Dealing with dancer classification is the industry’s collective nightmare. Pole Position believes they have a remedy with their app for dancers and clubs.
(Note: This article appeared in our January 2020 issue’s Special Focus on Future Technology. All of the articles in this Special Focus will be posted to ExoticDancer.com.)
If there is a subject that’s bound to give club operators nightmares, it’s dancer classification. Employees? Independent contractors? Does anyone know for sure where this ongoing debate is headed? But there’s at least one company — Pole Position — that may provide some help in this critical area of club operation.
Pole Position is a “gig economy app” for exotic dancers who wish to better control their opportunity to earn money and/or increase their skills. Dancers use the app to choose bookings from clubs around the U.S. “based on the club’s availability and quality.” Through the app, dancers may opt to take training classes, market themselves as featured dancers, and more. Clubs also have the opportunity to search for dancer services, but to be clear, Pole Position is not a staffing agency or a booking agent, and like Uber, the only people able to see a dancer’s profile is club management.
“Pole Position is a great resource for both the club and dancer to manage their needs,” says Caressa, Pole Position’s Operations Manager. “It’s a great tool for entertainers to be able to create a profile, brand themselves directly to the clubs with anonymity from the outside world, grow in their skills, and find bookings whenever and wherever they want to work.”
Consequently, dancers are also able to communicate with clubs across the country. Club executives may invite dancers to work when they have a larger-than-expected clientele or a lack of entertainers that evening. A dancer is able to put themselves on the frontline, if they choose, for receiving such notifications, and the app offers a dancer reassurance that they have work in another city if traveling. Put simply: Dancers have much more control over their earnings (how often they choose to book or accept invites) and are able to reach a wider demographic.
Our goal is to bring this industry into the modern age. Technology is such a valuable resource, and now dancers can book at clubs around the country using their fingertips. The convenience alone makes the app a must-have for dancers and clubs. — Todd S. of Pole Position
Pole Position has plans to build an advanced “tips” platform into the app that offers suggestions for hair and makeup, managing finances, and how to make the best of a slow night. Additionally, dancers will eventually have the opportunity to become “certified,” which will allow dancers to market their skills and accomplishments.
Alternatively, Pole Position, surprisingly, was not designed by the adult club industry, but is a completely independent app now available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store — but not just anyone is permitted to join. You must have an invite code. You can receive your invite code by contacting Pole Position through their website www.poleposition.app or by emailing info@indywork.com.
“Our goal is to bring this industry into the modern age,” says Todd S., President and CEO of Pole Position (who is also an attorney). “Technology is such a valuable resource, and now dancers can book at clubs around the country using their fingertips. It is incredible. The convenience alone makes the app a must-have for dancers and clubs.”
Pole Position might be on the cutting edge for the adult club industry the way Uber once was for the transportation service industry. And with the growing state list of “marketplace contractor” legislation being passed, it might be wise for adult club operators to consider an additional consult with their attorneys regarding such laws.
“(The bills) are written so broadly,” says Rebecca Smith, a director at the National Employment Law Project, “that really any business that dispatches workers could make a couple of changes, dispatch workers through a website, and voila, not be an employer anymore.”
For more information on Pole Position, please visit their website at poleposition.app or contact Caressa at 303-564-7388.