Q: The Rose State continuing education program has provided very popular aquatics classes and related swimming programs for years. The pool, however, is in a state of disrepair, and this summer will be closed for at least eight weeks for remodeling. During that time, scores – if not hundreds, of customers will either go to a competitor, participate in other CE classes, or not participate.

With that said, we are developing a plan to hopefully bring our customers back to the pool in August or so. Our first thought is to provide special discounts to our customers. Also, I’ve considered hosting special activities, held in the aquatics complex, to draw old and new customers back to our programs.

Surely, in your years of experience, you’ve ran into similar dilemmas. Would you have any best practices to recommend (with pricing, curriculum, and activities).

We appreciate your advice. And, I look forward to seeing you at the Contract Training conference in Chicago!

A: These ideas are literally off the top of my head, but my thinking is that the best way to get people back to the new, improved facility is to give them a reason to come. Create some events around the pool's reopening and use the events to get people in the door. Here are some ideas:

August is back to school time, but you could make it "Back to Pool" time. Have some back to pool parties for various age groups. Offer people who show up for the party a discount on an upcoming course or membership in you center, etc.
Many programs have had success with showing movies related to water in some way. Here is a link that might be useful:http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2008/mar/13/swimmingmoviesletspoolour
Screening "Jaws" at the pool is a popular activity in many programs. Here's a link to one site--https://www.facebook.com/Shark.Cartoons/posts/501185103273209
http://www.swimsuitsdirect.com/blog/2013/04/pool-party-ideas-for-kids/
It would be very helpful if I could know more about the programs you have offered in the past. I could help you evaluate your programs relative to the most successful aquatic programs.

I would wonder whether your being closed temporarily will permanently impact your attendance. Assuming that your program has solid programming, good facilities, and high quality instruction, proximity and convenience of access will be a very important factor in who uses your facility. People are most likely to go to the facility closest to them if all the other factors are at a high level.

Let me know if you would like me to do more research on this question or if you would like more information on a specific aspect of your question.