Technology: Homeland Security Company Hits the Clubs

Technology
Homeland Security Company Hits the Clubs
(Press Release)
Last weekend the New York Bar Show gave liquor makers, bar managers and industry professionals the chance to sample new products and roam around the Javits Center. One of the more unique exhibitors is trying to replace the scrutiny of bouncers by pushing a technology that would make it easier for nightclubs and bars to catch fake ID’s.




Intelli-Check - Mobilisa is a technology company that has built a business in ID verification. They produce wireless handheld devices that read and analyze the data in barcodes on government issued ID (drivers licenses, passports, etc.). While their products were once confined to military bases, government installations and industrial parks, Mobilisa is now planning to provide the same technology to clubs so they can keep underage drinkers out.

While this might seem like another infringement of big brother into nightlife, systems like this are already developed and there might be a logical reason for clubs to adopt the Mobilisa system. With today’s technology, fake ID’s are not difficult to acquire. Dram shop laws traditionally hold clubs liable for serving drinks to minors and there has been an increased crackdown on fake ID’s in the past year (See Nightlife News Crime 10/19/07) so clubs need something to combat the increased sophistication of forgery. A system like this will work within the new guidelines that the NYPD worked out with the New York Nightlife Association late last year (See Nightlife News Crime 10/19/07).

With all the pressure to keep kids out of clubs, it might make sense to put less trust in a bouncer staring at thousands of ID’s in the dark (and maybe hooking up his friends) and more trust in the barcode. As long as the system doesn’t get abused by the police, telemarketers or hackers, it might help everybody.


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Bloomberg Bans, Bedroom Branding and Baby Bars

Bloomberg Bans, Bedroom Branding and Baby Bars

Nightlife News for February 12th 2008
By Gamal Hennessy

Smoking
Bloomberg Moves to Ban Smoking Worldwide
(Tiffany Sharples: Time Magazine)
As Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg has a platform that stretches far beyond the five boroughs. He can influence the national race for president without even running. He can also push his anti-smoking agenda out of our bars and into the developing world.

Last week Mayor Bloomberg joined World Health Organization to unveil a report on the effects of smoking on the world wide population. According to the report, 5.4 million people die from smoking every year. By 2030, 8 million people will die per year world wide, unless governments worldwide monitor tobacco use; protect people from secondhand smoke; offer help to people who want to quit; warn about the risks of smoking; enforce bans on cigarette advertising; and raise tobacco taxes.

While the mayor might be a zealot on the issue of smoking, he isn’t in favor of a total ban on tobacco. He just wants to make cigarettes so expensive that only the rich (and those pretending to be rich) can afford them. I don’t think anyone has considered what a nicotine addict will be willing to do for cigarettes if they get to $20 per pack, but if our experiences with crack and heroin are any indication, we might be in for a rough ride. (Additional coverage by Brian Hindo: Business Week)


Music
Bands Trying to Move Beyond Myspace
(TurnTo23.com)
First, A&R executives in music companies held the keys for musicians to get their music to the pubic. Then Myspace and iTunes gave bands a new way to connect to fans and get around the music labels. Now these sites aren’t new. There are hundreds of thousands of bands on Myspace. It’s just as crowded and just as difficult to set yourself apart to gain an audience as it has ever been. So what is the next step? How can an artist or a band build and audience in the post myspace world?

Many artists are moving beyond music to create a brand identity. Instead of just writing songs and releasing albums, unsigned and newly signed bands are offering home made videos on YouTube, creating mysterious personas, and promoting lifestyles that match their intended audience. Their music becomes another brand message in the larger tapestry of what the artist sells. The theory is once they get people hooked on the message getting them to accept the music will be automatic.

Creating a brand identity isn’t a new concept. Prince, Madonna, U2 and most of the successful artists of the MTV era combined music, image, lifestyle and persona to outlast other musicians. The difference now is that social networks and the internet give bands the ability to brand without the resources of the major labels. Time will tell if this bedroom branding will help any of these artists reach the Grammy’s.

Trends
When Play Dates Invade the Bar
(Alex Williams: New York Times)
There is often a perception that once you have children, your days of hanging out in a bar with your friends are over. But bars from Park Slope to Boston are witnessing a small invasion. And it’s the invaders who are small, sometimes only a few months old. When parents decide to bring their babies to bars, two classes of people emerge. Those who want to keep as much of their pre-parent lifestyle as possible, and those who don’t want their bar to become a nursery school.

The idea of children in bars is not a new phenomenon. In England and Ireland the bar was historically a public house, a place where people of all ages could come and gather. At some point, probably Prohibition, children were removed from establishments that sold liquor and the image of smoke filled rooms filled with questionable activity kept parents away. Now that smoking is banned in all New York bars and young parents look to retain their youthful lifestyles, some have decided that a bar is just as good as a park to hang out.

I don’t think that having a child needs translate into house arrest, sentencing parents to isolation with nothing but Sesame Street, Dora and whatever wine you have around the house. I also have no interest in dodging baby strollers while I’m tipsy, watching my language when the game is on, or curtailing a potential make out session because someone’s child might be present. If parents are willing to expose their children to adult environments so they can hold to their freedom, go for it. Now the drunks can have someone to throw up with. But parents need to treat the bar like church; fold up your strollers and if the little angel starts to cry, take him outside.

Have fun.
Gamal