BLISS VS TRIBE

Well unless you have been living under a rock, you would know by now that the management of the band TRIBE has decided to produce a new separate band called BLISS. BLISS is being touted as the "Intimate Experience" with the smaller band size while TRIBE is still the "Ultimate Experience". Since this revelation I have been bombarded by questions about the differences between the two and find myself almost being a marketing representative for the new band Bliss So much so , that I did not even want to tell anybody about when I first found out because I thought it was such a fantastic idea. I have personally been campaigning for a smaller Tribe band for some time; there was my social commentary The Tribe Mentality where attempted to determine what was the driving force between the obsession to get into Tribe,then there was The Lost Tribe where I lamented the loss of the 'Tribe experience' and then there were several other rants about TLC. I also have this theory that Tribe being spawned from Poison had a great advantage and increased probability of being successful by being able to learn the ropes and get their working formula sorted in Poison before creating their own entity. In such a way, I have no doubt in my mind that BLISS as spawn of Tribe can be just as successful as they already know the gameplan. I am therefore an avid supporter in the venture! Will I actually play with them???...well that remains to be seen.....

Firstly, I think a reality check is in order:

1. TRIBE intends to reduce their band size for 2k11 to approximately 4000 ppl or so
2. BLISS will be a small band with approximately 2000 ppl or so
3. There is no more TLC
4. According to a Bliss committee member: TLC is not a requirement for Bliss nor is previous participation in Tribe.You just need to know a committee member willing to register you.
5. It is unclear how the abolishment of TLC will affect the TRIBE band sequence of registration.
6. You cannot shuttle back and forth between Tribe and Bliss.Each masquerader id band entitles you to ONE band i.e drinks, permission to be behind the ropes
7. Everybody can't be in Tribe!!!
8. Everybody can't be in Bliss!!

In my opinion, part of the reason for creating Bliss is so that all the people who can't get into Tribe will have somewhere to spend their money that is still in the realm of Tribe but not have to move to another band completely. This is not a bad idea at all cause you still 'kinda' in Tribe and still get the level of service that you are accustomed to. This works even better for those who don't want the jam session Tribe.

Unfortunately I think BLISS is shooting themselves in the foot (or maybe even the head!) for several reasons:

1. The Costumes: You would think that as a new band they would ensure that the costumes are ALL hot!!! Now I think the costumes are pretty good but very few can be considered great. My personal hypotheses: If I pool all the costumes and take my top 5 picks, my first 3 will be in Tribe and my 4th and 5th would be in Bliss. Even though I loathe,hate and detest the overcrowding in Tribe I am CERTAINLY not throwing down a hard $5 grand on a costume that is my 4th or 5th choice! Comparatively if my costume selection went like #1 in Tribe and #2 in Bliss or even vice versa I would be there in a heartbeat!It only takes one look at Saucy's polls to know that in Tribe the popularity of the costumes are evenly distributed between 3 or 4 sections. In Bliss ,one costume has almost half the popularity! So true talk, doh lie!! Point in fact again, Knights Templar vs Ice Warriors. Same designer, one in Tribe and one in Bliss respectively. Templar is clearly superior so if I am fiercely loyal to this designer why would I not go for her best costume first?And yes I know that Bliss size is limited and I not telling TRIBE how to run their operation but I should also point out that people will want to know why this private section designer has a section in both bands while others do not. I'm jus sayin....
2. The Costumes!! Lets not forget how skimpy they all are ! I love my skettel costumes and I am not playing in any section with no set of cloth but some of the choices in BLISS take things to another level. Yes wire bras are popular but contrary to popular belief not everyone wants one..especially not in if you just want a floor costume. So Bliss as just excluded the average female masquerader who has an average body type who does not want to be so risque by limiting their options (on top of their first 3 choices being in Tribe). Considering that they have also placed many of the older Tribe committee members (25-35 age group) on Bliss' new committee it can be expected that many of their market are also more mature and quite likely more modest in their choices. So having older people market over skimpy costumes to older people (25-45) makes no sense to me. Its almost to the point where you wonder what you are getting for your money cause I am not seeing as many of the wonderful accessories like Templar has or Xi'an has on most of those costumes. Should I therefore expect a cheaper price???
3. Marketing: Exactly where are the costumes? No seriously, where the site?Where the book? Where the mas camp? Hell, who selling for allyuh?? Tribe sent out this info blast announcing the band Bliss and since then ...nothing!!! You guys seem to forget that it has now been a week that people have been talking TRIBE costumes non stop! They go on the site they stare at the costume , they hold telephone conferences with books in hand, they shopping for boots and they designing monday wear...all based on a TRIBE costume that they can SEE. To add insult to injury, we all know the demand in Tribe is so high so if I have access to a private section that I have stared at for a week , even if i was contemplating Bliss I am going to make sure my spot in that private section is booked! Why? Because I am not going to hang my carnival future in my bff band Tribe on uncertainty for something I have not seen or have any info on. I have nothing to compare, no prices, no perks. I would love to know how they splitting the music trucks up.
4. Exclusivity: Right now Bliss seems to be so exclusive that everyone is afraid to even try to get in! Because of the lack of information and explanation of the registration process, many people I know who are interested are either intimidated or turned off at the prospect of Bliss. At the end of the day (past costume choice) they still want to be with their friends and no one wants to feel that if they get themselves in, their friends are going to be out. Bliss has not hit the road and they already have a stush reputation.By being so clandestine in all their dealings they are actually repelling some of their target market.

So in summary, the typical current Bliss masquerader is 30 something (average), with a really hot body, who knows all the right people to know, does not care about how much they like their costume, happened to decide up front that they want the smaller band and did not really like Tribe costumes to begin with. Any how you take it,it's going to be really difficult to find 2000 people that fit that criteria.I really do not want Bliss to suffer the same fate of "Poison 2". If you don't know what that is then you should probably be in Bliss! Bliss please get your act together!!! Let us know what is happening!!! Its an easy fix...hot costumes...more information....where do i sign up! Don't let me down!