Harry Potter - are YOU ready?
My life is being consumed by Harry Potter. Two years ago we had a Harry Potter Midnight Madness party for the release of the last book.....and it was INSANE. This year should prove to be even crazier since people are more informed about the event.
Yikes!
Last time we had a few thousand (yes - THOUSAND) people show up. Many were in costume, and most of those were adults. Our escalators broke down under the strain, and it took three days to get them repaired. *whimper* People were sitting under tables, on top of tables, in aisles, etc... We had crafts, contests, freebies - everything a fan could wish for. We had so many news vans parked outside, the mall demanded to know what was going on. We had informed them of the event, but they couldn't conceive of so much attention because of a book and thought that there must have been a murder, at minimum, to have caused all that insanity. We also sold in excess of 1500 copies in under 45 minutes...talk about a marathon!! The maintenance crew threatened to quit the next morning when they saw the condition of the store.
My Community Relations Manager is thrilled because he's got the local weatherman coming to deliver the news from our store....not sure of the connection - "we've got rain....and HARRY POTTER!!!" - but he's thrilled, and so's the weatherman, so I say go for it.
I read all of the books, and they are a great read. I'm excited to read the next release....but can I be forgiven for wishing this was over already? My 'move' to another store will be delayed until after the event (hmmm....I'm too sick to run a large store, but not too sick to plan and run an event that, last year, produced more than a blockbuster movie's opening week-end for the company? That's company-wide results. Oh - THAT'S right, my boss doesn't want me to miss out on the 'fun'!)
I'll have to post after the event....if I survive it!
Yikes!
Last time we had a few thousand (yes - THOUSAND) people show up. Many were in costume, and most of those were adults. Our escalators broke down under the strain, and it took three days to get them repaired. *whimper* People were sitting under tables, on top of tables, in aisles, etc... We had crafts, contests, freebies - everything a fan could wish for. We had so many news vans parked outside, the mall demanded to know what was going on. We had informed them of the event, but they couldn't conceive of so much attention because of a book and thought that there must have been a murder, at minimum, to have caused all that insanity. We also sold in excess of 1500 copies in under 45 minutes...talk about a marathon!! The maintenance crew threatened to quit the next morning when they saw the condition of the store.
My Community Relations Manager is thrilled because he's got the local weatherman coming to deliver the news from our store....not sure of the connection - "we've got rain....and HARRY POTTER!!!" - but he's thrilled, and so's the weatherman, so I say go for it.
I read all of the books, and they are a great read. I'm excited to read the next release....but can I be forgiven for wishing this was over already? My 'move' to another store will be delayed until after the event (hmmm....I'm too sick to run a large store, but not too sick to plan and run an event that, last year, produced more than a blockbuster movie's opening week-end for the company? That's company-wide results. Oh - THAT'S right, my boss doesn't want me to miss out on the 'fun'!)
I'll have to post after the event....if I survive it!
posted by Siobhan | 6:21 PM
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