For many years I have been using the GSCA Theater Attendance Reporting Program (TARP) to get an idea how our theater is performing relative to our colleagues. We talk to individual theaters, of course, to get a sense of how our business is doing. You hear a lot through the grapevine about theaters doing not well or doing better, but it's hard to get some objective data that I can present to stakeholders.
The GSCA TARP program gives me the ability to measure our theater performance relative to other domes in the world, other European theaters, or other institutional theaters. The fact that these data are cumulative and from a reliable source makes them valuable. Another important factor that increases the value is the sample size. Since we now are reaching 50 theaters reporting, the data is getting even more meaningful than before.
By writing this blog I hope we will get more theaters participating because I believe it will help the industry—but if I'm honest, because it will also help me. I can only hope it will help the others reporting too. And it's really not much work. When we report our monthly figures to IMAX and the other distributors, we take another extra minute to type in our attendance for that month in the GSCA reporting program. So for 12 minutes a year, you get a sense of how your theater performs AND are a big help for your colleagues.
Submitted by Berend Reijnhoudt, Executive Director of Omniversum in The Netherlands
GSCA's Theater Attendance Reporting Program is a benefit of GSCA membership. With this powerful but easy-to-use program, theaters report their total attendance monthly and are then able to compare their data relative to aggregate data. Individual theater data is viewable only by each theater's designated TARP administrators. Members who are not TARP administrators or who are not with a theater are able to view aggregate data. Click here and log in with your GSCA user name and password to view the program.
If you have questions about the program, or you are not currently reporting your data and would like to, please contact Kelly Germain at kelly@giantscreencinema.com.