I didn't even see the whole message at first, just my name
blinking on the new LED board. I asked Jared why my name was flashing and he
informed me that I was the member of the month. Well...that's a nice surprise!
To be perfectly honest I have no idea what that means or how I was chosen, but
I was told that it's a new promotion that they are starting and I appreciate
that they picked me to start it off. Many thanks! The Fun Warehouse is a great
place to play laser tag and I enjoy being a member...I must, because I have
roughly seven or eight memberships here!
This actually gives me an opportunity to bring up something
that I've had a few interesting discussions about recently...memberships in
general.
Most places where memberships are offered there are a few
incentives that make them particularly appealing to the players. Things like
choosing your own custom code name, tracking personal stats and unlocking
achievements or power-ups are among the typical perks common across most laser
tag systems that have membership options. Sometimes there may be discounts or
other perks made available depending on the individual business location as
well. And often times the more frequent, dedicated players won't mind paying a
little extra to have access to these perks.
Like with anything, there can
be pros and cons, so from the site operator's perspective there may be reasons
both for and against implementing memberships. Here are a few varying perspectives.
When asked about memberships at
this particular Laserforce site where I was playing in Syracuse, NY manager
Michael Brandt explained why they see memberships as a benefit to the business,
saying “We use memberships to help create a customer
database and a repeat customer. All of our memberships come with special member
pricing, access to member only events, and in game features that makes the
laser tag experience a much more interactive one. We encourage all of our
customers to become members if they want to be involved in leagues and
tournaments, as these are required to access them.”
Meanwhile Laser Quest
has taken a different approach in recent years. Although traditional
memberships were once offered at Laser Quest locations, that is no longer the
case. However frequent players can become an LQ Arena member and use
their app instead which allows access to other kinds of incentives. In this excerpt from a February 2019 interview, Laser Quest Vice
President Jeff Morris related his take on memberships...
I've also heard opinions from some people about reasons to
NOT have memberships. During a recent discussion I had with one site owner
who has seen and helped laser tag establishments all over the world I learned
that for his own business he opts against offering memberships. I asked him the
reasons why and, I'll paraphrase, but the essence of what he said is that
sometimes members can feel a bit too entitled, can start to take over and
become overbearing when playing with the public and he also told me that most
of the highest grossing laser tag facilities actually do not offer or encourage
memberships. I was a bit surprised to hear that last part (let me say the
source is quite knowledgeable, but this was a casual conversation so I have no
statistical info at hand to corroborate that). I can certainly understand his
point, but personally I
think there is also potential for these same members to have their “enthusiasm”
redirected in ways that can be helpful to a business. As you can see there are
a variety of opinions about the value of memberships and what they can mean to
a laser tag operation.
As a player I think memberships are a way of adding to the
sense of community that I value in the tag sites I visit the most. And while
I'm not deterred by the lack of it, I definitely feel that I am more likely to actively
take interest and engage in the activities at the sites where I feel that sense
of community the strongest, whether it's local or from afar. I don't become a
member everywhere I go of course, but I do have active memberships at laser tag
centers in North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, California even Hawaii (codename
"Tivia in HI") just to name a few. To me being a member is more about
the experience and the people, so when I decide to become a member somewhere
that means more than just having a codename...it means having a connection.
Comments or Questions?
Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com
Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com
and www.photonforever.com
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