Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

54 Motion Picture News December 13 , 19 3 0 manage rcr kclnd table club The Ten Commandments of Efficiency A vast amount of study on business management and elimination of waste has been reduced to formula by the U. S. Department of Commerce. This formula consists of ten rules, which might well apply to the motion picture industry, as to any industrial enterprise. The ten points are as follows : 1. Define your purpose. You must know what is to be done before you can know how. This is your master task. 2. Analyze your problem. Your master task then will break up into many detail tasks. Consider them all. Neglect none. 3. Seek for facts. Study every condition governing each task. Find the undesirable element to be eliminated, and the desirable element to be retained. Then standardize right conditions. 4. Devise the one best method. Aim to conserve energy, time, space, material. Determine relations of details to the master task. 5. Find the person best fitted. For each task, certain personal qualities are essential. In each person, certain qualities dominate. Find the person best fitted. 6. Teach the person best fitted, the one best method. Not by driving, but by thorough, patient teaching, are understanding and skill developed. 7. Plan carefully. Right planning of arrangement and sequence of work, will enable you to accomplish tasks in logical order, accurately, quickly, economically. 8. Win co-operation. Cs-operation means working together. It cannot be demanded. It must be won. Accept your share of responsibility. Respect the right and aspirations of others. 9. Avoid secrecy. Act on the motive that what is good for your trade as a whole, must also be good for each individual firm. The general pooling of ideas should be fostered. Avoid the attitude of suspicion towards all others in the same line of business. 10. Sift the efficient from the inefficient; the modern method from the antiquated : and keep on doing it week to week, month to month, from year to year. Parent-Teachers TieUp Helped Break the Ice for E. McDaniel Good-will building is another of the many tasks that a showman is confronted with when he takes over a house in a town where he is practically unknown. It is sometimes a j—-——^————-————^^——- matter of months before he gets on familiar enough terms with the local citizens to permit his securing their co-operation on various ideas which he wishes to use in order to gain business for himself and the merchants. But, in a little while, everything is ironed out. The stiffness on the part of local merchants, which is so noticeable to a showman when he enters a town cold, departs and the showman is then able to get in some work. Upon his transfer from the Rialto Theatre in Sinton, Texas, to the managership of the Rialto and Queen Theatres in Kingsville, Texas, E. McDaniel had to do some fast stepping to get in the good-will plugs that he obtained while still a "newcomer" to most of Kingsville. The first move that he made netted him considerable comment from the residents. He co-operated with the local ParentTeachers' Association on a membership drive. For every member that was brought in by a Public School student, a free pass was issued to the nominee. The pass was good only on a certain matinee day. In return for his co-operation, the ParentTeachers' Association rewarded McDaniel with an endorsement of his shows, and sent the endorsement to every class in school, and to the members of the association. The local newspaper pounced upon the angle and played it up strongly, thus giving the theatre an excellent publicity break, and the showman handling the house an introduction. Another stunt that was cleverly engineered and executed was that of tying up with the local bakery. The baker agreed to place theatre heralds in every loaf of bread leaving the shop. Every hundredth loaf contained a free pass to the theatre. Six thousand heralds are distributed weekly in this manner. A credit line is given to the bakery, with the shop well pleased with the resultant advertising and word-of-mouth comment. We understand that Mr. Daniel hopes to continue the work that characterized the live-wire efforts of C. S. McClellan, former manager of the house, who was very active, both at the theatres and on the Round Table pages. Oke, "E. M." We are going to check you up on that. And, by the way, shoot us in a photo and a little dope on yourself so that we can give you an introduction. Floral Display Was Used to Brighten Up Lobby of House One of the prettiest lobbies in Altoona, Pa., may be found at the Strand Theatre. It is here that Alvin Hostler, manager of the house, handles the selling of the theatre and its ;;^===;^^^^^^^— -^~-^^— amusement offerings. One of the reasons for the beauty of the Strand lobby is the floral display. The flowers are promoted from a local florist, who, in return for a credit line, gives Hostler the flowers which we are showing in the photo. The stunt is an excellent one, its value being proven by the number of persons who enter the theatre and express their delight at the display. When he played "Office Wife" recently, Hostler promoted some office furniture from a local dealer and placed it in the lobby as an advance plug. A card was placed atop of a desk, and plugged the picture with copy : "Why Do 10,000,000 Women Fear This Woman? See 'Office Wife,'" etc. The display created a great deal of comment and helped put the show across in no small measure. For his selling of "Whoopee," one of the best tie-ups that he effected was that of introducing a "Whoopee" Sundae that was placed on sale at 100 fountains. Cards and streamers were used to plug the picture and the concoction. As nearly the entire town was covered, it was a pretty sure thing that the publicity and word-of-mouth comment resulting would tend to boom business at the house during play dates. There was no disappointment in evidence ! The theatre was jammed from opening to closing! Whoopee showmanship sold "Whoopee"! As a national play is being made today by showmen in an effort to bring back the kiddies, a great deal of work has been centered upon the serial. For an inaugural showing of "The Indians Are Coming," a special herald of the circus flyer type, printed in black on yellow stock, was distributed to all of the kids in Altoona. The move proved a good one. Another stunt that has helped Hostler's business building is the cards that are placed in every loaf of bread wrapped and sold at a local bakery. The cards give a credit to the dealer, as well as plugging the picture. Passes are placed in some of the loaves wrapped. We think that enough has been passed along now to show that Hostler is right there when it comes to show selling. We hope, in view of the fact that he is so active, he will keep us posted on his future work. Let's hear from you again, Alvin. OH, YES! F. G. NUTTING says: "/ sure look forward to the Motion Picture News and as soon as it arrives I turn at once to the Managers' Round Table Club section, as the merchandising ideas sure prove a great help to one always looking for clever ideas." Manager, State Theatre, Minot, N. D.