How Disney Delivers Practical Magic

Disney’s Practical Magic – the stage name for Quality Service Cycle

Onstage-the response that it produces in guests when everything comes together in a seamless, seemingly effortless performance
Backstage-the nuts and bolts necessary to create a Quality Service Cycle

Quality Service defined: exceeding your guests’ expectations and paying attention to detail

The WOW! Factor – Exceeding Guests’ Expectations

• Paying close attention to every aspect of the guest experience
• Analyzing that experience from the guest’s perspective
• Understanding the needs and wants of the guest
• Committing every element of the process to the creation of an exceptional experience

Quality Service Cycle

• Service theme-simple statement, shared among all team members, that becomes the driving force of service
• Service standards-the criteria for actions that are necessary to accomplish the service theme
• Service delivery systems-vehicles used to deliver service
• Service integration-each element in the QSC combined to create a complete operating system

That’s how the elements of Quality Service come together at Disney World. The service theme generates standards. The standards are defined and delivered using three basic systems that every organization shares: its people, its physical assets, and its processes. All three are integrated and aligned. That’s the business behind the Disney brand of practical magic of guest services.

Just a couple of questions for you and your church:

So what?

Now What?

The Experience Blueprint

Designing Your Church’s Guest Services with the Magic of Disney

Families across America (and now around the world) have experienced the magic of Walt Disney for years. Fairy tales brought to life, journeys into a “wonderful world,” and thrills non-stop are the foundation for the success of the Disney Empire. As Walt himself said, “And it all started with a mouse.”

That may be true, but the magic of Disney may be best stated in a phrase Walt Disney used over 60 years ago: “My business is making people, especially children, happy.” More than just a statement, it was the basis for Disney’s mission as a business; it represented what the company stands for and why it exists. Changing just a little over the years, it is The Walt Disney Company’s service theme.

We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment

for people of all ages, everywhere

Your church is certainly not in the entertainment business, but I would like to suggest that it can learn from the “practical magic” of Disney, and create environments, guest services, and experiences that will create an amazing first impression on your guests and members alike – and help lead them to involvement and investment in your ministries.

Join me at WFX Friday November 5 at 8:30 AM in Ballroom E to learn how you can create magic with your guest services!



Building Project Choreography

One definition of choreography is “the art of composing dances by planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of the dancers.” In the same way, a successful church design & construction project involving AVL is also choreography. The project:

• is an art form
• is a composition
• involves planning and arranging
• is about movement, steps, and patterns

A working illustration of design-construction-AVL choreography can be found on Alliance Bible Fellowship’s new worship center project: JH Batten Design Builders, Livingstones Architecture, and Signature Sight and Sound have joined together to work with Alliance’s tech team from the very beginning. Early in the planning stages, a working partnership was launched. As the project moved from schematic design to final construction documents, all the partners kept up a running dialog to make sure what the church wanted could be done, on time and in budget.

This panel discussion is taking place today at WFX in Ballroom B, from 1-2:30 PM. It will illustrate the choreography involved in a successful church project with extensive AVL applications. In just the same way dancers must plan, rehearse, and perform a choreographed dance number, a church AVL project involves choreography all throughout the project.

How to Choreograph a Great Building Project

• Have a vision
• Pick the music before you start making up the dance
• Don't dance to the words of the song
• Count!
• Don't depend on tricks

Here's the team that is "dancing" on the Alliance Project:

Alliance Bible Fellowship

• Dean Moyers, Worship and Fine Arts Pastor
• Ben Cranor, Technical Director

JH Batten

• Gil Hunter, Project Manager
• Bob Adams, Development Consultant

Living Stones Architecture

• David Dial, Steward/President

Signature Sight and Sound

• Van Sachs, Consultant

Want to learn to dance?

WFX Begins Tomorrow

The 2010 Worship Facilities Expo and Conference (WFX) kicks off bright and early Wednesday morning at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

Just what is WFX?

It's a chance to...

EXPLORE new ideas, new approaches, and new technology

EXPERIENCE valuable lessons and insights from churches of every size

EXPAND skills and resources to increase your church's impact

The Conference runs Wed-Fri, November 3-5. You can experience over 80 classes to improve your church's options for doing ministry.

The Expo runs Wed-Thur, November 3-4. Over 200 exhibitors will be showcasing the latest products, services, and solutions to enhance your church's ministry - all under one roof.

I will admit to a bias - I have been involved in the leadership, programming and exhibition at every WFX since its beginning in 2005. This will be my 8th time around (for a couple of years there were 2 events each year), and each one has been better than before.

If you are in the Atlanta area, or within a few hours drive, I can still get you FREE Expo passes and reduced full conference rates. Email me for complete details.

I'll be posting WFX highlights here the rest of the week.

Headed to WFX Long Beach

I'm flying out of Charlotte this morning, headed to Long Beach CA and the Worship Facilities Expo. I've got a full week, making three presentations, moderating a breakfast roundtable discussion, and meeting with WFX staff about the Charlotte show this fall.

Here are my presentation thumbnails:

Developing a Creation Care Audit for Your Church
Green. Sustainable. Environmentally responsible. Stewardship. No matter what words you use, the movement to become more aware of our impact in the environment is growing. The church, as a community leader, has an important role to play. Learn how your church can measure its environmental impact now and what steps can be taken to improve it in the future. Walk away with examples to help adapt your church to become more environmentally responsible.

Puttin’ on the Ritz: Creating WOW Experiences at Your Church
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is legendary for providing an exemplary level of customer service for its guests. Church leadership teams can follow their examples in providing experiences that consistently WOW guests and members alike. In this session, learn how to understand your guests and their needs while exploring ways to deliver a high level of customer service to ensure positive guest experiences. Put processes in place now to deliver WOW moments…and prevent WHOA incidents.

Creating Leaders
Volunteers are often the the backbone of your ministry, whether on the administration side or the facilities side. Keeping these workers motivated and learning can be challenging when the rewards are intangible. The promise or goal of growing with the church and continuing to serve in the future can become a encouragement to otherwise burnt-out folks. This session will explore how you can nurture your team and transition a volunteer in any ministry position into a leader.

One of the best things about WFX is the information flow - as you can tell from my topics above, there will be a wide range of sessions on everything dealing with church facilities. I like to make these presentations, but you can be sure I will also be soaking up the three days worth of sessions as well.

Look for updates and summaries here throughout the week.