We look forward to seeing you at the 2013 Bowl Expo! Join us to hear solutions about how Party Center Software can boost your revenue with Online Booking and Event Management. We’re also excited to share news about exciting new features coming soon to Party Center Software! To learn more, stop by booth #366 at the show. See ya there!
With more than 15,000 nationwide, indoor playgrounds have become increasingly popular venues for play dates and birthday parties. They are like kiddie heaven, stocked with pillowy inflatables and candy-colored tubes, ball crawls, trampolines and more.
But, are they safe?
Brian Geiger, Ed.D., a professor of health education in the Department of Human Studies University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has assessed playground safety at schools and communities around Alabama. He said that while playing indoors may offer reduced threats of uninvited visitors, animals and motor vehicles, there are things parents should keep in mind to help keep their child free from injury.
Installation and maintenance guidelines for playgrounds are set by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and municipalities require initial inspections before granting a license to a new operator, but dangers still exist.
Geiger recently teamed up with Gary Edwards, Ph.D., chief executive officer of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham, to share helpful tips for parents.
Give the area a scan. Take a good look at the play area to spot any potential dangers, and report any safety concerns to the operator. Geiger suggests bringing a safety checklist of things to avoid:
Have good, clean fun. “Germs may be transmitted through shared play equipment,” Geiger said. “Indoor playgrounds should be sanitized daily, more often in areas of high use.”
Ask the operator about their cleaning schedule, he said. In addition, since food and drinks are usually served at these places, be on the lookout for and report any spills or fall hazards.
If a child has the flu, diarrhea, other illnesses or exposed wounds, they should avoid contact with others.
Age appropriateness is important. Geiger said it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that older and larger children are not playing “energetically” in the same area as toddlers and infants.
“Consider whether the space for physical activity is large enough to accommodate all children moving at the same time,” he said. “If you have young children, plan your visit on a weekday, perhaps in the morning.”
Ensure supervision. “Do not assume that someone else will supervise safe use of indoor playgrounds and party centers,” Geiger said. “Ask the operator about training and the number of play supervisors.”
Dress for safe play. Choose clothing that fits well without loose drawstrings, and tie shoe laces. Remove any necklaces, as well as items that can fall from their pockets.
Talk to children. “Teach children how to play safely,” Geiger said. “For example, take turns climbing ladders and going down the slide feet first.”
The U.S. Product Safety Commission and National Program for Playground Safety websites can also be helpful resources to parents concerned about playground safety.
Source:
Contact:
Marie Sutton
(205) 934-8931
We’re excited to see new and familiar faces in just two weeks at the RSA/Lasertag show in Reno! Inquire about how we can help with your event management and online booking needs, or just stop by to say – Hi!
Before the show, click the image to visit our redesigned website for more info. See ya in Reno!
What is the best day for party bookings online?…. According to our Google Analytics that day is usually Monday!
How many people use tablets (iPads) to book events online?… We are seeing about 11-15% of the site visitors coming in on tablet devices of which Apple’s iPad is the dominant player. We have seen this stat increase rapidly over the last 6-9 months.
The value of your website and online booking site is dependent upon how people engage with your content on the site and each page specifically. By using Google Analytics, you’ll be able to better evaluate which pages on your site are the most important, and then where to place your focus.
Party Center Software customers are realizing the benefits of online booking each day – specifically, in the mobile device world! We live in a culture that needs information quickly – and in the palm of your hand instantly. How people are booking parties and events for their children, for their organizations is no different! Understanding your customer’s bounce rates (their average time on the site, and individual pages), and the time of day they’re booking parties will increase your awareness of exactly how each customer is engaging with your online booking site.
Google’s own Avinash Kaushik, one of their top analytics experts, has blogged about measuring the effectiveness of your web pages and writes: “My own personal observation is that it is really hard to get a bounce rate under 20%, anything over 35% is cause for concern, 50% (above) is worrying. I stress that this is my personal analysis based on my experience, but hopefully it gives you a feel for what you are shooting for.”
The indoor and outdoor recreation facility opened on Friday, including a snack bar, lazer tag, an arcade, mini golf and more.
Merrimack Valley Pavilion officially opened on Friday, located at 2087 Main St., Tewksbury. It features a snack bar, Lazer Tag, an arcade, birthday party rooms and a mini-golf course.
MVP is owned by Gary Brown, Bill D’Orlando and Steve Russo. Loretta Ryan has been hired as general manager to lead a staff of 35 full and part-time employees.
“This is a business that will give our kids, and Wilmington’s too, and families in town a fun, safe place to be and something that will draw others from surrounding towns,” said Ryan.
Tewksbury Patch Local Editor Bill Gilman was on hand Tuesday for the “soft opening” and captured the images above.
228. Yes, 228 enthusiastic people showed up for the September 18th webinar on increasing birthday day party sales!! We were proud to sponsor this fantastic event, facilitated by Beth Standlee with TrainerTainment.
Beth shed light on the tangible tasks that take your birthday party sales to the next level and answered critical questions such as:
How to best price birthday packages in this economy?
What can we offer to make our birthday parties stand out from everyone elses?
How do I keep my staff motivated?
We already have a discount price for booking during the week, is there something else we can offer our customers to further increase sales during the week?
Thanks to everyone who attended the September Webinar! We encourage you to join us for the October webinar which promises to be another informative session on Party Pro Training! Click Now To Register!
Most people have no clue and most business owners are even more clueless. For years it was somewhat commonplace to go into a major retail shop to be asked questions upon checkout. Usually you were asked for your zipcode. Problem is that many states in the US and many other countries have outlawed this practice. Why? The main concensus is that you are collecting, storing and using that personal identifying information to track and “spy” on your customers. We all know about club cards and memberships at most major grocery food chains. The reason they get away with it is that it is voluntary and not forced at the checkout line.
I just today received an email from Bed Bath and Beyond about a class action lawsuit specifically regarding the collection, storage and tracking of your zipcode. Here is the official email that was sent out.
So the moral of this story is that you need to make sure you follow your laws. If you want to collect and analyze personal information, you need to do so in a completely voluntary manner that will NOT get you sued!
We had a blast at this years Bowl Expo in Reno! Thanks to Chris Holmes from IBI for the photo!
PartyCenterSoftware.com is sponsoring (and attending) the LaserTag 360 event happening right now, August 7th and 8th in Indianapolis. Another a
mazing event put on by Creative Works (The Wow Effect) to help new and existing lasertag operators. Right now Jeff Schilling is walking through over 40 people on how to analyze a lasertag or family entertainment facility and its feasibility.
If you ever wanted to know all the details about operations and development of a lasertag anchored or attraction based facility this is the event you need to attend.
For a list of the upcoming LaserTag 360 event click go to their website at www.LaserTag360.com.
Thanks Jeff and CW gang for putting on another ROCKIN event!
Have you visited YOUR website lately? How about the analytics for your website? With the world-wide annual Social Media Day right around the corner, coming June 30th 2012, maybe it’s time to dust off those old web links and outdated images and consider that over 2 billion people around the world are now surfin’ the web every day – 273 million of those folks are in the US alone! Consider that at the 2012 International Bowl Expo, over 10 keynote speakers will be presenting on the impact social media and websites have on the bowling industry and their customers. According to Stacy Karten with BCM magazine, “many Bowling Centers are great with getting their website up and running” but then falter with keeping the content fresh and new. Research shows that online users are less likely to return to a website if the content, social media links, and images are outdated.
Research also suggests that users return to websites more frequently when a service is offered or the site provides a method to connect with the company – and what better way to accomplish this than through online event reservations?! Now operating internationally, Party Center Software can help you boost and retain the web traffic you’re looking for by giving you and your customer’s simple, painless online event reservation capability. The beauty of this process is that the online booking feature is linked directly to your website, bringing even more people – and potential customers to your website! Party Center Software even offers the ability to track the analytics and metrics for your online booking site – included in the software! Jay Trietley with Alley Cats Bowl in Arlington had this to say about Party Center Software, “We have been using Party Center Software for the past year and our online bookings have grown substantially! In this day and age of do it now thinking – and now could be 2:00 in the morning…it’s great that they (our customers) have the ability to open our website and get the job done!” The upsells we have booked, along with the convenience, is a win-win for us and the customer!”
With customers like Rick Iceberg’s CJ Barrymore’s in Detroit realizing a 40% increase to their event profit margin, you cannot afford to miss out on the potential savings and online presence that Party Center Software can bring to your bowling business! Don’t delay the decision to get your website, social media, and online booking parameters defined. Your customers are waiting!