March 1, 2011

So you’ve just stepped off the plane, drunk your first clara, been fleeced by your first landlord, your Erasmus grant stuffed in your back pocket – so long as it wasn’t swiped on your first walk down Hospital street – wide-eyed and raring to go. But who’s going to initiate you into the labyrinthine world of Barcelona clubbing?

Since its humbler, pre-Facebook beginnings, when it was a way (via email and phone) of getting guest-listed at top nightclubs, LISTA ISAAC has grown up, and this month launches a new 2.0 version of its portal YouBarcelona.com. Their first website was launched in 2007 when Isaac, native to Galicia, was finishing his Ph.D in IT at Barcelona’s UPC and decided to launch a career combining his two areas of expertise: clubbing and technology. And so, as this doctor of clubbing explained to us, “The phenomenon of guest lists was born.” In 2009 Isaac enlisted fellow Galician Jesús to help mobilize his army of party-goers, around 3,000 per month, and things really took off, with similar versions launched in London and Madrid (Madrid Lux and London Lux). Now with a new head of marketing, the team is setting its sights on club-world domination and going global.

In Barcelona, LISTA ISAAC continues to organize parties and events and hand out offers and discounts, VIP gifts and other freebies; just now all the means of getting them – flyers, phone calls and their massively popular Facebook pages – are integrated into YouBarcelona.com. Isaac tells us none of the personal elements have been lost in their slick new platform; the team can be contacted directly and like to show their faces at events. So join all those game international students for VIP treatment at Opium Mar, Sutton, Shôko, Ribelino’s, Up & Down, Sotavento, CDLC, Hyde, Bikini and more.

Guest list Barcelona