How Important Is Initial Impression?

I usually try a club at least twice - I walked into Club 1245 in Akron - saw two dancers that were about 1.5's turned arounfd and walked right out. Tried it again and found some really nice dancers with good mileage. Small clubs especially seem to have a lot more variance in what you find inside.

Good point, Casualguy, when you go makes a world of difference. I know several clubs that are really fun at certain times and terrible other times. Personally I prefer most clubs during the day when they are nearly empty and very laid back, and I hate the crowded weekend nights. Some guys are probably just the opposite. I used to go to see my ATF in mid-afternoon and I was often the only customer there. That was nice, it was like having my own private club.

If my first visit to a club stinks, I'm not ever coming back if I have anything better to choose from. If a club is really bad, staying home is a much better choice as well or I'll try regular sports bars if they seem better.

FONDL raises a good point. There are SOME first impressions that are important to me and may either bring me back or keep me away, but for the most part I will usually take longer to try to get a sense for the place before deciding.

Yoda, I used to do that too. But now that I don't travel much anymore, at least not alone, I'm stuck with clubs that are within an hour or so drive. And that includes close to a hundred clubs, most of which I've never been to. So every once in a while I'll try someting new. And I'll go back if it seems like my kind of place, even if that first visit isn't particularly enjoyable because I didn't hook up with a girl I liked. But if I don't like the place because of high hustle, high prices, excess smoke or music so loud I can't hold a conversation, or no privacy for the private dances, I won't go back regardless of what the girls are like.

the only first impression that matters is a bad one. this will keep me from coming back to a club for sure.

First impressions don't keep me away unless it's way, WAY awful. 2 or 3 bad times, sure, but not just one.

With how much clubs go up and down in quality (strippers and management), I usually return for a second try if it had any sort of potential.

There are way too many clubs in my area to have to return to one that I had a crappy time in. I've found that initial impressions of clubs, like people, is usually right on the money.

FONDL: My issue is that the only time I check out new clubs is when I travel. I'm in town for a few days to a week. I'll probably only go clubbing one night. I don't waste too much time. If a place looks like a dud I'm gone and not coming back. Sometimes I just go back to the hotel and order take-out

Even when I'm off the road if I show up at a regular club of mine and a fav isn't working I almost always go somewhere else. I've got about 10 favorite clubs within a hours drive so I'm not shy about hopping around a bit.

Yoda, I go primarily looking for the kind of girl I like too, but I'm willing to give a place a second chance if it has the kind of atmosphere I like but I don't find a girl I like on the first visit. But if I don't like the place (eg. it's ovepriced, the hired help is rude, too much hustle, or other annoying crap) it doesn't get a second chance.

If it's far away and the club clearly sucks, I won't go back. However, if it's close, I might go back 6 months from now, or at least some time far into the future. Besides, it could be entirely different the next time I go.

I go looking for the kind of girls that I like. I don't care much about the atmosphere of the club as long as I feel safe. Dancers work where they have to not always where they would prefer so you never know where you will find a gem. If a place really strikes me as a waste of time I'll bail but I usually wait for the girls to cycle through their stage sets once before I give up. Sometimes it's the last girl you see, ya never know...

If my first visit to a club is not positive, I'll give it a second chance at a different time. I never discount the fact that it could have been a bad day or time for that club.

But... if it's bad the second time it's two strikes and your out.

Not too important to me. I'll usually stay long enough to get a better idea of the girls and the potential. If I go on a slow day I try to make a mental adjustment to what it might be like if it were busier and had the a-list girls. If I go more than once and find it equally dissapointing I'm unlikely to go back.

I make a distinction between the club and the girls I meet. If I like the atmosphere and pricing of the club, I'll return even if I don't happen to meet a girl I like on the first visit and don't have a very good time. But if I don't like the atmosphere, eg. it's a high pressure unfriendly place or is over priced, I may not return even if I meet a girl I really like and have a good time. If she's exceptional I will probably return, but she has to be really special.

If my first visit to a club isn't good, I won't give it another chance unless I'm convinced by a reliable source that my experience was an anomaly or that the club has improved. At other clubs, my first impression isn't nearly as important as my most recent one. Like the song says, it's all about what you've done for me lately.

Every club seems to have a different culture which I think you can clue into pretty fast once you realize that you are experienced and learn to trust your intuition. Thus first impressions are tremenduously important.

Now a couple of qualifiers: Almost every club, no matter how terrible has a few gems, but is it really worth you effort to sift through all the dirt to get to them if the general culture is a negative one?

Also I have found a world of difference between day and night girls even within the same club. (Day girls, at any club, I consider to be a lost cause now, although I know this runs against conventional wisdom.)

My last impression of one club PP in Columbia on the weekend was that even with ear plugs, the music volume was irritating since I had to shout to everyone I talked to in order to be heard. I went to that same club one time without ear plugs and my ears started hurting almost immediately. The club was too crowded and it was hard to even walk around for a while. That was not my idea of fun. That was over a year or so ago and I don't live that far away from the club.