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Author Topic: Transferring David Yauch Expert Film Handler Posts: 206 From: Mesa, AZ, USA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 09-21-2005 08:21 PM                     Ok guys I need a little help. I know a lot of people here have spent a lot of time in the industry and have moved around a LOT in that time. I, on the other hand, have only a few years, less than that in management, and have worked at the same megaplex since day one. Currently there is a need at another theatre, so I will be transferring there. However unlike transferring to a similar theatre to the one I work at, I am transferring to a theatre thats as different as night and day. I will leave a theatre with 2000000 plus attendance yearly for a MUCH slower 5 screen(the Harkins Fiesta 5, formerly the Mann Superstition 5). From what I've heard, the atmosphere and the attitude of the staff are completely different from what I'm used to. Anyways, anyone have any tips or words of advice/encouragement? I would like to make a good impression, especially starting at a new location. Thanks in advance, David  |  IP: Logged Robert John Jeromson Master Film Handler Posts: 264 From: Auckland, New Zealand Registered: Jul 2004 posted 09-21-2005 10:03 PM                     Changes like the one you describe can be daunting when I made the decision to move where I am now (from Auckland NZ to Christchurch NZ, about 1500kms) I made it in a hurry and didn't realise what I was getting myself into. I didn't know anybody, I had no one to fall back on and for the first couple of months was utterly miserable. But in spite of first impressions I fought the desire to chuck it in and go home and now two years on it is the best thing I ever did and I couldn't imagine what life would have been like without this experience. I met my fiancee here, have good friends and exciting propects for the future. I wish you all the best and hope it (the move) works out as well for you as it has for me.  |  IP: Logged Brian Hogan Expert Film Handler Posts: 119 From: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA Registered: Jul 2001 posted 09-21-2005 10:06 PM                     i guess it all depends on you as a manager and if you are up for a challenge. slow multi's will have a whole set of issues that are totally different to those of a busy mega. if you take it on, the company you work for will watch and see how you are able to cope with this new set of issues. if you are able to deal with them and improve the theatre, the company will see this and know that you can adapt to any environment that you are faced with. this can then lead to higher positions for you in the company down the road. bottom line is: don't let the size and attendance of a location be the deciding factor of a transfer. look at the unique set of challenges that each theatre has and figure out how you can improve on these from a management point of view. your company wants to make money, if you can make them a little more, then you will get noticed and make a great impression on the higher ups.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 09-22-2005 12:16 AM                     Like me, went from a huge megaplex operation with everything new, having a position of "presentation manager/engineer" and sitting on top of the corporate world with the company's engineering department, to a company that most of the operation was held together with dried up "bubblegum and gooey ducttape" and run by a fleet of impossible, idiotic "booth clowns". If that wasn't quite the massive dose of downers that one could take in one sitting, but I had to do it to save a career since the megaplex operation new owners decided that I wasn't not worth doodies anymore. Thus, my objective, with this new company, was to scrape off the "bubblegum and ducttape" off of everything to get things to run better, farm out the idiotic "booth clowns",help hire some new "booth clowns" that could be trained a whole lot better, and get this rag-tag operation to run smoother. ..and it's still somewhat a uphill battle at times.... -Monte  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 09-22-2005 01:22 AM                     Is that theater still open? Is that the one near Fiesta Mall, kind of tucked away in the corner in the back? There was an AMC just down the road I think, next to where the Target is, though that closed a few years back, not sure what's there now.  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 09-22-2005 04:31 AM                     Don't change a thing when you get there. Feel it out and see just how much is wrong with the operation. And bear in mind of course that it's hard for the new guy to make changes. Get a feel for who on staff will adapt and who will wash out and plan ahead for it. Then start straighting then place out one thing at a time. Once you've got a staff that can work with you instead of against you just cause you're new the whole thing will run smoother. And by all means necessary discourage idle chatter between staffmwates when there's a.) work to be done and/or b.) guests in the building. Good luck. --Dom  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-22-2005 08:58 AM                     I was going to say something along the lines of what Dom said. For your first two weeks in the new place you should keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. The quickest way to make enemies is to walk in the door and start meddling with the way things operate in the theater. Upset the natural order of the place and people will think of you as nothing more than a Boat Rocker. Learn the practice of M.B.W.A. (Management by Walking Around) Go around to each depatement or area of the theater and simply talk to people and get to know them and how they do things. After your first two weeks on the new job you can start asking people questions. "What do you like the most about your job?" "What do you like the least?" Once you have gathered all the information you need, sit down in a private place with a cup of coffee, a pen and a pad of paper. Make a list of all the things that the people at the theater do well and a list of things that need to be fixed. Make a plan of what your first changes will be. This is the critical part: Your first "Big Change" has to be well chosen. It should be something that needs to be done but not such a sweeping change that people will be put off by it. It should also be something that, once implemented, people will understand that it needed to be done. Just a hypothetical: Let's imagine that the floors behind the concession stand are filthy and covered by popcorn oil. (Not a big stretch of the imagination. ) Not only is it unsanitary but it could be dangerous if somebody slips and falls. You could put together a group of kids to scrub the floor clean and get some new rubber mats for the floors. (Or take the rubber mats that you already have to the car wash and hose them down with the pressure hose.) It's a tough job but, once done, the people that work there should feel better about walking around behind the counter. If you play your cards right, maybe a couple of kids could get an extra hour's pay in their next check. The main idea is that you should NOT walk in the door and make the proverbial announcement, "We're going to clean things up around here!" That's the surest way to make enemies. (Even if you are right.) Take some time to get people on your side. Then you can enlist their help to make the changes that you see fit. I say that you should wait for a minimum of two weeks. Maybe even three weeks to a month.  |  IP: Logged David Yauch Expert Film Handler Posts: 206 From: Mesa, AZ, USA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 09-23-2005 02:22 AM                     quote: Mike Heenan Is that theater still open? Is that the one near Fiesta Mall, kind of tucked away in the corner in the back? There was an AMC just down the road I think, next to where the Target is, though that closed a few years back, not sure what's there now. Yes this is the one near fiesta mall, not to be confused with the poca fiesta 4, which was also right near fiesta mall, which closed in June. And yes, although it may not seem like it some times, it is still open Today was my first day at the new theatre. I walked the building with the boss and he gave me a list of problems he wants me to come up with solutions for. We talked a bit about some areas that need improvement and what areas the theatre is really strong in. After that I had a bit of a refresher course in filmwork(it's been a few months). Some exciting news, it looks like I just might do all of the build-up and tear down at this theatre for a while! The staff was ok, I guess I will find out when I start working operational shifts tomorrow. Thanks for all of the advice guys, I think what I've gathered is to definately fight the urge to change everything as soon as possible. I've started making lists of things that bug me, but I'll give it time to hammer them out. The lack of business is weird, 9 cars in the parking lot when I arrived as opposed to the hundreds you could find at my old theatre even on a weekday afternoon when school is in session.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 09-23-2005 05:30 AM                        Not much to add to Randy's post....except to always realize that you are there to do a job. You are not their friend or enemy. At the end of 3 weeks, you might even let go the "real dead wood." Also ask each employee: "What one thing would you do to improve our operation?" The answer is sometimes the key to whether this employee is self serving, has the best interest of the customer at heart, and/or is looking out for the company. No one ever asks the line people what they think; many have given up trying to improve things. It is amazing that sometimes "the inmates" DO have an idea of how to improve the asylum; they are closest to the situation. (For example: hight schools could be improved easily by only asking the brighter Seniors what they think.) Louis  |  IP: Logged Dominic Espinosa Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1172 From: California, U.S.A. Registered: Jan 2004 posted 09-23-2005 02:19 PM                     To build on what's been said already, carry around one of those small composition notebooks and a pen or two. Get yourself in the loop. You'll be under heavy scrutiny for a while though from the older staff that are set in their ways. And don't be surprised if you turn some of them over right away. It happens when the regime changes. --Dom  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 09-24-2005 07:07 PM                     It's kind of weird that the G.M. gave you a laundry list of things to do so soon. Do you think that he expects you to be the "Hatchett Man"?  |  IP: Logged David Yauch Expert Film Handler Posts: 206 From: Mesa, AZ, USA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 09-25-2005 02:15 PM                     quote: Randy Stankey It's kind of weird that the G.M. gave you a laundry list of things to do so soon. Do you think that he expects you to be the "Hatchett Man"? Anything is possible I guess. The laundry list just about doubled in size yesterday. I grabbed a new legal pad when I went over and already its half full of the chicken scratch I call handwriting.  |  IP: Logged David Nightingale Film Handler Posts: 13 From: Albuquerque, NM, USA Registered: Jul 2005 posted 09-25-2005 06:24 PM                     I have been in a situation like you, however as the general manager. My first theatre as a GM was on opening day on LOTR. The old mgr got termed the day before [ 12-07-2005, 11:52 PM: Message edited by: David Nightingale ]  |  IP: Logged Steve Scott Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1300 From: Minneapolis, MN Registered: Sep 2000 posted 09-30-2005 01:37 PM                     My situation paralells yours. From 18-to-five screener, I had to learn to take it easy! Spread out work over your whole day, take time you're used to preparing for a rush during and just observe the natural order of things at your new location. Just get aclimated to the pace of your corworkers and manage them based on your expectations for that place, and nowhere you've been before. If things get hectic, tell stories about times the really hit the fan at the bigger place... The longer the hallways, the worse the vomit trail from auditorium to bathroom!  |  IP: Logged David Yauch Expert Film Handler Posts: 206 From: Mesa, AZ, USA Registered: Oct 2004 posted 10-02-2005 07:37 PM                     A little over a week is up and things are going pretty well. I'm learning how to keep myself busy and still trying to learn names and whatnot. It's kind of funny asking the supervisor behind me a question when a customer comes up because there is still so much I don't know. I think I'm adjusting well though, not much in the way of changes yet, just a lot of learning how things are currently running. Closing every fri-sat is going to get old pretty quick, however...  |  IP: Logged

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