart & Troubadour.
So, what makes for a great host?
Let me tell you about some of the best I have seen and may be then, you will see, what it takes.
I shall start this with someone I met around 3 years back and does not log in to SL any more, for whatever reason. She used to host at this club where I used to DJ. A fantastic personality. Spoke to every person at the club in the same way - no matter a guest, a friend, a foe, a super tipper VIP or just a noob. She was a prolific gesture-user as well and kind of had gestures on her finger tips for every emotion, word and even songs.
There was another pair of wonderfully chatty chirpy sisters, who have again stopped logging into SL for more than a couple of years now. These sisters owned a club and we were great friends. Though I never worked for them, I wish I would have. It was fun galore for VIPs when these sisters were in action. They had this amazing charisma to make any person feel at home and the humor factor was sky high at any of their events! They kind of fed off each other!
In my SL career, I have met many other amazing hosts who just know how to entertain and keep VIPs engaged. If you ask me, a lot of it cannot be taught. But for purposes of this article, here is a framework and a few pointers which may at least help you get started. If you feel you are already amazing, close this blog right now! If not, read on! :)
There are few parts to being an amazing host -
1. The ability to draw people in
2. The ability to hold people and keep them interested for the whole event
3. Art of working with colleagues and club owners
1. The ability to draw people in -
There are several ways to do it. A few that I learnt from the vivacious Viva - the club owner of Sharktooth beach club include -
a) Posting events on the Second Life Website. Remember you can post till 2 hours before your set, not after that. Check the official websites as they seem to be changing rules every day.
b) Spamming in-world groups that allow you to advertise events for free
c) Spamming Facebook groups that allow you to advertise events for free
d) Try to invite friends and family to a personal in-world group. This would help you send notices and invites when you are working. Mass TP requests do not really work these days.
e) Be aware of the basics around sending notices to club VIP group - a typical format is sending notice twice at the start and at half time of the event.
f) Work with the owner to place ads around Second Life. This may not be your direct doing always, but you can always suggest stuff you observe while hosting.
2. The ability to hold people after they arrive -
The DJ definitely has an important part to play in terms of playing the right music and being able to dish out requests with little delay. But to me, the hosts have an even bigger role and it starts with welcoming people to the club. This is what I have seen being done by the best today -
a) They never miss welcoming a single guest. Even a simple "Hi" goes a long way. Even if you set up a hud to do it for you, please do it.
b) Once the first greeting goes out, the VIP may or may not respond. If he chooses to remain silent, fine, but if he responds, it is important to send a personalized message back on local chat. A simple "how are you doing today?" will also help. If he intends to engage in a conversation over local, keep at it. Remember this conversation keeps the local chat going and may eventually attract the other people to pitch in, making it up for a lively discussion.
c) Judicious use of gestures - Keep the gestures positive, entertaining. Remember too much of anything is bad. Same goes with gestures, don't overdo it. If you see a nice discussion already in progress in local, do not disrupt it with a sudden gesture. On the contrary, if you see two VIPs have started a chat fight and it is getting nasty, by all means use gestures to disrupt the conversation. Also IM them individually requesting them to take it to instant messages.
d) Make sure you are having fun. Hosting is a high energy job. One of the reasons I do not do it nowadays is because, I am not sure I will be able to give my 100%. If you are not able to give your 100%, don't do it.
e) Be clear on your objective - The objective is to have fun, enjoy and entertain. Don't focus on lindens. If you are good, lindens will automatically flow in.
f) Never request lindens for yourself. Let the DJ voice it for you. You do it for the DJ. Requesting lindens for self does not sound good, don't do it.
g) Do not use the "tip" gestures too much. If you use them, please use them at an interval of say 30 minutes, thus 4 times every set. Never more than that. If people are already tipping and everyone is locally being notified, you do not even need to use that gesture. Remember if you ask, you will not get it. Gentle reminder is enough. About gesturing on tips I have seen some hosts use nasty gestures like "Do not be a miser, tip and be wiser!" Don't do it. Personally it pisses me off every time someone uses a gesture like that when I am visiting a club.
h) Make sure to thank the tipper ALWAYS, without fail. Personalize the thank you message with something sweet and mention his / her name too. If the person leaves the venue immediately after tipping, make sure to send an IM to him / her and tell how much you appreciated. If someone skipped the tip-jar and paid you directly, he / she may not wish everyone to know that you were tipped. Respect privacy. Respond over IM thanking him / her.
i) If everything is quiet at the club and you have just a few people visiting, by all means do your best to engage people in conversation.
Sadly, in spite of everything you do, there would be times when the sets would go slow. Be professional and keep the quality high. Regard every guest that comes with utmost importance.
j) Use of trivia - I have seen clubs using trivia to great effect. People find it interesting although it may eat up on lindens. Even if trivia does not pay out, it is still a great way to attract people.
k) As much as possible, keep your focus on the event at hand. It is great to be able to multi-task, but hosting is not an easy job and will demand your full attention. Politely respond to friends saying you are working and will catch up after the set.
l) Make sure to listen to the set when the DJ plays. I am a DJ myself so I have ways to figure out how many people are listening. It is extremely frustrating to see zero people listening to my set when I am voicing every 10 minutes. If you cannot listen to music while hosting, PLEASE DO NOT HOST ! Listening to music has added benefits too. You can notify a DJ if there are stream issues or the music is not good or you can simply start a conversation about what Ozzy Osbourne was thinking when he sang "Mama, am coming home!"
m) Have a great avatar with a pleasing personality. Remember you are entertaining VIPs. Even if you do not have a 3000L avatar, at least try to look good. If you have a smile hud, do use it. Caution: Keep the scripts low, as much as possible.
n) Keep the viewer performance at its best. Crashes in SL are real. Being a host, try to stay in the set for the full 2 hours with minimum crashes. What you can do is under avatar preferences (for Firestorm), keep it highest on performance and lowest on graphic quality.
o) Always work on an agreed-on hand off mechanism with the next host. Make sure that the stage is not left vacant. Log-off from the tip jar 2 to 3 minutes before your set ends and let the next host take charge. If you did not get tipped in 1 hour, 57 minutes you would not get tipped in last 3. Still if someone is intent, he can always send you lindens directly. Bottom-line: Log out before your set ends.
3. Art of working with colleagues and club owners
a) Be drama-free. Period. There would be times when someone somewhere would piss you off. Happened with me many times. In my initial days I took the fight to local but I learned from mistakes and don't do it any more. If you have an issue with a colleague, start working it out over IM, never local chat. If that does not work, report it to your management with adequate proof. If needed mute and block the concerned person. This is a great advantage of SL, I wish I had this advantage in RL too. :) If the workplace itself becomes unbearable, leave and look for the next job. If you are not happy working somewhere, you would not do well there. Spare yourself and everyone else the agony.
b) If you are not able to make a set, ALWAYS notify beforehand. It is very stressful for managers and colleagues to find a back-up for people at the last moment. Install mobile apps for SL - there is a nice one Lumiya for android. Continuity and consistency in events is vital for a club to be popular and YOU play a vital role in it.
c) Try not to be romantically involved with colleagues at the workplace. If you are, one of you should ideally stop working at the same venue. Break-ups are always painful for everyone and usually the club suffers when a good staff leaves the place just because of a personal issue.
d) If you have stopped working at a club, by all means, do not bitch about how bad an experience it was. It may be a bad experience for you, agreed. You may have been treated badly, agreed. But do not bitch about it to everyone. Remember if you bitch about a past club, the present club owner may very well think you will bitch about him / her as well one day. Keep the drama down. Things some time work out, sometimes do not. As long as things work, fine. When they do not, move on.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I am a very average host. These are merely stuff I have seen the best in business do today. Did I miss on anything? Would definitely like to hear from you!
Cheers !
Immortal
Abbreviations used:
SL - Second Life
RL - Real Life
IM - Instant Message
TP - Teleport
noob - A new SL resident
hud - A scripted in-world device that lets you animate your avatar
Disclaimer: The image used is a modified version of the official Linden Labs logo. No copyright infringements intended.
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