Three Questions with Ken Whiting of Whiting's Foods

As a follow-up to our first three-question interview with John Lawn of Hersheypark and the IAAPA Food and Beverage Committee, FUNWORLD caught up with another member of the F&B committee, Ken Whiting, who runs Whiting's Foods through the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. He is also founder of WAVES for Success, which provides expert advice on how to recruit, train, and manage a teenage work force.

Whiting shares his perspective on how to work through a difficult economy while still aiming to serve customers in the best way possible. We hope this interview will help guide your strategy as you plan your meetings and show floor visits at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008.

FUNWORLD: How have the price increases of food and raw materials affected your business as a whole?
Ken Whiting: Combined with an overall softening in spending, increased cost of goods will definitely have a negative impact on year-end profit.

FW: What types of strategies are you implementing to combat the effects?
KW: These types of occurrences make us better operators. When certain areas are negatively impacted (i.e. cost of goods, sales volume), we put an increased priority on other areas like training, speed of service, scheduling, open/close times, signage, menu item preparation, presentation, and quality ... and the effectiveness of our supervisors. These all have opportunities to improve overall efficiency, sales, and profit.

In addition, we already have many value-added offers available. Coupons with strong discounts are available to season passholders and at our parking lots. We are seeing a large increase on redemption of these, driving sales that otherwise may not occur.

FW: What are some tips you can share on working with vendors during these more difficult times?
KW: The first thing is to simply make sure you are having a conversation with your vendors regarding pricing and product opportunities. They may have have suggestions on different ingredients or recipes to use that decrease cost or increase yield. Vendors work with many type of food establishments and suppliers, so their combined experience can generate many new ideas to consider. As one example, where it has been advantageous, we have bought certain items in larger volumes at lower prices, or to lock in a price.

Photos from Oktoberfest

Sorry it's taken me a little longer than expected to start posting more stuff from last week's EAS 2008-Munich, but the past three days I've been consumed with getting the Nov/Dec issue of FUNWORLD to the printer. We just sent it off literally minutes ago, so now I can breathe a little easier and return to fond and fun memories from last week.

To start off, here are a few shots of the massive tents that line the midway at Oktoberfest. Hard as it might be to believe, these structures the size of warehouses actually are not permanent:


Here's a shot I'm particularly proud of. Several tents had towers out front as landmarks/identifiers. Ours is the one further away, with the stein on top:


And here's a look inside the chaos that is a beer tent at Oktoberfest:


Up next is a bunch of shots from the HUGE Oktoberfest midway. I took a couple pictures of the Ferris wheel, plus a five-loop coaster and a cool dark ride/runaway mine train:


OK, the next two I mentioned last week—the odd gnome railroad and the kids' pony rides:


So there you go. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then even a thousand pictures wouldn't fully describe what it's like to be at Oktoberfest. Hopefully these at least gave you a better idea.

EAS 2008-Munich is officially over. I just exited the show floor a little while ago, leaving an IAAPA booth stripped to the bare bones and wading my way through other exhibits in various states of deconstruction, saying goodbye to a few last folks.

I spent much of today out on the show floor talking to exhibitors and was quite pleased that several people told me they had a good show:

“People-wise, it was a very good show—building up the network. No actual contracts were signed, but a lot of people said, ‘Wait until November.’ In general, I think it was a really good show leading up to IAAPA [Attractions Expo 2008], negotiating contracts, bringing them to a point that we can sign in November. We really like the time of year for the show. We can go back home, do our homework, and hopefully take good contracts to {Attractions Expo].”
—Michael Mack, Mack Rides

“This is the first time here [in Europe], and we made very valuable and promising contacts. Of course next year I can say whether it was a success or not, but for the moment, from southern and western Europe, we made some really good contacts there. A lot of opportunities.”
—Cornelis Bonnet, Texas Digital

“The show has been very good, especially for the new ‘Dracula’ dark ride concept we developed with ABC Rides. It was highly appreciated, and we had some very good negotiations on this. Park owners realize more and more theming and storytelling is essential. It’s also driven by the ability to buy complete packs—not just the ride and then the theming, but a complete package.”
—Christian Angenvoort, Theming and Animatronics Industries

“Great! We had tremendous success at the show. We can’t complain—very happy about it.”
—Matthias Clostermann, Clostermann Design

Those are just a few of the people I talked with this afternoon. The best news, I think, is there were several more exhibitors I wanted to meet with but didn’t get a chance to because every time I went by their booths, they were already sitting down in heavy discussions with what I’m assuming are potential clients. And, one last thing: we already have a slew of contracts signed for next year’s show in Amsterdam. My sales team colleagues were thrilled with how many people stopped by the IAAPA booth to reserve their space for 2009 before 2008 had even run its course.

So, after six long, exhausting days, 2008 IAAPA Summer Meeting and EAS 2008-Munich are over. But that doesn’t mean I’m finished. My notebook and camera are still filled with items I want to pass on, so be sure to check back next week to find out what other great stuff you missed in Munich.

Until then, thanks for following along with me this week …

Oktoberfest

Imagine thousands of people crammed under a hot, smoky tent the size of a large three-story building, standing (and dancing) on tables, drinking large amounts of beer out of the biggest steins you've ever seen, all the while singing at the top of their lungs along to a live band playing rock and roll at maximum volume (my particular favorite was the group chant to The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army") as dozens (hundreds?) more waiters and waitresses dressed in traditional German garb race through the narrow alleyways between the tables with trays full of food and drink. Now keep that image in your head for several hours.

That, as best I can describe, is what it's like inside a beer tent at Oktoberfest. It truly is unlike anything i've ever seen before, and if drinking and partying with friends is your idea of a good time, then I can definitely see why millions of people travel to Munich each fall to participate.

Contrary to its reputation, though, there's a lot more going on at Oktoberfest than just drinking beer. Actually, the majority of space at the event is dedicated to the biggest and best carnival I've ever seen (I'm saying that a lot, aren't I?). It was like an actual amusement park had been set up in Munich, a throwback to a bygone era in the industry with multiple little haunted houses, bumper car arenas, swings, Ferris wheels, and midway games as far as the eye could see. There were actually two roller coasters, and these weren't any small things. Both looked to top out at about 75 feet, if I had to guess, and one featured five loops. They looked like anything but portable attractions, that's for sure.

And there were certainly some unusual things on the midway, too: carousels where instead of riding horses you sat at tables and drank beer; a supersized electric train set that ran its course through a gnome village; a small tent where kids could take pony rides around in a circle.

I hit the midway with a couple colleagues to try out a few attractions and had a fabulous time. We went through a psychedelic fun house (complete with awesome 3-D effects), rode a wild mouse ride, and traveled through a not-so-scary haunted house. The best, though, was the flea circus: We all thought it was just gonna be a mechanical contraption made to look like "fleas" were doing all sorts of activities. Wow, we were so wrong. We went through a curtain to find ourselves in the smallest "theater" I've ever been in, about 10 of us huddled around a 2-foot-by-2-foot stage. The "ringmaster" comes out and passes around a chess piece with a wire on it and a magnifying glass; yep, on the chess piece, that's a real flea. So over the next few minutes he has a series of barely-visible fleas do the following tricks: kick teeny-tiny soccer balls into a goal; run a chariot race; and perform a ballet. Real. Live. Fleas. doing all this stuff. It was surreal.

Matter of fact, that's probably the best way to describe Oktoberfest. I don't know what it's like for people from other parts of the world, but for this American it was like stepping 20 years back in time. People are dressed in costumes. Your senses are bombarded with smells and sights at all times. And everyone seems to be in a good mood and having a grand time.

I have a bunch of pictures from last night, but unfortunately don't have access to them right now. There's so much material from EAS, though, I'll be posting more next week after I get home, and I promise you'll see plenty from Oktoberfest.

Ride Safety a Major Focus at EAS

The past two days at EAS 2008-Munich have provided multiple occasions for international leaders in ride safety and design to sit down in a room together and discuss this topic, which is undoubtedly the number-one priority for any attraction.

This morning IAAPA hosted ASTM International's F24 Committee on Amusement Rides and Devices for its first meeting in Europe. Thirty-seven particpants came from countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States to this meeting of the F2291 task group on design of amusement rides and devices. One of the topics discussed was acceleration limits for riders who are under 48 inches tall. This morning's meeting was a significant milestone as it marked the first time the F24 Committee has met in Europe (though it has had input from European technical experts in the past). Everyone at the meeting was invited and encouraged to attend the next consideration of these topics at the ASTM meeting next week, Oct. 9-11, in San Diego, California. More more on that session, click here.

Safety also dominated Monday afternoon's educational seminars here at the Messe Munich, with a three-hour Attractions Safety Forum. The event was broken into three parts: setting ride safety standards, the benefits of ride reporting systems, and incident management.

I sat in on the ride reporting seminar, where Randy Davis, IAAPA's vice president of government relations, explained how association-mandated incident reporting in the U.S. has proven what a strong safety record our facilities have. That data has, in turn, helped IAAPA demonstrate to the U.S. government that federal oversight of the industry is not necessary.

BALPPA's Colin Dawson said Europarks will continue to solicit ride reporting from European facilities, and hopes translating the survey's questionnaire into multiple languages will help increase participation.

Finally, Adrian Mahon of Merlin Entertainments Group demonstrated how his company has moved its incident tracking completely online by using software from UK-based Enable Infomatrix. Mahon said the benefits of moving Merlin's reporting online are many, including: no paperwork, so data is much easier to enter and track; identifying incident "hot spots"; providing internatl benchmarks and comparisons across rides and facilities; and helps in site-planning purposes, among many other benefits.

Bob Rogers' Rules for Creating Attractions

Bob Rogers, founder of California-based design firm BRC Imagination Arts, gave what could be considered a companion presentation to Pine’s earlier Tuesday. Rogers told the audience he was going to help them take Pine’s theories and put them into reality in the attractions business.

Like Pine’s explanation that authenticity is defined not by a business, but by its customers, Rogers said attraction designers must look into the hearts of its customers to spur their creativity. He said preliminary sketches shouldn’t start at the 30,000-foot level, but with what the guest can expect to derive from the experience. He broke this application down into a series of five points designers must consider while creating an attraction:

1. Where Is the Story?
“The story lives in the hearts and minds of the audience,” Rogers said, citing as an example how many buildings in the world—with no inherent story to them—still hold a very emotional place in their guests’ hearts. He mentioned the Empire State Building specifically, as visitors bring with them all the romantic notions of the building portrayed in countless Hollywood productions; thus, Rogers said, the New York City icon, though it is not inherently romantic, is the site of marriage proposals on a daily basis.

2. Know Yourself
A good attraction, Rogers said, will interpret a facility on the basis of its ability to inspire love, hope, reassurance, and strength, principles Walt Disney laid out more than 50 years ago when he opened Disneyland in California. A great park should honor its heritage while still moving into the future, Rogers said.

3. Be Original
Rogers said it’s his fear that the attractions industry is being too repetitive, with facilities trying to offer exactly what its competitors are offering instead of striving for elements that set it apart. “When products are all the same, you will compete on price,” he said, and that doesn’t keep the industry fresh and new. He said facilities should use conferences such as EAS 2008 for “research and courage,” to find out what competitors are doing and then find your own unique expression of that idea. This point was so important to him, he broke it down into another series of five points: Make it true; make it local; make it personal; make it fun; and if you do all that, you will make it original.

4. Design from the Inside Out
As mentioned above, start with the guest, not the schematic.

5. Put in a Miracle
Rogers admits there’s no scientific method to adding that special touch that puts an attraction over the top, but he sure did try. He said all design teams need to have the following:

• List-checker—Someone who ensures all the necessary steps are accomplished.
• Cheerleader—The person who gets the group energized in the beginning of a project.
• Eeyore—Like the famous Winnie the Pooh character, someone who will bring group down to earth (hopefully without being too pessimistic).
• Fool Killer—A detail-oriented person who, like the list-checker, helps bring the project home in the second half, but isn’t around to kill ideas during the early stages of an idea.
• The Magician—The quality control person, who isn’t afraid to say “that’s not good enough” and reject ideas that don’t fulfill the project’s potential.

Joe Pine Talks Authenticity

This morning renowned author Joe Pine gave one of the best talks I’ve ever heard at any of the eight IAAPA conferences I’ve attended. His talk on authenticity and how businesses must strive to achieve it was so good, detailed, thorough, yet easy to understand and, hopefully for the audience, apply, it’s difficult to pick out the highlights.

Let’s start with Pine’s basic theory that we’re now in an “experience economy,” which is an advantage for this industry, in one sense, because “the attractions business has always been about experiences.” However, it’s more challenging at the same time because more non-traditional attractions, such as those derived from brands like Coca-Cola and Volkswagen, are springing up all over the place as all companies get in on the experience economy.

“You’re basically now competing against the world for the time, attention, and money of individual consumers,” Pine said. And what types of experiences are those individual consumers thirsting for? Those that are authentic, he said: “People don’t want to buy the fake from the phony. They want the real from the genuine.”

So what does it mean to be authentic? According to Pine, it’s: “Conformance to self image. You reach inside a person and strike a chord and get them to identify with your product.” However, the tricky part comes in the fact that consumers are the ones who decide who’s authentic and who’s not. Businesses that proclaim they’re authentic, well, oftentimes aren’t. And the proof is in the proclamation, Pine said.

Pine gave several “genres of authenticity,” that businesses can strive for. They are:

• Natural—Those that don’t offer anything artificial
• Original—Those that have never been seen before
• Exceptional—Those that are so good at what they do, their business is obviously performed with great care
• Referential—Those that tap into and honor their own history or shared memories
• Influential—Those that call us to a higher purpose, to make a difference in the world

The key to being authentic, then, Pine said, is to truly know what your business is about and then stick to that. Business need to have: understand and honor their heritage; have a sense of purpose; and stick to a consistent set of core values. Then they must communicate those things to the public, though not necessarily through words—again, saying you’re authentic isn’t typically the best way to go, according to Pine.

“Every decision you make, authenticity has to be at the table,” Pine concluded.