Hypothetical Full Time Haunt Job

[Old Tree Studios]

The following is a hypothetical job posting which may or may not exist in the future and in no way represents any jobs that may or may not be available in the present, future, or in this country, continent or any other continent, world, or universe known or unknown.

The following is posted soley as an information gathering tool to gauge real world interest. The only information available at this time is presented in this hypothetical posting.

SO, having said all that... if the following jobs were to be made available (hypothetically speaking, of course) would anyone from this haunt community be interested?

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TECHNICAL DIRECTOR (2 POSITIONS)

* Responsible for public safety at all times.

* Responsible for system design, operation, maintainance and repair of all computer based operations of the attraction.

* Responsible for system design, operation, maintainance and repair of all lighting related to the attraction.

* The successful applicant must have extensive Geek Squad capabilities and experience, work well under pressure, be attentive to detail, fast of mind, and possess a wicked sense of humor.

* Must be willing to relocate

CONTRACT PERIOD - Full Time with benefits

SALARY - $900 pr/wk



ACTOR/TOURGUIDE - (8 POSITIONS)

* Responsible for public safety at all times

* Responsible for presenting "the good show" at all times

* Must be able to memorize the entire script for the attraction and be able to excel in all positions.

* Must work well with others.

* Must be able to interact with guests with a professional demeanor and in a manner consistant with our company culture.

* Must possess and wicked sense of humor.

* Must be willing to relocate

CONTRACT PERIOD - Independant Contractor - 9 month contract (March - Nov.)

SALARY - $400-600 pr/wk


All successful applicants must be team players. We are a non-traditional corporate structure and seek creative team members who are empowered to work on an equal basis to achieve and maintain our corporate goals.

Old Tree Studios is an equal opportunity employer and does not descriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, national origin, or sexual orientation.

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So, given the information you've read above, would anyone be interested in the above positions?

Again, and I refer you to the first paragraphs of the post, these positions are not currently available. We're simply fishing to see if these terms could drum up any qualified applicants from this community when and if these positions become available.

Unfortunately I can't give any more specific infomation yet. Just seeing if this peaks anyone's interest.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

[Jim Warfield]

I would assume that the majority of us reading this know that a "week" in this businesse's busy season is not merely a 40 hour work week.
(And it ain't 32 either !!! )

[Old Tree Studios]

Ah yes, ever attentive Jim zooms right in on the Achilles' Heel of the proposition. You weren't supposed to notice that. How about we call it... 40+ hour week.

OR, applicants must renounce all former and present connections to family, friends, aquaintances, society at large and be prepared to dedicate oneself mind, body, soul and blood to "The Company" without regard to personal identity or gain.

There, that sounds much more attractive.

[Mr. Haunt]

So what is this, a haunt that is open 9 months out of the year?

It might fly with me. However for those who would have to relocate from out of state. $400-$600 a week will not cut it in the "rent" or "own" world. I would be a haunter that pays rent for a place to live.

Brian

[Jim Warfield]

Getting paid to scare people AND maybe a free complimentary tattoo?
(I had an employee who spent most of his generous salary on new tattoos!)
Of course "Tattoos" are a funny thing to call hammer contusions and drill screw scars.

[Old Tree Studios]

So what is this, a haunt that is open 9 months out of the year?

It might fly with me. However for those who would have to relocate from out of state. $400-$600 a week will not cut it in the "rent" or "own" world. I would be a haunter that pays rent for a place to live.

Brian

Brian, remember now we're talking hypothetical here. But yes, this hypothetical attraction would in fact operate for 9 months (March-Nov.)

Your response to the salary is interesting, in fact just the feedback I'm looking for. As we know from our current entertainment endeavor (non-haunt related but similar market) there is a fine balance to be struck between hiring quality people and maintaining "fiscal integrity."

We (our humble core group) have hypothesized that the people who have the "intellectual testicular fortitute" to participate in the Pro Haunt Forums, though preferred, probably aren't going to be interested in a 9 month out of state Actor/Tourguide job.

However, we are particularly interested in the Tech Dir. position as related to folks in this Forum. Again, hypothetical, but $900 plus benefits we're thinking is pretty good scratch for the right loner, maniacal, electronicly wizardish, perhaps a bit underachieving but gifted computer person.

Any thoughts?

Mike

[Greg Chrise]

I'm not sure.

This is either being a secret agent or running away to join the circus or both somehow combined. A unicycling juggling clown with a license to kill? Winters off to get the dental care you didn't have time for in season?

If you or any of your Mission Impossible team are caught juggling, we will disavow any knowledge of your activities.

Could these tattoos be the stick on kind?

[Doug Kelley]

Technical Director Pay

If you want a real geek, I think your pay is under by as much as 50%. I work with a lot of techies in my current job and I used to manage a team of software developers. We are pretty tech-heavy here in the Pacific Northwest; that salary would only attract an entry-level guy out of a trade school, not a guru by a long shot. If that's what you want, it should be okay. Of course, salaries in your area may be different. Try monster.com (not a haunt site!) to see what others are paying in your area.

[Old Tree Studios]

Lol. Thanks Greg. I was expecting your prescient input sooner or later. I can assure you that this hypothetical scenario involves no government agencies and steers clear of anything remotely related to clowns and /or the cotton candy genre of entertainment.

But a person would certainly have time to get teeth fixed. Unless of course that person were involved in a scene where toothlessness is a virtue.

[Spookyfinder]

Michael. It sounds to me like you are dreaming and daring and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your doing! Love your signature by the way. Please keep us posted as your theories evolve into realities. It all starts with a dream my friend! ; )

Kel

[Mr. Haunt]

$900.00 For a Tech. person this would be fine, I would think anyway. However I do believe in the work world, some person with that skill level might make a little more. This is something though that you would have to research.

On other thing, if I was an actor and worked 5-7 day's a week for 9 months out of the year might burn me out as well as others who would be working for you. Maybe say work one month get one off. Play around with the hours and days a single person would work.

This is what I would do anyway. I would not want to over work my workers even if they are the hardest hard core haunters EVER! They would grow board of it after a while.

Brian

[Old Tree Studios]

Kel, thanks for the encouragement (one of the reasons I became a part of this particular haunt community).

Brian, yes actor fatique is a big issue. And one that we've discussed at length. I was going to present that issue in another post, but as long as you brought it up, I'd be interested to know how others have handled this.

t's one thing to be a tourguide at a theme park ( I was, once upon a time), but it is quite another to be required to act at the intensity and with the repetition necessary for a haunt, not just on a nightly basis, but on weekly basis as well.

So particularly those of you with longer runs, how do you keep your actors motivated?

Mike

[brad]

Kel, thanks for the encouragement (one of the reasons I became a part of this particular haunt community).

Brian, yes actor fatique is a big issue. And one that we've discussed at length. I was going to present that issue in another post, but as long as you brought it up, I'd be interested to know how others have handled this.

t's one thing to be a tourguide at a theme park ( I was, once upon a time), but it is quite another to be required to act at the intensity and with the repetition necessary for a haunt, not just on a nightly basis, but on weekly basis as well.

So particularly those of you with longer runs, how do you keep your actors motivated?

Mike

If it's a guy- promise him a full year subscription to a good adult magazine!!! It worked for one of my guys at least!!

[Jim Warfield]

The only way to really motivate the majority of people when working in someone else's business,almost guaranteeing them giving it the extra attention and efforts, is to give that person a percentage of the business so as to make it their own.
This holds true for any business. Grocery Store, Car dealership.......
Some people have the amazing capacity to be able to lie to employees for many years at a time, keeping hope alive for more than just a predictable low wage or for either a piece of the business or some special accreditation that never happens necesarry for more income, but I hope most of us can't do that and won't even try to.
My "Motivation" in running The Ravens Grin, open almost every night of the year for approaching 20 years now, is simply very personal rewards , not just making a living but seeing the customers react time and time again, not always the same way to all the things they experience here in the 90 minutes that I get to toy with their perceptions. They give ME their money for this and usually I also get to hear and see their compliments that I force from them upon pain of more "Tour"!
"Would you like ANOTHER ten minutes of this place and ME!?"
"NO, Jim! This place is GREAT! Can we leave now, please?"
I often receive tremendous mental exercise , I guess that it's referred to as "Stimulation"as I do all of this.
Then I enjoy building new things and seeing if they affect the customers the way I thought that they would, everything gets "Tweeked" and slightly modified , sometimes in just the way I present it or what might be said about it, I am also constantly experiementing with voice, timing of delivery, what I do or don't say to certain groups.
Maybe I'm just real simple myself because I never get tired of seeing and hearing their reactions, predictable and of course the very unpredictable ones too.

[Old Tree Studios]

Bingo Jim! Right on the nose. The issue of night to night actor fatigue aside, there is no greater motivator for employees than pride in the organization. Pride achieved through creating a great product and pride through instilling unshakable positive values into your company core.

For many years (too many) I worked for someone who's primary motivational technique (among many other horrible ones) involved putting his hands in his pockets, kicking the ground and talking about how little money there was and it was always someone else's fault. In other words, if we didn't do something "drastic", it would come crashing down around us. The following sums up this management philosophy: (By the way, you GOTTA check out this site)

http://www.despair.com/achievement.html

But what you were saying, Jim, is certainly key. Rewarding your employees for their efforts. If you have volunteers, then reward through praise and reward through the satisfaction that comes at the end of the day through creating a great product. If you have a payroll, then certainly reward also comes through fair compensation as well. Certainly for me, nothing makes me want to work harder for someone, than when they tell me they appreciate what I've done so far.

I don't think this means that you can't occassionally employ the use of the "iron fist." In fact I think that's necessary at times. These unshakable postive core values need to be adhered to, and as such, there may from time to time be cause for "course correction".

But if you're putting out a great product, you are treating your people with respect, and adhering to your values, then slowly a wonderous thing begins to occur. Your people begin to take "ownership" in the organization through the pride they feel of simply being a valued part of it.


Uh, sorry about being long winded there. It's just that Jim touched on a nerve. This very topic is what "motivated" me and my group to make the leap and strike out on our own. We wanted to create the antithesis of what we had experienced.

FYI for those who are interested (not many I'm sure). Part of the reason I'm a little cryptic on here at this point about what we're doing is that we are still in the process of severing ties with this previous organization all while getting our ducks in a neat little row to embark in this new direction.

Ok, I'm done yabbering. I'm going to go sit in the corner of the chatroom now.

Mike