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.
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!
Water wars are taking shape in greater Northeast Tarrant County.The city-owned NRH {-2}O in North Richland Hills is adding a $1.7 million ride, and construction is ongoing at the soon-to-open $10 million Hawaiian Falls in Roanoke.And not too far away, in Grapevine, construction continues on a water park that is expected to open this summer for resort guests at the Gaylord Texan.The battle for water park patrons is on.Roanoke City Manager Jimmy Stathatos said that despite the number of local water parks, Roanoke should have no problem drawing big crowds, considering its location on the Denton-Tarrant county border. The city has already established itself as a dining destination.”Hawaiian Falls will have one of the largest water features in North America in terms of the amount of people it will hold — more than 2,000 at one time,” he said. “I think everyone’s lucky there are so many choices.”The main reason water parks are popular is simple.”Mainly because it’s hot,” said Aleatha Ezra, spokeswoman for the World Waterpark Association.That’s especially true in North Texas, where we eclipsed 100 degrees 21 times last summer.Ezra said attendance at North America’s roughly 1,000 water parks is in the neighborhood of 80 million.
The Viper NRH {-2}O puts an average of $4 million a year into North Richland Hills’ coffers, city spokeswoman Stephanie Hee said. The city adds an attraction every other year or so to help ensure that the park keeps bringing in about 250,000 guests each summer.This year, it’s a doozy. The Viper is a family-oriented thrill ride, Hee said.”It takes four riders instead of two, and you’re all facing one another so you can see the excitement on their faces while you’re riding,” she said.Hee said the Viper is a 430-foot slide that’s 43.2 feet high and ends with a 20-foot-wide “mega tube” where the rafts slosh back and forth before they slip out across a pool. It should be finished before the park opens next month, Hee said.The Viper will be the first one in North America, said Lesley Baker, senior marketing manager with WhiteWater West Industries. Other Vipers are being built in China and Dubai.The slide will be the first major addition to the park since 2009, when Beachside Bay opened with a white-sand beach, sand volleyball court and pool. The balance of $2.1 million borrowed last year for NRH {-2}O improvements is destined for a two-story food services building with a covered pavilion and an observation deck overlooking the wave pool and volleyball games.”So far we’re doing good,” Hee said. “Hopefully we won’t have inclement weather to delay construction.”
In Roanoke, Hawaiian Falls, which already has water parks in Mansfield, Garland and The Colony, will operate the Roanoke-owned park under a 40-year lease.Officials expect the park to generate $200,000 in sales tax revenue in its first year, said Debra Wallace, assistant city manager and chief financial officer.Hawaiian Falls spokesman David Alvey said the park will include “the biggest and the best, the world’s largest water playground.”Mega WaterWorld will be six stories tall and have a dozen slides coming off it, Alvey said.”We designed it for families to be able to play together on it,” he said.The lowest level is designed for toddlers, Alvey said.”This ground-floor level also has water wheels and interactive features,” he said. “The first level has small slides for preschoolers to slide down with their siblings or parents. As you venture higher up into the play structure, the slides and features are meant to appeal to older kids and their parents.”The park will also have a 16,000-square-foot wave pool and lazy river, Alvey said. But he expects people to line up for two “dumping buckets” that send 500 to 1,000 gallons at a time cascading onto them.
Private Parks, While NRH {-2}O is expanding and Hawaiian Falls is coming, other privately owned parks will certainly draw their share of water lovers.Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine was built as an indoor water park resort and features nine huge slides, six pools, a water fort and a lazy river that are ensconced in the 80,000-square-foot Bear Track Landing. Resort guests are protected from the weather year-round in an environment that’s kept at 84 degrees, and the water is heated as well. Summer guests may also enjoy the 84,000-square-foot Raccoon Lagoon outdoor water park.Just down the street is the Gaylord Texan, which plans to opens its water park for clients this summer, spokeswoman Stacey Rendelman said. Attractions include a 10-acre pool with a 600-foot lazy river and a water tower that spills from 200 feet in the air. Resort guests also enjoy a 6,000-square-foot lagoon, a 27-foot-tall winding water slide, a two-person zip line, three horseshoe hot pools and sun decks with seating for 1,200.Arlington’s Hurricane Harbor is still the granddaddy of water parks and has dozens of slides and other features that attract so many people on hot days that — from cars zipping by on Interstate 20 — the towers and pools look like stirred-up fire ant mounds.But its challengers are gaining on it.This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.Terry Evans, 817-390-7620
Read more:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/12/2996021/new-dfw-water-attractions-aim.html#ixzz1JWbVMEtd
“If you want to increase the profit for your FEC business, install PartyCenterSoftware.com today!” A recent quote from Mr. Rick Iceberg, IAAPA FEC committee member and owner of CJ Barrymore’s Sports & Entertainment says it all. It is with that excitement that CJ Barrymore’s in Michigan realized an increase in their event profit margin of up to 40% from the previous year, as a result of the installation and use of PartyCenterSoftware.com. Not only did Mr. Iceberg see his bottom line increase, but he was overwhelmed that the PartyCenterSoftware.com implementation actually increased the overall efficiency of managing those booked events, and it drove down labor costs associated with managing CJ Barrymore’s party bookings. “Our online event booking was forecasted at 300, and we exceeded over 1200 online parties booked!!” According to Mr. Iceberg, “Ultimately, our customers are elated with the software’s simplicity and ease of use, so they book more parties–and that makes us extremely satisfied!”
Kim Webster of C.J. Barrymores says, “What a great product! Party Center Software is a great asset to any Family Fun Center. Thank you to the great staff that has made programming this software convenient and simple. The tech support is amazing, always friendly and willing to go above and beyond. I was amazed at how customer friendly this product is! I am so thrilled about this software, defiantly the best purchase for our FEC in 2010!
Mr. Jacob Cascioli, who operates two Jumpin’ Jakes locations in New York, is equally excited about the effectiveness and efficiency of PartyCenterSoftware.com. “Over the past two years, both stores have received over 500 bookings through the online booking module.” Mr. Cascioli continued, “I knew online bookings were on the rise, but I didn’t realize exactly how big of an impact it made to my company – giving my customers the ability to book a party at their convenience really separates us from the competition.”
In addition to the effectiveness and efficiency of PartyCenterSoftware.com, CEO Scott Drummond and his team are receiving praise for their dedication to customer satisfaction. Mr. Robert Peppard with Combat Sports Outdoor Laser Tag Park in Colts Neck, NJ says, “Your continued support of the product and commitment to improve PartyCenterSoftware.com is a testimony to the value you provide to each and every one of your customers – thank you for being a HUGE part of our success.”
For more information on how your company can benefit from our software, please visit us at PartyCenterSoftware.com
PartyCenterSoftware.com is an online party booking and event management tool designed to increase party bookings and eliminate unnecessary labor costs. Included in the PCS suite of tools is a complete EPOS system, time clock, and vendor management feature. Currently operating in seven countries, PartyCenterSoftware.com is marketed and sold by Agile Software and Marketing, based in California.