Real-Life Communication
At an arena, you will spend the day communicating with many different people. You will talk to your staff. That might include setting out rules and regulations, says Terry Piche. He manages recreational areas. You might propose safety standards that have to be followed. You might also write up safety standards to be followed by visitors to the arena.
In larger arenas, there may be a communications department that handles the media and information for the consumer -- designing and writing general brochures and other information packets, says Glenn Menard. He manages a facility.
Even with a special staff to coordinate communications, it is essential for you to have the skills. "They [managers] have to be able to speak well, write and articulate. I sit at a computer every day and write apology letters to clients and sales letters to potential clients," he says.
You are sorting through your pile of mail one morning. Toward the bottom of the stack, you find a complaint letter that reads like this:
Dear Manager,
Last month, I attended the ice show at your facility. Although the performance itself was top-rate (the parts of it we could see), the arena was a disappointment. From the minute we arrived, it seemed everything went wrong.
I came with my daughter -- my husband bought us the tickets in advance for us to go to the show. We arrived late and when I got to the parking garage, there were no spaces available! I created my own parking space, careful not to block anyone in.
When we got to our seats, after giving our tickets to a very belligerent ticket taker, we discovered that we could not see very much. It wasn't that they were too high. There was a sound system in the way. We tried to crane our necks to see around it, which wasn't too successful.
During the intermission, we went to the bathroom, only to discover that they were filthy and there were no paper towels to dry my hands. My daughter also wanted a baseball cap for a souvenir but was crushed to learn that they had sold out.
When we exited the arena shortly after the show ended, we were dismayed to discover that there was not a security guard in sight. Although the area was well lit, don't you employ a guard to watch that people get safely to their cars?
What kind of operation are you running?
I am not sure I would attend an event at your arena ever again.
Sincerely,
Deborah Jordan
After some research with the staff, you realize that the ice show not only sold out, with every square inch taken, but you were short-staffed. You had released tickets at the last minute, trying to make revenues, but realized it filled the arena too close to capacity.
Also, the entertainers arrived late, so the show ended past the hour it was supposed to. Although you can't track the whereabouts of every employee that day, you can bet that there were a few kinks in the arena operation. You decide to write an apology letter.