Amusement 360 Event

Event Statistics

• 464 Total Registrations – startups, operators, speakers, consultants, and vendors
• 12 Hours And 6 Minutes – average time spent by attendees on the virtual event platform
• 2,286 Chats – the number of public chat messages shared on the virtual event platform
• 15 Speakers – experts who shared knowledge with attendees during the event
• 24 Sessions – the number of educational sessions, interviews, and panel discussions during the event.

Event Focus

While 2020 was a difficult year, this event focused on the huge opportunity that awaits in 2021 and beyond, because this industry is poised for a huge comeback. Operators joined us to go ALL IN for their businesses.

Avoid Overtime Labor

Labor is one of the biggest expenses for entertainment venues. Eddie Hamann from Andretti Indoor Karting & Games has more than 1,700 employees across 5 locations, and they operated without a single hour of overtime. They accomplished this by changing the work week parameters to start on Thursday and end on Wednesday. This allows them to have employees work as many hours as needed during the busy weekend, but then managers can reduce hours on Monday-Wednesday (typically slower times).

“Cookie Cutter” Doesn’t Work

You need to truly understand your market and then build your specific business in a way that resonates with your market. A lot of bowling centers are removing lanes for other attractions. But John Losito (owner of Sun Valley Lanes) expanded to fit other attractions instead of removing lanes. His bowling business was still strong and he didn’t want to eliminate the possibility to have tournaments (like the 2020 US Open he hosted). This choice made sense for his market, his customers, and his business. But you must do research to understand your own market and avoid cookie cutter “one-size-fits-all” approaches.

The “Best” Is A Moment In Time

Business owners can often get caught up in the idea of being the best. But “best” is ill-defined and isn’t a long-term strategy; there were times when Blockbuster or Kodak were the best, but those times didn’t last. Those companies were playing the “finite game” to hold onto the status quo (Blockbuster wanted to keep late fee revenue and Kodak wanted to keep selling film instead of digital). Business owners should consider setting aside “best” to instead focus on the “infinite game,” where your goal is to keep playing (stay in business) in perpetuity. 

You Can Handle Any Problem

After the awful year this industry experienced in 2020, you’re still standing! Think about that. If you made it through the pandemic, you can handle ANY business challenge in the future. With the experience and perspective you’ve gained, the old pre-pandemic “problems” in your business likely seem fairly simple or trivial now. This perspective gives you a renewed sense of gratitude for your business and all the staff members who help you create memories for your customers.

Master Your State

Your “state” is your mental, emotional, and physical condition at any point in time. Your state is determined by the triad: your body, mind, and words – you can control these to master your state. This is important because your state creates meaning, meaning creates emotions, and emotions determine your quality of life.

• Body – Are you sitting and slouching? Or are you getting up and moving around to increase energy? Changes in your physiology are the fastest way to improve your state.
• Mind – Are you focusing on the right things in your life? Or are you letting outside distractions (like news or politics) hijack your focus?
• Words – Are your words and language creating negative energy? Or is your language serving you (and those around you) well?

Experts From February

We brought in some of the best speakers, experts, and consultants in the amusement industry. Over the course of 2.5 days, they shared all their best insights and knowledge.

Testimonials

The 360 Event has received amazing reviews from hundreds of attendees over the years. We’ll let them do the talking…