Spoiler alert: Some of the links toward the end of this article would be considered NSFW. There's nothing hardcore, but some butts and perhaps the odd nipple that might not go down well if you're reading this at your office work station, so click with caution, or when you're someplace else.
Hmm, we fully understand your frustration and fully sympathize being, as we are, continually on the sharp end of multiple web-development projects that are never (with one notable exception*) delivered on time. While you could lobby to have myself and the site's author, Arnold Snyder, fired, that would seem to be somewhat harsh and would also almost certainly spell the end of "Question of the Day," too, which in turn might cost you a few friendships (I'd like to think!) and possibly even expose you to the odd death threat (which obviously we would neither encourage nor condone, but some of this column's fans verge on the fanatical and would not take kindly to having their morning coffee break ruined. Their actions would be entirely out of our hands, obviously).
The truth is that from painful experience and many lessons learned, we know there's a common scenario whereby on the one hand, you have a creative editorial team on a mission to create a website (or new feature) and armed with a vision of what they want that site to deliver, while at the other end of the equation, there's one or more Web developers who's imperative is more about the behind-the-scenes stuff and how and why it all functions, with little interest or appreciation of how it looks to the outside world, or even why it exists at all. The two sides' motives/agendas have little in common and they definitely do not speak the same language -- an analogy might be someone from the Deep South trying to converse with someone born and raised in the Scottish Highlands: In theory, they're both speaking "English;" in reality, it's a miracle if one side understands one word in ten of what the other is trying to convey. Hence, there is plenty of scope for confusion and misinterpretation, which inevitably results in delays.
Add to this the fact that visions, by their very nature, tend to evolve organically over time as a site progresses. This is usually a good thing, with the creators being inspired to up the ante and re-imagine the scope of the project as new possibilities pop into their heads, but the downside is that it tends to mean that goal posts keep being moved and what you asked for in the beginning and were quoted on, in terms of both time and money, may bear little relation to where you actually end up. Conversely, there's often the necessity to rethink ideas that seemed good on paper but for one reason or another simply don't translate to the Web as you'd hoped they would.
On top of that we have, on more than one occasion, been the victims of developers who overestimated their own abilities and who promised the world, only to deliver a dog -- and sometimes a dead one, at that -- if anything at all. We're older and much wiser now, so we know certain danger signs to look out for and are far better equipped to ask pertinent and probing questions and to know when the answer smells like one of those deceased canines, but it's been a steep, painful, and frustrating learning curve, to be sure. That is what happened with the redevelopment of LasVegasAdvisor.com, which is now about three years overdue and on its fourth development team, thanks to a multitude of issues including, but certainly not limited to: a nervous breakdown; protracted sickness; people quitting/being fired/disappearing off the face of the earth for long periods of time, possibly due to alien abduction; technical incompetence; "family issues"; and a dead cat. (As an aside, you might be surprised to learn the ranking among these items in terms of significant impact on the work effort, but we digress...)
We hate to generalize and yes, we do know exceptions to the rule (if not, we'd most likely have committed mass suicide by now), but we have empirical proof that geeks, as a species, have a tendency to flake out, for myriad reasons that may or may not be valid, but which absolutely and without fail will derail any schedule you thought you were working to. We're pretty sure it's actually an as-yet-undiscovered fundamental law of Physics.
In other words, while we're not making any excuses for optimistically underestimating time-frames, we hope the above at least gives a credible explanation as to how and why delays occur. We tend to aim high and we now know that ambitious websites take a long time to build. Typically, a very long time.
This brings us to the specific case of ToplessVegasOnline.com which, as the more alert among you may have gathered from that not-so-subtle hint (it's a link!) has actually been live for several weeks now. We decided to open with a "soft" launch, since we knew there would be tweaks we wanted to make and teething glitches to iron out -- there always are -- and certain things you cannot test effectively until the site is live. You have to bite on the bullet at some point and let it fly, but while in that final testing phase you don't necessarily want to draw the attention of the whole world to the very-nearly-but-not-quite-finished product.
ToplessVegasOnline.com is still a work in progress and there's some general house-keeping we continue to work on, including replacing graphics that were never intended to be more than place-holders, for example. We're still adding to the list of strip clubs outside of Vegas -- around 400 have been added to-date, but there are plenty more to find and insert. Other areas -- primarily the "Other Adult Ent." section, which you'll find listed in the left-hand menu -- are also incomplete, which we're fully aware of and will continue to populate as and when time permits. However, the main meat of the site (if that's not an inappropriate metaphor, which it almost certainly is) is in place and ready for your general edification and viewing pleasure, so as of RIGHT NOW!, we encourage anyone who's interested to go explore what TVO (as we affectionately call it) has to offer and start posting your own ratings and reviews of the venues and shows.
The whole concept for this new site originated in the Topless Vegas guide book, a collaboration between Huntington Press, and Arnold Snyder, who's best known for his blackjack expertise and writing, but who wears many hats and has in fact been a strip-club aficionado for many years now (yes, his wife is fully aware of this fact and yes, she's fine with that). Originally published as a print edition, in two different formats no less (trade paperback and pocket guide), this was done primarily in order to establish the brand and lend it the credibility that comes with being in print; in reality, however, we were fully aware that guide books are pretty much an obsolete art form, outdated before their print is even dry. Hence, the latter few editions of Topless Vegas were produced exclusively in electronic format, requiring frequent updates, and the end goal was always a website.
The book experiment also enabled us to test, refine, and expand on what that site should be. Hence, at its core "Topless Vegas, the Website" takes its lead from "Topless Vegas, the Book," with comprehensive listings and fully independent in-depth reviews of every gentlemen's club in Las Vegas (topless and nude), plus the same treatment for every erotic revue (in and out of the casino showrooms) and European-style or toptional pool, there's also a whole lot more to ToplessVegasOnline, including:
There's more, but we'll leave it to you to explore all the various nooks and crannies of ToplessVegasOnline. We'll just emphasize, for now, that the site is packed with pictures, since this is a guide to a subject that is almost exclusively visual in its appeal; it has a unique and distinctly irreverent (not to be confused with uninformed) voice with a well-developed sense of humor -- seriously, some of these reviews will have you rolling on the floor with their observational candor; and it definitely features adult language throughout. So, please, if you're easily offended or have moral objections to nudity or "bad" language, then don't visit, because we respect your sensibilities and can assure you that there's absolutely nothing for you at ToplessVegasOnline.com, so save yourself the upset. For everyone else, we think you will find this to be a unique and invaluable aid to your entertainment planning, even if you have no intention of ever setting foot in a strip club in your life. Perhaps you fancy seeing a topless show ("when in Vegas..."), or ditching the tan lines at a toptional pool, or have a bachelor(ette) party to plan. TVO can help you make informed decisions about all of these things.
In keeping with the whole ethos of LasVegasAdvisor.com, this new sister site is all about empowering the reader with accurate and honest information, together with tips on saving money and generally getting the most value out of your chosen entertainment experience. To that end, ToplessVegasOnline is where the link for the former adult section on the main LVA will now redirect you, since Snyder covers this material in ways we could never dream of, thanks to his years of experience and the fact that getting lap dances is pretty much all the dude does these days, when he's not blogging about it. We truly admire his dedication to the job. So, check it out, and feel free to contact Arnold and/or us with your thoughts, requests (and we don't mean "can I have your job, please?" - you already know the answer), and any omissions you may find. We're really excited about this launch and, since thousands of people are reading this Question of the Day right now, we guess it's no longer a well-kept secret but can be considered officially launched. And what's more, it's only a few months later than hoped, which ain't at all bad for a website -- believe us, we know!
*That exception would be our online store, ShopLVA.com, which was delivered both on time and on budget (setting us up for a whole world of disillusionment when others failed to do either!) So, we'd like to give credit where it's due and give a big shout out to Ariel Speigel at SDG in L.A., who sadly proved to be the exception, rather than the rule. ShopLVA does exactly what it's meant to and has never been broken which, we now appreciate, is nothing short of miraculous.
