Baroptic.com features live video of Denver night life
The lack of legitimate nightclubs in Boulder forces many CU students to trek down to Denver if they want to dance the night away. A new Web site, http://www.baroptic.com, makes it easier to do and shows live video from certain clubs so people can check them out before leaving their house.
By using real-time, live, streaming video, baroptic.com is the first Web site of its kind and is currently up and operating in three major U.S. cities: Denver, Phoenix and Boston.
Baroptic.com has been around for a year and a half and currently has cameras in eight of Denver’s hottest clubs, including Tryst, Vinyl and The Shelter.
“Tryst (in Denver) was actually our first club and we’ve just been growing from there,” said Ian Holtz, vice president of development for baroptic.com. “We are a community resource that allows users to decide in real time which clubs they want to visit.”
Baroptic.com is available on the Web or from a cell phone, allowing users to check out the hottest spots before committing to one that could be a let down. The clubs will benefit by increasing their exposure to people in their targeted demographic, in turn widening their Internet exposure and servicing the mobile community.
“Nobody’s doing it like we are, there’s some copycats but nobody legitimate,” Holtz said. “We’re the only company that offers real-time streaming video on Windows-based mobile devices.”
Baroptic.com is not a pro-bono operation, and if clubs want to be a part of this revolutionary way of bar hopping then they must pay in six or 12-month increments. Their overall goal is to translate virtual online traffic into paying customers for their clients, by implementing local promotions and special drink deals.
Best Buy and Geek Squad install high-tech video cameras in various locations around the club, lounge or sports bar. As of now, restaurants have not been included on baroptic.com and they seem to be fairly exclusive in the places they promote on their site.
“We try to keep it limited to places that appeal to a common demographic,” Holtz said. “But we’re always willing to talk with any potential client that we believe could benefit from our services.”
The impact baroptic.com is having on the traffic and financial success of the bars on their site is yet to be seen.
“It’s difficult to track the results from baroptic.com but they’re doing a great job so far,” said Paul Piciocchi, owner of Tryst and the new Sutra Room in Denver. “The video quality is superb; it’s a great little system they’ve got over there.”
This site has the potential to change how people plan their nights and fits perfectly into the mobile mindset of the newly-able-to-drink generation. Be on the look out for baroptic.com in 10 to 20 new cities by the end of this year.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Quincy Moore
at quincy.moore@thecampuspress.com.
