The Truth About Nightclubs

According to Pooch, part of the reason for this is business owners don't understand that promoting a nightclub is really a matter of providing good customer service, not strutting around like a celebrity. A good promoter keeps people coming back by treating them with deference, whether it's P. Diddy or an insurance salesman from Idaho. "People remember how you treat them," he says. "I've been lucky because I'm a nice guy. I don't go around treating people dishonestly or being unfriendly." And that, he says, is how he's developed a following and why he now has a stack of job offers on his desk since his rupture with Penrod.

Pooch sees an opportunity in promoting parties for the Beach's boutique hotels. "They need to create a buzz to start filling up those rooms," he says by cell phone while disembarking at New York's LaGuardia Airport. (He's in the Big Apple to attend the MTV Video Music Awards as P. Diddy's guest.) "Believe me, I miss Nikki Beach. It was my baby. But I'm not moving out of town. I love showing people a good time. That's what life is all about."

Steve Satterwhite

Tommy Pooch, seen here at the partially disassembled Nikki Beach, says the secret to a nightclub promoter's success is simple: Good customer service