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Foundations Entertainment Team Readies Pre-AEI Seminar Program

NEW ORLEANS, LA --- Foundations Entertainment University is beginning its 18th consecutive year with a two-day educational program, immediately prior to the 2020 Amusement Expo International. Foundations Entertainment University 2.0 will take place on Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel here. Since its launch in 2003, the program has graduated more than 1,500 owners, managers and executives of family entertainment centers. The upcoming New Orleans course will gr...

January 15, 2020

NEW ORLEANS, LA --- Foundations Entertainment University is beginning its 18th consecutive year with a two-day educational program, immediately prior to the 2020 Amusement Expo International. Foundations Entertainment University 2.0 will take place on Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel here.

Since its launch in 2003, the program has graduated more than 1,500 owners, managers and executives of family entertainment centers. The upcoming New Orleans course will graduate FEU's 51st class.

The program's goal is to deliver a complete blueprint for developing an entertainment venue, valuable both for newcomers to the industry and for present operators wishing to expand their businesses. FEU's organizers report that their experienced faculty has facilitated the development of more facilities than any other educational program.

An augmented speaker roster filled with dedicated experts from the industry's vendor and manufacturer base will provide registrants with a technical understanding of all the operational aspects of an entertainment venue. A new "FEC Concept Contest" will feature individual team presentations of a proposed concept to the expert panel, addressing financing, operations, attraction selection and more.

New for 2020 is a guest-speaker slot in which a seasoned operator of an entertainment venue will explain the nuts and bolts of its day-to-day operations.

Core topics slated for exploration at Foundations include market assessment: selecting the right market for the business. This is an essential first step in getting a new concept off the ground. Next, financial assessment -- "What can I reasonably afford? How can I finance it? How much capital must I contribute?" -- will be explained.

The planning process will continue with a discussion of the new facility's physical structure ("Do I lease, buy, or build? How much space do I need and what type of infrastructure does the building require?) and design ("What should the facility contain and how should it be laid out? How do I choose and architect and designer? How do I choose a mechanical engineer?")

With the groundwork laid, the expert faculty will offer detailed consideration of the "build" process, including the determination of the costs of renovating an existing building and constructing a new one. Rounding out the presentations on initial and detailed planning will be a review of selecting a contractor and evaluating contractors' bids.

The curriculum then will cover the decisions that must be made about the entertainment offering that will be made to the public. It is necessary to choose the attractions (experiences), and so the planner must evaluate manufacturers and know how to select vendors. It's necessary to decide on the importance of amusement gaming to the appeal and performance of the new center and determine how the games are to be operated.

A thorough consideration of the attractions to be offered will lead to examination of the types of system required to maintain control not only of those attractions, but also of staffing and training. Planning for effective management calls for understanding the information technology options available for accounting and performance monitoring. The FEC manager also must consider procedures for hiring, training, and the preparation of an operations manual for the business. And it's vital to decide how day-to-day operations are coordinated, the management roles involved, and who is responsible for what.

It is also essential to decide on the type of food and beverage service to be offered. That decision will include the design and size of the kitchen, and understanding the local health code and other legal and regulatory requirements for hospitality businesses.

With the concept clearly in mind and the plan in place, management needs to determine how the business is to be marketed, the types of marketing collateral that will be effective and the roles of the inside and outside sales departments. Provision also must be made for monitoring performance: capturing the key metrics to determine whether the business is meeting planned targets, and knowing what to do if it underperforms.

Early-bird registration for the 51st Foundations Entertainment University is now open at http://foundationsuniversity.com/register-today, and early-bird discounts are available through February 15, 2020. Tuition for early-bird registrants is $395; regular registration after February 15 is $495. When two or more people from the same company register, the first pays the regular rate, while each additional registrant receives a 50% discount. Registration closes on March 1.

Foundations tuition includes all educational workshops, including option one-on-one consultations with speakers and vendors at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 9. Also included is dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.

Questions about the program may be directed to Jackie Zilligen, Foundations entertainment University, by calling (215) 262 4409 or emailing jazilligen@comcast.net.