Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Start by offering your center for local youth non-profits (scouting, etc.) for their fundraising needs. Let them sell tickets to your facility and they keep all the proceeds. Also, offer free admission in exchange for (canned) food donations for local shelters, or for blood drive donations, etc. That will get the community aware of you, and help them to know about your facility for word-of-mouth tourism support (and bring their families when they come to visit, etc.)

Without knowing what your attractions are, here are some general ideas. Focus on one specific attraction each week and offer a discount to those who come in to participate. Schedule a monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting at the facility and let the attendees "play" for free. If you have any meeting space, offer it at no charge to local associations and groups. If there are any "beach" publications that visitors read, try to get a feature placed about the facility with photos. You said the location is great. What do you have in place outside the facility to draw folks attention and make them want to come in to check it out?

Claudia

Phil's suggestion of letting us know what your family entertainment center consists of would really help get some more specific responses. Getting involved with the Chamber of Commerce in your area will be key. Hosting meetings is a great idea.

Other ideas to help you get recognized:
- Offer deep discounts to schools/teachers - they are always looking for fun things for the kids to do as rewards, on the cheap. If you plan it right the kids will have fun and will be back a week later with their parents.

- If your center if focused on games, offer a day on a weekend where the first 5-10 token are free...or something along those lines. Give the public just enough to get in the door and get interested.

- Offer limited time discounts and hand out coupons to local businesses.

- Advertise special offers in the visitor planner you mentioned... might be a way to wear out the kids so Mom and Dad can relax.

Zack Pike

Giveaways! They generate lots of free media exposure and get people in to your place.
Listen to your local stations. Sometimes they flat out make requests for 'gifts to help a local family'. These are usually not tied to contests which may require more expensive sponsorships. There is probably something they do regularly that you can tie in to.
Radio stations probably have planned activities 'on the road' that you can tie in to. Again, they look for good gift ideas and if you can offer free tickets every day, it will be a bonanza of promotion for you because you can choose to participate only in those events that are in the area you want to reach and that serve your demographic.
The above is not a specific 'event' hosted by you, but more of an event hosted by someone else that you can tap into. Remember - the best promotion is a recommendation by someone else and radio can play that up in a big way for you.
Other ideas:
- nightly specials at YOUR LOCATION. Partner with a local beverage distribution company (pepsi, coke whichever you have) - customers bring in bottle caps for $5 off on Wed nites. combine this with a radio station promotion where they broadcast from your place. Not knowing what you do, this method is traditionally used to bring in more traffic on slower weekday nites.
- Host a local chamber of commerce social. They are always looking for new locations. They become your word of mouth advertising and you get 100 + customers you might not otherwise get.
- host a YOUR COUNTY NAME MIDDLE SCHOOLS (HS, elementary school) designated night. Send a press release to newspapers, especially the neighborhood papers, with event info. If you make one for each level of school, you can get listed in the LOCAL EVENTS listings for each one of the events
- What you offer at each event needs to vary by the crowd you attract. Chambers want food & drinks; families want discounts.