Betrayed Soul's blog: "After Dark"

These are tips for how we like to have people greeted in After Dark. These are not rules per se, but meerly suggestions as to how to kepp the crowd in AD and keep the lounge fun....

Most Lounges Expect Their Greeters to do Nothing but Say "Hi" to a Person upon Entering the Lounge.
IN After Dark we not only want our greeters to greet, but also our promoters, enforcers and DJ's. The Goal is to make everyone feel welcome, and make AD a place where people will want to come back.

A Good Greeter Will:

#1: NOT only Say Welcome to a Person that Enters the Lounge, but will make them FEEL Welcome.

#2: Thank a Person When They Buy a Round. Maybe Try To Start a Conversation ABOUT That Round or Favorite Drinks. Example: Every Time Someone Buys a drink... reflect back to a time you had at a bar or something...

#3: Make A Person Feel That They Are Wanted in After Dark, Not Only Because it's What Good Greeters DO, But Because that Person IS Wanted in After Dark. When a person says they are leaving, a "Hurry Back" "hb person" or my favorite: "don't be a stranger" works great at keeping a conversation going with them and letting them know that you don't want them to go.

#4: Respond to Everything You Can Possibly Respond To as Cheerfully and Enthusiastically as Possible.

#5: When Speaking, Try to say things that require a response. An Example of a Dead Response would be "cool" or "awesome" or "ok". Those Kill Conversations Immediately. Try to Relate, or Ask More Questions. Keep the People Talking. It May Start out Boring, but it can end up turning into a fun conversation.

#6: Typically, a greeter will say something like (for example) "i'm starved, i need to eat, brb". That sometimes leads to everybody else saying WOW GOOD IDEA, FOOD. Then They Leave Too. So if you see a Greeter going AFK or saying BRB, if it's possible for you to cover them, that helps a lot, can prevent the lounge from going dead and everybody leaving out of boredom.

#7: NEW FU's Typically do not know what is going on when they come into a lounge. Our Greeters should be quick to help them if they do not understand.

#8: If someone cannot hear the music, there are links in the lounge to the Firefox plugins, as well as to google Chrome. Try to assist them as much as possible.

#9: When You Greet Someone, and They Don't Respond. Do NOT Give Up On Them. Do NOT Forget About Them. Give it a Minute or So, and Try Again. Sometimes it Takes a Minute for a Page to Load, so by the Time they are all Loaded up, they missed the greeting. If Someone Doesn't Respond STILL, or Leaves without saying anything, it's a Nice Gesture to maybe Shoutbox them and See if they are Having Problems.

#10: Try to Split Up All Sentences into Multiple Sentences. This Requires More than One Response. The Object is to Make the Person Talk As Much As Possible. Example of what NOT to do: "HI PERSON, HOW ARE YOU?". INSTEAD, say "Hi, Person!", Wait for a Response, THEN ASK, "How Are You?". This Makes Them Talk More, Avoids ONE Answer to a Multiple Inquiry.

#11: IF YOU NOTICE ONLY 2 OR 3 PEOPLE TALKING ACTIVELY IN THE LOUNGE, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO GO THROUGH THE MEMBER BOX ABOVE THE CHAT AND TALK TO AS MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T TALKING AS YOU CAN! PROMOTERS BRING IN PEOPLE, GREETERS TURN THEM INTO REGULARS, MAKE SURE EVERYBODY GETS ATTENTION! IT IS UP TO THE GREETERS TO KEEP THESE MEMBERS!