Fridae.com, Asia's largest gay and lesbian web site, will launch its highly anticipated Version 5 (V5) beta this month - its first major redesign since 2004.
The brand new Fridae Version 5 (V5) beta web site, which has been in development for over two years, will be marked with a series of "Fridae Buzz" parties, in collaboration with major gay party promoters across Asia from Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and even San Francisco this March and April. Attendees and Fridae's Perks members will get an exclusive test-drive of the new web site.
Recently rated one of top ten web publishers in Singapore by independent auditor Nielsen//Netratings, with session durations more than two times the market average, Fridae expects V5 to deliver a richer and more intuitive user experience for the site's 300,000 registered members.
V5 will boast a more contemporary look, based on W3C compliant standards, and feature a more robust database architecture that will allow rapid scaling, a necessity given the rapid growth in traffic in recent months.
"Asia's gay and lesbian community has stuck by us for so many years, and what we have built is only possible through their continued support and feedback. We believe that Version 5 is only the beginning of an exciting new direction for Fridae, and we look forward to launching a site that has been designed from scratch with the gay and lesbian community at its heart", said Dr Stuart Koe, CEO of Fridae.
Fridae members will be able to look forward to greater participation through blogging, wikis and feed syndication, new search engines, and an enhanced personals section. Advertisers will soon be able to benefit from geo-targeted delivery of their advertising, in addition to a host of new ad positions on the radically redesigned pages.
The V5 beta rollout will be gradual, with only the personals section available initially, followed by editorial. The new applications and Web2.0 sections will be introduced in quick succession after the initial transition has been debugged. The full Version 5 is expected to be completed and available to the general public by June 2007.
Since Fridae's launch in March 2001, the site has seen its audited traffic grow to 380,000 unique browsers and 50 million page impressions per month at the end of 2006.
A member John Doumani, who is the founder of Prophegy, a strategic web design and development firm in the United States, recently wrote to Fridae saying: "Thank you for bringing my partner and I together. My experience at Fridae has been very enjoyable and I must add that I regard Fridae to be one of the best community sites in terms of usability and design. This accolade doesn't come lightly as I have directed the design and development of many world class Web properties."
V5 beta will be available to Perks members later this month. Look out for a launch party happening near you as Fridae is collaborating with major gay party promoters across Asia from Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo to San Francisco. Attendees (limited to the first 500 per party) will receive a free 3-month Perks trial to test drive the new Fridae V5 beta site and stand a chance to win lifetime Perks memberships.
Fridae Launch Parties (Mar/Apr 07)
Mar 1: Singapore
Two Queens Party (women's party)
Venue: Club Momo
Address: 5 Magazine Road, Central Mall, #01-02/03
Web site: www.twoqueensparty.com
Mar 4: San Francisco
Matinee @ Mezzanine
DJs: David S & Jamie J Sanchez
Venue: Mezzanine
Address: 444 Jesses Street, San Francisco
Mar 10: Manila
In Bed with Fridae
DJs: Toy Armada, DJ Santos
Venue: Bed Bar & Club
Address: The Orosa Strip, Malate
Web site: www.bed.com.ph
Mar 17: Kuala Lumpur
Princeworld Get2gether with Fridae
DJ: Princess Ann
Venue: La Queen Club
Address: 5 Jalan P. Ramlee KL
Web site: www.princeworldkl.com
Mar 17: Singapore
Venue: Play
Address: 21 Tanjong Pagar Road
Web site: www.playclub.com.sg/
Mar 24: Taipei
Follow Me to Fridae
DJ: David S
Venue: Jump
Address: B1 #8, Sec. 1, Kee-Lung Rd, Taipei (Near Nan-jig E. Rd, Sec. 5)
Web site: www.followme-party.com
Mar 24: Osaka
No.228
Venue: GRAND Cafe�-Shinsaibashi
Address: B1/F Spagio Bldg, 2-10-21 Nishi Shinsai-bashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka
Mar 31: Shanghai
The Fab 5
Venue: Club Deep
Address: 1649 Nanjing West Rd (inside Jing'an Park)
Web site: www.clubdeep.cn
Apr 1: San Francisco
Matinee @ Mezzanine
DJs: Manny Lehman and Luke Johnstone
Venue: Mezzanine
Address: 444 Jesses Street, San Francisco
Apr 2: Hong Kong
Les Peches (women's party)
Venue: Heaven (updated)
Address: 2/F California Entertainment Bldg, Lan Kwai Fong, Central
Apr 13: Bangkok
Babylon Foam Party (men only)
Venue: Babylon Sauna
Address: 34 Soi Nandha, South Sathorn Rd. Soi 1, Bangkok
Apr 14-15: Bangkok
gCircuit Song Kran 2007
Venue: Millenium Hilton & Club Narcissus
Web site: www.gcircuit.com
Apr 17: Hong Kong
Fruits in Suits
Venue: Solas
Address: G/F, 60 Wyndham Street, Central
Apr 29: Tokyo
fridae V5 makes SPLASH!!! at Shangri-La 08
Venue: ageHa
DJs: Pablo Ceballos & Sawa
Address: 2-2-10 Shin-Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo
Web site: www.ageha.com/gn/
Apr 29-30: Hong Kong
Floatilla & HX Labour Day
More details soon on Fridae and www.HXproduction.com