LEO Nightlife Guide

I can't find the latest nightlife guide on their website, and all of the bar listings etc. from 2008 are blank pages.

They have distinct links for their other major special issues (Literary, Film, A&E, and two years of Music issues) but none for nightlife.

Does anyone know why this is, or how I could find it online. I'm trying to recommend it to around 150 people as the best and most comprehensive listing of local bars, but it won't do them any good if they can't access it.

Thanks!

[Robin Garr]

I'll try to find out from my LEO contacts, Paul, and post it here. Might not get an answer until tomorrow, though.

I can't find the latest nightlife guide on their website, and all of the bar listings etc. from 2008 are blank pages.

They have distinct links for their other major special issues (Literary, Film, A&E, and two years of Music issues) but none for nightlife.

Does anyone know why this is, or how I could find it online. I'm trying to recommend it to around 150 people as the best and most comprehensive listing of local bars, but it won't do them any good if they can't access it.

Thanks!

http://louisville.metromix.com/page/bar_type

This has a pretty good list.

Thanks for the help, both of you!

[Robin Garr]

http://louisville.metromix.com/page/bar_type

This has a pretty good list.

Two words: Courier-Journal. Or is that one hyphenated word?

My wife is upset that they've stopped putting that in the LEO. Apparently someone wrote the new editor (Stephen George?) about it and the response was pretty much, "You don't like it? Don't read it."

My wife is upset that they've stopped putting that in the LEO. Apparently someone wrote the new editor (Stephen George?) about it and the response was pretty much, "You don't like it? Don't read it."

When did they make this decision? I feel like they published one in 2009. (I'm pretty sure I have it filed away in my room somewhere.) Why would they remove it and all of the rest of them from their website? Did someone complain? If it was removed because of complaints, I'm going to be sorely disappointed in the LEO. I'll save my epithets for when or if that suspicion is confirmed, but I can't imagine any other reason they would pull it so completely.

Knowing a little bit about what went into this years changes at the LEO the editors made a choice to focus on writing more than simply event listing. You'll notice the greatly expanded editors choices section that replace the generic listings. Now I'm biased because I never used the listings. But IMHO I would rather see real editors previewing certain events than a laundry list of every event.

Also it was duplicating the content found in Velocity & metromix and they are trying to differentiate themselves. In addition that content is becoming more and more redundant in our social-mediated world where you get facebook and myspace invites to events.

Knowing a little bit about what went into this years changes at the LEO the editors made a choice to focus on writing more than simply event listing. You'll notice the greatly expanded editors choices section that replace the generic listings. Now I'm biased because I never used the listings. But IMHO I would rather see real editors previewing certain events than a laundry list of every event.

Also it was duplicating the content found in Velocity & metromix and they are trying to differentiate themselves. In addition that content is becoming more and more redundant in our social-mediated world where you get facebook and myspace invites to events.

I concur with you on most points. I never really used the "listing" aspect either, and the lack of actual writing is one of many reasons I refuse to touch the Velocity. (Last time I did about two years ago, I picked up the Wine issue. In the space of two pages, they decried the swillish nature of anything under $15 and then lauded the virtues of box wine!)

However, I feel that the nightlife guide has a lot to offer. Sara Haven's writing is always entertaining, and she has more insight into the Louisville Bar Scene than anyone else I know. On top of that, the listings of bars are really useful for people who are new to town and looking for a good place to grab a few drinks.

I really hope the lack of emphasis on listing doesn't prevent them from running their summer events calendar next year. I always enjoy having all of the summer's events laid out before me in print form so that I can make plans well in advance. Depending upon what Robin reports back, I might have to write a letter to the editors.

That being said, I do like the way they've changed the weekly listings to focus on a few select events.

I've gotta chime in on this one. I use the weekly nightlife guide. Or at least I used to. Why can't you have the guide AND expanded articles? Is the nightlife guide that hard to compile? It seems like something that would basically be "phoned in" each week. Have an intern do it. Am I missing something?

If I had to guess, and I'm only guessing, it was most likely lopped because it was non-revenue producing. I gather some places saw no need to buy advertising if they can get their listings for free. So it'll be interesting to see if there's an increase in the number of bar ads found in LEO.

Take this for what it's worth. 'Cause my opinion is a survey of one. But I used to depend solely on LEO for my weekly entertainment info. Nightlife listings, reviews and articles etc. It was all there in one convenient package. In my mind, their nightlife listing would be a sort of a "loss leader".

It may not have made them much in ad revenues, but it 'caused the LEO to be "sticky". It lasted for a long time around our house. Mostly because I knew that eventually I'd want to re-check the nightlife listings so I always though twice about throwing it away. I probably referred to it three to five times a week. My house guests would also pick it up & start reading it whenever they came over. Now, it doesn't seem to last around the house as long as it used to.

I know this may not be a popular opinion. But I'm sharing what I've noticed around our household. What's that saying?.....Pennywise, pound foolish?

Coming from a direct marketing background, I'd be curious to see some sort of comparison of numbers showing circulation, ad sales, revenues etc. ....A head-to-head response test of BEFORE they removed the nightlife guide...as compared to AFTER.

Leann yours may be an opinion of one but I think it is a very valid opinion and something that we argued within LEOs walls regularly. I totally agree with your "sticky" analysis. Perhaps you could make your ideas known to to the folks at LEO. An additional voice from the outside might carry more weight than someone from the inside.(Or former inside.)

I'm with Leann on this one. I have nightlife guides going back to '07 (when I turned 21) and the other major issues like the yearly awards and some dining-centric issues going back even further.

I'll definitely submit a letter about this, and I encourage others to do the same.

Check this out, from editor Stephen George, via Facebook:

Plugged In live music/comedy listings will be reinstated into LEO Weekly beginning with our Aug. 19 edition. Listings will cover Wednesday to the following Tuesday each week, just like in the past. Deadlines are Thursday noon the week before publication (e.g.-Aug. 13), and there is absolutely NO wiggle room on this. Contact: Mat Herron, (502) 895-9770 ext. 224, or via e-mail at mherron@leoweekly.com.