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!
We had a blast at this years Bowl Expo in Reno! Thanks to Chris Holmes from IBI for the photo!
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!
Are you going to the 2012 International Bowl Expo? This year’s expo is sure to educate and entertain you! Special Keynote speaker is Nasa Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly. We’ll be cozying up in Booth #944 – we’d love to see you, so drop by and see us!
Have your kids out done all the inflatable and indoor playplaces around town?
Well, guess what? There’s a new indoor playground that your kids will love, and I have a feeling you will, too: Jump & Jack’s in West Chester/Liberty Township.
Here’s the scoop:
For parents of babies and toddlers, head straight to theToddler Room, a special enclosed area specifically designed for crawlers up to 3 years old. The play area features a soft carpeting over safety padding to help cushion falls as toddlers climb, play, and build.
In each area of Jump & Jack’s, there’s plenty of comfortable seating for parents to see the kids, hang out, or watch one of the big-screen TVs. You can also order food from J&J’s Cafe, including homemade pizzas, lots of kid-friendly food, smoothies, and coffee drinks.
Open play pricing goes like this:
Besides offering open play every day, Jump & Jack’s also has private party rooms available, ranging from $99 to $259. Learn more about their party and group packages.
I appreciated how the facilities were so clean and in such great (new!) condition. Owner and father of four kids (including TRIPLETS) Tony Smith confessed that he is a “clean freak,” which is a plus when it comes to places like this! Also, the staff were all extremely nice and helpful, bringing food orders to our table, helping my 2-year-old get down from the tall slide when he got scared, and monitoring the bigger kids getting a little boisterous in the bounce house.
We like Jump & Jack’s so much, we decided to host Cassie’s 6-year-old birthday party there next month. We’ve also been back several times for the Friday Fun Nights. What a great way to wrap up the work week and enjoy a family meal in a place where kids can have active fun! I guarantee your kids will sleep well after a few hours at Jump & Jacks.
Located at 7102 Office Park Drive, West Chester, Ohio, 45069
For information, call 513-779-JUMP (5867) or email Info@jumpandjacks.com
Hours: Mon-Thur 9:30-8pm; Fri-Sat 9:30-9pm; Sun 12-8pm
Note: Socks are required to play at Jump & Jack’s.
If you want to get exclusive discounts and updates from Jump & Jack’s, be sure to like their Facebook page.
When not blogging for Family Friendly Cincinnati, you can find Susan writing at her personal blog,Working Moms Against Guilt.
Frank Price is the president of F.L. Price and Associates, a training, operations and concept development firm, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, that specializes in family fun, recreation and children’s entertainment. Frank has become the leading expert on the business of birthday parties, developing programs and installing experiential concepts, customizing manuals and training employee teams to achieve cutting edge success. Frank founded Birthday University in 2000 to answer the need for understanding the presentation of high quality commercial birthday parties. Birthday University continues to tour in it’s 10th successful year, teaching businesses like Disney, Hershey Parks and Palace Entertainment Parks, Stone Fire Pizza, Andretti Thrill Park, San Diego Ice Rink, Roseville Skate Town, The Ontario Science Center, The Florida Aquarium, Hero’s, Giggley Kids, Jump Club and thousands of other family entertainment enterprises, the business of remarkable and profitable birthday parties. Frank has custom trained at many high profile industry companies, including Adventure Zone, Skate time 209, Magic Mountain, Castle Park, Rink Management, Freedom Station, New Roc City Sports Plus, John’s Incredible Pizza, McDermitt Field House and Fun Depot .
Bill Carlson has over 30 years of experience owning and operating successful businesses in amusement and entertainment, retailing, international development and consulting.
Along the way he has learned the importance of creating a value-based business culture. Recognizing the significant role nurtured happy employees play in creating memorable experiences for customers.
The principles and primary strategies of his AIM™ Alternative Innovative Management program are essential for owners and key personnel to create a culture based on great core values and nurture and the most important people, their employees.
Hundreds of businesses have benefited from Bill’s prophetic vision.
Bill is known as “the Profit Mentor” and has gained wide acclaim for the results his clients have achieved. This is because people with mentors:
(An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the size and the growth rate of the family entertainment center industry in the fourth paragraph.)
Players soaring through the air, bouncing over a court made of trampolines and competing to score points by jumping through a spinning hoop six feet off the ground: That was Rick Platt’s vision for SkyZone, a new sport he helped found in 2004. Jeff Platt in a Sky Zone trampoline park in Plymouth, Minnesota. Photographer: Patrick B. McCutchan via Bloomberg Though he built it, spending $2 million to recruit athletes and construct a 17,000-square-foot arena in Las Vegas, the crowds never came. SkyZone, as a sport, was a flop. But soon local skateboarders started banging on his door to play in the arena, so Platt bought a cash box and began charging $8 a head. Six months and 10,000 jumpers later, he realized he might have a business after all. When his son, Jeff, opened a second indoor trampoline park in 2006 in St. Louis, where he was attending college, it was cash flow positive within six weeks.
On average, a typical family entertainment center in the U.S. draws about 200,000 visitors each year, according to data from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. There are about 1,500 centers in the U.S., a number that’s increasing by 20 or 25 each year, says David Mandt, a spokesman for the trade group.
Now based in Los Angeles, Jeff Platt is chief executive officer of Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park. The company had $15.7 million in revenue from four corporate and 15 franchise locations in 2011 and plans to add 34 franchises this year. Sky Zone has about 50 full-time and 500 part-time employees. Platt faces a pair of challenges: managing the company’s growth and luring repeat customers after the novelty wears off.
Platt spoke recently to Bloomberg contributor Karen E. Klein about the unexpected success of Sky Zone and how he’ll prevent trampoline arenas from becoming a short-lived fad.
Q: What was your father thinking when he started SkyZone?
A: He met some guys who had this idea for a new team sport where a 6-foot-8 athletic individual would have no advantage over a small guy who could jump. He’d just gotten out of a very successful scrap-metal business and wanted to take a leap of faith, so he bought their patent and decided to make it happen. My mother was telling him he was crazy, and I was thinking this was the coolest thing in the world because we would own our own sport.
Q: What challenges do you face at Sky Zone?
A: As you grow a business and get different operators and franchisees, everyone has a different management and training style. It’s critically important to maintain consistency as you grow a brand, so we want to get our training the exact same way at every location. Your competitors can adopt what you have created and do similar marketing, but they can’t clone your people.
Q: What are the barriers to your continued growth?
A: Real estate is surprisingly challenging for us because we need unique buildings with high ceilings. A lot of landlords prefer industrial tenants. And there are also city zoning challenges for retailers in industrial areas.
Q: How difficult was it to get insurance for a business that involves trampolines?
A: It took a long time. I must have tracked down 30 insurance companies and nobody would touch it. Trampoline injuries mainly happen because they are not enclosed with nets, they’re not maintained properly or they are unsupervised. We got an insurance company to realize that we had figured out all the safety hazards and designed the arenas with nets so people cannot fall off, and we spread people out so we can manage the risk with proper supervision.
Our activity is similar to skiing. Broken bones do happen, particularly when people try to do things beyond their limits. But even when people are in control, there are freak accidents. A big part of safety is educating customers and scaring them a little, so we give a rules speech with a safety video. So far we’ve been fortunate not to have any major injuries.
Q: When did you start franchising?
A: In 2009. We have a lot of deals under construction, in site development or looking for real estate right now. Our franchise license is reasonable, $60,000, but the total investment is $1.1 million to $1.5 million due to construction of the 25,000- to 40,000-square-foot facilities.
Because of that high cost, most of our franchisees are prior business owners in their mid-30s to 60s who have been C-level executives or professionals earning a nice income. This is not something for a startup entrepreneur.
Q: How do you advertise the locations?
A: We are doing some TV ads and trying to get local news attention from magazines and newspapers when we open a new franchise location. Of course we get a ton of word-of-mouth marketing, and we’re focusing a lot of effort on social media: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are a tremendous pull for us.
Q: How do you prevent Sky Zone from becoming one of those concepts that hits big and then fades?
A: One thing we’re doing is offering all kinds of fitness classes, from yoga to Pilates and martial arts. Our instructors put a new spin on basic exercises to incorporate the trampolines and they have come up with some unbelievable workouts. Some of them are the original athletes who trained with us to play our new sport, which my dad still plans to start someday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Karen E. Klein at karen@kareneklein.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Tozzi at jtozzi2@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-19/sky-zone-failed-as-a-sport-won-with-trampoline-parks.html