Tips and Guidelines on Reopening Your Organization to the Public
Novel Coronavirus has made a huge impact on many organizations across the United States, especially in the theater industry forcing many theaters to close. Agile Ticketing Solutions’ marketing team is here for your organization every step of the way including during closures and the very anticipated reopening. Keep reading for tips and guidelines on reopening your organization to the public.
When reopening your organization, one important action that your theater may want to consider is limiting the number of tickets sold per showing, to allow space between each party. Many theaters are looking at selling around 50-percent of their total capacity. Not only will this make the experience safer for your patrons, but there will likely be government restrictions in place that will make this mandatory. If possible, your theater may allow families the option to sit together, while giving and give others the opportunity to choose to distance from other people. Between each movie playing, you will want to enforce a strict cleaning policy. It is also not a bad idea to have hand sanitizer stations installed around your theater in convenient locations and make hourly sanitation required by staff. If you need hand sanitizer, MedTech Wristbands started making some themselves—to order, click the “sanitizer” link in the resources below.
Another way to keep both your agents and patrons safe and happy is to require staff to wear masks and gloves and install plexiglass. Think about getting remote credit card swipes to add to the POS systems so your staff doesn’t have to handle credit cards. Consider allowing online purchases for tickets and even concessions, to encourage contactless purchases. Adapt things such as contactless payment options via Apple Pay or Virtual Wallet.
While the theater experience may have altered slightly due to the health crisis, this doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate your organization’s reopening. Send out an email blast to all your patrons, members, and supporters. Post your reopen date all over social media. Just as you would for a grand opening, create hype over the celebration of reopening and don’t be afraid to share that excitement with your patrons.
Since many new releases are being pushed back, some even into fall, now is the time for your theater to offer older movies that will draw people into your theater. Host a poll on Instagram asking patrons what their favorite movies are. Play a this-or-that themed game to get a better understanding of what your patrons are interested in. Post a reopening photo on your feed and encourage patrons to comment below their favorite movies. Throw a special themed event for classic movies such as Star Wars or Harry Potter and encourage patrons to dress up as their favorite characters and serve movie themed styled concessions ( Butterbeer is always a great idea for a Harry-Potter-themed event). All these ideas are great to incorporate to your reopening strategy.
Helpful Resources
- Cleaning Guide
- Sanitizer
- Floor Decals
- Sneeze Guards
- Face Masks
- Gloves
- NATO’s Pandemic Preparedness Guide
- CDC Business Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Checklist
- CDC COVID-19 Summary
- CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Respond to COVID-1
- CDC Community Mitigation Guidelines to Prevent Pandemic Influenza (Review Section on Community NPIs)
- State and local reopening guidelines for theaters
- Stay-at-home orders by state (updated 5/4/20)
PSA: This is an evolving document and we will continue to update and add resources as we come across them.