Roller coasters and web sites

So yesterday I got to attend the “ACE Day” at Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) with my family. ACE is the acronym for “American Coaster Enthusiasts”, of which my 13-year old son is a member. The cool thing about “ACE Day” is that those of us who attended as part of the group were given the opportunity to enter the park early and stay late to ride the best rides when no one else was there. This allowed us to get on rides (such as the new “X2”) which normally had two hour lines in less than 15 minutes. One other benefit of attending with ACE was that the management of Six Flags gave us some “behind the scenes” opportunities. We got to see some parts of the park that are normally closed to the general public and we got to have a Q&A with senior management.

So why am I writing about this in a blog about Internet ministry? Well, I’ll try to make this short:

Over the past 15 years, Magic Mountain has gotten a reputation as a park where you would NOT want to take your family. As the park became focused on having the biggest, most extreme roller coasters in the world, they lost focus on the overall experience of the customer. The park became a place full of teenagers and young adults who were only interested in riding the biggest, most extreme roller coasters. The park was dirty, the “kiddie land” was ignored. Less popular rides were in disrepair, closed down and left there to rot. A couple of years ago, there was serious talk to sell off the park and possibly close it down.

When we arrived yesterday, we were greeted with “Welcome to the NEW Six Flags Magic Mountain!”. We weren’t sure what that meant, but as we spent the next few hours at the park we noticed friendly employees, cleaner grounds, and more focus on family activities (such as the new “Thomas the Tank Engine” area, which unfortunately wasn’t open yet). We were impressed and were saying how we were pleased with the direction the park was going and hoped for further improvement in the next few years.

So how did they do this? How do you change a reputation and a organizational mindset? Because of our ACE status, we got to hear the answers to this first hand in the afternoon Q&A session. And this is where I can draw the lessons for those of us in Internet ministry.

Many ministries have outdated or poorly designed web sites. Many are neglected or ignored and everyone says “What can we do about it?” but nothing gets done. Just like SFMM, many “customers” have written them off or given up on them. But a peek behind the curtain shows just how a turnaround can be accomplished:

• A decision has to be made at the top that a change is necessary. At SFMM they made a conscious decision that a focus on the family experience was primary. While they still pride themselves on having a monster lineup of extreme roller coasters, the focus is now on the family. This includes employee shirts that say “Please keep our park clean, my family goes here too.” This is the first step needed when making over a web ministry as well. Without top level support, the time and resourced needed may not get provided.
  
• Employees must be empowered to think for themselves and try out new ideas. One of the key changes being made is that the employees themselves are being given the authority to propose and make changes. One example of this given during the Q&A was the kids karaoke show. For very little money, they were able to add a program where kids can get on stage and sing songs and “play” instruments while their parents and grandparents take pictures and video. This contributed to the overall goals of the park and gave employees real ownership of the changes being made. In web ministry, you want to get the entire organization on board, not just a couple of staff members. What can you do to bring in everyone and help them “own” the changes?
  
• Outside help must be brought in when necessary. SFMM recognized certain situations where doing it themselves would not give them the best result. Where in the past they would have just settled for something done themselves, this time they sought out experts outside their organization and paid them to complete a project. If your organization does not have all the talent necessary, you may need to bring in outside help and pay for it. Volunteer work may be possible, but you need to recognize when it will work and when it will not.
  

SFMM still has a ways to go to re-create their image, but they have convinced me that they are on the right track. We are looking forward to our next trip there with our entire family.