My Inspiring Weekend

by | Jul 28, 2016 | Training


This past weekend I spent a few days in Orlando with 2000 of my best friends. Okay, I’m not friends with them all but spending time with this amazing tribe of women was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

In my spare time, I sell Stella & Dot. This past weekend was my first time attending the yearly Hoopla conference. I had no idea what to expect, figuring it was just a fun weekend about women and, of course, amazing jewelry. Boy, was I wrong!

The weekend was full of learning on many different levels for me. I’ve been in sales and marketing for more than ten years and this weekend really made me realize how training can transform you as a person. No matter your age, gender, position/level, or years of experience, training motivates and inspires you.

When I started my journey in the FEC industry, I was super-motivated. I had never worked in a center before or created birthday parties, etc. It helped that I did my homework and read a lot about leadership and management, but I really craved attending conferences and meeting others in the industry who were going through the same struggles.

After I left the management side and started working with Beth, she took me to my first IAAPA. We  walked the floor that year and I remember all I could think was, “If I could have come here as a manager and attend classes or go to conferences to receive training, I could have done so much more.”

That’s how I felt when I left this weekend from Hoopla. I saw women on a journey to get what they wanted. All the stories were different yet we were all finding our extraordinary. I took classes that gave me the skills necessary to achieve the goals I set, relate with others who were finding their journey, and meet people who would encourage me to aspire to do even more.

So, consider sending your staff to events that further their leadership, sales, or whatever skills you want to grow. We host conferences throughout the year that do those very things. We would love for you and your staff to attend them. You’ll be amazed how it will inspire them!

Be Kind and Do What You Say

by | Jul 7, 2016 | Guest Services

If you didn’t already know, last week we were at Bowl Expo in Las Vegas. It’s always a great week for us. We spend months planning since we have our quarterly leadership team meeting. We bring our entire team out for a week of learning, the trade show, and team building.

I have to say the week started off a bit rough. I arrived on Sunday and thought I was 100% over the jetlag of traveling from Jakarta to Los Angeles to Houston and then back west to Vegas. I was in for a big surprise when I got to Mandalay Bay.

I’m a Type A personality. You know, I plan every minute if I possibly can and I had a plan to land, run a few errands with Nancy, check-in, work a few hours, eat dinner, work a couple of more hours, and get to bed for our leadership team meeting the next day. Things didn’t quite go as planned.

The check-in line was longer than the lines I had just seen at Disneyland the week before! Yup, I’m sure you are nodding your head if you checked in to the hotel on Sunday. It took over three hours. I was tired and exhausted and I knew since they only had five people checking everyone in, they were probably as frustrated as we were.

When it was finally my turn, I wanted to be sure I went in with the right mind frame as I have worked in the hospitality industry for the past ten years. So, I asked the girl how her day was going, tried to make small talk, and just asked if it was usually long lines like this. Instead of just saying, “No, not usually. It’s because we are a little short-staffed,” she says to me in her frustrated don’t you get it voice, “We don’t have enough people. We are coming off winter so we have all these people to train and they worked 12 hours today and had to go home. They can’t work more.” Of course, I wanted to say, “Chill! I just asked if it was normal” but I understood.

As we were completing the check-in process and I said, “I know this isn’t common but is there any chance you could do something since I had to wait so long?” She said she could comp the resort fees or give food credit. I knew I wanted wifi and that was probably the best value so I took it. To my disappointment, I received the bill and they hadn’t removed the resort fees so now I have to ask them to refund those.

I’m sure it was a tough day for her and she probably had no idea that it had been a tough few days for me as well between traveling and caring for my father who’s battling cancer. We have to remember that we need to do what we say we are going to do and we need to keep in mind we never know what someone is going through.

Next time you have someone at your center who comes off aggravated or downright mean, be kind. Take a step back and recognize you don’t know what they’re going through. When you tell them you are going to do something, whether it’s sending a person to fix a game, or fill tickets, or make a fresh pizza, do it. Don’t wait. Do it immediately and make things right. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

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