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Every month we give our movie club members a members special or bonus feature. We have used free small drink, free small popcorn, $2 small popcorn (its usually $3.50..Aussie money) free bag of sweets, had everyone who comes in for that month go into a draw to win a gold pass for free movies for the next month, But now Im out of new ideas. Can anyone think of ideas that don't cost the earth, but make people feel they are getting a good deal by being a member? Thanks in advance

Besides having a drawing for a gold pass, a lot of people would really enjoy getting an "Exclusive Behind the Scenes Tour" of your theater. Offer the drawing winner and a friend free admission to a movie of their choice and have them come early, show them the projection booth, and talk to them about how everything runs. They are sure to have questions. At the end, let them scoop their own popcorn, fill their own drinks, grab a box of candy (all free of course), put it all in their seats (let them in early before the crowd so they can get the best middle seats) and finally, "throw the switch" on the projector that is showing their movie and give them each a hat/shirt/mug with the theater's name or logo on it. I'd sign up!

I'd go with all of that, except where they scoop their own popcorn. You don't know who's hairy arm might have been in the popcorn YOU'RE going to get.

I'm marginally OK with the "pour your own" pop. I realize it saves some places a lot of time and effort, but many "serve yourself" pop stations take a lot of attention to keep them from getting pretty ugly looking.

Otherwise, some good ideas there.

Don't forget PREMIUMS, the give-aways that so many people adore as souveniers. The former Paradise here had small photos of the theatre in its early days, early ads with photos of the Stars, the owners in costume on the stage, and the like printed up with a paragraph on the pack with historical information and the theatre's name and address. They were very popular and printed up on nice heavy card stock so that people did dot drop them upon leaving as they might have just another slip of paper. There was a numbered series and people sought to get the whole series for their collections! More than once the owners were asked to autograph those with their photos.

Another variation on the 'Special Guest' idea above is a take-off on the idea of the whole "Queen For A Day" TV show where the selected patron is asked to bring a lady friend to be the Queen of the Screen for a showing where she and her escort are draped in a red velvet robe and crowned with a gilded plastic crown and presented to the audience in front of the screen together with a short biography of them read by the man hosting and their reasons they like coming to your cinema. It is all done firmly tongue-in-cheek for a hoot, with them promenading down to selected pair of seats on a carpeted platform with the seats draped in more of the velvet -- or gilded 'throne' seats' borrowed from a local theatres supply house. You would play such as "Pomp And Circumstance" as they walked to the seats and present her with a small bouquet and both with complimentary refreshments as the film started and the lights went down. You would have easel signs in the lobby with photo of last month's 'Queen And Court' asking "Will You Be Next Month's QUEEN OF THE SCREEN?" A flash snap shot of them on the thrones would be given them as a Polaroid and another used for the lobby easel. Doing it up 'royally' but keeping it short and light is the key (moderns are uncomfortable with formality, so it must appear all-in-fun.)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rodeojack:
<B>I'm marginally OK with the "pour your own" pop. I realize it saves some places a lot of time and effort, but many "serve yourself" pop stations take a lot of attention to keep them from getting pretty ugly looking.
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

True, but I was thinking of only that once for the winner. A lot of people would get a kick out of pouring their own drink or scoop their own popcorn behind the counter that night only... completely supervised, of course.

And yes, premiums could be HUGE! I still have my Luke figure they gave away to the first 50 people in line during the 20th Anniversary showing of Return of the Jedi. I was there 2 hours early to ensure my spot in line. They should do that a LOT more often. If an exhibitor offered the first 50 people an exclusive item with the theater's logo/name on it with the date (dated items are collector's dreams) or some other cool item, you can pretty much guarantee 50 people will show up when only a few might otherwise. You could always offer to sell the item to anyone who wasn't one of the lucky 50 first people in line too... at a profit, of course.