How to Simplify Your Park or FEC Party Processes in 30 Minutes or Less

Whether you’re planning a party at an amusement park, waterpark, trampoline park or FEC, use event milestones to identify and manage all the important event tasks.

FEC and park party coordinators often wear many hats including, but not limited to: making sales, organizing details, training party staff, stepping in to host parties and ensuring that both kids and parents leave smiling. Being a party manager is no easy job!

And while some pros make it look easy, they’ll probably tell you that the fear of tasks slipping through the cracks can keep them up at night. That’s why your FEC and park event processes need to be top notch to help ease the burden and keep things running smoothly. But how? A calendar? Expensive project management software? An Excel spreadsheet? What if we told you that you could configure milestones for any — and all — event types in your Advantage Groups application? Here’s how:

1.     What are event milestones?

Event milestones are tasks that need to happen before or after an event. These are the necessary, manual tasks for every event of a certain type. Remember that automated group event emails can take some of the communication burden off your party pros so that they’re able to focus on the manual personal touches that make a park or FEC party pop. Some examples include:

Birthday Event Milestones

• Confirmation calls
• Party prep calls
• Ordering specialty items such as custom cakes, balloon arches, etc.
• Checking waiver and RSVP status for upcoming events
• Preparing welcome signs, game and attraction cards
• Scheduling mascot visits
• Post-event calls

Group Event Milestones

• Confirmation calls
• Deposit and final payment due dates
• Ordering special linens, banquet equipment not kept onsite
• Ordering and/or testing A/V equipment
• Drafting or programming welcome signage or social media posts
• Loading game and attraction cards
• Preparing team building facilitation materials
• Post-event calls

2.     How do I set up milestones for my events?

Make a list of all the necessary tasks and contact points needed for each event type (or party package). Determine which tasks can be achieved by using an automated email and which ones will need someone to complete and check off. Next, determine how many days prior to or after a park or FEC event date each milestone must be completed. You’ll configure your event milestones in Advantage Groups and you can customize them by those required for birthdays, those for groups, even those for individual birthday packages, if they differ.

3.     How will milestones begin working for me?

Once configured, you’re ready to start allowing milestones to make your job easier! Every event that is scheduled will automatically include the milestones you’ve configured for that event type to become due at the right time. You can even add custom milestones to individual events that have already been booked.

To see all the milestones that are outstanding, simply run the Outstanding Milestones Report from Manager Console or Advantage Groups to know which milestones are due on any day. Any uncompleted milestone leading up to the date you request in your report will appear.

As you complete each unique task, mark the event milestone as completed in the event Actions tab. This helps you easily track when the task was completed and by whom. It also removes the milestone from future Outstanding Milestones Reports. You can even make this process a little easier by setting up an automated report notification to be sent to a party coordinator. For example, you can schedule a report to go out on Tuesday mornings that includes all outstanding milestones to be completed within the next seven days. This will help you manage all tasks in a more efficient manner.

In no time, you’ll have a project management tool that will help you manage all the details to minimize stress and help your party manager focus on what’s most important.

Learn how CenterEdge can help your events business thrive with Group and Party Booking.