Comedy club Web site gets makeover

The young patrons of Déjà Vu Comedy Club, equipped with increasingly sophisticated cell phones, digital cameras and iPods, had managing partner Matt Istwan concerned. How hip was the technology of the club’s Web site?
“We feel like every generation, each new class coming to MU, is more computer-savvy,” Istwan said. “We want to give them the best product possible.”

IDP Group, a marketing and communications agency, has updated the 5-year-old Web site, www.dejavucomedy.com, to appeal to tech-trendy club-goers.
The three main improvements, Istwan said, are making the site more interactive, creating an easier way to get tickets and enhancing the e-mail service.

Michael Roach, founder and creative director of the IDP Group, came up with the innovative updates. To make the site more interactive, the Web master will place sound bites of comedians with the listings of upcoming shows.
Purchasing tickets online also will entail a more user-friendly process. Previously, customers had to go through a series of links to get tickets. Even then, the tickets were reserved, not purchased. Now, buying is a simple one-click process through the online payment service PayPal.

“When people go to see a great show, they don’t want to stand in line,” Roach said. “They want to be enjoying the club.”

The enhanced e-mail structure will allow Déjà Vu to send more “concise” e-mail messages, which means they can incorporate graphics and sound while taking up less space in a customer’s inbox. The club sends biweekly mass e-mail to highlight current events and offer special incentives, such as coupons or free tickets.

On top of these improvements, the IDP Group has given the Web site a refreshed look. Roach said the first thing he did was upgrade to a “much more contemporary, club type of design.”

Roach said the use of cascading style sheets will give the staff members more control over the look and feel of the site. For example, it allows the Web site’s background to change colors on a weekly basis. Other elements of the Web site, designed to be somewhat transparent, pick up the background color.

The goal, Istwan said, is to keep people interested in Déjà Vu when they are deciding where to spend their “entertainment dollar.”

“More and more, people are going to their computers to make those decisions,” Istwan said.