Fun Center Play-A-Bility : The Magic Formula
By the Family Entertainment Center
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As you start looking around, searching
and speaking with amusement equipment vendors, you will start to hear
a very common phrase from many in the industry; "Play-A-Bility".
Which is a very appropriate term when it comes to family fun centers,
as this is truly what it is all about.
There are two distinct forms of Play-a-bility; Guest Play-a-bility and
Equipment Play-a-bility.
Guest Play-A-Bility
Overall, play-a-bility speaks to how playable,
or how much fun your family entertainment center is. When it comes to play-a-bility it's
not just about your activity list. From the activities and food experience to the party
packages, your guests want it to be a fun experience, from start to
finish. Upon leaving your center, the best you and your team can shoot
for is a positive word-of-mouth that will go home with your guests and
act like a computer virus, affecting everyone your guests know (in a
positive manner of course!). More on FEC "viral" marketing in an upcoming article.
Play-a-bility affects every aspect of your center and your center's
employees (or as Disney calls them - cast members) and should be
a central component in your overall sales & marketing and guest
experience strategy. Professional and on-going staff training will
help your employees to understand this - you are only as good as
your last performance. Your facility staff need to be trained on
how to add play-a-bility to their daily guest interactions. Specifically,
for childrens entertainment centers, parents (especially mothers)
wish to see their child engaged, excited and sharing many "mom,
look at me..." moments. This is done by recognizing that once
the guest arrives, he/she is your full time responsibility. It is
up to you and your team to literally spread the fun, to create a
sense of Play-a-bility at your center.
 This may be encourage through your staff by empowering them to go into
the activity areas and engage your guests. Get them to play on, in and
with the activities along side your guests encouraging them to 'try this'
or 'do that for a better score' or creating non-competitive challenges
for kids within the play environment. For example organizing an activity challenge within a party group. This helps to create
the kharma of Guest Play-A-Bility and will return to your center in the
form of repeat visits.
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