Multi-Site: Guest Services and Launching a New Campus (part two)
We’re in the middle of a three-part series on our central Guest Services team’s role in launching new campuses. Get started here.
In the first post in this series, I told you the three primary areas we speak into and/or lead for permanent facilities: site plans, blueprints, and the preparation of the facility itself.
But we don’t just launch permanent facilities. At the time of this writing, six of our 13 campuses are in schools or – in one case – a historic theatre. Portable can be a great way to be a part of the community while waiting on a permanent home.
But much like Mordor, one does not simply walk into a portable facility (also like Mordor, one does not simply assume that the central facilities office of the local board of education will remember to adjust the HVAC in August, leading to Mount Doom-style heat stroke in the auditorium and maybe the worship leader plummeting to his death in the orchestra pit after wresting control of the one ring to rule them all, but that’s a blog post for another day).
Here are the things that our central Guest Services Team helps with for a portable site:
Site walkthrough
Occasionally in the search for a new portable home, there will be a location or two to choose from. (Part of this comes from a long-standing and much-cherished relationship with our local school system.) Whether we have one, two, or a dozen options (spoiler: we’ve never ever ever had a dozen), our central Guest Services Team will be a part of the initial walkthrough to determine viability of the following:
- Parking: are the number of spaces efficient for expected Sunday attendance? Are lots in good proximity to the main entrance? Will traffic flow intuitively?
- Exterior: is there appropriate space for our first-time guest tent? Can in be “obnoxiously in the way” of the main entrance?
- Lobby: is there adequate gathering space for lots of Sunday foot traffic? Is there room for a Next Steps table?
- Classrooms and hallway spaces: is space adequate enough (and close enough to the main action) for Volunteer Headquarters, classrooms for trainings and small gatherings, nearby restrooms, and rainy day plans for outdoor things to move indoors?
- Auditorium: is the room adequate for the number we expect? How much room is there for growth? If it’s too big, how can we section it off to move people front and center?
Road cases and trailers
For years we’ve worked with Portable Church Industries for all of our road cases (and I’d highly recommend them, by the way). While we’re basically down to a predictable formula, our team will still look at every road case our Guest Services and set up teams might need, as well as the overall trailer space for the things that don’t fit into cases, like portable signage, flags, traffic cones, etc. Our goal is to make sure that everything from the first-time guest workstation to the spare pad of Post-It notes have a clear home come launch day.
Incubator services
Over time we’ve learned that incubator services are a great runway to make sure that the core team is ready for public launch (more detail in this post). Because those incubators are usually just one service (not attend one, serve one), and because we’re still getting our feet under us as far as staff and volunteer roles, our team will usually play a role in helping provide Guest Services for that service. That may mean that we lead a smaller team of volunteers, or lead a “loaned” set of volunteers from an existing campus. We’ll also help with training new volunteers, as our incubators are often paired with volunteer training opportunities as they prepare for launch.
Coming up next: the roles our central team plays in both permanent and portable.
Related posts in this series:
Want to submit a question for a future Q&A post? Ask it here.
