F2FEC Unites Industry with Soul
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EDUCATION F2FEC unites industry with soul Johnny “Joey” Jones tells his inspirational story. Photo by Tim Sealy before making that first step towards the gold medal of “service excellence,” employees need to come first over the customers. The Ritz-Carlton accomplishes its Ron White spills secrets to increasing gold standard by evaluating potential one’s memory capabilities. employees first on their passion and Photo by Tim Sealy second on their experience. “You can’t teach people to care,” she said. he Face 2 Face Entertainment a keynote address by Alexandra Valen- Moreover, Valentien quoted former Conference was held Feb. tin, corporate director of culture trans- Ritz-Carlton president, Horst Schulze’s 20-22 in Colorado Springs at formation at The Ritz-Carlton Leader- T service model: “Ladies and gentlemen the Broadmoor. The annual gathering ship Center. Valentin, who joined the serving ladies and gentlemen.” To was brought to fruition by its found- Ritz-Carlton family in 1997, spoke of explain how members of a company ers the Three Amigos: Ben Jones, the company’s strategies, which revolve should always behave no matter their general manager and FEC specialist around the concepts of “employee status or role. at Live Oak Bank; Rick Iceberg, pres- engagement” and “the essence of per- Once a company has assembled its ident of C.J. Barrymore’s; and George formance excellence.” team of Olympians, Valentin said the Smith, president of Family Entertain- According to Valentin, the main rea- next goal is to set guest expectations ment Group. sons as to what keeps a company from high, and maintain those expectations Soul was the theme of this year’s turning the aforementioned concepts going forward by creating profiles on F2FEC, and served as a hopeful cat- into reality are low talent pools, poor each guest, implementing lateral ser- alyst in igniting passion, camaraderie, consistency, and employment turnover. vice, and strengthening community ties. and innovation among the attendees. From there, Valentin used the fact Staff members can be rewarded The purpose: to create a new perspec- that Colorado Springs is home to the when an “above and beyond” effort is tive in personal and professional deal- Olympic Training Center as symbolism made on their part. Rewards can come ings. to explain just how a company can in a myriad of ways ranging from a The three-day event kicked off with obtain a gold medal staff. She stated handwritten note to a paid day-off. PLAY METER 48 APRIL 2018 From left to right: Armando Lanuti of Creative Works, Darren Spohn of Frank Bejbl (l) of Rhode Island Novelty and Jim Chapman of BMI Pinballz, and Spencer Norton of Firestone Financial. Merchandise stand before the conference resumes. After the address, Allen Weisberg, Smith also encouraged everyone in preparation, Ling read various trade founder and CEO of Apple Industries, in attendance to join their local trade magazines, including Play Meter, to get said “Alexandra left me with a desire association, and to pledge to offer fair, a sense of what people in the indus- to bring home what I learned from her skill-based games. try are reading as points of reference. and implement it within my company’s The Amigos also welcomed Katrina “It gave me a real sense for how the culture.” Ling, founder of Grace Consulting. industry has grown and evolved over Ling spoke in-depth about Blue Ocean the years, which aligned with some NONCUSTOMERS TO Strategy, the value of creation and of the field observations I made by CUSTOMERS attracting noncustomers The following morning marked the of the industry. beginning of a two-day slate of speak- When planning her ers. The first speaker, Benny Anderson, speech, Ling said, “Blue general manager of Metropolis Resort, Ocean is a new concept spoke about “investing in experiences.” to most audiences, so Anderson then listed a couple of color- what I try to do is make ful suggestions, including a Girl Scout it relatable. To the fami- zombie day and an Easter egg hunt at ly entertainment owners a water park. and operators, there are Next up, Joe McCullagh, general many options to choose manager of Player One Amusement among, from roller coast- Group, gave advice about creating a er rides to bowling and hangout environment at family enter- laser tag.” Katrina Link shares the strategy of Blue Ocean. tainment centers with rec-rooms, tro- To further aid herself Photo by Tim Sealy phy cases, and the latest craze, axe throwing. Other topics brought up through the day included dealing with payroll increases by offering more expensive and expansive FEC party packages, highlighting good employees, the dif- ficulties in getting H-1B visa for spe- cialty workers, the rising cost of health- care, and labor saving with technology. Amigo, George Smith also champi- oned the importance that game selec- tion has on an FEC’s success. Smith offered the following suggestions: Quick Drop and Big Bass Wheel from Bay Tek, Jurassic Park and Walking Dead arcades from Raw Thrills, Stinky Feet from Bob’s Space Racers, Fish- bowl Frenzy from Team Play, and John Arie Sr. talks about his seven points to create a successful business. more. Photo by Tim Sealy PLAY METER 49 APRIL 2018 From left to Right: Brent McKennon of Moss Distributing, Ron Joe McCullagh speaks of how to build an immersive experience. Malinowski of Bob’s Space Racers, and Evan and Bill Greenwood Photo by Tim Sealy of WOW Family Entertainment Center. TEAM BUILDING How to develop a team was a con- tinuing theme at F2FEC. Chris Soukup, chief operations officer of Pinstripes, shared his process of building a team, a process that involves developing talent by looking inward. But as Pinstripes is continuously expanding, Soukup said the company has also taken an active approach in recruiting on college campuses, visiting as many as 15 a year. Soukup also shared his established keys for team building, which are dynamic recruiting, developing a sound interview process, growing talent with- in, fostering an integrated culture, The Three Amigos celebrate the conference with three thumbs-up. teaching/learning, and Photo by Tim Sealy challenging the team. visiting a few FECs prior to the confer- A LEGEND IN THE ence,” she said. INDUSTRY Upon finishing her speech, Ling The moment many said, “It was wonderful and reward- F2FEC attendees were ing for me to hear so many attendees waiting for was a speech start to discuss the potential for cre- from Nolan Bushnell, ating new blue oceans and how they founder of Atari and the could reach out to their noncustom- Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza ers to grow their businesses. To me, Rob Thomas (l) of Mulligan Family Fun Center and Time Theatre chain. The that’s validation that the audience now Bryn Netz of Sureshot Redemption take a break during the conference. embroiled legend unas- has new tools to make their businesses sumingly took to the more sustainable for future genera- anyone taking notice. F2FEC stage in his $30 light-up shoes tions.” He explained that before settling from Amazon, which he boasted about Paul Chambers, CEO of Element 5, up his tab, Dave & Buster’s manage- with youthful affection. spoke boldly about old media versus ment should have approached him A member of the Video Game Hall new media and utilizing social media about registering for a card or offered of Fame and the Consumer Electronics like Facebook, Instagram, and Snap- something of monetary value, such as Association Hall of Fame, Bushnell is chat to attract younger customers. a $5 game card. By not signing up far from resigning to retirement. His Chamber’s later called out compa- big spending customers on the spot, current business endeavor is Modal nies for leaving money on the table. establishments run the risk of losing VR, a company he co-founded. He shared a story about visiting a repeat business from potential valuable Open and honest from the get-go, Dave & Buster’s, where he racked up a customers. Bushnell confessed, albeit jokingly, “I’m $250 bill, paid it, and then left without PLAY METER 50 APRIL 2018 cursed with a 5-year attention span.” He explained that his curse actually goes back to childhood where he went from a handheld radio obsession to having a 3,000 volt transformer in his bedroom. From there, his attention turned to UFOs. Bushnell even shared a story in which he once took an ordinary kite, added lights to it, and flew it in the night’s sky. Harmless fascination, right? From left to right: Brad Solomon and Jason Mitchell of Intercard, and David Larson of Well, he successfully fooled his neigh- Autobahn Indoor Speedway. bors, and then he officially reported his own prank as an actual UFO sighting. evident that a mistake had been made. Bushnell parted from the stage The coyote was not a coyote, it was not with business advice per-say, but instead a rat. with true words of wisdom. “I started Deciding to roll humble and scared,” he said. “Then with it, Bushnell I became successful and less humble. came up with a But when you become arrogant, you new name for his become sloppy.” concept, Rick Rat’s There are many trials and tribula- Pizza, but he was tions that Bushnell has experienced. told that you can’t Some he has passed and others he has have the word rat failed, but he still insists on driving in the name of a down the interstate of gaming--not will- restaurant. The mar- ing to veer off till he sees that “billion keting team then dollar exit.” convened, and came up with the name THE FINAL DAY Chuck E.