2007: The 30th Anniversary of CEC--will ANYTHING be done?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi Gang.

As you know, May 2007 marks the 30th Anniversary of PTT/CEC. I can't but wonder if the Company will do anything in it's honor, considering it's not THERE anniversary per say...but the concepts?

I know fans really enjoyed the 20th anniversary hoopla. It was nice from a fan perspective as it had all sorts of cool collectibles ( like that cookie jar!) and best of all a special anniversary show! It was great!

So i am shooting this out in the hopes that maybe this coming anniversary we will see something. I would like to think so.

As most of our regular readers know, i held a 25th Anniversary event at my local CEC back in 2002. It was a big hit, and even Mark Floreres gave us a big nod of exceptance. Also, there are plans for the 2007 CEC/Showbiz Fan Convention to take place in CA in honor of the occasion. A 30th Anniversary celebration will be part of the normal festivites.

These are fan-created happenings, but it would be cool to see the Company create something too.

So how about it?

What would YOU like to see CEC Entertainment do to honor Chuck E.s 30th birthday?

Of course the ultimate would be a neat themed show for the stages. Some sort of acknowlegment would be awesome, exspecially considering how amazing it really is that Chuck E.'s place has survived so long. I would think the Company would WANT to toot it's own horn, so to speak, even though it's not the actual company that has been with Chuck all those years.

So what do the fans have to say about all this?

[chuckrules]

well in hornor of CEC's 30th birthday Anniversary I'd love to see a very etra special cec showtape. plus mugs, t-shirts for all ages to wear in a nice purple-green-yellow combination on his new walkaround outfit colors are. and also in hornor of this celebration give every child a free pic of cec and the gang as they leave chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Place.

[MatHat13]

I can possibly see something happening but not for the show, for the place.

[sungun12]

ohhh, i didnt think of that!! does anyone know the actualy date?? im gonna make that a HUGE event in my store. crazy balloons, crazy promo coupons....

maybe ill do EVERYONE gets a 9.99 pizza and double tokens all day!! and man, if thats on a weekend, ill do it all weekend!!!!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

The actual date of Chuck E.s Birthday according to Corporate records is May 5th. However...according to PTT ( who originally owned the Rat...) his Birthday is May 22nd. I myself have seen Chuck's day listed more as the 22nd then anywhere else, incuding old promo flyers, fans club flyers, official PTT calendars and more. I i have always been puzzled over why Corporate lists it as the 5th...i good 2/3 weeks beforehand!

The San Jose CEC was open from May 17 th on according to the earliest know promo ad anouncing it's grand opening celebration in 77'.

In 2002, i hosted the famous 25th Birthday Bash at my store in Danvers to mark Chuck's annivesary and it was a huge event. When we made the following issue of "CEC Weekly" ( the weekly newsletter that was sent to all locations) it was a nice spread but they titled it as "Happy Birthday Chuck E. Cheese--May 5th 1977/2002. To this day i am still wondering why they list the "wrong" day.

So OFFICALLY it's May 22nd. That's when the original creators of CEC celebrated his birthday, so i would say that's as good a reason as any to party down.

CheeseVention 4 will be held on the weekend of the 5th next year out in San Jose CA ( where the first CEC ever opened) to commemorate the special occasion. It would be cool if those that can't make it have there own special celebrations instore!

[sungun12]

jenn what did you guys do?? give me some ideas!!! yea, as far as corporate dates go, they have my hire date as may 8.

my original hire date was october 29, 1996, then i took a year off in 1999 and then came back on july 22 2000.

i can totally see where they got may 8, 2000 from.....

[CEC3066]

rock_afire.tripod.com/bulletin/02/bulletin_07-02.html (http://rock_afire.tripod.com/bulletin/02/bulletin_07-02.html)

that's what they did.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Thanks Danny for posting that link.

Folks, check out what we did in Danvers for the 25th bash. It was quite a thing, and made us "famous" up in these parts.

Things we did that you cannot see in the pix shown in the newletter above were:

A custom coloring page/flyer that i drew up to be handed out at Kid Check to promote the upcoming party. We started giving these out to every Guest leaving the store. My specific instructions to the K/C CM was to be sure to TALK ABOUT IT and TELL THE GUEST directly after checking hand stamps. DON'T just give them a flyer...TALK ABOUT IT! It worked wonders...we created a nice buzz about it the weeks leading up to the party.

This flyer doubled as a coloring sheet and a contest: Kids were encouraged to color the picture and bring it with them the night of the event. Each child that did recieved 5 FREE TOKENS. I still have about 30/40 sheets that kids brought back that night all colored. The 5 tokens were a nice plus for the guest, and also encouraged additional token sales that night ( our sales were up all over that night).

We also had a free slice of pizza for each guest at the party ( about 150 that night that specifically came for the event). These were Mediums prepared exspecially for the night, and we ended up making about 15 pies if a remember right. Again, this encouraged not only pizza sales, but also DRINK CUPS and PROMO CUP sales which of course we pushed. PROMO CUPS exspecially, as it was touted as a "cool souvenier" of the party and they could be refilled for free anytime in the future. You should have seen the promo cup sales...lol!

We also gave out 10 free tokens to each guest, which again was to generate a nice treat for the guests in attendence, and also drive the token sales. Once people ran off to spend them in the game room, they soon realized 10 tokens does not last long. Many token saver sales were made this way that night.

The Showroom was all decorated as you will see in the pix above. Note on the showroom overview shot, the tables have a crown for EVERY child. These were our party hats for everyone, and you can see many of the kids wearing them in the pix. We did not give away balloons primarily due to the high cost of helium. Some of the "free" tokens were actually tests we had collected up for the event so it would not screw up the game reports.

Finally, as guests exited that night after the party, they were handed a special custom made coupon i drew up for us. It was a CEC 25th Birthday coupon that was good for 100 free tokens with the purchase of a large pizza. We saw a slew of these come back. The best part was that i made the coupons only valid for the DANVERS location, which ment none of out other locations ( who often steal our sales) could take advantage of it. It guarenteed repeat business to OUR store only. This is important to keep in mind. At that time, there was a company issued 100 token/large pizza coupon running on the register but was not currently offered in our area. We could then key them in ofifically and not throw off the registers. It worked out good, as many party guests returned in the following weeks to use the coupon which was only valid for a month after the event. That coupon worked wonders for us...and again provided the Guest with a great incentive to return to OUR store and not the CEC down the road!

The entire event made a huge impact on our sales not only that night, but also that month due to the return coupon offer. The payroll for the event night was high ( we had 8 on specifically for the event only..not including regular staff..total was around 12 to 15). The end result was worth it as when i finally figured out the numbers we made over $2,300 in profit that night alone. I don't remember the total sales, but after i deducted everything ( food cost %, labour %, etc) that's what i came up with. Needless to say out DM was very happy. The GM at that time was'nt even in attendence...! He later regretted it once word spread of it's success.

The ultimate nod came from Corporate themselves, as it was a full page story inside a following weeks' "CEC Weekly" newsletter. Two weeks later Mark Floreres sent J and I a personal thank you and a "magic" CEC pin which i still wear to this day ( you may remember me wearing it at the CV's if you have attended). That was the ultimate...

The following month i was awarded "Manager of the Quarter" in my district primarily due to the success of the 25th Bash.

I did a follow up Event that Christmas, which was called "Chuck E.'s Holiday Party" which was very similar. This was even more lavish ( there is a dvd release of the event) then the 25th bash, but because of the time of the event ( the week before X-mas) it failed to attract a large crowd ( only 60 if that). Sales were'nt as big because of it, and the new GM was'nt all that keen about all the "free" giveaways.

It turned out to be my swan song...but what a great way to go out! ;)

[CEC3066]

DVD of the Christmas party you say?? I only have that on VHS when wasa this transferred?

[sungun12]

ohhh, youve got me FILLED with ideas. i cant freakin wait. god thats so awesome Jenn. it just amazes me so much that you were so into cec but youre not there anymore. definitely a shame. wanna work in my store??? ill need a mgr soon!!!

seriously thou, did you ever think of going to another district or something, cause i know you had issues. are those people even there still?

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

To Danny:

Yes, there was a "Holdiay Party" re-release i beleive....Check with Vega as i am positive he had transferred it and i did make a dvd cover for it for him.

For Sungun...

Thanks for your support ...it means a lot to me!

At that time after the boom went down, i did'nt want to have anything to do with CEC at all. I was still a fan, yes, but was so crushed by what had went down that i pretty much closed the book on working for the Company. Let's say i was extremely dissillusioned by the way my departure was handled. If i had the interest to continue, i could have pursued other avenues, and maybe just worked at another store.
At that time there was nothing located near me that i could get to that was in another district. Everything was under one flag then ( 2002)....now it's different. The district has shifted somewhat since then and our Everett store is now officially out of our district, but it's not a store i would want to work at really. Far too crazy there ( its the big inner city location here...)Don't get me wrong...i can deal with high volume stores, it's just Everett being a inner city location has a wild crowd and things can get rough there sometimes.

My old DM is still in charge in this District....and a few managers/techs that worked with me are still around spread throughout the area. And yes, that GM who had a hand to play in my departure is still around too...but not in MA.

Danvers itself has two people left who worked with me back in the day. I know others there now, but that is based on my current partronage and my activities in the fan community. They were'nt there to witness all that we pulled off, though they are certainly aware of it thanks to J's stories.

I always said to myself that if i DID go back with CECE, it would be on a Corporate level ( primarily entertainment or marketing) and not a store level. Over the years that interest has waxed and waned...but ya never know. I still get the buzz when i visit i store and chat with the managers or get the chance to perform "with" Chuck E. again.

So ya never know....

By the way Sungun......where are you currently? Still in Canada correct?

When do you need a manager? LOL!!

:b :b :b

:lol

[CEC3066]

I love the Christmas show

[Rockafirefan]

Jenn, Could you please post pictures of the CEC coloring page and the newslatter article about CEC's 25th Birthday?

[CEC3066]

all the info is in the July 2002 Billy Bob's Bulletin

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Hi RAe Fan...

I am not sure if the 25th flyer is shown in the Billy Bob Bulliten here or not...i don't think it is.

If you really want to see it i can ask someone here to possibly post it for me as i never have luck posting images on message boards.

Danny (Jasper) might have it.....

I know Vega does....

Mod Edit: just had to clarify that since we have multiple Danny's on here

[sungun12]

Canada?? noooo, im in west virginia. and yes, ill need a mgr real soon. oh and have i ever mentioned we have the highest profit % in our region for this quarter? #2 year to date in variance above scale. that store in canton is like 1.5 above me. i gotta check out that store...
anyone been to canton??? i know someone is from Mentor, thats in their district

[CEC3066]

Way to go Missy!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Awesome Missy.

So i am guessing ya'all make your bonus' every month then?

Sweet!!

:b

[sungun12]

of course...ive never NOT gotten a bonus - and honestly, i dont understand how someone couldnt. with the kind of set up, managers and cm like i have, its a piece of cake

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Sweet.

Nice job!

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Well Gang, here we are...it's officially 2007 now...time to kick off the 30th Anniversary celebration!!

I really do hope Corporate does SOMETHING this year in Chuck's honor. The 25th was pretty much non-exsistent until the summertime when the "25 years of Family Fun" logo started to turn up on Kool-Aid products. Hopefully they will make more of a effort this time around?

It's been proven in a business sense that when a company or organization celebrates a anniversary it opens up all kinds of promotion opportunities and marketing. Look at how successful places like DisneyLand and McDonald's handled there many anniversaries over the years. Disney alone made incredible profits during their 50th bash that just ended. There is NO REASON why CEC can't do this too! Here's is an example of what i am talking about:

As some of you know, i have worked at Build-a-Bear now since leaving Danvers CEC. 2007 is BABW's 10th anniversary. 10 years ago this October the company opened it's first location in St. Louis. All this year, they are celebrating with special promotions, exclusive merch, and a ton of marketing and media exposure. We already have started, and our store is covered already in all the marketing logos trumpeting the anniversary called "The Year of Friendship". This is a multi million dollar company, but in no ways as huge and as expanded/recognized and CEC is. If a smaller company like BABW can be doing a year long anniversary promotion, why can't CEC?

Think of the marketing potential ALONE....ads that point this out to the Guests would no doubt create some further appreciation of the concept. It would also tap into the thousands of past Guests from days of yore who are now parents to rekindle that "inner child". It would also bring on a flood of "feel good" memories associated with CECs. I think the Company will miss out on a lot of easy promotional ops if they do nothing. Just my thought.....

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

(bump!)

:smokin:

[CEC3066]

why not change BABW's promotion to "The Year Of A Million Bears" <grin>