Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW November 3, 1945 A Tip or Two Every Week for Your Bulletin Board Boom Was Nice While It Lasted But Now Management Faces Test (Continued from Page 13) a slouchy or untidy position and standing or sitting in an alert, upright position ? cautioned about tearing each ticket and giving the customer one portion? Have YOU: told the new ushers of the necessity of neat appearance? clean personal habits? clean garments? avoiding body odors? the value of a smile when inquiring a customer's seat location preference or advising about the position of available seats? about keeping alert at all times and going out of their way to please the hard-to-satisfy patron? about special care and attention to crippled and infirm patrons? about their conduct while off duty? about reporting patron complaints to the management and not trying to argue or settle things themselves? about keeping check on the condition of rest rooms? Have YOU: pointed out to the night cleaners exactly what you wanted done in the way of sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, mopping, and on what nights or at what hours you wanted such duties performed? explained the cleaning of the ticket booth, projection room, rest rooms, foyer, lobby, sidewalk, store rooms, etc.? where to keep their cleaning equipment? how to clean and attend exit areaways? how and when to order replacement of supplies used? what hours they are to work and how much work you expected them to accomplish? how to get gum and other nuisance litter off the floors? how to care for the carpets, where to store and how to clean bad weather accessories? Have YOU: impressed those new porters and maids with the importance of their work or been content to give casual instructions in a casual voice that led them to understand that they could do a hit or miss job? told them the importance of their own appearance and conduct? made certain that they understood the importance of keeping the lobby clean? the sidewalk swept? the sand urns free of cigarette and cigar butt accumulation? the washrooms neat and well cared for with receptacles for towels and toilet paper filled? keeping the doors, bannisters, door panel ledges, foyer glass, front door glass, brass fittings, wall fixtures, etc., clean and polished? It would take far more space than is allotted to this article to cover the entire theatre but this treatment of the service and cleaning personnel problem is an excellent starter to jolt the imagination of neglectful owners and man Don't Keep 'Em In Dark If nothing ever happened, it wouldn't be necessary for theatre managers to use foresight. But things have a way of happening, and at the oddest times. For example, at night — when the theatre's closed and all should be peaceful — some incident might make it necessary for the police to contact by telephone the manager or some other member of the theatre organization. Consequently it's a good idea to leave somewhere about the door of the theatre an inconspicuous card bearing the address and phone number of the person elected to be contacted that night in case of emergency. Usual practice, of course, is to have such information on file with the police. But the cop on the beat can work much more quickly should an emergency arise if the person closing up at night leaves the card reminder mentioned above. agers. After all, the service and cleaning departments are the front line of customer attack and the front line of defense against equipment deterioration. And, they are inseparable partners when it comes to creating a favorable impression on your patrons. These two departments are the ones that either bring 'em back or drive 'em away and it is of prime importance that they function at top efficiency at all times. If your theatre and its service personnel are bright, clean and cheerful the customers will forgive an occasional "cluck" picture. If your theatre lacks these essential requisites to patron satisfaction even the best of productions fail to reach expected quotas and the all too prevalent "so-so" featuies become box-office headaches. The alarm has already rung Mr. Showman. It's time to check up, clean up and perk up if you expect to hold any portion of the patronage gains that have been thrust upon you during the past few years. And the best possible procedure is to start immediately to get the service and cleaning personnel to playing partners with you. Let them know how important they and their work are to the success of your business. Give them a little party after closing and get them acquainted with your aims and desires. Ask them for suggestions and use as many as prove practical. After all, they meet your customers ; they know the most frequent complaints ; they know the problems to be faced. Make yourself the captain of an efficient service team and you can place your order for next year's tickets today. Clean Outdoor Sign Held Important Theatre Asset Part of the maintenance man's regular routine in any theatre, large or small, should be the repair and maintenance of the outdoor signs and marquee. In general, signs should be thoroughly cleaned once a month and painted once or twice a year depending on local conditions of rain, dust, wind, etc. Each sign should be checked for burned out lamps every day and these should be replaced immediately. General repairs should be made at the time of painting unless damage requires more immediate attention. A clean, sparkling sign is as necessary and as important as the clean hands and fingernails of your theatre personnel ! Theatre Organs Require Periodical Inspection If you have an unused organ in your theatre a monthly inspection and precautions to keep rodents out will save large sums of money in the future. Rats and mice ruin an unused organ in a short time. The use of camphor in large quantities will keep moths out of the felt and leather stuffings of the instrument. Japanese camphor has been found to be efficacious in keeping mice away. The only sure preventative, however, is to keep rodents out of your theatre. To play safe have your organ inspected periodically. Inspect 'Panic Bolts' Even if no fire inspector does it for you one of the most important things in your theatre to be inspected every day is the working order of the "panic bolts" on your emergency exits. If any are out of order have them replaced or repaired immediately. Some day your extra care may save many lives and the very existence of your theatre! Here's a suggestion to put more reader interest in your bulletin board or as a straight-out "morale builder" for the staff. It's an idea that inspires the staff to think of the theatre in terms of service and showmanship to the public and works on the play-game principle of the anagram or acrostic. The idea is to offer a prize (prize can be anything — an extra hour off each week by the winner or some other inducement) for the best words made up to begin with the letters which spell out the name of the theatre. If used on your bulletin board, how about putting up a prize each week for one letter? Here's an illustration — in case you need one. Suppose the name of the theatre is PALACE. Words which tell a story of what the theatre should mean to the patron might be as follows : Programs Always Laudable And Completely Entertaining (If your theatre name is such that you can't figure out a combination of words to use as an illustration in order to explain the idea to your staff, let us know about your problem and we'll figure out something for you.) Watch For Leaks Petty cash accounts are a lot more important than that word "petty" sometimes makes them appear. Many a good manager has found costs amazingly boosted by a flock of seemingly little slips in the handling of petty cash. A good rule: Keep a daily check of expenditures from the petty cash fund; insist on receipts to account for each item of expense, and penalize infringements of the rule that receipts must be obtained and turned in, in order to impress all members of the staff with the importance of accurate accounting.