This was one of the best discussions!

A special thank you to Nuria Bronfman from the Movie Theatre Association of Canada, Vincenzo Guzzo from Cinémas Guzzo, andDimitrios Mitsinikos from Gower Street for joining us.

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Special events in theaters are missing out on some key revenue opportunities. Time to put your event planners to work! This week we are focusing on maximizing your event side of your business. Any of these ideas below can be adapted to any movie with a little legwork and research.

When you are presented with the opportunity to do a life celebration (birthday party, mitzvah, rehearsal dinner, girls night out, book club night out, valentines day etc), it is the desire for the customer to want their life easier (otherwise they host this event at their home).  Everyone loves to receive VIP treatment. When they are presented with unique ideas, packages and service offerings, they are all in. They often do not want “to hear about the labor pains, just produce them with a baby”. They will all have different budgetary price points, but you can work with that. With little effort on your part, you can offer celebration packages. You can become a “one stop shop” by providing entertainment, food and beverage and personalized favor boxes. The key to doing this well is to provide items that look expensive (but are not), and are personalized to the theme. But don’t forget to take your markup!

Balloon garlands add to any party. They are typically between $15-$45 on Amazon. If you hire a balloon company to do this, their fees are around $500. I do suggest purchasing a balloon air machine ($15). The garlands are a little time consuming, but insanely easy to do. It is not brain surgery. The insignificant cost them allows them to be disposed of immediately after the event while providing a significant impact.

For case studies, I looked at Star Cinema Grill and Fridley Theatres. I selected a movie they are currently showing and adapted a menu card from the items listed on their menu. These menu cards can be placed at each place setting for the party. This will allow your menu to stay the same, but by renaming items for an event, it adds that special touch.

All theaters should have the following “Must Haves” in their inventory. The items below are on the more fiscally conservative side, but you also can go more expensive. The step and repeat (banner) as well as the spandex table linens should be branded with your logo. They will be kept in your inventory for multiple uses. It allows the party to be taken to the next VIP level.

Fridley Theatres is showing Field of Dreams (one of the best baseball movies!). All of the items below were found on Amazon and are priced at per person (minus the balloon garland which is a one time fee). You most likely could get better prices through your distributors on the food.  The sunflower seeds, cracker jacks and coaster (personalized by a high school staff member as the girls all practice fancy writing:)) will go in the gift box. The dessert will be served in the baseball helmet (they can take it home) and the birthday guest will have the baseball candles (or not). The balloon garland will be draped on the corner of the step and repeat as the guests walk into the theatre.

There are so many things available for Star Wars and the fans are endless. In Austin, there is the 501 1st Legion. Yes, life size Star Wars characters who go to an event. They can be your greeters. Traditionally, they accept a donation to the charity they support and add an amazing touch to an event. Yes, there are many of these organizations around the United States. In addition to Amazon, make sure you become familiar with ETSY. You will be amazed at the personalized items you can find on that website of artsy small business owners. You should also consider developing a synergetic relationship with a bakery to get personalized cookies for your guests.

For the adults looking to have a fun evening out, they still like to have treats. Make their night special as well! You can located custom tshirts on Etsy for the guests to wear as a fun touch. Yes, they might even put the catchers mask on during the movie:)

The focus of the 18th CJ Cinema Summit focused on the repurposing of movie theatres. We were fortunate to hear from one of the summit OG’s- Theresa English!

A special thank you to Alan Anthony of ThreeSixty Architecture, Theresa English from TK Architects, David Bell from Savills, and Brian Gilligan from Melcorpo for joining us.

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A special thank you to Mark Collins from Harman International, Dean Bullock from CineCert, Matt Majewski from Bright Star systems, andJerryMurdoch from Cinema Next.

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Cinemas are re-opening in England from this weekend, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following. It is a gradual process and cinemas have been preparing extensively for this. We talk to the CEO of UK’s leading boutique chain, Everyman Cinemas’ Crispin Lilly and hear from Sharon Reid about the work done by the UK Cinema Association to entice audiences back to cinemas.

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A special thank you to Crispin Lilly from Everyman, and Sharon Reid fromCinema First, for joining us.

Yes, this is not a Movie Webinar, but something you might find interesting. I attended the Be. Do. Have Model webinar last week. Here are my takeaways:

“Be” the want that you want.

“Do” from that state of being.

This allows us to get what we have.

How you live now as how you show up in the future. Often we bring the past into the future.

Foundational Platforms

1. Vision: Where do you want to go?
2. Create: what that person of who and what you want to be. What is this person like? If you know someone and you like their qualities and successes, ask them about what they do. DO NOT say ” let me pick your brain” . No one likes that. Instead begin with ” You inspire me… ” and go from there.
3. Visualize: and take action. Picture what your life looks like in 5 years. Who will you want to spend time with? What is the relationship you want with money? How do you picture yourself walking in a room?

Show up like a leader who needs to be in the role you have created.

Personal Branding: What you say about yourself.

Personal Brand: What people say about you.

Don’t fall into imposter syndrome (although, it does happen to everyone). Imposter syndrome is the feeling you have not earned your success and this is totally normal.

Keep your “blindspots” open. After all, we have “blindspots” for a reason as we do not want to deal with that issue.

“Mastering Emails” Presented by Elizabeth Sheil 
Make your email life easy because 92% of people polled said email speediness is important and 81% check email multiple times per day.
Helpful Tips
1. Easy Folder Structure: Your inbox should be action items. It is worthless if you don’t use it this way.
2. Tackle Your Full Inbox: Take time to unsubscribe from the junk email.  Start at the bottom of your email list and move up. If it takes less than 3 minutes to respond- reply immediately. If it takes over 3 minutes, reply with you are working on it. File immediately if you have responded to it.
3. Task vs. Calendar: Add notes to the email  (check on the gmail account) regarding why it is essential.
4. Automation Replies: the pros and cons: It saves time and money, allows you to streamline your workflow but it decreases authenticity.

Canned responses: they are useful when you can personalize a portion of the inquiry . If you are going to use a template (these are the three dots by the trashcan in gmail), it should be used for: inquiries, consult follow up, timeline reviews, day of vendor emails, wedding day reminders and out of office replies.

When do you automate: Payment and contract reminders
Auto responder: best practices to use when you are going on vacation
Favorite apps to use to help with you inbox: slack, unroll.me, screen castify  and  calendly (calendar cross reference)

“How to Continue Marketing Even With a Limited Budget”: Kinsey Roberts
[email protected]
In business, you can spend time or money or both. You need to pick the one that applies to you. This market is the a gateway for a substantial budget and you need to make sure you stop being unforgettable.
1. Plug the holes in your business: stop financial leaks, stop paying for marketing that is not working. Marketing is an inside job
2. Where do you get the most paying clients? find your paying clients and know the conversion rate of # contacted you to # booked.
3. Amplify and increase your marketing referral channel. SEO Search- go to you tube (since it is owned by google). Don’t become stagnant.
4. Go ALL IN for 60 days: If you implement few and far between- not effective. Marketing is math.
Read the book ” They Ask, You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan. You don’t always need to pivot, you can adapt.

“Top Habits of Highly Successful Event Professionals”: Presented by Megan Ely
1. (was running late on a work call…)
2. Must pivot- share your skills
3. Don’t stop learning- ever
4. Misinterpretation of successful growth- be realistic about this year
5. Being too anecdotal about what is working
6. Valuing creativity over organization: now is the time to implement systems, create an editorial schedule
7. Over dependence on a single entity
8. Saying yes to the wrong people

Shift your focus to: 1. your team- build now before you need them 2. your vendor relationships 3. your well being 4. your relevancy: “be a port in the storm- the safe harbor” for your clients.

To do list:
1. Seek inspiration out side of this industry
2. Integrate current technology into your day to day
3.  Make small videos to answer questions instead of email typing (LOOM)
4. Stay connected by being memorable
5. Design your own opportunities to connect
6. Do Better

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work” ~Thomas Edison

Unfortunately, Amy had a conflict.. But here is the replay:)

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Such fun to see our OG’s on the list : Karla Banuelo of Incorca Seating and Teresa English of TK Architects! So many amazing women on this list and we send out a lot of applause and cheers!

CJ Cinema Summit will be off the Week of June 15th because of CineEurope BUT will return live on June 25th.

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Kanter Slide Presentation

Premium large format (PLF) cinema such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX has underpinned much of new cinema growth in the last decade, while also increasing earnings for cinemas and distributors. With cinemas re-opening what are the prospects for audiences still wanting a premium (safe) experience? We bring together the industry leaders to hear their thoughts.

A special thank you to Guillaume Branders from UNIC, Doug Darrow from Dolby, and Oliver Pasch from Cinionic for joining us this week.

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Make sure to sign up for next week’s special edition of #CJCinemaSummit!
For the fifth year Celluloid Junkie presents the Top 50 Women in Global Cinema, highlighting the work of cinema industry executives who have made the biggest impact in the past year. Join us as we present the list live.