June 23, 2008 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

So there we were…a group of semi-sophisticated Group Sales professionals in Atlantic City for a week. We had visited shopping, casinos, upscale restaurants, and had enjoyed some excellent speakers, education, and interaction. But we had four hours with nothing to do. What would we do? Go to a casino and give back some of Atlantic City’s sponsorship money? Go lay out on the beach (even though none of us remembered swimming attire!)? Soak in the hot tub in the hotel (with the lights off, since none of us remembered swimming attire)?

Nope…not us! We decided to pick the one brochure that caught our eyes out of an amazing array of information from our welcome bags, and go see something really different. So we piled into Cheryl’s car, and off we went, with the GPS leading the way. Did we go to Cape May for the Victorian homes and tours? Did we go to Historic Cold Spring Village for some history, or the Cape May County Park Zoo to see the animals?

Nope…not this bunch! We went to see LUCY!

Some of you are nodding and laughing right now, and others are scratching your heads. Lucy, you see, is a six-story tall elephant, located right on the beach in Margate, just south of Atlantic City. She was built in the 1800’s by a real estate tycoon as a way to attract people to Margate, then to buy land off him to build their bungalows. She has been an apartment, a tavern, and the anchor to a hotel next door. But whatever she has been, she is probably one of the most unique places you’ll ever see! You walk up a very tight spiral staircase in her left rear leg, look out through her eye (eight miles into the ocean, if you believe the hype). You climb another tight staircase to the Howdah (the thingy on her back) for another view of the Jersey Shore (from Ocean City to Atlantic City on a clear day).

But what’s really important is not where we went, it’s why we went. We found something unique, and wanted to see it. And, when we got back to the PBA Meeting, you can betcha we told everyone about what we found in Margate! I know of a couple of Operators who are going to check it out on their next visit, just from the enthusiasm we had for the lady. We were even designated the “Lucy Fanclub” at the closing lunch the next day, due to our cheering when Lucy’s name was announced as a sponsor of the week’s activities (hey, laugh all you want…Heather is sending all four of us some totally cool Lucy swag!).

So, is there a Lucy in your town? Is there something so hokey, so strange, so bizarre that you just stand and stare at it? Well, don’t discount it…it just may be a ticket to increased business, as there’s always someone looking for just something like that. I’m going to be looking for our Lucy around here…you never know when you’ll find her, and fall in love with her.

I’m already looking forward to taking my kids to see her, and I just found out that some of us from the Theatre are going to AC later this year to see a show. Wanna bet I invite all my co-workers to go see something they’ve never seen before?

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

June 23, 2008 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

Our CFO was in town a couple of weeks ago…I can hear some of you cringing already! In the course of doing the Seminar, I’ve heard horror stories from some of you about your bookkeeper, manager, or CFO.   Actually, I like our CFO!  I was actually looking forward to sitting down with him.

I can hear you now…”are you nuts?”. Well, yes I am, but you already knew that! I am also a loose cannon, and I freely admit it. I have friends around me who’s job (along with simply being my friend) is to be my anchor. They keep me from floating off into the clouds on wings of an idea that won’t work. I highly recommend it for everyone who is an “idea person”. It’s so easy to get so wrapped up in the wonder of a concept that you lose hold of reality in the process. So I welcome the chance to sit down and make sure I’m not going way above and beyond reality.

Kevin asked me to do something that really got me thinking. He asked me to sit down and analyze every show, convention, marketplace, and outside event that I do throughout the course of a year. How much do we pay for dues, registrations, and ancillary costs? And, more importantly, to prioritize the shows by which shows are:

1. Critical/Mandatory/Indispensable [15%] (this activity is directly attributable to the Company’s future success, and it drives revenues in the group area)

2. Required/Obligatory [20%] (In order to continue in our business, this cost must be incorporated into the business plan)

3. Basic Activity/Necessary, but not Vital [30%]

4. Not critical but needed [20%]

5. Not a priority/discretionary/optional [15%]

But it goes a little deeper than that…he also assigned a percentage that each category must fit into (those are the numbers in brackets above). So I can’t just make “my favorite” shows all #1…it must break down against the flow of percentages he outlined. It took several tries at realigning the priorities (and that work will continue, I’m sure), but that’s where the real benefit came in. In order to get the right number, I really had to look at some shows and be brutally honest with myself. Yes, I dearly love the people and the show in X, but how much business comes from it? Would we suffer if we weren’t there?

In the old days, this theatre was EVERYWHERE! We used to joke about Joanie going to every show under the sun…in fact, we used to tell people who asked about any group show anywhere to “go ask Joanie…she’s been there already”. In this day and age of spiraling gas prices and decreasing motorcoach traffic, we just can’t afford to be EVERYWHERE any longer! We have to make certain that the money being spent is money well spent! Does this mean I may not get to go to a show in XX? It just might. But my job is not just to sell seats, but also to be responsible for my spending.

This is a task I would strongly encourage you to do as well! If you need a sample spreadsheet to get you started, let me know, and I’ll send you mine (of course, without my numbers in it!). Sit down and go through your expenses…as I say in the Seminar, if you’re doing a show because it’s in a town you always wanted to visit, you’re doing it for the wrong reason! If you’re doing a show because the ROI is good, you’re on track. But you aren’t going to know if you don’t do this kind of work every once in a while.

Sure, it took me over a week to get it done, since I was working on it between phone calls, seating groups, and other responsibilities, but it was really worth it. I can see re-doing this about every couple of years or so, just as a “mid-course adjustment” tool (of course, I may disagree with myself in three years!).

And imagine the look on your friendly neighborhood business manager’s face when you hand them this analysis…they might even smile at you (for the record, our business manager ALWAYS smiles at us…)!

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »