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This seems to be the case. A very interesting development. It also seems they are very open to receiving comments, questions, and suggestions from the "community," escorts and customers alike.

I agree with that. Credit for honesty has its worth, but escorts with limitations like weight, age, and skin color don't get the label "great" from me.

I thought the same thing when I saw the video. For a minute there, I was a bit worried. Thanks to whomever posted the link. I think the guy is hot, hot, hot, and I love all his hair style variations. He knows how to work a look. I sure hope that's the case.

Skype may not be available for some users. For example, now that Microsoft owns Skype, Mac users must upgrade to a recent OS before they can download Skype. There are a number of Mac users who don't want to update to a newer OS. When it comes to relying on technology, it can get complicated.

I, too, have thoroughly enjoyed him. He's bisexual, and I am, too. Very hot. Plus, he's a sweetheart. (edit) I don't want to hurt his feelings, but he could use some better photos. He is much better looking in person. Really beautiful eyes and a tight, sexy, boy body.

It's not a crazy idea at all, jvanchicago. In fact, I think it's the right approach and the "verification process" that they should adopt. Obviously, the free-service option to acquire a verification is too controversial. The perception is "disrespect for the service provider." With a "secret shopper," there's no perception of disrespect. The review/verification comes honestly, with integrity. In the spa business, we occasionally had to recruit massage therapists who had sizable followings. In order to do it secretly, we had to send a recruiter to a competitor spa and approach the therapist in the privacy of his or her room. We had a budget for the recruiter to pay for the massage, but it's not something that was done often. Here are a just few obstacles. 1. Gay men aren't very good at keeping secrets. If a secret shopper gets exposed, then the escort community will know which customer to stroke with more enthusiasm. Sort of like figuring out what the restaurant reviewer looks like, even though he reserves under an alias. Once exposed, the owners would need to find a replacement. Of course, there would be plenty of volunteers, but how many would be reliable and trustworthy? Hiring for that job could be a revolving-door time suck for the team. 2. The cost to the business could be significant. Someone would need to provide deep pockets until the money can find its way back in profit. If one of their team members is old and obese, it very well could be a "creepy" choice for an escort who screens his clients based on certain criteria.

Usually, when you find one, the other ain't too far behind.

Escorts should take notice: that offer of a free, lifetime membership is not going to last forever. Free ad hosting on a popular website could save you thousands of dollars into the future. Unless the new owners of rentboy.pro are fakes, frauds, and assholes - which we shall find out soon enough - what is there to lose by grabbing your free membership while you can?

If I remember correctly, Rentmen took some time to build a following. Their acceptance was not immediate. They seemed to be OK with slow growth. Longtime users hated the newest version of Rentboy, but they weren't willing to vacate the premier escort site in droves. Only when Rentboy folded did the droves go over to Rentmen. There wasn't much choice. If the owners of rentboy.pro are serious about their claim, "we are not going to charge potential renters," they could make mincemeat of rentmen's business model. Certainly, with a former "rentboy co-creator" on the team, someone with first-hand knowledge of Jeffrey Hurant's greed could provide important lessons on what to avoid in this new venture. Having a former co-creator of rentmen on board can't hurt either. If there's one thing we know about the rentboy.com fiasco, there's plenty of money to be made at this game. If you're not careful how you play the greed card, you can lose.

It's too bad we can't ask how much abuse Tina Fey has endured in her career as a writer. How many hours she had to work for free in order to get noticed or get paid. Obviously, people can overcome the abuse and become very successful, if they play their cards right.

It doesn't matter what I think. Business owners don't care about my definition of abuse. If you want to talk about abuse, you should try to understand what writers have to go through to get their work published and then what they have to go through to get paid for the work. At some point, most professional writers have to do all the work first and then shop it around before there's any hope of getting paid. Often, there are no buyers. And if there is a buyer, I won't even mention the abusive negotiation that takes place to determine how much the work is worth. I honestly don't know what world some of you guys live in. I'm frankly surprised by how Pollyanna and uninformed some of you are. You do that. I'm sure it'll make you feel better.

Interesting use of words. I wonder how your escorts feel about being owned.

LOL. Nice try. So far, your characterization appears to be a false one. Your negativity and cynicism are well documented. Time will tell. Let's see how long it takes for certain escorts to sign up.

Good for you, Christian Cronin. It doesn't look to me like anyone was trying to steal a freebie from you. LOL. I don't think it would be fair to expect porn-style reviews, like the ones many on this site prefer. It seems to me, their "review" is going to be more like an "endorsement" or professional "verification," intended to give customers confidence that you are a true professional and you are the real deal. Many of us who hire from escort websites don't need to read anything more than that. Now, if you fuck over a client (just as an example), and a customer complains to rentboy.pro, it will be interesting to see how they plan to handle that.

LOL. I'm sure you sleep better now. The examples I posted have nothing to do with me. I don't control the rules of auditioning for a service job. I did not own the spa business, I was an employee. I did plenty of work for "free" as part of my job. Nobody was abused more than I was. The more you get paid in the service business, the more abuse you have to take. That's why I'm long gone. LOL. The only false equivalency here is rentboy.pro is not auditioning escorts for a "job." They're offering an audition for a review rating/professional verification. It seems to me they're trying to find a new way to offer more honest, reliable reviews and put an end to the fake guys and fake ads. I'm not convinced the idea can work in its present form, but I do find it bold and interesting. I like business people who think outside of the box. How does a website that offers reviews prevent other escorts/clients from writing fake reviews? How does a website like rentboy.pro create an opportunity for honest, reliable reviews? Some of you guys are so quick to be negative, but no one has offered a trustworthy solution to the fake review/fake ad problem in all the years I've been reading this site. If a website is going to respect anonymity, it's pretty darn impossible to come up with a good solution to the fake review/fake ad problem. I say, if the rentboy.pro owners can create/build a Hooboy type leader/status symbol, someone who has or can acquire the trust of the "community," this idea could work. It won't be perfect, but it could be as close as you can get. To be sure, if this idea does work, there will be plenty of people who rally against it. There are plenty of folks in this business who don't want to see fake reviews end. Write your congressman or your "dear leader," wherever you live. Say what? Not sure what world you live in, but I suggest you stay there. I haven't worked in the spa business for over 20 years. Carry on with your fantasies. The power and allure that "boy" has over "men" in the gay male escort business. This is going to be fun to watch.

Then I suppose you believe actors and actresses should be paid for their auditions? Hairdressers need to do a free haircut, sometimes 2 haircuts in a try-out for a salon. Make-up artists often have to work for free, doing a trial run, before being hired. Same with facialists in a spa. In television, interns can work for free up to a year before being offered a job. Many don't receive offers when their internship ends. Photographers often have to work for free if they want to shoot editorial for a magazine. Cooks have to work for free before being hired in a restaurant. And on and on it goes. You may not think it's right or fair, but this is the reality for a lot of people who provide a service. Comparing the endorsement of rentboy.pro to Michelin seems a bit of a stretch. The Michelin Guide for dining was created in 1926 by the two brothers who started the tire company in 1889. Michelin's story is interesting. Perhaps there's room for some famous name to put his mark on a reliable escort rating institution, but I won't be holding any breath. I agree that shade will be a problem to overcome. Smart, determined people can overcome the need to work in the shade if their idea is worth pursuing. Time will tell if these guys have the stuff. Still, Skype is a valid option for verification. It's not easy to fake a Skype call.

In order for a masseur/masseuse to get hired in the famous spa I managed, they had to perform a 1-hour massage on one of the owners for free. It was the only way to get a job if you didn't come with a full clientele. The fame of the spa provided instant trust. Given that rentboy.pro is a new startup, the trust issue matters. If I were an escort, I would engage in dialogue and test the trust waters. If the information I receive is music to my ears and makes good business sense, then I would negotiate a deal that makes sense for me. The deal does not have to be a free-for-all.

I think the idea could be genius, if it's handled with 100% integrity. I remember when early Rentmen offered their own escort video interviews. It's a similar concept without the sex, a review, and a private encounter endorsement. The video interview helped me make many a decision, but it didn't tell me how the guy would perform with another guy. A lot of escorts don't want to do an on-camera interview because they don't want to show face. A private encounter endorsement by a "site owner with integrity" is a whole other kind of "selling" opportunity. Some of the responses are very negative and cynical. I guess that's to be expected. If I were an escort, I'd be writing the owners with some smart questions. Then I would judge them by their answers. If they responded to me with as many words as latbear4blk received, and the words made smart business sense, then you can make an educated decision. Given what I know about running a service business, this group sounds very interesting to me.

If you read the FAQs thoroughly, the owners (or whoever wrote the text) claim to have/want a new approach to user reviews. They don't want the same old bullshit we've come to know and distrust. They want to avoid every kind of fake review, so they think they have developed a way to include "owner endorsements," hoping this method will offer "verification" and "positive reinforcement" to the market writ large. I admit, at first it raised an eyebrow, but on thinking about it further, the concept reminded me of Karen Brown's Boutique Hotels of Europe Guide. Karen Brown has created a decades long reputation for scoping out and actually trying the boutique hotels she endorses. Many hotels don't charge her for a stay, hoping to acquire one of her star icons. Millions of travelers around the world trust KB's reviews and recommendations. It's a major plus if a boutique hotel falls into her "recommended" category. On its new surface, this concept may seem opportunistic. However, if the new owners are serious about developing a serious and trustworthy reputation in this arena, their "endorsement" could carry some weight with marketing. Imagine if Hooboy had owned Rentboy and offered a similar arrangement. I'm sure many escorts would have jumped at the chance to get a professional recommendation from Hooboy. A positive review/endorsement by Hooboy would have been enough to sustain a long career. Perhaps, all other reviews be damned. On the other hand, the "owners" would need to identify themselves in some way in order for the distrusting public to buy this concept and accept the findings. If they don't find a way to do that, then it looks like it's just a free fuck. At least they offer the Skype option.

If that is so, I'm sure Kevin can speak for himself. I find guessing games annoying. (Edit) Now that I see Kevin has liked your post, latbear4blk, it's clear to me I did not understand his message or intent. I don't need to understand it, either.

(Edit) Since I clearly missed the point of Kevin Slater's comment, I decided to delete my original response.

IMO, the same is true for sexually active gay men. No excuse.

Sounds like a winning combination of people to create a solid grab for the competition. If I were an escort, the only questions I would have would concern the age of the gentleman investor, how deep are his pockets and commitment, and can they share some details about their business plan? Escorts need incentive and reassurance the business will be protected and around for awhile. I don't know how funny it is, but if the site hits big, this is a great money-saving opportunity for escorts. Free ad space on a popular website is a gift that can only give, give, give. I wish I could advertise my business for free on a popular site. That deal is not going to be around for long. Perhaps three is annoying, especially if you don't have any other information to back up the reach-out. No two escorts will share the same opinion regarding a competitor's reach-out tactics. If I want someone special to join me in a business venture, I doubt I would ever give up the chase, no matter how severe the perception of annoyance. Don't forget, in business, if you snooze, you lose. Annoying reach-out tactic or not, they seem to mean serious business, and there's a potential gift for some early sign-ups (numerous escorts), preventing them from overspending on ad space. The annual savings could be substantial. This could very well be a good thing for the industry.

I realize no one knew about Puerto Rico when the show began taping, but how great would it be if they replace Mary Pat Gleason (Karen's maid) with a Rosario-2. This is the perfect time for Karen to have an anti-Trump Latina maid from Puerto Rico. If you think about it, the jokes might never end. And goodness knows the Puerto Rican community could use a good laugh.

Enjoyed the "Daddy" theme. Loved the homage to Lucy and Ethel in the shower. Loved Will and Jack's dance during the closing credits. Really loved it. Hints of them finally having their Rachel and Ross moment. Bridget-Mrs. Potato Head-Mary Pat Gleason is no Rosario, but it's too soon to tell. Surprised they got Ben Platt away from Broadway. Ben Platt does nothing for me, but he acted the part well. Eric McCormack is still wearing way too much makeup.