I'm a golfer. Sometimes. Recreationally.
And one of the things I've learned over the years of playing different golf courses is that some facilities are very adept at capitalizing on the simple revenue builders that present themselves.
Others, like South Shore Country Club in Hingham, fall dismally short of creating a win-win for their bottom line and their patrons.
What am I talking about? Let's go with real-world examples, shall we?
My brother and I were on the eighth hole at South Shore and we felt some hunger pangs. We looked at each other and agreed that we should call the clubhouse and order some lunch.
1 - The reason we had to call ahead was because the snack shack at the turn was closed. On a Saturday. In the middle of the day.
2 - When we called the pro shop, they said they didn't have the phone number for the restaurant. Good work.
3 - Thankfully I had an iPhone with me. I went online and found the restaurant/catering number. We called it. The phone rang and then went to voicemail.
What's the story? No snacks sold because the shack was closed. A quick $2 hot dog and a Gatorade sold to us instead of two $7 sandwiches.
Put a phone in at the eighth tee box that rings directly in the kitchen. Guessing that 50%+ of people playing would call ahead for a meal.
ALSO, if people could call ahead for their meal, the course would see more play and generate more revenue.
How? Because the people who still need to eat after nine holes are going to slow up play while they wait for the ONE person working on a Saturday to get their hot dogs.
Other failures during Saturday's round? No water in many of the coolers on the course. No ranger on the course ANYWHERE at any time...ON A SATURDAY. And finally, the starter was hanging out in the pro shop while cart after cart of players lined up at the tee box, bogging down play for the rest of the day.
By the way, golf courses aren't alone in this. My friend Rachel Happe just had an interminable 11-hour ride on the Amtrak Acela train. She told the world via Twitter that the train had no food in the cafe car and that the train - supposedly a modern transportation marvel - was not wired for Wifi.
Are companies not thinking about how to make a buck? Are they that complacent?
No wonder we're in a depression/recession.
What failures to capitalize have you seen lately? Please share in the notes here.
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Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Martha Mitchell Phones It In - Sort of. Play Review
11.04.2008
While I liked the Nora Theatre Company’s production of Martha Mitchell Calling, I was under the presumption that the show would have more depth and a more complete story.
In fact, there were some actors listed in the program who got credit for voices, yet they never showed up on stage and the scenes and voices shown on screen at the back of the stage were all from news reports of the day.
Unless I’m mistaken, none of this richer content was used in the show.
Needless to say, the show was an interesting way for people my age to learn more about a time in our nation’s history many people would as soon forget. Until I went to the production I hadn’t even known about this woman and the effect she had on the presidency.
Shown in three, run-together acts, Annette Miller does an admirable job of carrying the production and allowing the audience to grow with Martha. We are given a complete background of her personality and of her relationship with John Mitchell.
We’re also - as stated in a Boston Globe review - shown how “Watergate was at once Martha Mitchell's reason for fame and the cause of her destruction.”
The upside of the play was the acting of Miller and Timothy Sawyer as John Mitchell.
The downside was that if you didn’t grow up in an age where the instruments of information exchange were only TV, newspapers and radio, you’ll find some of this a little unbelievable. Especially in an age - and time (election day today) - where so much commentary and information is shared online.
The after-show discussion touched on this, but many of the mature audience members didn’t have a grasp on how far-reaching and influential the Internet has become. Many didn’t even know what a blog was and therefore still believe that there could be a Martha Mitchell in today’s administrations.
I believe they’re right. But the Martha Mitchells that we see today would be Twittering, blogging, podcasting and emailing their discoveries around the world instead of picking up a pink Princess phone and calling a reporter to discuss them.
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In fact, there were some actors listed in the program who got credit for voices, yet they never showed up on stage and the scenes and voices shown on screen at the back of the stage were all from news reports of the day.
Unless I’m mistaken, none of this richer content was used in the show.
Needless to say, the show was an interesting way for people my age to learn more about a time in our nation’s history many people would as soon forget. Until I went to the production I hadn’t even known about this woman and the effect she had on the presidency.
Shown in three, run-together acts, Annette Miller does an admirable job of carrying the production and allowing the audience to grow with Martha. We are given a complete background of her personality and of her relationship with John Mitchell.
We’re also - as stated in a Boston Globe review - shown how “Watergate was at once Martha Mitchell's reason for fame and the cause of her destruction.”
The upside of the play was the acting of Miller and Timothy Sawyer as John Mitchell.
The downside was that if you didn’t grow up in an age where the instruments of information exchange were only TV, newspapers and radio, you’ll find some of this a little unbelievable. Especially in an age - and time (election day today) - where so much commentary and information is shared online.
The after-show discussion touched on this, but many of the mature audience members didn’t have a grasp on how far-reaching and influential the Internet has become. Many didn’t even know what a blog was and therefore still believe that there could be a Martha Mitchell in today’s administrations.
I believe they’re right. But the Martha Mitchells that we see today would be Twittering, blogging, podcasting and emailing their discoveries around the world instead of picking up a pink Princess phone and calling a reporter to discuss them.
-30-
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