Our next MANDATORY MEETING will be Wednesday, 9/23 at 2 pm at Sea World. We are doing it the same day as the “In The Know” Tradeshow so all of you can visit the tradeshow before or after the meeting. Let the parking attendant know you are there for the tradeshow at Ports of Call and you will not have to pay. Lunch will be served at our meeting and you will be paid for the meeting time. We will also be introducing an exciting new revenue incentive at the meeting!  So, unless you are at a location that cannot be closed, we expect to see all of you there!

MICKEY’S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY (MNSSHP)
Here are the ONLY remaining dates we can sell: 9/18, 9/20, 9/22, 9/25 and 9/27. THAT’S ALL for these tickets. Disney had decided not to give us any discounted rates this year, so the ONLY money we are making on these tickets is the service fee. The advantage with our tickets is that the guest can get into the park as early as 4 pm through a specially designated turnstile (usually on the far right or the far left). The other big advantage with our tickets is that EVEN IF THE EVENT IS SOLD OUT, OUR TICKETS WILL STILL BE VALID. They are located in the POS in Category A19, Miscellaneous Special Events. If you get any push back about the services fees, they CANNOT be waived because we will be making $0. So give the guest the advantage of being able to enter at 4 pm and have no line Otherwise they will have to buy them online and wait at a Will Call window to pick up the tickets. Kid’s tickets are in and will be distributed tomorrow.

SEPARATION FROM AGS
Just a reminder about our written policy – when you leave AGS, you should always give a 2 week written notice. Anyone leaving on bad terms (not giving proper notice, termination for theft, not following procedures, no call – no show, or any other reason for being terminated) will forfeit any commissions earned on the last paycheck and only get a check for the hours worked at minimum wage. So be sure that you give proper notice and don’t get fired!

ORLANDO CITY TICKETS
The next home match is Saturday, 10/3 at 7:30 pm against the Montreal Impact. You may wear your Orlando City shirts on Saturday, or Friday if you are off on Saturday. Call Marc 407-506-7692

CIRQUE DARK NEXT WEEK
La Nouba will be DARK from 9/20-9/28. Shows will resume on 9/29. During this week, BE SURE TO SUGGEST BLUE MAN GROUP INSTEAD!

HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS
HHN starts its 25th year next weekend. Once again, our tickets are geared to Non-Florida Residents and we are selling Sun-Thurs tickets, Fri-Sat tickets and 2 and 3 Day PTP Combo tickets. The COMBO tickets have the best value and allow for ONE NON-SATURDAY HHN visit during the 14 day period of the ticket. If you have guests visiting the regular park for the day, they can purchase an add-on ticket inside the park at a price that we cannot match. The tickets are in Category 19 in the POS. Please call a lead if questions.

READ TICKETS OUT LOUD TO GUEST!
We continue to have problems with guests getting the wrong tickets, particularly with Universal Studios. PLEASE read each ticket OUT LOUD to the guest and review them on the receipt as well.

WORK HARD FOR SALES
We need all of you to focus on sales during this slow time. Get out from behind the desk, mingle in the lobby and breakfast room greeting people, pass out stickers to the kids and introduce yourself as the concierge. Focus on the high profit tickets like Sea World, Legoland, 2 Day PTP and higher Universals, Blue Man Group, Cirque, and dinner shows.

CLEAN UP DESKS
Take this opportunity to do some fall cleaning at your desks. Get them cleaned and organized and throw away any outdated materials. Get on the other side of your desk and look at it from a guest’s perspective. If it looks too cluttered, take some stuff down, but leave up the stuff that makes you the most money. If you come across personal employee items, do not throw them away.

DON’T FORGET CONVENTION TICKETS
Remember if you have anyone here on a convention or business meeting, you can offer them – and their families – the convention tickets. These are GOOD profit tickets and can help during the slow time. Make sure they are qualified!

AQUATICA 50% OFF TICKETS
These tickets are only available online (not at the gate) and should ONLY be offered if the guest mentions it because you make less commission. Read Armando’s WTW message to see how to package it with the Banana Beach ticket. Basically you charge for the regular ticket, but print the 50% off and give the Banana Beach dining with it as an added bonus.

EXCITING NEW LOCATIONS COMING!
Armando has been working on acquiring some new locations, so keep a positive attitude! More info to come!

LABOR DAY INCENTIVE
We had 8 people reach the goal and qualify for the CASH bonus: Valerie – $65; Jason – $64; Anne – $59; Rafael – $59; Omayra – $52; Carlos – $30; Leah – $16 and Dawn – $16. Great job!

INCENTIVES
Kennedy Space Center – From 8/3 – 9/27, for every $100 in KSC sales, you will receive ONE raffle ticket. On 9/28, we will do a drawing and the winner will receive: A Two Night Stay at the Country Inn & Suites in Cocoa Beach; dinner for 2 at Fish Lips in Port Canaveral, and an airboat ride for 2 at Midway Fish Camp.

Employee Notes: Happy Birthday to Christina on 9/25! Congrats to Eric for 4 years on 9/19 and Juan for 1 year on the same date, and Brenda for 1 year on 9/23!

We think that some of you are not taking us seriously when we say we have ZERO TOLERANCE for theft and that we have secret shoppers out checking on honesty all the time. We don’t care if you are a manager, a lead, or someone that’s been with us for 10 years, you will be fired for manipulating sales and stealing. You will also be fired for not following the correct procedures for rental cars or accepting cash without it going through the office. The only exception is if a guest gives you a DIRECT tip for good service.

REFERRALS – APPROVED VENDORS
We are also having shoppers check to make sure the correct procedures are being followed for referrals. Remember, you can only hand out referral cards to vendors that are on our “Approved Vendor” list, and we ENCOURAGE you to do this for EVERY GUEST. Use the referral cards as an “added value” for your guests to get discounts on area restaurants and shopping. Of course if your guest wants a reservation for a specific restaurant that is not on our Approved Vendor list, you need to help them with that and give good Guest Service, but you cannot pass out referral cards for that unapproved vendor.

MANDATORY MEETING 9/23
Our next MANDATORY staff meeting is Wednesday, 9/23 at Sea World. We are doing it in conjunction with the VS Tradeshow on the same day at Sea World.  So we want all of you to attend the tradeshow AND the meeting.

HOTEL AMBASSADORS
During the slow time, it is SO CRITICAL that all of you get out from behind the desk and greet people in the lobby and breakfast room. Pass out stickers do the kids, introduce yourself as the concierge and tell them to come over to get restaurant and shopping coupons.

VACATION PLAN
Everyone should be using the itinerary planner in the FunPak to help your guests vacation plan. You should have plenty of time now to spend with your guests and show them how they can fit everything in, especially the high profit tickets.  With the parks closing earlier, be sure to schedule in dinner shows, Blue Man Group and Cirque.

ORLANDO CITY TICKETS
The next home match is Sunday, 9/13 at 7:00 pm against Sporting KC. You may wear your Orlando City shirts on Sunday, or Saturday if you are off on Sunday. Call Marc 407-506-7692

BUNDLES – FLEXTICKET REVIEW
We have a lot of mistakes being made with the types of tickets printed for the bundles and FlexTickets. Here is a review:
4 Park Bundle:
This is a ticket CREATED by AGS. It allows the guest to get a more affordable ticket that ONLY gives ONE VISIT TO EACH PARK. Here’s what you print:
Universal – 2 Day BASE Tickets (NOT Park-to-Park)
Sea World – Sea World/Aquatica COMBO Tickets (NOT Length of Stay).
5 Park FlexTicket:
Since this is sold at Universal and Sea World, our tickets MUST match what they offer and give 14 days UNLIMITED USE (from the first date of use) of all parks included, meaning for those 14 days, they can visit all parks as many times as they want.
Here’s what you print:
Universal – 3 Park UNLIMITED. What 3 parks are included? Universal, Island’s of Adventure and Wet ‘n Wild. This ticket allows park-to-park access on the same day to ALL 3 PARKS. You do NOT print any additional tickets.
Sea World – Sea World/Aquatica LENGTH OF STAY
6 Park FlexTicket
Again, since this ticket is sold at Universal and Sea World, we must match what they offer and give 14 days UNLIMITED USE (from the first day of use) of all parks included, meaning for those 14 days, they can visit ALL 6 PARKS as many times as they want.
Here’s what you print:
Universal – 3 Park UNLIMITED.
Sea World – Sea World/Aquatica/ AND BUSCH GARDENS LENGTH OF STAY.
Notice for all of these tickets, you NEVER print individual tickets to any of the parks, including Wet ‘n Wild.
Please call a lead or manager if you are unsure of what to print or if you have questions. Thanks!

CIRQUE SHOW TIME CHANGES
Effective 9/3 and for the next couple of months, on THURSDAYS there will be ONLY 1 SHOW AT 6 PM. Also, La Nouba will be DARK from 9/20-9/28.

HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS
HHN starts its 25th year next weekend. Once again, our tickets are geared to Non-Florida Residents and we are selling Sun-Thurs tickets, Fri-Sat tickets and 2 and 3 Day PTP Combo tickets. The COMBO tickets have the best value and allow for ONE NON-SATURDAY HHN visit during the 14 day period of the ticket. If you have guests visiting the regular park for the day, they can purchase an add-on ticket inside the park at a price that we cannot match. The tickets are in Category 19 in the POS. Please call a lead if questions.

READ TICKETS OUT LOUD TO GUEST!
We continue to have problems with guests getting the wrong tickets, particularly with Universal Studios. PLEASE read each ticket OUT LOUD to the guest and review them on the receipt as well.

BANKS IN POS
For the new POS software, when you enter the starting bank, you must put the QUANTITY of each type of bill. If you don’t have any of a particular type of bill, you must enter “0” for it to be accurate.

INCENTIVES
Kennedy Space Center – From 8/3 – 9/27, for every $100 in KSC sales, you will receive ONE raffle ticket. On 9/28, we will do a drawing and the winner will receive: A Two Night Stay at the Country Inn & Suites in Cocoa Beach; dinner for 2 at Fish Lips in Port Canaveral, and an airboat ride for 2 at Midway Fish Camp.

Employee Notes: Happy Birthday to Brianna on 9/15 and Brian on 9/18! Don’t forget the meeting at Sea World on 9/23!

Believe it or not, we STILL have mistakes being made with guests getting the wrong tickets. Most of the errors are with Universal, where a guest is charged for BASE tickets and is given Park-to-Park tickets, or in gifting where the guest is supposed to get the 7 Day PTP, but they are given 7 Day PTP with Wet ‘n Wild. Please guys, as you hand them over READ the tickets OUT LOUD to the guest and review the POS receipt with them AT THE SAME TIME. This will allow you to catch any mistakes BEFORE the guest leaves your desk. Also, you MUST match up all tickets on your POS Product Sales Report with EACH attraction’s EOD report. We still have extra tickets printed, especially with Universal and Wet ‘n Wild. You MUST WAIT 20 – 30 seconds for the tickets to pop up on your screen. DO NOT click “submit” again or this will duplicate the tickets. If you print duplicate tickets, you MUST run a “Detail Report” and using the Visual ID’s, return the first set of tickets.

DISNEY WATER PARK TICKETS
We now have re-distributed the “seasonal” tickets, which are $5 cheaper, are VALID until 5/28/16, and DO allow for Water Park Hopping. The ONLY locations that should have tickets that do NOT allow Water Park Hopping (the “OR“ tickets) are the Diamond locations. FYI – Disney does NOT have a bus running between the two water parks. There is not enough demand to warrant the buses running.

CIRQUE SHOW TIME CHANGES
Effective 9/3 and for the next couple of months, on THURSDAYS there will be ONLY 1 SHOW AT 6 PM. Also, La Nouba will be DARK from 9/20-9/28. Please make a note of this and continue to suggest Blue Man Group during this time.

LEGOLAND CLOSED TUESDAYS & WEDNESDAYS
Please don’t forget that Legoland is now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the water park is now ONLY OPEN ON THE WEEKENDS. Be sure to check all of the attraction times when arriving to work.

LABOR DAY NIGHTLIFE INCENTIVE!                                                                                                          Now thru Labor Day you can discount all shows tickets – WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CIRQUE – up to 20% off. Sell a minimum of 10 from Aug 30- Sept 7 and receive double commission retro from the 1st one you sold. Easy Money! Get the brochures out and keep recommending all of the awesome shows Orlando has to offer.  With the parks closing early, this is the perfect time to recommend Dinner Shows and Blue Man Group!

SAVE THE DATE – NEXT MANDATORY MEETING 9/23 AT SEA WORLD                                                VS Media is having a Trade Show at Sea World on Wednesday, September 23rd.  Since we would like all of you to attend and most of you will be there anyway, we will be holding our next MANDATORY MEETING on the same day at Sea World.  Please mark it on your calendars and make plans to attend.  More details will be coming.

ORLANDO CITY TICKETS
The next home match is Sunday, 9/13 at 7:00 pm against Sporting KC. You may wear your Orlando City shirts on Sunday, or Saturday if you are off on Sunday. Call Marc 407-506-7692

REFERRALS – PASS OUT COUPONS
Again, our APPROVED referral partner should have their coupons passed out to every guest. Use these as a tool to get people to come to your desk and create “welcome” packages for your guests. If you are unsure of who is approved, please look at the list on the AGS homepage. Remember, we will be monitoring and shopping our desks for adherence to these policies and anyone passing out referral cards for unapproved vendors will be reprimanded and/or terminated.

PROFESSIONALISM AT DESKS
We treat all of you as professionals and we expect you to act that way. This means being attentive to guests! You should be “ready to assist” and your body should convey this with good posture, a smile and being on the guest’s level when they approach the desk. Personal use of cell phones is prohibited while working unless it is an emergency. Any phone calls should only be related to business, especially when a guest approaches your desk. We cannot have employees (or friends) that are off the clock visiting other employees. If someone is giving you a ride or waiting for you, they must wait outside or in their car and not be hanging out at the desk and distracting you. While working, you must be focused on your job and taking care of the guests.

TARDINESS
Some of you are slipping in to bad habits and showing up 20 – 30 minutes late. We are getting back to tracking this and documenting anyone more than 7 minutes late. We feel that 7 minutes is very generous and enough of a grace period.

VACATIONS – SEPTEMBER
We have reached our limit for the number of people that can be out for vacation in September, and we are very near closing out all day off requests for September. It’s great that all of you want this slow time off, but we still have to staff our desks. Thanks

RENTAL CARS – DOLLAR/THRIFTY
Dollar/Thrifty is our FIRST choice for rental cars. Action and Enterprise are also approved as back-ups. If any other company approaches you and offers you cash commissions, do not accept it. We have rental car shoppers checking on this and anyone not following the proper procedures will be terminated. Be sure to create vouchers in the POS for all rental car reservations and send a copy to the office so we can be sure you get paid.

DISNEY FLORIDA RESIDENT TICKETS
Click on the picture at the bottom of the AGS Homepage. You want to only offer the 3 and 4 Day tickets. Also offer the Hopper and the Water Park Fun & More Option. They are VALID for a 6 month period and have block out dates from 12/17 – 1/1/16. Make sure you put in all of the guest’s information, including their credit card information. We DO NOT charge the card – DISNEY CHARGES THE CARD! Make sure when you print the confirmation page you print 2 COPIES. Write your name on 1 and send it in with your deposit and give the guest the other.

BANKS IN POS
For the new POS software, when you enter the starting bank, you must put the QUANTITY of each type of bill.

INCENTIVES
Kennedy Space Center – From 8/3 – 9/27, for every $100 in KSC sales, you will receive ONE raffle ticket. On 9/28, we will do a drawing and the winner will receive: A Two Night Stay at the Country Inn & Suites in Cocoa Beach; dinner for 2 at Fish Lips in Port Canaveral, and an airboat ride for 2 at Midway Fish Camp.

Employee Notes: Happy Birthday to Melissa on 9/10! Happy Labor Day! Sorry for all of the negativity in this Gazette. We know that many of you do a great job and do everything correctly, and for that we are thankful!