What Do Manager's In Clubs Actually Do?

[Jinnywitha Cleanslate]

Hi there,

I was just wondering...  are you currently the Manager of a club / Hangout in SL?.... and if so... what do you actually do in your job role as Manager, on a daily basis, or while events are on in your place?

Thanks in advance.

[Bobbie Faulds]

A manager usually handles hiring, scheduling, advertising and, when an event is going on, they, along with the host/hostess, watch for troublemakers and problems so they can be dealt with before it becomes a problem. Same things a club manager would do in RL.

[Christin73]

In addition to what was said above, Managers run the contest board. Usualy opening and closing the board and open voting. Some managers also come up with event ideas and act as security. Some clubs pay their managers by the event others work on tips.

[KarenMichelle Lane]

The Club Managers I work with are incredible. I'm there to DJ and entertain making the VIPs experience enjoyable. My host is usually focused on the crowd and making sure that all feel welcome and most importantly says hello to them in their real name - LOL. This makes my greeting later easier to deliver whether in voice of by local chatting.

The managers when present make me appreciate them even more. Especially when they are supportive of our individual performance styles.

At popular clubs, the scheduling of the talent is an ongoing job and making sure that all security is maintained and special events are advertised properly is a massive chore. Making sure that club-wide theme information is shared with all us pop-in and pop-out DJs is a key factor as well in keeping a club looking and sounding on target regarding its charter and large events. Even better is when they also contribute Poster Art for us to use with our own image on it.

So Yes, we love and need Club Managers.

 

 

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

In quite a few places they will seem to manage to completely ignore me past their greeter script - even if they are chatting with other whiter people, even AFK ones. On a black avatar I will either get ignored as if a ghost, or 'reacted to' in ways that are either hostile of fetish-based. (Whereas in real life I have mulato-hispanic features and treated as if a ghost, having people literally plow me over at times when I'm in a line or standing somewhere, or I get treated as if I was "the help" and not an engineer with three times their education...)

Quite a few "good managers" and "good hosts" will do these things. And if they're doing it to me, how many others are they also driving away by doing that?

I've seen this so often for so long that I generally came to believe over the years that 'manager' was something of a fake-job in SL to just sit AFK with a chat-bot script because that is how I tended to get treated. Having only had a few exceptions over the years.

 

Those exceptions are enlightened enough to check instinctive biases and engage with me if I respond to their greeting or join in the conversation. Of course they've no duty to engage with me if I was ignoring them - even though they're often doing that with others who are ignoring them... But the good ones DO engage when I engage.

If you see me or some other 'person who's look is like that of a marginalized community' repeatedly coming back to your place - then it probably means you have a good manager that is actually doing proactive things to make guests feel welcome. Because if not - we are always the first people to get 'cut' from the 'attention list'.

 

And if you're asking this question because you're about to become a manager of some venue in SL - think hard about my opinion here, and make sure to check yourself against it, often. If your gut reaction is to say you and no one you know would ever be like that, then I can say with near certainty that you and nearly everyone you know IS like that - because the only people who do not fall prey to instinctive biases are the people who are introspective enough to be aware of them and fess up to them.

(You might think this comment has nothing to do with what a manager does. I would say that it has everything to do with what a manager should be doing: making everyone who lands on that landing point feel part of the community they are trying to build.)

 

[SkillsFurrystorm]

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Pussycat Catnap wrote:

In quite a few places they will seem to manage to completely ignore me past their greeter script - even if they are chatting with other whiter people, even AFK ones. On a black avatar I will either get ignored as if a ghost, or 'reacted to' in ways that are either hostile of fetish-based.

(Whereas in real life I have mulato-hispanic features and treated as if a ghost, having people literally plow me over at times when I'm in a line or standing somewhere, or I get treated as if I was "the help" and not an engineer with three times their education...)

Quite a few "good managers" and "good hosts" will do these things. And if they're doing it to me, how many others are they also driving away by doing that?

I've seen this so often for so long that I generally came to believe over the years that 'manager' was something of a fake-job in SL to just sit AFK with a chat-bot script because that is how I tended to get treated. Having only had a few exceptions over the years.

 

Those exceptions are enlightened enough to check instinctive biases and engage with me if I respond to their greeting or join in the conversation. Of course they've no duty to engage with me if I was ignoring them - even though they're often doing that with others who are ignoring them... But the good ones DO engage when I engage.

If you see me or some other '

person who's look is like that of a marginalized community

' repeatedly coming back to your place - then it probably means you have a good manager that is actually doing proactive things to make guests feel welcome. Because if not - we are always the first people to get 'cut' from the 'attention list'.

 

And if you're asking this question because you're about to become a manager of some venue in SL - think hard about my opinion here, and make sure to check yourself against it, often. If your gut reaction is to say you and no one you know would ever be like that, then I can say with near certainty that you and nearly everyone you know IS like that - because the only people who do not fall prey to instinctive biases are the people who are introspective enough to be aware of them and fess up to them.

(You might think this comment has nothing to do with what a manager does. I would say that it has everything to do with what a manager should be doing: making everyone who lands on that landing point feel part of the community they are trying to build.)

 

---

Is it possible for you to post just once without celebrating your amazon-ness, black-ness, mulatto-ness, hispanic-ness or any other nesses? Dude, nobody cares.

[Pussycat Catnap]

---

SkillsFurrystorm wrote:

Is it possible for you to post just once without celebrating your amazon-ness, black-ness, mulatto-ness, hispanic-ness or any other nesses? Dude, nobody cares.

---

You make my point for me with that comment.

As to why I mention it... I do so because I get people claiming I am not this or that or whatever, or have no ground to stand on speaking for certain issues. Had a full on Rachael Dolozel type run up a many page rant against me on this very point 2 years ago on a well known blog and third party forum. so I put all that as a form of disclaimer now, to make my perspective clear to the reader. Because some people do care about it, in very bad ways.

Quite a few people actually do care as well in good ways, and its been a gateway to some friendships with people of many different backgrounds. Quite a few people don't give me the racist cold shoulder... While others like you feel the need to shout down people of color every time we speak up.

Frankly posts like this help make it crystal clear to me who to avoid down the road, and who I can feel comfortable around. The responses I get can be very illuminating.

 

Given that my comment is a reflection of what I see from managers in SL venues so often its predictable, and I can be certain to encounter it near daily if I start map-hopping... I find it a valid point to make: you might think you have hired "the right manager" but they might be driving a segment of your desired customers away.

 

 

 

[Tamara Artis]

When I was a manager my biggest duty was to make sure we have guests and staff during the hours the boss said are most important for the club. This is during the whole week,  all events.

I would think of different and interesting events/things to do at the place, find DJ's and hosts for each 2-hour shift and, if possible, find a backup DJ and host in case something happens to those we scheduled (it may look like a simple thing to do but its not. Many people have a lot of things to do besides DJ-ing and hosting and it is not always easy to be sure they can be there for the whole 2 hours). For each event me or another manager needs to stand ready in case someone doesn't show up, so we can jump in and replace them.

For DJ's we have to switch the streams, remind them half hour before the event that they have to get ready soon, often call them in rl because they forgot lol, or comfort them in case they get upset with something. 

For hosts remind them to send group notices. We send remaining ones from ours or other avi. Notices are sent for each event and at the half of the event. 

Manager helps hosts so for example if the host is chatting with the crowd we greet new people. 

Often new people would ask for job during the events - managers deal with those. Also, when we didn't have events, we would meet at the club and have interviews with potential hosts and DJ's, see how they work, chat with them to see how do they fit with the team.

We make sure that our regular gusts that visit the club don't feel bored, ignored or whatever. Specially if they tip.

I usually had a whole line of IM windows opened and just switched from one to another - many people prefer to chat this way. 

And sometimes we had people making drama where I would be the one to IM them and try to speak nicely before ejecting them. 

[Venus Petrov]

As you can see from the replies, what a manager does really depends upon the requirements of the club and club owner.  If you are interested in working at a specific club, your best bet is to inquire about an application. Good clubs will have applications that describe the requirements of all roles in a club.