Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort operators from across the U.S. and Canada will spend today (Nov. 14), the final day of Leisure System Inc.’s (LSI) annual Symposium, attending more than a dozen educational sessions.
The Nov. 10-14 Symposium is being held at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, S.C. LSI franchises 75 Jellystone Parks throughout North America.
Today’s seminar’s include a session by Susan Novotny on how to make your Halloween weekends “Spooktacular!” Susan and her husband, Kyle, built their South Haven, Mich., campground from scratch, starting with 26 sites and five cabins in 2008. They now have 111 sites and 35 cabins and cottages. The Novotnys joined the Jellystone Park franchise network in 2013 and currently have seven consecutive Halloween-theme weekends.
Susan Novotny will also lead a seminar on how to do a group interview for a job position, which attendees will be able to experience for themselves.
“A group interview is geared to hire the right personality (for the right job),” she said. “We are able to see the leaders come forward and take the lead. We are able to see teamwork or those that may not fit for the job that we are hiring for. We are able to see spontaneity that many of our team members need to possess. In a group interview, we play games, pull questions out of a hat, and role play in smaller groups.”
Group interviews can also be more efficient from a time management standpoint, she said.
Benny Anderson, a creative marketing consultant for family owned businesses in the entertainment and tourism industries, will lead one seminar on how to build your business through community involvement and another on “Google AdWords.”
Randy Isaacson, a campground lending coordinator with CCF Bank (formerly United Bank) and part owner of the Jellystone Park location in Caledonia, Wis., who has originated $150 million worth of campground loans in 23 states, will lead two seminars.
Isaacson’s first seminar will focus on how to apply for campground financing in general. His second seminar will focus on how to obtain financing for campground expansions and improvements.Isaacson will also discuss the hot button topics that park operators can expect from a lender such as liquidity, contracts, bonding, title insurance, disbursing agents and endorsements, lien waivers, general contracting, overruns, contingency budgets, contingency plans, and the impact of weather on construction projects and park revenues.
Symposium attendees will also have opportunities to learn how to improve the profitability of their camp stores in a seminar led by Renata Evans, LSI’s vice president of retail, who oversees sourcing, development, and purchasing of more than 1,000 licensed souvenir and operational products that are exclusive to Jellystone Park franchisees.
Jason Reid, food and beverage director at Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, will lead a seminar on food service costs and labor focusing on the cost of goods, general supplies, repairs, and maintenance and labor.
The Symposium will also feature continuing educational seminars on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by Robin Jones, a project director and instructor at the Great Lakes ADA Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Jones will teach two seminars, the first of which will focus on a park’s physical environment and potential barriers and ways to conduct a self-evaluation of your facilities to identify areas where improvements or changes may be necessary. Her second seminar will teach park operators how to review their existing policies and procedures and provide strategies for addressing changes that may be necessary to ensure that their programs and services are accessible to a variety of individuals with different needs.
Three different seminars will also be taught by Amy Wirtz, a collaborative lawyer, mediator, arbitrator, lecturer, and Certified Exit Planning Advisor who grew up surrounded by the complex issues involving a two-generation business started by her grandparents.
LSI’s Symposium concludes today with a dinner at the Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ema98G7HR2s&feature=emb_logo
