On teamwork and partnerships…

July 20, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

As part of the Crash Course Seminar, we do an entire section about working together, and it’s heavy on my mind today.

Here in Lancaster County, we’re having a day-long meeting next week to talk about getting ready for the “big three” conventions coming up…NTA, OMCA and ABA. Sure there are plenty of other important shows, conventions, meetings, and the like, but to be brutally honest, these three are head and shoulders above the rest in terms of scope, import, and results.

For many years, when I got into this business, I heard the same thing over and over…”Oh, you’re from Lancaster County. You all work together so well.” And we did…we cross sold other properties, promoted entire itineraries, and even promoted our direct competition. We understood that none of us is “IT”. From the biggest Theatre to the smallest shop, it’s everything that Lancaster County offers that brings people to town. Sure, certain properties are big draws, and certain attractions are the center-point of a trip, but on the whole, it is the whole the attracts.

Somewhere along the line, we either forgot or lost touch with this fact, and the working together dwindled. It didn’t go away, and never will, as there are enough of us that still do it to keep the flame burning. But it’s not the beacon it used to be. Instead, someone stole our flame! For a while, it was Branson, then it moved around for a while. Right now, the flame rests in the fringes of the Smoky Mountains at Pigeon Forge, TN. And this continues to surprise me endlessly…no offense to my friends down south!

See, when I was a kid (yes, that many years ago), Pigeon Forge was the traffic light you passed through to get to Gatlinburg, the REAL destination in the Tennessee Smokies. Sure, we rode the Rebel Railroad every year, and that was in Pigeon Forge, but there was NOTHING else there to attract people. Instead, we spent our time (when not on the trails in the mountains) playing miniature golf, shopping, and climbing on rocks out back of Zoder’s Motel (with the red railings…some childhood memories are incredibly vivid!).

So you can imagine my surprise to drive in to PF this past February for the North Carolina Motorcoach Association convention at Music Road Hospitality (Hey, Sorge…where’s my sponsorship money for mentioning you?). This was no longer the one-horse burg of my youth. Theatre after theatre, shop after shop, go-cart track after go-cart track (NOW you’re talkin’)…and I was even more impressed watching how they all worked together so well.

They did it again at the Pennsylvania Bus Marketplace in March…the majority of the Pigeon Forge delegation came up together on a motorcoach, making stops on the way up, and on the way home, making it a real promotional effort for all involved. And, as I stepped on their coach to congratulate them, it dawned on me. They were eating our lunch! The mantle has passed (or been swiped), and the fine folk of Tennessee have it, because they “get it”.

They understand that to sell yourself, you must sell your area. To sell your property, you must sell all properties. To book people to your show, you have to sell other shows. It’s the essence of this entire industry…unless you are Disney, you ain’t the only game going! And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will achieve success in this industry.

So I’m going into our meeting next week ready to try to swipe the flame back from my friends in Tennessee…or at least see if we can share it, and get some of our glow back. Maybe I can bring some home with me from the Virginia Motorcoach Association convention there in September? You can count on me trying!

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