Voices For Rent is anti-lotto- Page 2

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 12:26am

I agree, JerseyGirl2. Plus, Benny is basically a psycho a$$wipe.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:14am

Yes, but he was my chocolate boyfriend.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 2:46am

well the admin (landlord benny) constantly hints at 'keeping the site open' perhaps the producers are not totally sold on the cost effectiveness of such an elaborate marketing scheme. one of the most recent polls on the site was 'what would make you want to use the buy tickets now button?' i doubt hes trying to be anti lotto, but he does want site members to buy tickets via some link collecting stats so he can go back and say see look how many people have come to see the show who participate in vfr.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 3:07am

Except 95% of the people participating on Voices for Rent are probably 13-17, live nowhere near New York and their only experience with Rent was on DVD. They all OMG want soooo bad to see Rent, but their meany parents won't fly them across country to see it and apparently tours don't exist!!! So it's a waste if that's his goal, because it will never be accomplished.

At least the people actually going to see Rent aren't stupid enough to buy into the crap on that site. And realize that you can save 7000 minutes of your life by just buying the freakin' magnet for $4 at the theatre.

[antonijan]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 3:37am

Landlord Benny is evil :P but thanks to him I already have almost 50,000 points!

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 8:22am

My only experience with VFR is when I see it being made fun of on other sites, and the fact that the castmembers I know think it's insane but, honestly, I'd love to know who landlord benny is. I've never actually visited VFR and have no intention or desire to do so. There are enough ridiculously annoying fankids on every other Rent and theatre site, no need to overdose on them there!

[Sondheim Geek]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 8:52am

I won't even GO on on VFR. I'm wayyyyy too scared. If anything's worse than this board... it's probably VFR

[avab802]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 9:06am

The picture in the original post just shows up as a red X for me... anyone want to tell me what it is/says?

In my 40+ times of seeing RENT over the last almost 9 years, I think I paid full price twice. And that wasn't $110 full price, this was either on tour where it's cheaper or back in the day when side orch was $75 or so. Now I will never pay more than $20 to see RENT. Until it is finally closing. Then I might spring for a full price ticket to the final performance.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 9:10am

"Revue generated from that link comes back to Voices for Rent, which means cooler merchandise and better prizes!!!"

I'd rather be able to talk about the lotto. How ridiculous.

[avab802]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 9:17am

I've never been on the site, so pardon if this is a stupid question, but... there's a rule against talking about the lotto on there? How assinine. The rush line is part of what put RENT on the map; the lines of people camped out every day generated a lot of buzz for the show. It also started the whole rush/lotto phenomenon on Broadway. If I remember correctly, RENT was the first show to offer cheap tickets like that.

[misschung]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 10:24am

I thought it was too, but I don't know that much about the lotto/rush process. But what I don't understand about that site is that you can freely post links to *that site* with the not-so-legal videos of Rent performances, but you can't discuss the lotto? That just baffles me

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 10:54am

Reposting the screenshot for those who can't see it.

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 11:08am

Lizzie- thanks so much for that screen cap- it just made me laugh just as much this morning as it did yesterday.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 11:10am

well the admin (landlord benny) constantly hints at 'keeping the site open' perhaps the producers are not totally sold on the cost effectiveness of such an elaborate marketing scheme.

I agree that "Landlord Benny" is, in some ways, essentially forced to be a pawn of the producers' marketing scheme, but I have to wonder "elaborate" the Voices for Rent website really is. I can't imagine maintaining the website itself is viewed as a big expense to the producers. I'd be more willing to buy that the producers are slightly upset that what looked to them like an easy opportunity to raise ticket sales doesn't really seem to be doing much.

The only way I could ever imagine this marketing scheme (I hesitate to even call it that, considering it's so poorly thought out) working at all is encouraging repeat business by allowing the more obsessive fans to have an outlet for discussion. However, those who are big enough fans of Rent to see the show more than once or twice likely already know about the lotto and, regardless of what "Landlord Benny" says, aren't going to use the tickets link through Voices for Rent. People who are very casual fans of Rent would probably never return to the site upon realizing they don't have much to add on what is essentially a message board, and those who have never seen the show aren't even going to bother clicking on those banners. I can't even think of what Voices for Rent was supposed to accomplish more than prolonging a handful of fans' obsession with the show.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 11:45am

LizzieCurry, yet again you crack me up!

[MotorTink]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 11:48am

I'm a little disturbed that all of Landlord Benny's pics are from the movie. You would think you would use pics from the show you are trying to sell.

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 12:43pm

A friend of mine worked with Rapp last summer on a project and was considering ausitioning for RENT. Rapp told him not to and that it wasn't the same show anymore. When you have former cast members telling others not to bother with it, then theres obviously a problem there. But that makes me wonder as to why he's returning to the show. I think they'll be posting a closing notice by the end of the summer.

As for Landlord Benny, I have yet to go on that site. I don't feel the need to surround myself with a bunch of teenage fan girls. And with the lottery issue, I don't see why it's such a problem. I wonder what he would do if someone posted a link or a code to get discounted tickets. He seems to be treating it as if it's a bootleg and yet as others say those are freely posted on the site.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:13pm

People who are very casual fans of Rent would probably never return to the site upon realizing they don't have much to add on what is essentially a message board, and those who have never seen the show aren't even going to bother clicking on those banners. I can't even think of what Voices for Rent was supposed to accomplish more than prolonging a handful of fans' obsession with the show.

I think what they were trying to do (however lamely) was create some kind of community -- what they didn't take into account was that Rent has had revolving segments of fandom since 1996. CompulsiveBowlers.org and its predecessors were established long before the Rent folks ever jumped on the bandwagon. There was even the short-lived board on siteforrent.com which probably should've taught them what happens when you pull a "too little, too late" on this group.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:28pm

Right - I think that anyone with any bit of a brain could determine that is all a message board could really do. However, I seem to remember the original press information surrounding Voices for Rent making it sound as if this "community" was going to play some sort of active role in promoting the show to others who are unfamiliar with Rent, in the same vein as those promoting Altar Boyz in Times Square. I assumed that Voices for Rent was ultimately going to be more than a teenybopper version of CompulsiveBowlers.

Of course, I'm happy Landlord Benny hasn't advocated that type of a system yet. Not only would it be ineffective, but I think we can all say that the Altar Boyz fans are enough.

Annnnd I'm on the fence regarding whether I feel Rent should close relatively soon. I certainly wouldn't be devastated.

[jenna2]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:35pm

I think the site was originally trying to do the whole 'online street-team' thing that a lot of record labels tried to do at the tail end of the 90s. Unfortunately for the producers of Rent, they waited until a good five years after the labels discovered that the idea didn't work effectively.

Updated On: 6/15/07 at 01:35 PM

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:56pm

I agree that VFR was very, very poorly thought out.

And there's a thread about the whole "Not being able to talk about the Lotto" thing on their message boards, and people are pretty mad about it.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 1:56pm

Ha.

It only gets better.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 2:09pm

mwahahahahahahahahahaha

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 2:13pm

"Tell me what you'd do."

I'd admit defeat and close the board, because it's clearly not working.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 6/15/07 at 2:17pm

ok, so which one of you kids is Landlord Benny???