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!
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:
Richard Farley’s kids often brag about their dad to their young friends. “They embarrass me sometimes,” laughs the father of two.
It’s easy to understand their excitment. He’s director of Kidspace Adventures Ltd., a two-location family entertainment center (FEC) in the United Kingdom.
Along with Nick de Candole, his “best mate” of more than 25 years, Farley sought to open a facility unlike anything else in the UK—one larger in size and scope than the competition. To achieve this goal, Farley and de Candole traveled across the United States, Germany, Holland, and Belgium on a fact-finding mission.
“We took the best of each element and brought it back here,” says Farley, who dabbled in film post-production and residential real estate before entering the FEC universe.
Their Romford spot opened November 2005, followed by Croydon two years later. Among the facilities’ highlights: a central climbing structure, rock wall, sky trail, electric go-karts, and laser tag, as well as special programs and attractions for preschoolers. Their third location—with a twist—will debut this summer. Funworld recently asked Farley about his extraordinary business venture.
What did you learn on your fact-finding mission?
It was crucial. The major difference between Holland and Germany and here is the sheer scale of their family entertainment centers. Some of them are 80,000 square feet with varied and much better play equipment.
But because property prices are considerably higher here, it’s virtually impossible to build centers of that scale and size and still be viable. We tried to condense what we saw and put as much play value into an affordable space, which for us was 25,000 square feet. The average center in the UK is between 8,000 and 12,000 square feet.
We would just max out all our space. For example, we put the sky trail above the restaurant, doubled up the main play frame of the laser tag zone, and added crawl mazes wherever there was a square bit of space.
How else do your facilities stand out?
We wanted to make the attractions more challenging and more diverse to draw an older age group. For instance, the play equipment in Croydon is made out of wood, which makes the child a little more cautious when running around.
Little things like that make a difference. Our age range stretches to 12 years old; a typical center here loses their audience around age 9.
We also did everything at a much higher spec. We spent £2 million (US$3.1 million) on a site, where most others spend £300,000 (US$460,000).
Were you nervous putting out so much money?
Not nervous—excited. We had a little bit of money, but we had to raise quite a bit of funds. Once you’re past that initial hurdle, then you can relax a lot more.
With dance, drama, music, and art classes, you offer a variety of programs for preschoolers. Why is this important to you?
A play center should be a community hub. By having these preschool classes, it helps us to do that. It doesn’t make much money, but I think it’s essential.
What are your plans for the future?
In July we will be opening a 50-acre site in greater London. The indoor part has the same attractions and play value of our other Kidspaces, but this new one will feature an outdoor experience with zip wires, labyrinths, tunnels, and a working farm so you can see animals in a natural environment. It’s a whole experience.
This attraction also will be based around a fantasy book, which is currently being written. It will be themed up and more American. We’re very excited.
What lessons have you learned from your experiences?
It was inevitable that mistakes would be made. There isn’t any guru you can tap when trying a new concept. Some play equipment was wrong, and we had to replace it. We still don’t have the process of getting people through the door quite right yet. You can’t be afraid to admit you’re wrong and make the necessary changes.
What advice do you have for someone new to the industry?
You shouldn’t just go up against local competition and think you can simply emulate what they have created and still be successful. It’s just a mistake. The competitor will have the experience under their belt. They’ll be savvier to the local market. And because they won’t be bogged down by initial gearing, the competitor can reinvest in their site and put a unique offering in to undermine what you’re doing. It’s always better to find an untapped location, which is never easy. If you manage to do that—and that’s half the battle—you should succeed.
What do you love most about your job?
I still feel like I’m at university. It’s just one big learning curve. I love the research, the creative side of it, the day-to-day operations, the fundraising. It’s all new to me, and still quite exciting.
Contact Contributing Editor Mike Bederka at mbederka@IAAPA.org.
http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2012/mar/features/BiggerBetter/index.asp
A $5 million indoor entertainment center under construction north of Dayton and expected to open this spring is being described as the largest in the nation.
Scene75 Entertainment Center, one exit south of the Interstate 70/75 interchange, will feature 124,000 square feet of indoor attractions, coupled with seasonal outdoor offerings.
The attractions include a full service-restaurant; two indoor bars with 70-inch HD TVs and live sports tickers; an outdoor patio with food and beverage service; an indoor electric go-kart track; a multi-level laser tag arena; an indoor bouncing inflatable arena; a redemption and video arcade; an interactive gaming theater with giant screens; two 4D theaters; four mini-bowling lanes; a 10-car bumper car system; three outdoor sand volleyball courts (with plans to expand to nine courts); two outdoor bocce courts; live fantasy sports leagues; a concession stand; eight private party rooms; and a banquet hall.
Jim “Radar” Martin, who has been the general manager at Tank’s Bar & Grill in Dayton for 25 years, will serve as the venue’s food and beverage manager and will operate the restaurant, Radar’s Bar & Grill. It will serve pretzels, nachos, burgers, pizzas and other American grill fare.
Set to open in late spring, possibly mid- to late April, Scene75 will be at 6196 Poe Ave., in a former furniture warehouse across the highway from the restaurants and motels on Miller Lane, according to Jonah Sandler. The Cincinnati native and Sycamore High School graduate, now a Dayton resident, co-owns the venue with a group of investors.
“We felt that there is a significant void in the market for something of this nature,” he said. “We felt that this was a very good opportunity with significant potential that hasn’t been accomplished within this area or even in the industry.”
Sandler, who opened Putters Par-adise at Englewood Fun Center, a miniature golf course that he designed, and the Chaos Room in Centerville, an interactive gaming theater that will have its second outpost at Scene75, said he traveled the country touring existing entertainment facilities and believes Scene75 will be the largest in the country. Industry data seem to support that claim. David Mandt, spokesperson for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), an international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities, said Scene75 would quality as what the industry calls a “family entertainment center” (FEC), which refers to any center with a variety or collection of attractions. Mandt said there are approximately 1,500 FECs in the U.S.; based on the IAAPA’s State of the Industry Survey for Family Entertainment Centers, facility sizes range from 5,000 square feet to 20 acres (factoring in both indoor and outdoor facilities), but the average size for an indoor FEC is 23,911 square feet, Mandt said.
“This is certainly a very, very large center by industry standards,” he said of Scene75’s proposed 124,000 square feet of indoor attractions.
Ben Jones, IAAPA’s FEC specialist, agreed, noting that many centers are larger than 124,000 square feet when both indoor and outdoor attractions are included; however, he said he doesn’t know of any centers with indoor offerings in that size range. By comparison, Dave & Buster’s centers tend to be in the 50,000-60,000-square-foot range, he said.
Sandler said Scene75 will cater to all ages, but it was designed with adults in mind. Patrons won’t pay an admission fee but instead will load a card with currency, which will be deducted as they use the attractions.
“We have tried to appeal to the adult audience with the belief that if we can get the adults, the kids will come,” he said. “With the amount of attractions we’re offering, we’ll be able to appeal to all audiences … whether someone is looking for a date night idea, a birthday party for kids or a corporate event.”
“We anticipate being able to attract people from 75 miles away,” he added. “With 11 or so motels across the street and 30 or so restaurants, there’s a lot of traffic in the area.”
For updates, visit the venue’s Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/Scene75.
From Funworld, September 2o11
After operating successfully for more than seven decades, you might think the oldest family-owned roller skating rink in the United States would be satisfied to sit comfortably in place and not embark on any risky new ventures, especially during tough economic times. That is not the case with Scottie’s Skateland in Quincy, Illinois.
The facility celebrated its 75th anniversary in June, just months after opening a $2.3 million, 15,000-squarefoot expansion that turned it into a fullfledged family entertainment center (FEC), now named Scottie’s Fun Spot.
Jeff Scott, the FEC’s general manager and the grandson of Albert Scott, who founded Scottie’s Skateland in 1936, says going from a skating rink to an FEC was an idea that just kept popping up.
“We were going to the roller skating trade shows and they were all adding laser tag or play areas to their facilities,” he says, “so we looked at that and it kind of grew into what it’s become now. It just kind of snowballed because the area needed a full-fledged fun center.”
So he and his parents, Bob and Jan Scott, who own the facility, commissioned a feasibility study with Jerry Merola of Alpha-Omega Amusements. Despite the study’s positive results, securing financing as a small business was tough during a recession. “We just never gave up,” says Scott. “We believed in our project and in the feasibility study, which was well worth the money, and we finally found a banker that thought the community also needed a project like this.”
Because the Scotts had to start the expansion more modestly than would be necessary in a strong economy with easier financing, it was important that they selected the right attractions from the start. “We attended Foundations [Entertainment University] to give us a start in the process, then hired Jerry Merola,” says Scott. “We also went to the IAAPA show and to a lot of other FECs, and talked to other promoters. We went to places that had the Ballocity play systems, and I took my kids to see what they thought of it.”
In the end, the attractions they settled on included a two-story Ballocity play area from Prime Play; Highway 66 mini-bowling from QubicaAMF; a 3,700-square-foot laser tag arena from Zone Systems; Spin Zone bumper cars from Amusement Products; a Laser Frenzy laser maze; and a 65-game arcade. Scott says the FEC also went with an Embed debit card system and notes that Scottie’s Fun Spot is one of only a few FECs that allow guests to choose whether or not to use redemption tickets.
Amid all of the progress, one thing that has not changed at Scottie’s is a strictly enforced code of behavior to maintain a safe family atmosphere. The FEC does not allow muscle shirts, baggy pants, bandannas, hoodies with the hoods up, foul language, or borrowing money from other patrons. “My grandfather had a lot of ‘tough ship’ rules!” asserts Scott. “On a Friday night, we keep a book on kids we kick out, and if we have to call a deputy, we take a picture and put them in a book.”
Scott says his only real concern now is that the operation has no outdoor attractions. So in 2012, the facility will embark on the second phase of its expansion, which will include go-karts and minigolf.www.scottiesfunspot.com
After going through a brief family phase, the Strip is back to being an adult Disneyland.
But the people in New York-New York’s arcade on a recent Saturday didn’t get that memo. They danced furiously to music on the “In the Groove” game, tested their reflexes on “Time Crisis 2,” played basketball and rode the roller coaster.
The scene is much the same at the other end of the Strip, where visitors and locals alike spend entire afternoons in the midway at Circus Circus or the Adventuredome, acting like kids. And many of them are kids.
Indeed, overall visitorship has been down and gaming revenue has declined for the past few years, but the arcade/theme park business has remained fairly steady.
“The good news is, we were flat, but now the (guest count) is actually up 3 (percent) to 4 percent since the same time last year,” says Tom Nolan, vice president of theme park operations for Adventuredome at Circus Circus, 2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South. He also oversees the midway. Both areas have arcades featuring a variety of games.
Last year, 3.7 million people visited the theme park, Nolan says. That’s not bad compared to 2005, their most successful year, when 4.5 million guests visited. Many visitors include families with young children. While it’s difficult to say how many of those visitors actually played in the arcade, it remains a popular attraction for guests, Nolan says. Management makes sure to bring in hot games, such as “Dance Dance Revolution,” while offering retro arcade games, such as “PacMan.”
“Air hockey is … a big revenue generator,” Nolan says, adding that whole families have been known to take over a table and play each other for hours.
In 2003, one of the original family-friendly resorts, Treasure Island, reduced its arcade to roll out a sexy new look and name. Now, a few games sit in a small area next to the hotel’s pool entrance. It doesn’t see much action, says a hotel worker who asked to remain anonymous.
Several Strip resorts, including Luxor and MGM Grand, reduced or eliminated their arcades in recent years. But others, such as Excalibur, New York-New York and Circus Circus, continue to maintain theirs as a bona fide amenity.
Excalibur’s arcade, the Fun Dungeon, has dozens of carnival-style and arcade games with a medieval flair. There also are several 4-D rides, including “SpongeBob SquarePants 4D.”
“Even though Las Vegas has shifted away from some of the family attractions, there’s always a niche market for the arcade,” says Greg Goll, spokesman for New York-New York, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South.
The Coney Island Emporium features about 160 arcade games, most of them electronic. Emporium management maintains a warehouse with dozens of games that are rotated regularly, Goll says.
The arcade remains popular with families who have young children, teens and adults, he says.
“They come because it’s a unique attraction on our property,” Goll says. “You may have families that come in that don’t want to experience the casino … there’s quite a few experiences for them to have up in (the arcade) .”
Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@review journal.com or 702-380-4564.
  ’Tis the season for people to spend money. Lots of it. With planning, some of those free-flowing holiday dollars can come your way. Here are seven ways family entertainment centers (FECs) have found success during the holidays.
 Set up shop at the mall Odyssey Fun World establishes a kiosk at a nearby mall from Black Friday through Christmas. It costs roughly $3,000 but is well worth the price, says Clint Paraday, general manager for the FEC with locations in Tinley Park and Naperville, Illinois. Employees staff the bustling booth selling gift cards, explaining their birthday party packages, and getting valuable face time with local folks doing their holiday shopping. “You may be in their backyard, but they still never heard of you,” he says. “The holidays aren’t huge for birthday parties, so we wanted to create awareness and get our name out there,” Paraday details. However, he admits he misfired with a previous Black Friday discount. In 2009 the first 200 guests who arrived before noon got a free ride wristband. Unfortunately, only a few dozen showed up. Paraday learned people were too consumed with shopping to stop by, and he consequently changed to the birthday booking. For the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when most kids have off from school, Planet 301 features 50 percent discounts on all arcade games and a $100 discount on any party package. Tsapatsaris’ idea helped with her attendance numbers and everyone left with a buzz. “People want to go where people are,” she says. “The more foot traffic the better.” Contact Contributing Editor Mike Bederka at mbederka@IAAPA.org.
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MIAMI, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Cool de Sac, the family entertainment and dining experience with currently two locations in South Florida is furthering its expansion into franchising nationwide. This unique concept for parents with young children may soon be coming to your hometown.
The influence behind the concept and brand, Cool de Sac, has led business owners and entrepreneurs with a new opportunity to expand family entertainment centers into cities throughout the United States. Parents enjoy quality dining while the children are able to interact creatively with activities that are not only entertaining but educational as well. Dining and child related industries are two of the fastest growing franchise sectors in the US marketplace.
Cool de Sac allows kids to “play smart” in a variety of creative play stations that include: Arts, Blocks, Salon, Discovery, Games & Computers; and a Play Unit that offers fun physical activities. Cool de Sac also includes a larger area for parents with toddlers so that they too can enjoy the dining experience while keeping a close eye on their tots.
In addition to all of the activity stations at Cool de Sac, is the opportunity to host a child’s birthday party. This multimillion dollar industry is just one of the five revenue streams that a Cool de Sac franchise has to offer. Cool de Sac provides the perfect venue for parents to celebrate their child’s birthday.
“The unique concept of Cool de Sac is to offer a safe place for parents to enjoy a quality meal and conversation while their children play with different activities within reach,” says CEO of Cool de Sac, Jose Luis Bueno. “As a franchise we are providing the opportunity for entrepreneurs to take this well established brand into their communities.”
Future locations for Cool de Sac in 2011 include FairFax, Virginia and Mexico City, Mexico.
About Cool de Sac:
Cool de Sac, located in South Florida, is a place where kids can play, create and explore while parents relax and dine. The family establishment delivers quality cuisine, while offering a fun, safe, and engaging venue for children. Families enjoy a wide variety of games and activities with play areas for art, building blocks, a dress–up salon, a recreational play unit, a computer area, discovery zone, and a tots play area.
Cool de Sac offers a hassle-free party package where on site party specialists will handle the planning, set up, execution and clean up of your child’s special day. For more information about the family entertainment center or to learn more about the opportunity, please visit www.cool-de-sac.com or call (855) 550-2665 (COOL). For the latest information, you can become a fan of Cool de Sac on Facebook.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jessica Levy Kiibler
Levy Communications
305.592.5389 X 104 O
305.592.9443 F
SOURCE Cool de Sac
RELATED LINKS
http://www.cool-de-sac.com
James “Chip” Cleary Named IAAPA President and CEO(March 2, 2011) – The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) today
announced James “Chip” Cleary has been named president and CEO. He will take over the top staff position at the worldwide trade association on April 4, 2011.
“Chip’s proven leadership acumen, diverse and extensive experience in the attractions industry, and his years of service as an active volunteer and leader within IAAPA make him ideally qualified to lead the association as president and CEO,” said IAAPA Chairman Bob Rippy. “Chip will use his knowledge of our industry and his passion for the success of our members to elevate the products and services we offer around the world.”
A 30-year veteran of the attractions industry, Cleary has been a partner in and/or managed a variety of attractions including amusement parks, family entertainment centers, and waterparks.
Cleary started his career in the industry in 1978 at Adventureland Amusement Park in Farmingdale, New York. He worked his way up through a number of positions to serve as vice president, where he oversaw the rebuilding and operation of the park.
In 1991 Cleary supervised the design and construction of Splish Splash waterpark on Long Island, New York, and served as the park’s president until 1999. Cleary and his partners sold Splish Splash to Palace Entertainment in 1999, and Cleary joined Palace’s executive team as vice president of the waterpark division. Splish Splash is consistently rated one of the top waterparks in the United States.
Palace Entertainment was purchased by Spain-based Parques Reunidos in 2007 and Cleary was named senior vice president to oversee the company’s portfolio of waterparks in the U.S. In 2008 Lake Compounce was added to his group.
Cleary has been an active volunteer in IAAPA for nearly 15 years. He served on the association’s exhibitor awards, government relations, safety and maintenance, and conference and trade show advisory committees and chaired the membership, strategic planning, compensation, and executive committees. Cleary also led the team that produced the Kickoff Event at IAAPA Attractions Expo for the past four years. He served two terms on the board of directors and was elected third vice chairman in 2007. He served as second and first vice chairman in 2008 and 2009 respectively and he was chairman of the board in 2010.
Cleary graduated magna cum laude in 1973 from the New York Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He is a past chairman of the board for the Amusement Council of the New York State Hotel Motel Association and has served on the boards for the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Miller Place Civic Association.
About IAAPA
IAAPA is the premier trade association for the attractions industry worldwide. Founded more than 90 years ago, IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities and attractions worldwide and is dedicated to the preservation and prosperity of the attractions industry. IAAPA represents more than 4,000 facility, supplier, and individual members from more than 90 countries. Member facilities include amusement/theme parks, waterparks, attractions, family entertainment centers, arcades, zoos, aquariums, museums, science centers, resorts, and casinos. IAAPA is a nonprofit organization. Funds generated for the association by its involvement in trade shows and other activities are returned to the association to fund services for its members and the industry. IAAPA maintains regional offices in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and the association’s global headquarters is in Alexandria, Virginia, United States. www.IAAPA.org
FEC managers must quickly deal with conflict
by Mike Bederka
Jim feels slighted because Kate got the promotion over him. Sam balks that Paige works the go-karts all the time. Bill complains his boss singles him out for extra scrutiny.
Conflict among staff members and between an employee and management can happen almost every day at a family entertainment center (FEC). This sort of disruptive work environment begets poor productivity, bad customer service, and perhaps high employee turnover. As a result, a facility’s revenue may take a big hit.
Most issues can be resolved before a huge blowout, so it’s important to point out several common sources of conflict:
A lack of connectedness. The younger generation has played a role in decision making since an early age, explains Lori A. Hoffner, a consultant with Supporting CommUnity Inc., in Littleton, Colorado. “When they get into a workplace, that changes drastically. They’re not involved in decision making, and they feel out of the loop.”
No clear expectations. “People don’t know what they’re supposed to do,” says Laura O’Neal, executive director of The Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center, in Port Angeles, Washington. “There’s not an active policies and procedures manual in place.” All information, from job responsibilities to appearance, must be explicit, Hoffner adds. “We can’t just assume they know what a dress code is and why it’s important.”
Management issues. Disgruntled Generation Y employees commonly believe the boss isn’t fair or plays favorites. “When in reality, the boss is just swamped,” O’Neal says, “or he was promoted without any personnel training and doesn’t have the support needed for tricky issues.” Also, managers should be friendly but not friends with staff. “You can’t always have a social atmosphere in the workplace,” Hoffner says.
The Peacemaker
Serious conflict doesn’t go away on its own. However, managers tend “to not deal with it until it throws itself in your face,” says O’Neal, coauthor of the book “Fun Training Serious Results.”
Or, in an equally dangerous scenario, a supervisor sees two staff members bickering and he escalates the situation by screaming, “You guys quit fighting!” describes Eric Chester, president and CEO of Generation Why Inc., of Lakewood, Colorado.
Instead, managers should be proactive and stick to a calm approach for any clashes. If a supervisor witnessed a heated exchange, he or she needs to take each person aside and ask what happened, Chester says. The problem could be as simple as confusion over shift coverage. “Oftentimes, the conflict will be resolved when someone expresses their thoughts,” he says.
The conversation also should cover the impact of the argument (guests don’t like to see employees fighting, and it may prevent them from coming back), and the desire that the manager doesn’t want to see any more open confrontations.
The supervisor should conclude the talk by giving a warning: If this happens again, I’m going to have to do X. Follow through is critical, Chester says. “You can’t say heads are going to roll and then don’t do anything.”
Other Factors
The setting in any formal mediation can be a subtle but important factor. For disagreements between employees, the manager’s office can add a level of authority that might help with a conflict, says Hoffner, who has lectured at IAAPA Attractions Expo on Generation Y. A neutral site might be better for a disagreement between an employee and her boss. She may feel uncomfortable on his “turf.”
Finally, involving parents in disagreements drew mixed responses from experts. Both Hoffner and O’Neal generally frown on the practice, saying it could create real boundary issues. Their only exceptions would be if the manager believes the staffer has a serious problem or there’s some sort of legal matter.
Chester, on the other hand, believes parents can be “the third leg of the stool” as long as the manager brings them aboard early on. He encourages FECs to host a Parents Day to meet employees’ families. At the event, a manager can clearly lay out expectations and offer his phone number in case the parents ever have a question or concern.
With the lines of communication now open, managers can call home when the employee performs a superior job (a great motivational tool—see more in the sidebar) as well as when a sticky work situation pops up.
Contact Contributing Editor Mike Bederka at mbederka@IAAPA.org.
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