Burlesque411! - Your source for burlesque information

As I was browsing search results for "burlesque" and "San Jose", I came across a new site: Burlesque411.com! Since I've just seen it in the search results, apparently it's brand new, too. Seems I'm not the only one who has noticed that there needs to be a central place on the web for information about burlesque shows! And, no, I didn't find any useful information about burlesque in San Jo. Hehe.

Browsing through the site, I've noticed a few things. First, the default page is for Los Angeles. This kind of makes sense, since the site is based in LaLa Land and that there are few events yet in any of the other cities listed. Boston, Chicago, New York, and Providence (??) are the only other cities with calendar event listings. I imagine they'll have a geographically neutral page once they get more postings for all the other cities. Does anybody know if New Paltz has a thriving burlesque scene? Where IS New Paltz? How did they pick some of these cities?

Second, the site is monetized. Besides the usual Google AdSense list on the right side of the pages, they do accept both text and banner advertising that is related to burlesque. I saw ads for Shimmy Magazine and Jim Knell Photography.

Third, it seems that show producers and performers need to sign up at the site to post information about shows. It will be up to them to provide content. In addition to having their information and photos listed by link in the event details page of each event, performers will have their own page at burlesque411.com/yourname. Membership is free, though, as I expect the site owners will make money through advertisments.

Looking at the site, it seems like a pretty good attempt at providing a place on the web for people to find burlesque events in their areas. It's a simple and clean site. Red, burlesque's official color, is predominant. There's a list of upcoming events on the right side of the page, and consistent navigation. It seems to include enough information for prospective audience members to find shows in their towns.

In order to get more event postings, though, they'll probably need to personally contact show producers in the various cities to convince them join. Not having postings for shows in San Francisco and Las Vegas is inexcusable. Some phone calls and email messages should be enough to get people to post. I'll keep an eye on this site and see if it grows over time.