Skip the Queue

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.
Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor Numbers
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.

Competition ends October 31st 2020. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.

Show references:

www.continuumattractions.com

www.linkedin.com/in/jules-ozbek-aa339735/

Transcription:

Kelly Molson:

Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode, I speak with industry experts from the attractions world.

In today's episode, I speak with Jules Ozbek, Head of Sales and Marketing at Continuum Attractions. We discuss their marketing approach for attractions during a time of capped capacity and their approach to marketing segmentation that's not driven by demographics. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.

Kelly Molson:

Jules, thank you for coming on the podcast today. It's lovely to have you with us. I really appreciate your time.

Jules Ozbeck:

Pleasure.

Kelly Molson:

I always start off these podcast interviews with a few little icebreaker questions, because we haven't spoken before and I think it's quite nice to just get to know the real you.

Kelly Molson:

All right. So first one, where is the worst place you could get stuck?

Jules Ozbek:

The Tube at rush hour.

Kelly Molson:

Yeah. How tall are you, as well, because I have that-

Jules Ozbek:

I'm five foot two.

Kelly Molson:

Yeah, me too. I'm going to say I'm five, two and a half because that half makes a difference. But I'm at armpit height as well.

Jules Ozbek:

Exactly.

Kelly Molson:

It's the worst.

Jules Ozbek:

And I suffer a little bit from Claustrophobia, so being on the Tube, under people's armpits at rush hour, yeah, worst nightmare.

Kelly Molson:

I'm with you. I'm totally with you on that one. Okay. What is your favorite movie quote?

Jules Ozbek:

Gosh, that's a hard one. The one that springs to mind first is, "Don't put baby in the corner," but I think that's because I was a Dirty Dancing fan as a teenager.

Kelly Molson:

Who isn't? I mean, still am.

Jules Ozbek:

And I'd hate to be put in the corner myself.

Kelly Molson:

I think that's a great answer. I'm an '80s film fan as well, so that really hits the spot with me.

Jules Ozbek:

Definitely. You can't beat, Dirty Dancing and Top Gun are two of my all-time favorite movies.

Kelly Molson:

Yes. My quote is a Top Gun quote. Absolutely, it would have been a Top Gun quote.

Kelly Molson:

All right. So this is the last icebreaker question, but it's always my favorite one. So can you tell me something that's true to you, that almost nobody agrees with you on? So what is your unpopular opinion?

Jules Ozbek:

Oh, gosh. That's really a hard one. Breakfast food is the best and could be eaten at every mealtime.

Kelly Molson:

Yeah. Are we talking continental?

Jules Ozbek:

No. I mean, continental's great because who doesn't ever pain au chocolat? But I'm talking like pancakes. You could have pancakes for lunch quite easily. You can make a mid-meal out of breakfast, which is brunch, and who doesn't love brunch because you can a...

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your hosts are Paul Marden and Oz Austwick.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.

If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.

Competition ends on 25th September 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.

Show references:

https://www.monkey-forest.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-torlop-261a10119/

Josh is a passionate marketer and PR professional currently working at Trentham Monkey Forest in Staffordshire. As the sole member of the Marketing & PR team, he manages, oversees, and delivers all communication strategies for one of the UK’s most fascinating woodlands. This unique role requires him to wear many hats, as he strives to create best-in-class campaigns across multiple fronts.

Trentham Monkey Forest is unlike any other place in the UK. It's a 60-acre woodland where 140 Barbary macaques live freely, mirroring their natural habitat. This distinct feature is the heart of the attraction, and Josh is driven to share this "sparkle" with as many people as possible, all while working within a modest budget. A visit to the forest, which Josh first experienced with his aunt in 2007 as a child, left a lasting impression on him. Now, he aims to ensure that visitors create similarly special and lasting memories at this remarkable destination, all for an affordable entry fee—an essential element of his marketing strategy.

In 2024, Monkey Forest reached a record-breaking year for footfall, and as the year draws to a close, Josh has been collaborating with Oz on creating 'out of the box' campaigns that break the 'fourth wall' between the brand and the consumer. Reflecting on a PR stunt he strategized and executed in 2022, which went globally viral and reached hundreds of millions worldwide, Josh considers it a personal career highlight. His enthusiasm for being a one-man marketing team at such a unique destination continues to fuel his innovative and ambitious approach.

Transcription:

Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. So welcome to Season 6.

Oz Austwick: Yeah, welcome back.

Paul Marden: How are we back already? Because it feels like only yesterday were recording the tail end of season five. So where's my summer break? It just seems to have gone.

Oz Austwick: It does seem a little bit like we've not really had much time off. We must have. Must have had a bit of a break.

Paul Marden: Yes, absolutely. Because I've got a list. As long as you are, of all the places that I've been over the summer holidays, where have you been?

Oz Austwick: Like you? Lots of places. Lots of castles, a few stately homes and one or two more unusual places. But I think if I had to pick one, I went to Highclere.

Oz Austwick: Okay. I love it. I'm a massive Downton Abbey fan. I tried so hard not to like Downton Abbey and just utterly failed and got sucked into this wonderful world of 1920s stately home. The lives going on upstairs and down. And you know what? It's just such a good series and to go and experience the place and see all these wonderful familiar areas with my 15 year old daughter, who is even more of a fan than me, was just amazing.

Paul Marden: Brilliant.

Oz Austwick: We might just have been blaring theme music out of the car on the way down the drive. How about you?

Paul Marden: So where have I been? We went to We The Curious back in Bristol, which has just reopened after two years of being closed. And that was just amazing...

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your hosts are Paul Marden and Oz Austwick.
Fill in the Rubber Cheese 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey - the annual benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.

If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.

Competition ends on 21st August 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.

Show references:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenpriestnall/

https://linktr.ee/oomphinc

Stephen Priestnall founded oomph, now an accredited B Corp, in 2005, acquired Decision Juice in 2009 and is globally recognised as a specialist in CX driven transformation projects and digital innovation. He has advised at a senior level across public and private sector organisations in the UK, Americas, Asia and the Middle East and is an instigator of international research studies into behaviour change. He is a Board Trustee with Aneurin Leisure Trust, advising on CX and communications strategy and a founding Director at Wellbeing Economy Cymru, part of the global Wellbeing Economy Alliance, advocating for a new approach to economic sustainability for people and planet.

Transcription:

Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with Mister attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. On today's episode, I speak to Stephen Priestnall, the CEO of oomph, a CX focused agency based in the UK and UAE who help clients to understand people and design better experiences. We're going to go back to first principles and understand what customer experience is all about and understand what attractions can do better to serve the needs of their customers.

Paul Marden: Hello, Oz.

Oz Austwick: Hi, Paul. So this is the last episode of Season 5, right?

Paul Marden: Yes, that is right. Can you believe after we took the reigns from. From young Ms. Molson not too long ago, that we would actually make it to the end of the season?

Oz Austwick: Do you know, it's crazy, isn't it? I mean, five seasons of a podcast. Most podcasts don't get through to the end of one season. And I can remember listening to this podcast years ago and actually sending people links as an example of what a good podcast is. And now here we are, you and I, at the end of Season 5. It's crazy..

Paul Marden: Yay. Guardians of this little baby.

Oz Austwick: Yeah. Yeah, no pressure. So today's quite an interesting one, right?

Paul Marden: Yeah. I've got a guest who has been a friend of mine for some time, Stephen Priestnall of Oomph agency. And we're going to talk a little bit about customer experience. So nice little chat between Stephen and I, and then you and I will come together in a little while and talk a little bit about. Let's reminisce about season five and talk a little bit about what might happen in Season 6.

Oz Austwick: Awesome. Great. I'm looking forward to it.

Paul Marden: Let's get on with it then. Welcome to podcast, Stephen.

Stephen Priestnall: Nice to be here, Paul. Thanks for inviting me.

Paul Marden: Good to have you on. Longtime listeners will know that we always start the podcast with some icebreaker questions, which hopefully not too challenging, but we get to know you a little bit better before we start talking about work. So both of my icebreakers are all about visiting attractions this time. So how organised are you in advance? If you go to an attraction, do you take a picnic with you, or are you always partaking of a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the coffee shop?

Stephen Priestnall: I think it wo...

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden, CEO of Rubber Cheese.
Fill in the Rubber Cheese 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey - the annual benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.
If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.

If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.

Competition ends on 17th July 2024. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.

Show references:

https://aerstudios.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesliweb/

Tools for Sustainability:

https://ecograder.com/

https://www.websitecarbon.com/

James Hobbs is a people-focused technologist with over 15 years experience working in a range of senior software engineering roles with a particular focus on digital sustainability.
He is Head of Technology at creative technology studio, aer studios, leading the technology team delivering outstanding work for clients including Dogs Trust, BBC, Historic Royal Palaces, and many others. Prior to joining aer studios, James was Head of Engineering at digital agency Great State, where he led a multi-award-winning software engineering team working with clients including the Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence, Honda Europe, the Scouts, and others.

He also has many years experience building and running high-traffic, global e-commerce systems while working at Dyson, where he headed up the global digital technical team.

Transcription:

Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with Mister attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden.

The last twelve months have been the warmest of any twelve month period since records began. And while over 70% of attractions have a sustainability policy, only 12% have actually tested the CO2 emissions of their website. In today's episode, we're joined by James Hobbs, Head of Technology at aer studios and a member of the Umbraco Community Sustainability Team. James shares some easily actionable tips to reduce the emissions of your website.

Paul Marden: James, welcome to skip the queue. Lovely to have you.

James Hobbs: Thanks for having me.

Paul Marden: So we always start with some icebreaker questions. So it would be unfair if I didn't inflict the same pain on you.

James Hobbs: Go for it.

Paul Marden: Let's start with a nice one, I think. What actor would you want to play you in a film about your life?

James Hobbs: I mean, instinctively, I'd say someone like Jack Black. Just think he's really funny. A lot more funny than me. I'm not sure how much of a resemblance there is. He's got a much better beard than I do someone. Yeah. If there's gonna be an adaptation, I'd like it to be funny.

Paul Marden: I like the idea of that one. I think I'd struggle with that one. I'd struggle to pick. Yeah, you know, it's gotta be an archetypal geek that would play me in the story of my life. I'm not sure who that would be.

James Hobbs: Not John Cena or something like that.

Paul Marden: So the next one, I'd say this one I found really hard, actually. What was your dream job when you were growing up?

James Hobbs: Oh, okay. So I can answer that one easily because my parents still take the Mickey out of me for it. So when I was quite young, I told them very kind of certified. When I grow up, I want to be part time mechanic, part time librarian.