« back | 23.03.2009: JEFF SCHILLING (CREATIVE WORKS): 'WE ARE CONTINUALLY DEVELOPING OUR PRODUCTS TO STAY AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE INDUSTRY'

:: AN INTERVIEW WITH JEFF SCHILLING (CREATIVE WORKS, INC.) ::

TRUTNEE : - Jeff, could you please give us just a brief description of your Company? What is your experience in laser tag maze building? Among others, how many European laser tag arenas are using mazes created by Creative Works?

CREATIVE WORKS : - We are a full-service theme creator and prop builder to parks, museums, family entertainment centers, restaurants, tourist attractions and other venues. We bring ideas to life with our talented team of designers, sculptors, craftsmen, and artisans, and are proud to have delivered the WOW Effect to a wide variety of destinations across the globe. Today our 20,000 square foot production facility, known as the Theme Factory, combined with our talented team enable us to handle any size project.

We have a proven track record of designing, fabricating, and installing safe, fun and exciting laser tag attractions that immerse guests in fantastic environments. From the smallest of single-level mazes to the largest multi-level arenas with platforms, ramps, and catwalks – we can create the perfect laser tag attraction for your entertainment facility.

Creative Works is the world leader in designing and building themed laser tag attractions with well over 175 locations and more than 12 years of experience in our field.

In recent years we’ve built over a dozen sites in Europe. Of special note, we’ve built the Quasar Elite arena at Lider FEC which you list as “The most popular laser tag site in the ex-USSR”. Additionally, we’ve built “The first two-level maze to be opened in the ex-USSR”.

TRUTNEE : - As far as I know, you have several typical maze design schemes. What are they and what is the difference between them? What scheme is the most popular among your customers and why?

CREATIVE WORKS : - We have several spectacular themes for laser tag attractions, or a customer can create one of their own. The Theme Factory can create just about anything you can imagine! Our themes include:
- Space Quest
- Urban Quest:
- Jungle Quest
- Pharaoh Quest
- Adventure Quest
- Knights Quest
- Earth Quest
- Ocean Quest
- Pirate Quest
- Battle Quest

As to which one is most popular – they are all about even when it comes to what people like.

TRUTNEE : - What is the significance of the maze in laser tag game? I mean, is it really so necessary to built something "special"? Or, probably, it will be a good idea to spend more money purchasing a more advanced laser tag system saving on a maze building ("spend more on equipment and less on the maze")?

CREATIVE WORKS : - Your arena and themed environment is one of the most important aspects of the facility you plan to create. It’s the old saying of “first impressions count” because you never get a second change to make the right first impression. Two other things though we need to mention. Besides a great look, you also need great people and good equipment that is easy to service. You don’t need necessarily the “best” equipment on the market unless you really want to pay for it. There are many systems that outlast the more higher priced ones in the market because they are built right from the start and have great service should something go wrong. Players don’t care about the “name brand” of their equipment. They are there to play a game, have fun and play it without their system malfunctioning.

TRUTNEE : - Could you please tell us about additional maze interactive devices (they often call them "warbots" here): what types of them can you produce? What are their technical characteristics?

CREATIVE WORKS : - The interactive devices you are able to have in the arena are dependent on the laser tag manufacturer you choose to use. With any of them, we can build a great prop to house this target and make it even more special. Suppose the target is embedded in a giant BattleDroid, or the mouth of a whale, or the eyes of a dinosaur, or perhaps it’s a pulsating UFO on the side of your wall. Whatever size the target is and whatever functions it provides, we can place it within a prop that will make it memorable.

TRUTNEE : - By the way, what is the electric power consumption of an average laser tag arena? Do various special effects sufficiently increase the average power consumption?

CREATIVE WORKS : - Due to the great variance in size, location, equipment, and degree of theming it is hard to provide an answer to this question. As you add more special effects the power required will go up accordingly, just as if you were to plug in additional devices in your own home.

TRUTNEE : - What is your opinion concerning the dispute on what type of maze is better: single level or multilevel?

CREATIVE WORKS : - We could write an entire book on this question. In the United States, two level arenas dominate their counterparts. They tend to play better and offer an experience hard to match with just a single level site. Additionally you can increase the area of your arena and therefore the number of players (think more revenue) if you add a second level play structure without incurring more costs to “lease or rent” that extra space each month. From a player’s perspective, you are talking about a 360 degree “spherical” range of play versus a 360 degree “flat” range of play. Which would you want to play? The answer is easy when you poise this question to the target market of a laser tag site.

TRUTNEE : - What materials do you usually use for maze building? How durable the maze parts should be? Are there any specific requirements?

CREATIVE WORKS : - The materials we use are durable and built to last. Since we create places of adventure with our themes, different types of materials are used that require no specific requirements from the operator of the attraction.

TRUTNEE : - From the point of view of maze designer, what are the key points for laser tag arena to become success?

CREATIVE WORKS : - We call this the “Successful Arena Equation” and it starts with providing a multi-level play experience with a memorable theme that is durable and changeable. Not overcrowding your players, adding in interactive targets, purchasing a reliable laser tag system, continually refreshing your attraction and offering various game formats helps to round out this equation for successful sites.

TRUTNEE : - Once laser tag maze is built, should it ever be rebuilt? I mean, is it recommended to change maze design / layout in - say, - one or two years? Or is it better to leave it unchanged for the whole period of laser tag arena's life span?

CREATIVE WORKS : - This is part of our success equation above. If you don’t refresh what you have, you are simply inviting competition to come in and do it better. This happens to all businesses and we tell our operators not to fall prey to “the field of dreams vision”. Build it and they WILL come, but you must run it right and refresh it for them to come back time and again.

TRUTNEE : - Some people say there is probably a new trend in laser tag maze theming appeared recently. I mean, the invention of the so-called "sportive"-type arenas. I.e, laser tag mazes having as little decorations and special effects as possible. I've heard the regular players do like these arenas: such mazes allow them to concentrate upon the very process of playing, but not upon the "additional decorations". Can you please comment?

CREATIVE WORKS : - There are two basic types of players in the laser tag industry, the competitive players and the regular customers. The competitive players will often subscribe to the “sportive” style of arena as you mention because they are focused on the game and not necessarily the experience. These players in the US markets make up perhaps 5% of the income for a laser tag site although they create 80% of the tech problems with equipment due to their lack of care and roughness with the laser tag gear. If operators are into having this type of customer, we can offer them our Sportive-Arena packages to suit their needs.

Your regular customers consist of your families, walk in guests, birthday parties, corporate events, and group outings. These groups enjoy the immersive style themed arenas and want to create a memorable experience in a social setting. They also represent 95% of your revenue and treat the equipment with more care than the competitive players. For this reason, we outsell our Sportive-Arena packages nearly 20 to 1 to our immersive style themed arenas.

TRUTNEE : - Can you please give some tips concerning maze building to these our readers who are looking forward to open their own laser tag facility and just don't know how to start with arena building?

CREATIVE WORKS : - Your target market is sophisticated and intelligent. They want to be in places with others that are engaging, entertaining, and exhilarating. They sense quality, they understand good service and they want to be in a social setting that is memorable. Don’t cut corners in the beginning when designing and building your site. Many times operators who do this go out of business in a relatively short amount of time.

TRUTNEE : - What trends do you think will become popular in maze theming in the coming years? How do you see the laser tag maze of the future?

CREATIVE WORKS : - Studies have shown in other industries including entertainment that people want the best their money can afford whether this is going out to a movie, eating dinner, playing laser tag or anything else. People have many choices to choose from in terms of where they spend their disposable income. Places that cater towards these people and provide them with an experience to remember will capture the majority of this income as time goes on. In terms of theming for the future, we see more interactive arenas with integrating lighting schemes and targets that change the dynamics of the game with each game played. Evolutionary arenas that can change overtime with storylines and missions will play an important role in separating the regular laser tag site with the one that wants to attract and retain their customers.

Laser tag attractions will continue to flourish for those that deliver the WOW Effect to their customers. As such, we are continually developing our products to stay at the forefront of this industry.

TRUTNEE : - Thanks for your answers!

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