2013 LBB State of the Union

 

Lately many people have been asking me about Life Behind Bars.  Specifically, I get asked how things are going, what new concepts are on the horizon, are there any events coming up, etc.  All of which are great questions that I feel are deserving of a detailed answer.  So, this is my attempt to explain the current status of LBB.  Think of this as a State of the Union address for Life Behind Bars if you will (Props to The Warden for the graphics above).

As most of you reading this already know, The Parole Board has a lot of big ideas to help unify the service industry.  After all, that's the entire concept behind LBB.  One of our biggest goals as company has been to create our own website.  Certainly we love using the Facebook group page to bring the INMATES together.  But, that's not how we want to operate perpetually.  Having our own website means we are not confined to set rules and parameters regarding content and design; we will only be limited by our creativity.

For a long time now, The Parole Board has been working on our website.  Over a year ago, we hired someone to create the site and we even managed to get the site in limited Beta mode.  I'd like to take this moment to give a shout-out to a few INMATES that were willing to help The Parole Board Beta test the website.  Those individuals are:  Marcus L. Rogers, Danielle Pirtle, Patrick Zimmerman, Skylar Rain and Brian Peritore.  From the beginning, they have been very supportive of LBB.  They have helped generate a lot of wonderful ideas, concepts and buzz for The Parole Board.  So, while I might be going off on a tangent here, I think it's warranted to give these INMATES their props.  Thank you, seriously.  You guys are awesome.

So, as I was saying, we began Beta testing the site and through that process, came up with a lot of great ideas.  However, the issue then became that, with those new ideas our website developer needed more money to implement them.  A lot more money actually. 

We then decided to throw an INMATE Riot (party) to help raise some extra capital for the website.  In fact, we've thrown a few Riots and continue to sell LBB contraband (merchandise) to raise capital for the website.  However, despite our efforts, we still need more money.  Building a website is a lot more expensive than I ever knew.  Too bad I wasn't born in India; I'd have this website development shit on lockdown.  But, alas, I was born in Indiana.  Which means I know as much about website development as an Indian knows about snow shoes and corn fields.  And by Indian, I mean Slurpee not Casino.  It's ok to laugh at that reference, it's funny.

Anyway, we are tired of raising a little money, but not enough to take LBB to the next level.  We need a website as it will be the central hub that everything else branches out from.  But, what does this all mean?  Well, it means that in order to get the website The Parole Board wants, we are going to have to look to outside financing.  Which is exactly what we have been doing.  Side note - our website is up and running, but it's a static site.  Soon it will be highly interactive.  In case you haven't been to the site yet, here's the link: http://www.lifebehindbarsisthebomb.com/LifeBehindBars/INMATES.html

We have spoken with numerous potential investors over the past few years.  There is a lot in interest in investing in LBB, which is a good thing.  But, the issue that we have constantly encountered is that all savvy investors want to see a business plan.  Actually, that's not the issue, the issue is that no one on The Parole Board has the slightest clue how to construct a legitimate business plan.  We have tried to create one on our own and it ended up looking like a project completed by the local elementary school.  And so, there we were with our concept and our potential investors, but without a business plan to bridge the gap.

                         
 
Well, that has all changed.  The Parole Board is good friends with a fellow INMATE that just so happens to write and review business plans for a living.  Not sure if he wants to be mentioned by name, so for now, let's call him Dre.  Dre is an accountant for a very successful firm.  He handles mergers and acquisitions for said firm.  What does that mean?  Well I am glad you asked that.   I'll tell you what it means.  It means he's a badass.  And, get this, best of all, he's one of us.  Not only have we been friends since way back in the day; he's also been in the service industry, but like me, he's now a daywalker.  But that doesn't mean he has forgotten his roots.  Dre has been helping us concoct a really impressive business plan and pretty soon, we are FINALLY going to have something we can show investors in order to get the much needed capital that will help us launch the LBB website. 

To all those that have wondered why it's taken so long to reach the next level, I hope this State of the Union address helped you better understand things.  We are getting close, very close.  Stay tuned for more details.
       

LBB Beta Site

The Parole Board is kicking it into high gear when it comes to the LBB website.  As many of you already know, the site is currently in Beta Mode (testing).  We spend countless hours tinkering with the site in an attempt to try to think of what it needs.  But, instead of us trying to determining everything it needs, we would rather get feedback from some INMATES. 

After all, it's the INMATES that will be using the site, so why shouldn't we get some input on various things you would like?  Also, if there are things that aren't working right, are hard to figure out, etc - well, we want to know about that.  The plan is to migrate the INMATES off FaceBook and onto our site, for LBB purposes only of course.  Obviously, we aren't trying to tell people to stop using FaceBook altogether.  Rather, we just want the INMATES to use our website when dealing with LBB stuff.  Having our own site is absolutely essential.  By doing so, we will have complete control over how things work and look (FYI - we will also have a smartphone app that you can download for free in order to conveniently access the site).

Currently, there are four INMATES that have asked me to update the Job Release list with their information.  But, FaceBook is not cooperating and will not allow us to update the list.  In fact, I can't even create a new job posting/job search list.  And these are the little things that drive me crazy.  Don't get me wrong, FaceBook has been pivotal to the growth of LBB.  However, I won't be happy until we are not longer operating under the parameters of another forum.

Anyway, the point is, we are working nonstop on the website and would like to hear what you have to say/think.  If you are interested in obtaining access to the Beta Site in order to let us know your thoughts and recommendations, just let me know and I'll get you access. 

One disclaimer though, we are currently only working on the way the site works.  Functionality is our main task at the moment.  After the site runs the way we want it to, then we will make it ascetically pleasing.  So, just note that the site looks nothing like it will once we launch it.  The colors, fonts, everything will change.  We know how it will look but aren't worried about that right now because it doesn't matter how nice it looks if it doesn't work. 

LBB Website

We are quickly approaching the start of 2012 which means two things for Life Behind Bars.  One, the New Year's Casino Riot is right around the corner.  And two, we have a lot of late nights ahead of us over these next couple weeks in order to get our website ready to launch. 

Creating a website is a very involved process.  Prior to this, my only website creating experience was for my law practice.  Maybe I am using the wrong terminology when I say "create."  I did absolutely none of the coding.  I'd be better off attempting to translate hieroglyphics than to explain what HTML 5 means.  I simply told someone what I wanted it to look like.  Anyway, the point is, the website I used for my law practice was quite simple.  Only a few different pages of information. 

On the other end of the spectrum is the website for Life Behind Bars.  There are a lot more than a few pages within the site and there are a ton of functions.  We hired a really skilled web designer to take our ideas and implement them into the site.  Things are going well, but we still have a lot left to do.     

We have a lot of ideas and it's important that we don't sacrifice the quality of the site for the sake of releasing it as soon as possible.  The plan was to launch the site by the next event (January 1, 2012).   Jerry, the web designer, is definitely capable of getting it ready by then.  The issue is that the more we work on it, the more ideas we get.  And with each new idea, means more work for everyone.  And more work means delaying the launch date...again.

That being said, we don't mind more work.  In fact, we embrace it.  For once we have found ourselves in a situation where work does not equate to misery.  Running Life Behind Bars is actually fun.  It's time consuming and can be stressful but, we love it.  We have met some amazing people and can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for LBB. 

But, I digress.  I was just talking about how with each new idea for the website, we have to delay the launch date.  At least that was our mentality.  Now we are looking at things from a different angle.  Instead of trying to complete the site and then launch it, we are instead going to get the website to a good point and then launch it with the expectation of having the site change as new ideas surface.

I suppose Mark Zuckerberg (the creator of FaceBook) was right when he said, "The site [Facebook] will never be finished, that's the point.  The way fashion's never finished."  It's a strange comparison, but it's true.  Fashion is never finished.  It simply evolves.  As will the LBB website.  We now understand that we will never arrive at a point in time where we step back and tell ourselves, the site is complete.  That's just not going to happen.  For if it did, that would mean we were selling ourselves, and more importantly, the INMATES, short.