arts and crafts , photo booths , activities and games ( like ring tosses , bean bag games , bowling , ext .). Our most outgoing staff members run the booths .
• Since going to the movies is meant to be an experience we try to think of ways to enhance at least one a month . Some of the events we have done include a TMNT Day with over 3k guests . This was a free event with face painting , artists , reptile show , character pictures , dance lessons and of course martial arts demos . We are now doing a Star Wars event every year with the 501st . Another annual event we now have is Marvel vs . DC Day along with the May super hero movie . For this event we have a cosplay group called We Are Cosplay come out and take photos with our guests along with hosting local artists in our lobby .
• For the Peanuts Movie , we had a musical school come out and perform music from the original Peanuts cartoon live in our lobby . We also invited a local drama club that specialized in a classic Peanuts play to perform in our lobby during our promotion party which helped set the atmosphere for our guests and add to their experience .
• In a digital world it ’ s always our goal to tie in at least one hands on lobby activity that not only corresponds with the movie being promoted , but also excites interest with our guests . For our Puss in Boots promotion we invited a local Fencing club to perform demonstrations and teach mini lessons ; while for our Peabody and Sherman we obtained Trojan Horse piggy banks for kids to build . Lastly we helped kids make Penguin ornaments for our Penguins promotion which were used to decorate our tree . Q The involvement of a charity or worthy cause in a theatre promotion tends to both increase exposure for the promotion and make the public feel good about their participation . We ’ ve also had multiple instances of theatre managers donating all their project picture winnings to a charity that was involved in their promotion . Share some of the thinking , benefits and motivation involved in working with and helping these causes .
• Having staff members pick local worthy causes to help through a promotion results in more passion and success . Whether raising money or collecting food or other items , our theatre benefits from both staff and customers feeling good about helping out .
• Props , animals , or displays brought by various groups such as our “ Guardians of the Children ” biker group add to the experience as customers are often made to feel good that a worthy cause is being helped .
• We started offering special sensory showings for kids that might not be able to attend regular showing . That created positive word-of-mouth that resulted in more and more kids participating .
• For Kung Fu Panda 3 we worked with the Tiger Rock Studio to raise money for a Children ’ s Hospital . The Grand Master held a Break-a-thon and entrants paid $ 1 per board broken . $ 1152.00 was raised in a single night and the check was presented to the hospital on our visit with Tigress ! Tiger Rock Students along with Po and Tigress entertained customers on opening night and were available for photos with in-theatre photo op displays .
• Blood drives , animal adoption and anti-bullying promotions are favorites of ours where we can generate good P . R . while also
Parkside Cinebowl & Grille , Cary NC
76 • ShowTime Preview Guide – Spring 2017
Southridge 12 , Charleston WV