The Eureka Room has just two more weekends left in the original location (my house). I’m excited to get it into a location where I can run it more often. Also I’m excited to get my living room back.
Thought I’d document where I’m out for future reference. The lease starts June 1st, but we’re aiming to get the keys the 20th. The landlord has been working on getting it ready, but the early move-in is not in the lease, so I hope it happens on time. I’ve got the builders lined up to get started on the 23rd.
Other details on my list include:
- Figuring out what goes where in the new place (it’s a house). I have an extra room to do stuff with and I’m not sure the flow, so I’m negotiating that with trying to buy stuff ahead of time. Right now I think people will enter through the front into a red (small) lobby, then into the green room, then to the eureka room and then back through the green room into the gift shop. The gift shop isn’t much to speak of yet. I have no decor for it. Also I have no gifts to buy yet.
- Co-ordinating all the utilities, lock changes, security system install, etc.
- Buying a new lamp, tv, and other furniture. I don’t want to bring my home stuff into the new place.
- Planning ahead for the extension (elongation) of the room. This means more acrylic, channels, electronics, etc. I’ve been talking to Mickey about that.
There’s a lot of odds and ends. At the same time, I’m trying to book out the last two weekends. This weekend went well. I had some good groups and sold out all timeslots to 4 or more people. Next weekend just has 4 times on Saturday (none on Sunday). I already have 4 in one slot and 6 in another. Bookings have been much stronger in the last week. I think it’s the heat and possibly more attention online. Memorial Day Weekend I went all out and threw up three showings on Sat, Sun, and Mon. If those book out, I’ll be pretty stoked about the future.
Covid is climbing again and will likely be a problem. I doubt Texas will shut anything down and I think far fewer people will take precautions. Unless it’s really bad I think I’ll just ask people to wear masks and make sure they know what the space consists of (it’s not very big).
I’m excited about the expansion of the room. I hope that can start by August. A bigger room will definitely let me have 8 people in the room, likely 10 and I could probably push it to 12 for groups that need something that back. Otherwise I think I’ll keep it to 10. Once that gains enough traction, I will work on a second room for 6.
On the marketing front, I’ve talked to a few companies but have ultimately decided to take it slower since I see organic growth and I have limited bandwidth to make sure the messaging is right. Budget is also a concern. I’d rather put the funds I have back into the customers’ experience.