Note: I’ve been posting updates throughout the buildout of the new Eureka Room location, but since I have slid into being open the last couple weeks, I’ll be easing off the daily accounts and going back to the normal blog posts more.
Thursday 7/21/22
I spent this day working a lot on my calendar company, Big Weekend Calendars.
Friday 7/22/22
This was the first Friday I was open in the new location. I had showings listed for three different times. One was filled by a group, the other had just two people. I tried to hustle up some others to join them but I was so tired from my week that I forgot a few options and had to cancel them. I hate having to do that to people.
Saturday 7/23/22
I wanted to rest a little longer so I took down the unbooked noon showing. The 2pm one was two couples. There’s just not as much energy with four I’m seeing. It really requires that four to bring their A-game, and not everyone can or is prepared for that. I think six might be a good minimum in the future. After them I had a group of two. I was able to hustle and get a couple of their friends to come for free. I also posted to Instagram about free showings. What I really want is to be able to shout out to a local bar or restaurant and they announce to their patrons about the opportunity. (I reached out on Monday to some prospects).
At 6pm my friend who goes by the nom de stage “The Persona” and I had arranged for him to bring a big group so I can test the limits of the room. They were awesome. Fun people, interesting people, my kind of people. They gave fantastic feedback and didn’t seem to tire of my endless questions about what to do. I forget how valuable asking for feedback advice is. Especially to the right people. They must have stayed almost an hour later. All of them. It really made me want to start this monthly meetup thing I’ve been dreaming about for year(s).
Related to the meetup, I also finished off and sent my application in for SXSW. Rather than a panel, I proposed a meetup (at my friend Leslie Wolke’s suggestion). The idea is sort of the same as the monthly meetup and I am calling it the Immersive Challenge. I threw a quick teaser video together for it. See below.
Sunday 7/24/22
Wanting to sleep in again and seeing that I didn’t have many bookings yet, I took down the open noon booking. I won’t be doing this often, but I’ve been working 12+ hour days for weeks and really need to be alert and energetic when I’m MC’ing showings.
The 2pm group was one of those where you can tell one of the group was really wanting to do it and maybe the friends were dragged there. But I think it went pretty well, actually. The 4pm group was of nine people and they were awesome – despite not really paying attention to the instructions and kind of doing whatever they want. This used to bother me, but as long as they are really enjoying themselves I don’t care too much if they do it as I designed it or not. The last group came together sort of at the last minute. I had to offer a free ticket and then also got a last minute booking for two. They were all great. Seems like couples around 30 years old pay more attention to the programs and try to do it “right”. Maybe it’s because they are dates and trying to make an impression, maybe it’s just a reflection of a certain age, or something else, or just a coincidence.
Monday 7/25/22
I had a billion notes from the last week that I integrated into a huge list and prioritized. This took hours. Top priorities include:
- Getting the AC improved again this week.
- Chopping up the Color Color program and instead making the visuals transitions. This way I can get to Hi 5 faster, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
- Get more customers. (Talk to neighbors, work on ads, put up more showtimes, reach out to the media)
One of the things I like about being where I’m at is that every day I can wake up and ask the question: how do I add value for my customers this week? That is a great focusing question and it’s fun. I can see that fixing the bleed on the video isn’t as value-adding as making a light come on automatically in the room (because that’s a moment and the former is more of a clean-up activity).