In all their behemoth glory, the big guys in the nightlife arena are ignoring one key fact: it is the year 2010 and the beginning of the Web 3.0 era.  Even when talking Web 2.0, there has been a lack of openness on the larger, what I will call “local directories especially those focused on nightlife”, websites.  It seems everywhere you look there is a new local directory, but big and small, the information that gets posted is at the discretion of the powers that be.  Inevitably corporate influence and the lure of higher advertising dollars has tipped the scales once again towards the larger, more well known and heavily promoted chains and venues end up with best listings, and somehow the little guys, the local “best place I ever ate at but never talked about” guys get lost in the mix.

Now, with all that said, I can’t help but look at what MyCNL.com is today and not be disappointed that we haven’t necessarily been able to break the mold and ruffle some feathers as much as we had hoped.  All I can say is this: I believe that we have something better to offer and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.  Some of you reading this may be new to our site and our concept, and to you I say thank you for taking the time to visit our site looking for something different than what is already out there.  To those of you that may be returning, I apologize for your disappointment for not having anything new to show you just yet.  To all, I thank you for your continued support and welcome any thoughts on how we can improve.  Let’s face it – in rough economic times, the decision to spend money on our personal enjoyment is a hard one to make, and now of all times should be a time for us to have the tools at hand to make the most informed decisions possible and make the most from what we have.

MyCNL.com at it’s core strives to provide local business owners with the tools they need to get the latest information out there as well as tools for consumers to track their favorite places so that everyone can make the most informed decision possible.  The current functionality that the site offers isn’t anything extremely special, yet.  We have been working hard and keeping our ear to the ground, and we have quite frankly had amazing opportunities to learn a lot and grow as individuals.  The experience and knowledge we have gained will only prove to be a more potent mix the second time around, so rest assured; we are hard at work, burning the midnight oil, designing, building, testing, and pushing the limits on the status-quo to overhaul the site and fight as hard as we can in our truly David vs. Goliath quest, because this is the United States of America and is a place that makes stories like this turn into reality.  Anything is possible, it just takes hard work and dedication, and we here at MyCNL are willing to accept this mission.

We’ve been hard at work building some really cool stuff, so in order to better prepare for our next big release, we’ve decided to open up our site and allow any and all clients FREE access to our system.  We hope that a wider base of clients/venues will provide some additional critical feedback so that we can bring the best tools available to the table.  In return, for a limited time only, any and all new clients that sign-up will now get a featured listing on the appropriate category page.  You’ll find some more details below.  If you’re interested in promoting your local bar, club, restaurant, entertainment, or any other nightlife venue, click the image and “Get Started” today!

Back in the old days of maps and directions, we used to settle for mediocrity when deciding on a route to get from point a to point b. The old way always seemed to put you on the highway regardless of what you really wanted to do.

Now we can safely say those days are over. Thanks to the Google Maps API team, we can now bring you more options when getting directions to your favorite bars, clubs, restaurants, movie theaters, and much more. As an example click here to see a map with walking directions from Invesco Field at Mile high to one of our favorites, Spill Lounge (a typical route an avid Denver Broncos Fan Might take).

The new options allow for users to choose between normal directions, directions avoiding highways, and walking directions depending on what kind of a mood you’re in.

Read more about it from Google.

Check out the latest addition to the site, mycnl.com/movies.php to find nearby movie theaters as well as movies now playing in theaters. Check back often as we have some pretty cool stuff planned around the movies section, because let’s face it, we all love to see a good movie, and if there is anything that we at MyCNL.com can do to make that experience even better, we will definitely be doing it.

• New and improved state selection:  It is now easier to navigate to your desired state’s category page with even fewer clicks.
• New Homepage Design:  We took bits and pieces from the old homepage, as well as sprinkled in a few new goodies.  Watch out for new features on the homepage as we have much more to come.
• New category pages:  The category pages got a makeover!  Check it out.
• New venue and event listing pages: We added a little AJAX / Javascript flare to the pages to spice things up a bit.
• New Calendar Pages:  We’ve condensed the calendar and made it easier to quickly find upcoming events in your area.

We have even more updates planned, so keep an eye out, and register today to get the latest news delivered right to your inbox.

We try hard to provide a wide array of venues’ information, but we understand that we still have a long way to go. With this latest addition, you should be able to plan all you nightlife activities without ever having to leave our site! As always, click away and let us know what you think so that we can keep bringing the best site and features available to you – and remember “If it happens at night, it’s on our site”™

Google Maps API Blog – Official Google Maps API Blog: Street View in the API (or, How I Spent My Summer “Vacation”)