Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

SHOWMEN S TRADE REVIEW, February 1, 1947 37 THEATRE MANAGEMENT No Short Cut to Avoid Slump, Jackson Warns (Continued from Preceding Page) and I hope the suggestions will be helpful to you: We're getting lax about the "little things." We've been catering to packed houses so long and. under necessity, "sniffing" those seemingly insignificant services that were once a traditional part of our business, that we're still neglecting to render them despite the fact that time is now on our hands. We've been short-handed and overbusy for so long that it has become habitual with us to neglect all but the "essential" duties. And now practically all of our employes are untutored in those minute attentions that go so far to make regulars out of the "drop in" customers. Perhaps these "used-to-be" courtesies and more careful attention to the nonessential, yet impressive, details will serve to balance the scales in our favor when competitive entertainment makes its claim for patronage from amusement seekers. Following are a few of the "little things" I found to be neglected — not because of any rush of business but from force of habit — during the past few weeks. I hope the listing will help you locate other conditions that may possibly be causing some few — and we are going to need each and every one — of our customers to cast their ballots for other forms of entertainment. Get the Light You Pay For First of all is the neglect to the cleaning of lights and fixtures. Are the bulbs in the soffit clean and giving you all of the light you are paying for? How long has it been since the Neon tubing was given a bath ? A mixture of water and alcohol — mixed two parts water and one alcohol — can be applied with a dimestore brush by a careful employe and do wonders in improving the appearance of the color effects. How about the exit light shields, the wall bracket lights and shades, the chandelier (if any) ? Have you examined the carpet at the entrance to the theatre. This particular spot is normally in the glare of a strong light and subjected to the most severe treatment. Incoming customers have their eyes riveted on the carpet when they first enter the theatre and worn or defective places creat an impression of general neglect that may cause the patron to actually seek out other displeasing evidences of carelessness. How long since you carefully checked the porter service? And the night cleaners? I found so much in the way of dirt and dust in hidden nooks and crannies that I wanted to fire everybody in sight. A talk with the porters showed that they had never been instructed about those places — and whoever heard of a porter doing something he was not told to do? About the same condition prevailed with the night cleaners. They (and the porter, too) had been hired during the period of lush business when it was all they could do to "hit the high spots" and get the worst of the dirt out of the way with the few employes delegated to the task. The managers have now written instructions about what and when to do every needed task that will bring the theatres back to the spic and span condition that made them the mecca of amusement seekers. And — I hope and keep telling me — things hold a brighter outlook in this department. Part of the service personnel will be paid overtime for attention to the Xeon and the maintenance man will use his "piddling" time — of which he has had considerable lately — to get the house lights and fixtures shipshape again. Are You Cordial to Patrons? I found the service staff to be doing pretty good work but in practically all instances there was an absence of that "warmth of greeting" : that attitude that seems to say "Gee, but we're glad you came" — which used to go with every "thank you" or "may I show you a seat." I don't know what it is going to take to get that "oomph" back in circulation or to heat up those grins that seem to have become mechanical. If talk and instruction will do it, we'll have it licked in no time but I'm afraid the job is going to be difficult because of the extremely long period during which there was no time for interest in the customer (beyond the mere slogan "courteous service"). I make that assertion after carefully comparing the older employes with the new. The welcome grins of the newcomers were fresh and spontaneous while those of long service seemed to have their smiles "pegged" to a studied intensity. I found that managers had become lax in planning for expected crowds with the result that porters were enjoying "time offs" at peak periods when the dustpan was most needed. The "rest periods" of the service staffs seems to have been set up on an inflexible basis with no provision for changes necessary on week ends, holidays, etc. Those "may I help you's" when a customer is seen struggling with bundles or overcoats seem to be as dead as the Wallace-for-President boom. I've even seen crippled patrons given no attention because of a holdout and the attitude of the usher proved to me that the neglect was due to lack of instruction rather than unwillingness to assist. I could go on indefinitely about loose seams and torn or worn places in carpets, carelessness in night mopping that resulted in wet carpets of the cross aisles. Aisle lights neglected over such a long period that the service staff hardly knew such units existed ; muck and trash allowed to accummulate in any nook that might serve to conceal its physical presence but not its offensive odors ; curtains and windows of box-offices allowed to become offensively dirty ; upholstered seats and drapes not regularly vacuumed and other things too numerous to mention. Correct Bad Habits If our lapses in attentiveness to customers and customer potential were confined to the physical aspects of the theatre things would not be so bad. When we get through correcting these visible physical faults we've got a still bigger job to do in correcting the bad habits acquired by our projectionists and the careless practice of snipping the first convenient ad mat of proper size from press books and spending our good money to have it published in expensive space without thought of whether the art or copy fits our patronage pattern. There's one heck of a big job ahead of us if we are to get back to the showmanship standards we were forced — or were we? — to lower during the war boom, and the quicker we tackle the task the sooner we can expect to regain the "edge" we once held over the other entertainment forms that compete for the amusement dollar. Staff's Faulty First Aid May Aggravate Injuries "What to Do Until the Doctor Comes" is the title of a popular book which has become a standard work in many households. It doesn't try to coach the unskilled or non-professional in the care of ill or injured persons along medical lines, but the advice contained in it gives commonsense information about preventing further injury to perhaps, a person with a broken leg or one suffering from injuries sustained in a severe fall. Many books of similar nature are on the market and particularly one book published by the American Red Cross on First Aid is valuable to theatre managers who may sometime be able to help an injured patron, or even prevent further injury to the patrons which might result in additional damages claimed in the inevitable law suit. By all means _ the theatre staff should be given just enough first aid knowledge to prevent them from adding to any patron's possible injury. The well-trained staff always has this modicum of knowledge.