Creating Memorable Experenices

“My job is to create experiences”.  Debra Foster, Carver Center, Program Specialist I-- Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS)

Creating Memorable Experiences for Your Senior Program Patrons

Adriana Carr, MPA, CPRP

Senior Resource Group Co-Chair Elect 2019

Lee Senior Center Director

Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation

Instead of looking at how you provide good customer service, think about how you might develop meaningful experiences with your programming.  I will explain. Look through job sites such as CareerBuilder, Indeed and Monster.com for customer service jobs and you will come across such titles as Customer Experience Manager, Customer Experience Specialist or Customer Experience Director.  Customer service, as a field, has evolved.  Now companies want to know how you feel about their product.  They want to make your purchase decisions easy.  They want to keep you.  So instead of looking to improve customer service, many companies have moved forward with the goal of creating a great customer experience.  Two examples I can think of are shopping at Wegmans or going to a theme park such as Disney World.

This approach is also relevant to those of us who are recreation professionals and work with older adults.  With increased competition from local library systems, post-secondary institutions, senior living communities, mall and meet-ups, to name a few, it is crucial that we find a way to differentiate ourselves.  The way to highlight the important services and programs we offer is to create experiences for our patrons.  There is a lot of value in what we do every day. Let me tell you about four amazing ways to bolster customer experience.

A robust travel program is always going to add value to your offerings.  Here in Arlington, trips were the first programs in the history of Arlington Senior Programs.  Devoting as much time as you can to developing a schedule of interesting places is going to be worth your while.  If you are a one-person operation or even two or three, it can be challenging.  It’s not insuperable however, because our own Senior Resource Group Chair - Cheryl Wheeler and Member at Large - June Snead brought a Trips and Tours Workshop to Berryville, VA.  Attendees learned the basics of planning quality trips from experts in the Travel and Tourism industry.  If you were not able to attend, please contact Cheryl for additional information. 

Offering a Senior Citizen Police Academy is one way to strengthen the connection between you and your community.  A Citizens Police academy, which is usually offered to the general adult population, can be repurposed to give older adults the same educational experience. Tammy Caldwell Supervisor of Senior and Special Populations of the Christiansburg Department of Parks and Recreation in Partnership with Officer Phillip Townley of the Montgomery County Police Department designed and implemented a successful one.  To find out how you can bring a similar program to your jurisdiction, plan to attend the Senior Police Academy session at the Senior Resource Group Conference this coming October or send a message to Tammy.

Camps. They aren’t just for kids anymore. Our Senior Resource Group Chair - Cheryl Wheeler and her fine colleagues at Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services took the camp concept and adapted it to the preferences and interest of adults.  Participants hiked, took part in educational and experiential sessions.  This program is in its fourth year and it continues to grow.  To learn how you can plan and implement a camp for older adults contact Cheryl Wheeler.

You should also check out Kathy Blevins (Mature Adult Recreation Programmer) of Vienna Parks and Recreation.  Her program was featured in the NRPA Healthy Aging in Parks blog. Learn how she and her team builds big community in a small town by creating vital connections and valuable experiences. Check out their Mature Adult Adventure Camp.  I am certain it is quite successful.

A good experience always leads to a strong relationship with your customers.  Who better to create a superior customer experience than a parks and recreation professional?

Tell us about your process of creating positive experiences for your customers. 

Cheryl Wheeler

LaTanja Jones

Kim Graves

June Snead

Debra Foster

Judith Mangalin

Jane Shelhorse

Telling the Story of your Senior Programs with Data

“Analytics – The science of using data to build models that leads to better decisions that in turn add value to individuals, companies and institutions”.  Dimitris Bertsimas.

Telling the Story of Your Senior Programs with Data

Adriana Carr, MPA, CPRP

Senior Resource Group Co-Chair Elect 2019

Lee Senior Center Director

Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation

As a recreation professional working with older adults, you know two things for certain.  One, there had better be coffee ready and two you can always count on real time feedback from your core patrons.  When it comes time to turn in your quarterly reports that track attendance or the program evaluation results on customer satisfaction surveys or volunteer hours, to name a few; do you often think to yourself:  what am I doing this for? Does it go anywhere? How am I supposed to fit this in with everything else?  Do I really need this to see how I am doing?

I know I know...what’s with all the questions?  Sure, we all know that the data we provide at the hands-on service level helps the folks who make the decisions about the organization’s direction but collecting data and tracking it can also help you with your programming decision.  It’s called data analytics and it can make your job more effective, successful and, yes, less stressful.

For the next few months I have been assigned the task of compiling the data that is produced by the senior centers in the organization I work for.  It has been very interesting to see how that data turns into information that tells a story.    Additionally, the information derived from that data  it’s so objective that the next steps are clear.  Some of the data is mine; from my programs.  While I would enter the raw data and go back to analyze it; somehow seeing those same numbers presented differently is more insightful.  Before you pass that data on, take a minute to really look at it.

In the field of data analytics there are models that can tell you what happened in the past and then there are models that can help use data to plan for the future.  That is where we should focus our efforts: on the future. Because in our field, the landscape is changing rapidly.  For example, the data in the center I manage showsthat patrons  are no longer coming for one program and then heading home.  A significant number are starting to stay longer.  Many are without family nearby or have no family at all. Several have recently retired and are looking for a place to go on a regular basis. So when I tell the story of the center I talk about a place that people say feels like home. 

We all know about the research pointing to the negative effects of loneliness on older adults and the prevalence of older adult orphans. To build up on that feeling and foster community engagement, look to your data.  It offers a clear path and ability to make objective, impactful program decisions. 

How do you use data to plan for your program’s future?  Let us know.

Cheryl Wheeler,  CPRP SRG Chair

Adriana Carr, CPRP  Chair Elect

Judith Mangalin, Treasurer

June Snead, At Large

Take the Challenge: Get out of your Comfort Zone to Stay Inspired

by Adriana Carr, MPA
Director, Lee Senior Center
Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation
2019 VRPS Senior Resource Group Co-Chair Elect

“When you go out of your comfort zone and it works; there’s nothing more satisfying.” Kristen Wiig

Around the start of a new year, there are always a bunch of challenges promoted by a variety of people. Most are related to fitness but I have been a on quest to jump start my planning and programming.  I decided to challenge myself to learn from other creative fields.  Here is what happened:

I recently took a course from a friend of mine who has an event planning business.  About 40% of my work involves planning small scale events such as talent shows, holiday parties and the other 60% of my time is focused on creating experiences for older adults who come to the community center I work in.   Creating a positive experience is the goal of any event whether it’s a party, conference, show or workshop.  Additionally, my friend is an excellent teacher and is well established in her field.  So, I registered for her online course: Goal setting for the Enlightened Creative.   During the workshop she encourages her students to get out of their comfort zones and find new ways to grow professionally. I decided to give it a try.

I had been thinking about starting a drum circle in the senior center where I am the director.  Initially I felt uncomfortable about organizing this sort of activity.  It was certainly out of my comfort zone.  Here’s why.  When I thought of drum circles I envisioned young (under 30) bohemian types --or hippies-- engaged in rhythmic and frenetic drumming and dancing.  Never mind that the original hippies are rapidly becoming my customers.   Never mind that drum circles exist in a variety of senior programs around the country. Never mind that Cheryl Wheeler (the 2019 SRG chair) suggested it as a workshop for last year’s conference and our Board Liaison Jane Shelhorse knew someone who lead drum circle!  I still wasn’t convinced. 

I wasn’t convinced that a drum circle would garner any interest from the participants that came to the Lee Senior Center.  I didn’t see them as the sort of people who would enjoy being in a drum circle.  But that bias rapidly dispatched at the VRPS 2018 conference in Henrico.  I was sitting in one of the rooms learning about a great neighborhood revitalization project in Danville, VA.  In the room next to us was a session on an improv fest for teens in Loudon County.  They were very noisy and they were having lots of fun!  The adults in the room were having lots of fun.   Making noise is quite fun. The little lights started twinkling in my brain; maybe a drum circle would work.

I approached a gentleman who loves music and had been trying to get his own band going.  However, I wasn’t completely sure, if he would be interested.  Nonetheless I asked him if he would think about starting a drum circle program.  We talked about it and even got a small focus group together to help develop the program.  I am happy to report that it’s working out well.  The participants who attend are having a great time.  The volunteer dance instructors send some their rhythm challenged dancers to the drumming session for extra help and the drum circle leader has even been asked to talk to other groups about the benefits of drumming.  This program hasn’t even been officially promoted and it continues to grow.  It’s exciting!

This small foray out of my comfort zone affirmed several things.  The first is that being part of VRPS and SRG is pivotal to my career and personal development.  The second is nothing is more constricting to your career than self- doubt. For example, after many months of hesitation, I took the CPRP test and passed!  I muscled past the self-doubt.  The third benefit is that looking to other industries sparks innovation on an individual and general level.  Because when your day to day tasks are geared to producing positive experiences for the community, do not put limits on your creativity.

Have a question, comment or want to blog with us?  Contact the Senior Resource Group:

Cheryl Wheeler, CPRP - 2019 chair

LaTanja Jones, 2019 co-chair elect

Adriana Carr, 2019 co-chair elect

Judith Mangilin, Treasurer